RationalWiki:Webshites/Politics/Description

Politics is the means by which public policy is decided. Technically, politics refers to the interactions between people in a given polity (Ancient Greek for the city-states that were dominant during that time), or community. The general application refers to policy-making at a government level; however, it has also come to mean the ins and outs of complex social situations, often having nothing to do with the reason the situation exists - for example, "office politics."

Whatever the system a government uses for its organization (democratic republic, dictatorship, theocracy, etc.), there is bound to be political wrangling for power, glory, and occasionally, the public good. Some systems attempt to keep much of this political give-and-take in the public eye (usually much to the disgust of the public), while in other systems, almost everything save the occasional "announcement" takes place behind closed doors. The difference is mostly based on the degree to which political participation by the broader public is desired or allowed.