Politics is the word used to describe the activities of the government or towards, in a commonly used sense of the word.
Politics can also mean exercising influence over others to achieve some objectives. In this sense it is an integral part of our daily lives everywhere, at home, at work, in the society, etc.
The origin of the word politics comes from the Greek word ‘polis’ which means ‘city’. Politics then means the ‘affairs of the city’. Politics refers to the civic administration meant for the common good.
The three ways in which politics affects us:
- Formal politics refers to the formation pf political parties based on certain ideologies. These political parties nominate representatives to be elected into forming the government.
- Semi-formal politics refers to slightly more informal form of politics like student bodies in universities or civic bodies formed by the local people.
- Informal politics which is faced in day to day administration or social life or at work etc.
Importance of Politics
Politics is important even though it sometimes gets a negative connotation because of some unscrupulous politicians. If exercised rightly, politics is about using the right influence to achieve certain governance objectives which must be in the interests of the people. In a way politics is about leadership. The leaders take policy decisions related to various aspects like Finance, Foreign Policies, Defence, Security, etc. which indirectly or very often directly affect us.
A good policy involves the opinion of all concerned. Finding the strategies to best position the current state of the country to leverage from the global events is a responsibility that should be shouldered by any leader. With position and power comes responsibility. However not everyone has the scruples to go through them. This is where the role of the citizens comes in. Either we as citizens take up the leadership roles or participate in the politics to drive the decisions in the right directions.
Political Participation
The least we can do to take up our civic responsibility is to participate in politics by voting for who we think is the right candidate. Alternatively voting against who we think is absolutely the wrong candidate is also a way to take the steps towards responsible politics.
Conclusion
Politics is about using power and influence in governance and we must participate in it if we want the influence to be used for good governance.