The idea of the political (short note)

The idea of the political

Politics and the political. In ordinary speech politics means the activity of governments, parties and elections, and is often linked with the selfish pursuit of interest. Political theory asks a wider question: what makes a matter political at all. The syllabus makes this its starting point: its first learning objective is to examine the usually unexamined account of what counts as political.

Why the political is unavoidable. Every society needs political organisation of some kind and a way of deciding things together, since it has to weigh the varied needs and interests of its members; Gandhi's remark that politics envelops us like the coils of a snake makes the same point. Politics is not confined to the affairs of government: what governments do matters because it affects people's lives, and people form associations, campaign, negotiate and protest to shape the goals governments pursue.

What makes a matter political. Politics arises because people have different visions of what is just and desirable. It consists of the many negotiations through which collective decisions are made: at one level, what governments do and how they answer people's aspirations; at another, how people struggle to influence decisions. People act politically whenever they negotiate with each other and join collective activities meant to solve common problems.

The feminist widening. Feminist political theory tries to expand the boundaries of what is political by including women's concerns. Its slogan the personal is political treats the personal lives of women as a reflection of the power structures of a patriarchal society, so that relations in the home also belong to politics.