politics

Ruling by the consent of the governed; an activity whereby solutions to social and economic problems are arrived at and different aspirations are met by the process of discussion and compromise rather than by the application of decree or force.

A much misused term, it has been expounded by Bernard Crick in his classic book In Defence of Politics 1962. Its popular description as ‘the art of the possible’ was probably first used by Otto von Bismarck of Prussia, in a recorded conversation in 1867. Both Bismarck and Crick made the point that politics is essentially an activity and not a science or set of rules. It is an activity based on diversity: diverse opinions about aims to be achieved and means to achieve them. Politics accepts this diversity as a fact of life and seeks to resolve conflicting views by discussion and compromise.