politics

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.
2. n. Political science.
3. n. The activities or affairs engaged in by a government, politician, or political party: "All politics is local” ( Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.) "Politics have appealed to me since I was at Oxford because they are exciting morning, noon, and night” ( Jeffrey Archer).
4. n. The methods or tactics involved in managing a state or government: The politics of the former regime were rejected by the new government leadership. If the politics of the conservative government now borders on the repressive, what can be expected when the economy falters?
5. n. Political life: studied law with a view to going into politics; felt that politics was a worthwhile career.
6. n. Intrigue or maneuvering within a political unit or group in order to gain control or power: Partisan politics is often an obstruction to good government. Office politics are often debilitating and counterproductive.
7. n. Political attitudes and positions: His politics on that issue is his own business. Your politics are clearly more liberal than mine.
8. n. The often internally conflicting interrelationships among people in a society.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The science or practice of government; the regulation and government of a nation or state for the preservation of its safety, peace, and prosperity. Politics, in its widest extent, is both the science and the art of government, or the science whose subject is the regulation of man in all his relations as the member of a state, and the application of this science. In other words, it is the theory and practice of obtaining the ends of civil society as perfectly as possible. The subjects which political science comprises have been arranged under the following heads: natural law; abstract politics—that is, the object or end of a state, and the relations between it and individual citizens; political economy; the science of police, or municipal regulation; practical politics, or the conduct of the immediate public affairs of a state; history of politics; history of the political systems of foreign states; statistics; positive law relating to state affairs, commonly called constitutional law; (10) practical law of nations; (11) diplomacy; (12) the technical science of politics, or an acquaintance with the forms and style of public business in different countries.
2. n. In a narrower and more usual sense the art or vocation of guiding or influencing the policy of a government through the organization of a party among its citizens—including, therefore, not only the ethics of government, but more especially, and often to the exclusion of ethical principles, the art of influencing public opinion, attracting and marshaling voters, and obtaining and distributing public patronage, so far as the possession of offices may depend upon the political opinions or political services of individuals; hence, in an evil sense, the schemes and intrigues of political parties, or of cliques or individual politicians: as, the newspapers were full of politics.
3. n. Political opinions; party connection or preference.

Wiktionary

1. n. countable A methodology and activities associated with running a government, an organization, or a movement.
2. n. countable The profession of conducting political affairs.
3. n. countable One's political stands and opinions.
4. n. uncountable Political maneuvers or diplomacy between people, groups, or organizations, especially involving power, influence or conflict.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The science of government; that part of ethics which has to do with the regulation and government of a nation or state, the preservation of its safety, peace, and prosperity, the defense of its existence and rights against foreign control or conquest, the augmentation of its strength and resources, and the protection of its citizens in their rights, with the preservation and improvement of their morals.
2. n. The management of a political party; the conduct and contests of parties with reference to political measures or the administration of public affairs; the advancement of candidates to office; in a bad sense, artful or dishonest management to secure the success of political candidates or parties; political trickery.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the opinion you hold with respect to political questions
2. n. the activities and affairs involved in managing a state or a government
3. n. social relations involving intrigue to gain authority or power
4. n. the profession devoted to governing and to political affairs
5. n. the study of government of states and other political units