Politics Political

Policy

“The personal is political”

What is politics?

Possible contexts:

1) country/area

2) profession

3) beliefs

(Sources: Macmillan Dictionary for Advanced Learners; Merriam-Webster Dictionary )

1) country/area

Politics: [U] the ideas and activities

involved in getting and keeping power in

a country/government or over a

particular area of the world or the

activities related to influencing the

actions and policies of a government

2) Profession

Politics: [U] the profession of being a

politician, the job of people (such as

elected officials) who are part of a

government

(Ex.: He entered politics at the age of 21)

4) Beliefs

Politics: [plural] the opinions someone has about what should be done by governments; your politics are your beliefs and attitudes about how government should work

(Example: Her politics became more conservative as she grew older)

Policy: a set of plans or actions agreed upon by a government, political party, business, etc.; a high-level overall plan embracing the general goals and acceptable procedures especially of a governmental body

Ex.: the US foreign policy; the university policy to increase students numbers

Political:

1) Relating to politics

1) Interested or involved in politcs

1) Relating to relationships of power that

exists between people in an organization

“political” refers to any power relationships, not just those of government or elected officials.

(Carol Hanisch, The personal is Political, 1970)