2.3: Why Do We Need Politics?

Many people dislike politics. To some, the competitive nature of politics is a turnoff, especially when politics seems to consist of nothing more than bitter arguments. To others, politics is too complex to understand or too boring to take interest in. You yourself may wonder whether politics is even necessary, or why leaders don’t simply put politics aside and take action to solve problems.

As much as we sometimes try to get away from politics, it is an essential part of human society. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle famously wrote that “man is by nature a political animal.” What he meant was that humans are creatures of the polis, the Greek word for “city.” (The word politics comes from the Greek politiká, for “affairs of the city.”) Humans are the only animals who naturally form large, non-familial groups. Wolf packs and beehives may contain many members, but all are close blood relatives, whereas even the smallest human towns generally consist of several distinct families. In Aristotle’s view, the traits that make humans unique are their ability and desire to organize themselves in such communities.

Because we humans tend to live in groups, we often encounter situations in which we need to make group decisions. When a prehistoric tribe debates whether to move on to new hunting grounds or an industrialized country chooses which side of the road to drive on, it’s not practical to let everyone decide for himself or herself. A decision-making process for the whole group is needed, one that most group members will accept, even if they don’t always like the outcome. Families typically accomplish this goal by deferring to a parent or other senior member, but in groups of multiple families there is no such natural or default leader. Instead, the group must settle on some other process for making collective decisions. The system of institutions, rules, and leaders tasked with making decisions for a group is called a government.