Politics

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Politics \Pol"i*tics\, n. [Cf. F. politique, Gr. ? (sc.?). See
     {Politic}.]
     1. 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              When we say that two men are talking politics, we
              often mean that they are wrangling about some mere
              party question.                       --F. W.
                                                    Robertson.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  politics
       n 1: social relations involving authority or power [syn: {political
            relation}]
       2: the study of government of states and other political units
          [syn: {political science}, {government}]
       3: the profession devoted to governing and to political affairs
       4: the opinion you hold with respect to political questions
          [syn: {political sympathies}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  23 Moby Thesaurus words for "politics":
     Geopolitik, Machiavellianism, Machiavellism, civics, diplomacy,
     diplomatics, geopolitics, government, international relations,
     jobbery, jobbing, machination, manipulation, poli-sci,
     political behavior, political economy, political geography,
     political philosophy, political science, political theory,
     public administration, statecraft, statesmanship
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  Politics
  
  Vaguely liberal-moderate, except for the strong libertarian contingent
  which rejects conventional left-right politics entirely. The only safe
  generalization is that hackers tend to be rather anti-authoritarian; thus,
  both conventional conservatism and `hard' leftism are rare. Hackers are far
  more likely than most non-hackers to either (a) be aggressively apolitical
  or (b) entertain peculiar or idiosyncratic political ideas and actually try
  to live by them day-to-day.
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  POLITICS, n.  A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of
  principles.  The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.