What is politics?

 Our word politics comes from the Greek politēs, "citizen", who
 would live in a polis (city, community).  The hint of violence in
 the whole thing is the Indo-European root pelē, ("high fortified place" -like
the Acropolis above).  But the essence of political life is the shared evocation
 of the spiritual experiences of the citizens.  Or, as Aristotle put it, a human
being is a zöön  politike, a political animal whose purpose is to live socially. 
What holds the polis together is homonoia or "like-mindedness."
 

   
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