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The word “politics” usually brings to mind images of the prime minister, politicians and the government. Nowadays, an even more common connotation is the idea of corruption and dirty tricks. To understand the nature of politics, it is, therefore important to look at the origins of the word and the contexts that led to its creation. The term politics comes from the Greek "polis", meaning both a unit of government and also the state or community as a whole. The concept was of an ideal state and was initially developed in the writings of philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. In his novel "The Republic", Plato describes the ideal state and the means to achieve it. Therefore originally, politics was viewed as a way in which to create the ideal society. Unfortunately, this is seen as unattainable, so politics then provides measures which may be implemented in the hope of creating a better society than the present one. The key word here then, is better, rather than perfect. Machiavelli in his pamphlet on statecraft “The Prince” puts forward many rules or guidelines on how to improve hold on a society. Recognising the impossibility of a perfect society, a precept of his is to balance unlimited demands versus limited resources. The world has its limits; all material wealth within it is exhaustible. Who therefore, gets how large a share, of those resources, which are present in limited supply?
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