Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions.
The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics
has been observed in other group interactions, including corporate, academic,
and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority
or power"[1] and refers to the regulation of a political unit,[2] and to the
methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.[3]
The word "Politics" comes from the Greek word Πολιτικά (politika) from politic
(adj.), modeled on Aristotle's "affairs of state," the name of his book on
governing and governments, which was rendered in English mid-15 century as
Latinised "Polettiques." In Latin, this was "politicus" and in French "politique".
Thus it became "politics" in Middle English (see the Concise Oxford Dictionary).
Regardless of how civilized the world is, there are still large numbers of
people living in the most primitive conditions. The most important of these
because they are the most scientifically studied are the "aborigines" of
Australia. The scientific study of the aboriginal Australian forms the basis of
what is best known of primitive societies in general.
The Totem group was the real social unit of the aboriginal Australian. The Totem
is not an Australian word but it is generally accepted to designate the name of
an institution which is found everywhere among primitive people. The Totem group
is primarily a group of people distinguished by the sign of a natural object,
such as an animal or tree, who may not intermarry with one another — this is the
first rule of primitive social organization; its origin is lost in antiquity
("Alcheringa") but its object is certainly to prevent the intermarriage of close
relatives. Marriage takes place between men and women of different Totems; the
husband belongs to all the women of his wife's totem and the wife belongs to all
the men of the husband's totem at the same time that a communal marriage is
established between the men and women of the two different Totems - the men and
women being of the same generation. This presents a most valuable objective
lesson in social history. There are no unmarried couples; marriage for them is
part of the natural order into which they are born..