What is politics?

This free course, What is politics?, introduces you to the world of politics. It is dedicated primarily to answering the question of what politics is. Although the question might seem rather simple, it elicits various, often contradictory responses. As you will realise, in politics as in much of the humanities and social sciences definitive answers are difficult to come by. What politics is and equally, who does it, and where it is done are hotly debated and highly contested. This OpenLearn course will introduce you to some of these debates, and their implications for the study and practice of politics.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 Politics: the extraordinary and the ordinary
• 1 Politics: the extraordinary and the ordinary
• 1.1 The extraordinary
• 1.2 The ordinary
• 1.3 Politics: a view from the street
• 2 Politics: a contested concept
• 2 Politics: a contested concept
• 2.1 The many meanings of politics
• 2.1.1 Politics as that which concerns the state
• 2.1.2 Politics as conflict resolution
• 2.1.3 Politics as conflict
• 2.1.4 Politics as the exercise of power
• 2.1.5 Politics as a social and public activity
• 2.2 Politics as context- and interpretation-dependent
• 2.3 The contestability of concepts
• 2.4 So what is politics?
• 3 Review
• 3 Review
• 4 Perspectives on politics
• 4 Perspectives on politics
• Conclusion
• Take the next step
• References
• Acknowledgements