Political Philosophy.  
What are Politics & Democracy?

In this ‘Age of Mass Communication’ most people understandably suffer from ‘Information Overload’ and tend to ‘ignore’ or discard information that is not related to their own interests.

Semantics is the study of the ‘Meaning or Sense of Words’ which is important in this discussion regarding ‘Politics & Democracy’.  

Definition: 
Politics: from Polity - polites: The Citizens of a City State, organised society. L. politia. Gk politeia: polites – citizen:  polis – city: basically  Politics = the Public or the People (not Politicians or the 'ruling classes').

Democracy: System of government by the whole population: from Gk: demokratia: f. demos the people + cracy: f. kratos - strength, power.   
Ergo: Democracy = People Power: (as in Associations)

It is difficult to provide a clear modern interpretation of ‘politics’, but originally it refers to the People – inhabitants of a City State and the ‘Democratic’  organisation to enable them to work and live in harmony for the benefit of all.

The modern meaning of Politics & Democracy is a ‘bastardisation’ of both senses, to suit the modern meaning of ‘Politics’ as:
The Practice and Application of Governing the Nation.

This modern meaning also ‘Falsely’ presupposes that ‘Politicians’ understand ‘How to Govern a Nation’, when in truth, most are ‘Abysmally Unqualified’ and are only interested in furthering their own Power, Profit & Glory, at the vast expense and sufferance of the People.
(Ref: APP Manifesto: The Urgent need to establish a ‘Collage of Government’)  

Finally: Regardless of humour and wit, we should finish with an overview of Politics from an independent source, that august font of all knowledge: the Encyclopædia Britannica.

Political Philosophy.
Copyright © 1994-2002 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 

A branch of philosophy that is concerned, at the most abstract level, with the concepts and arguments involved in political opinion. The meaning of “political” is itself one of the major problems of political philosophy. Broadly, however, one may characterize as political, all those practices and institutions that are concerned with government. Of first importance in political philosophy is the analysis of the state and related institutions.

The central problem of political philosophy is how to deploy or limit public power (Public Authority) so as to maintain the survival and enhance the quality of human life. Like all aspects of human experience, it is conditioned by environment and by the scope and limitations of mind; and the answers given by successive political philosophers to perennial problems reflect the knowledge and the assumptions of their times.

 The question of the state leads to those of sovereignty (the power and authority assumed by the ruler) and political obligation (the duty and submission assumed by the ruled). Under what conditions, if any, can political obligation arise, and what is its extent? Political obligation tends to be upheld on grounds either of utility or of justice.

But what is justice?
This question was regarded by Plato and Aristotle as the fundamental question of political theory, and it remains high on the agenda of modern liberal philosophers. (ie the APPy Party)

No political philosophy is complete without an account of law and constitution. What is a law, how are laws justified, and how far should they extend? Are there forms of reasoning that are special to law? Finally, the concept of a constitution is one of the major inventions of Western thought and describes the condition of “limited government” government that is circumscribed by its own procedures.

Copyright © 1994-2002 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.