What is politics?
The nutshell
Politics is how people make shared choices and rules about how to live together. In the UK, politics is how the country is run, how laws are made, and how leaders are chosen.
Every fact on this page comes from official guides and non-partisan explainers. Each source tag — like HoL — opens where a fact comes from.
The basics
What politics means
Politics is how a group of people make shared decisions. Every group needs rules, and a way to agree what those rules are, from a school council to a whole country. Politics is that process of deciding — often when people do not agree.
How politics works in the UK
In the UK, voters choose people to make decisions on behalf of everyone. This is called representative democracy — voters elect Members of Parliament, or MPs, to make those decisions.HoL Each MP speaks for one local area, called a constituency.
Parliament and the government
Two different things run the country. Parliament debates issues, makes new laws and checks the work of the government.Parl The government — the Prime Minister and a team of ministers — runs the country day to day.GOV The government cannot make a new law or raise a new tax without Parliament agreeing first.Parl
How people take part
Voting in elections is the main way people take part in politics.EC Between elections there are other ways to be heard, like signing a petition, joining a group, or writing to an MP. Politics happens at many levels too, from a local council up to the UK Parliament.
- Politics decides real things like schools, hospitals, taxes and roads, so it affects daily life
- Voting lets people change who is in charge in a peaceful way, without force
- Signing a petition, joining a group or writing to an MP are ways to be heard between elections
- One vote every few years can feel like a small say over big decisions
- Political news is often full of jargon that is hard to follow
- Some people feel that little changes locally, whoever wins the election
The deep end6 min
What politics is
Politics is the process a group uses to make shared decisions and rules. It appears wherever people live or work together and do not fully agree, from a family or a school to a whole country. At the level of a country, politics settles how the country is run, how money is raised and spent, and what the laws are.
Choosing who decides: representative democracy
In the UK, most political decisions are not made by everyone voting on each one. Instead, decisions are made by elected representatives. The House of Lords Library describes this as representative parliamentary democracy — citizens elect Members of Parliament, who take account of the views of local voters as well as personal judgement.HoL The House of Commons is made up of 650 elected MPs, each standing for one constituency.HoL
Two different jobs: Parliament and the government
Parliament and the government are often confused, but the two are not the same. UK Parliament states that the government runs the country and enforces laws, while Parliament debates issues, makes laws and checks the work of the government.Parl The same guide notes that the government cannot make new laws or raise new taxes without Parliament's agreement.Parl
The government is led by the Prime Minister. GOV.UK explains that the Prime Minister is responsible for the government's policy and decisions and chooses the ministers, and that a group of senior ministers called the Cabinet meets each week to make the biggest decisions.GOV GOV.UK adds that Parliament is separate from the government.GOV
Taking part, and disagreeing peacefully
Voting is the main way people take part. The Electoral Commission, the independent body that oversees UK elections, works to help people learn about democracy and take part in elections.EC Politics also runs at other levels, from elected local councils up to the UK Parliament, and reaches beyond voting through petitions, campaigns and joining a party.
Politics is also about disagreement. People and parties want different things on tax, schools, health, crime or the environment, and politics is how those differences are settled by discussion and votes rather than by force. What counts as the right choice is contested, and this site does not take a side. The aim of politics, on this view, is to reach shared decisions that most people will accept, even when opinions differ.