Final answer:
Politics is the collective process of making decisions about resource allocation, power, and authority in society.
Step-by-step explanation:
Politics can be comprehensively defined as the activity or process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The definition suggested by political scientist Harold Lasswell is often cited, which is "who gets what, when, and how." This encapsulates the distribution of resources, power, and authority within any given society.
Politics is evident in various forms and is not confined to governments; it occurs in other institutions like families, schools, and other social structures. It involves the struggle for power over the written and unwritten rules that govern the collective behavior within a certain location, from a single room to an entire nation, or even globally.
Overall, politics is about the interactions and decisions that determine how resources are shared, what social policies are pursued, and the values that a government chooses to support. This extends to all the actions of government, interactions with citizens, and the broader societal implications of political choices and strategies.
In essence, through the political process, society determines the allocation of scarce resources and chooses which economic and social policies to follow, shaping everything from national security and economic development to individual liberties and social equality.