ABSTRACT
It would not be possible to understand the life of any people or race by studying merely the organisation of their government: and indeed it would hardly be possible to understand the nature of that government without reference to the larger sphere of unofficial organisation, prevailing customs or habits of mind and the various sections of life which are not as yet organised or may not be susceptible of organisation. Politics covers only a small part of social life. International politics, in the same way, covers only a part of international life: and even that section cannot be understood without reference to a wider field of voluntary effort and unorganised vitality.
