ABSTRACT
Politics as a recognisable human activity is as old as civilisation itself. Societal and
technological change is symbiotically linked and as one changes, so does the other.
Such developments also affect the nature of political discourse and structures. Although
in a broad sense we may argue that the institutional and psycho-sociological content of
politics has altered radically over the millennia, certain themes remain constant. These
include the search for stability, the creation of societies based on (competing notions
of) justice, the preservation of the status quo or indeed its destruction and the creation
of the ‘good’ society. The potential list of politically themed activities is limitless and
because it would reach into infinity, the production of such a list would be pointless.
Yet we can and should make observations about the nature of politics so that we can
better understand the nature of the societies in which we live.
