politiikka

Politiikka, the Finnish term for politics, is the set of activities and processes through which groups, especially states and communities, decide on collective goals and allocate resources. It encompasses the making of public policy, the negotiation among political actors, and the administration of public affairs. Core concerns include the distribution of power, legitimacy of authority, and the rights of citizens in a political order.

Key components of politiikka include political institutions such as legislatures, executives, judiciaries, and bureaucracies; political parties, interest groups, and media; and the processes of elections, representation, and public deliberation. Public policy covers areas like health, education, economy, security, and the environment, and is shaped by negotiations among domestic actors and, in many cases, international influences.

Political theory and philosophy provide frameworks for evaluating systems and values such as democracy, liberty, equality, justice, and authority. Political ideologies—liberalism, conservatism, socialism, nationalism, authoritarianism—influence goals and methods, but empirical analysis in political science seeks to understand how institutions perform in practice across different contexts.

Research methods include comparative politics, political economy, public policy analysis, survey research, and formal modeling. Subfields of study include domestic politics, international relations, and public administration. Politically, the term also refers to the ongoing negotiation of power and legitimacy within a society, and to processes of governance at local, national, and supranational levels.