The Political - Origins

The term thus originates in the ancient world, where it was typically applied to the features and qualities of a life based in the polis, delineating the uniquely civic existence led by its citizens from other modes of life. In Roman antiquity, Greek terminology for the polis disappeared in favor of civitas (which can refer to the city, but also to the condition of being a citizen) and related words derived from the Latin world of the Roman Republic. But under the influence of Aristotle, medieval Europe became reacquainted with the Greek vocabulary, employing it interchangeably with the Latin and, later, incorporating it into vernacular languages. Early modern authors referred repeatedly to "political society" and similar doctrines. Subsequently, social researchers have maintained that politics, like other human endeavors, should be the subject of scientific study, creating the modern discipline of "political science."