The New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation

Abstract

Politics might be defined as the resolution of the claims made on the state by the various sections of and individuals within the community. This definition might also hold for other organisations if such terms as "Club" and "Membership" were substituted for "State" and "Community" but here the main concern is national politics where the State is the font from which all blessings flow. The claims made by these individuals are made in pursuance of certain goals or ends which can be summed up under the term "interests". Now, in any community the number of sections and individuals making claims on the State is so great, and the range of interests they profess it so wide, that the above definition tends to lose almost all heuristic value; the "man in the street" and "the public interest" are virtually indefinable, yet they must be included for the definition to be complete; so must the prejudices of a Cabinet Minister based on traumatic experiences in childhood.