What is the nature of politics?

What is the nature of politics?
In economics (the category this question appears in), the nature of politics is explored in Public Choice Theory. Public Choice Theory models individual choices and political actions as rational, utility maximising, and computable. In economics, politics is considered more about maximising outcomes in either votes, policies, or success, not so much as moral ideology or philosophy. This involves two primary branches of analysis: 1) bureaucratic optimisation; 2) politicial optimisation. In Western voting, Public Choice Theory treats voting as a 'Hotelling model' where politicians vie to maximise votes by picking the correct political positions. Likewise, governments maintain their legitimacy by picking proper positions. To understand how politics is modelled in economics, you can also investigate Bertrand and Cornout duopolies.