The very fact that Plato and Aristotle saw imperfections in the societies in which they lived, prompted them to write their political philosophies. These philosophies provided the first written recognition of politics. It is almost primal. So according to Aristotle Politics is not a dreamt up concept, but rather an inherent feature of mankind. To begin with, the basest premise that underpins the notion of politics should be considered in order to arrive at a fair definition.
Man is self-preserving by nature.
He thinks and acts, whether that is as an individual or as a group who share interests, with foremost regard to his own interests. Self-perpetuation is the number one rule. He therefore possesses his own interests, ideas and preferences, which may differ to those of his contemporaries. If man were permitted to act on and pursue his own selfish interests, snatching that, which he desires, a society would quickly become under rule of violence. Politics is a way of combating the degradation of society into a violent and unstructured mess by reducing it to be governed by the primitive instincts of man in order to resolve conflict.