According to David Easton, it is the authoritative allocation of values. Simply put, the power of someone or something to hand out things that are generally considered good. Harold Laswell defined it as a matter of benefit, who gets what, how and when.
A term which cannot be separated from politics is government. Government is that organization that hands out the things that are good. It is the structure that identifies who the beneficiaries are, what they get and how. A key element in government is legitimacy. To be legitimate, it has to be widely accepted that something is rightfully necessary or legally binding. Politics goes hand in hand with government.
Source: cas.unt.edu