The word 政治 (zhèngzhì, "politics") is formed through the conceptual combination of two ancient, fundamental ideas of governance: 政 (zhèng), which signifies the affairs of state, administration, and authoritative policy, and 治 (zhì), which signifies order, regulation, and the act of governing rightly. Together, they merge into a single compound representing the comprehensive concept of how power is organized and exercised to manage and bring order to a community or state, reflecting the traditional view that proper administration (政) inherently leads to social order and effective governance (治).