Political processes are the activites through which people decide upon and enact the shared rules by which we live including how we collect and share resources, how we will be governed, and by whom. At the highest federal levels through the local and individual decisions, politics involves social values, choices, negotiations, and compromise. Politics intersect with aging in two ways: older people are active participants in political processes, as voters, civic volunteers, and elected officials; and policies designed to meet the needs of an aging population are topics of debate and compromise. This chapter helps the reader to identify the key roles of historic changes in views of aging on aging policy and to understand the successes and challenges of the old-age welfare state. It appreciates the extent to which social circumstances other than age, including race, ethnicity, and social class, drive political and civic behavior.