Political animals.(FROM THE EDITOR)(Editorial)

Aristotle, whose interest in biology rivaled his expertise in statecraft, famously wrote that "Man is by nature a political animal."

We are all political animals--and so are many of our quadruped, flippered, and fluke-tailed relations. Wolves, dolphins, elephants, baboons, and other mammals are politicking when they engage in behaviors such as opportunism and leadership, projecting ambition within their group and habitat. Their success is tied to biological survival, and the stakes appear to be identical for human beings. For animals and for us, these basic political performances, functions, and actions require organization and depend on alliances within society: We are all social creatures.

Politics and being political are neither bad nor good. Rather, they are characteristic of sophisticated life forms. Naturally, there are many permutations of human political life, as Aristotle observed through his travels and ruminations more than 2,300 years ago.

In this issue celebrating California's prominent and ...