The Politics of Time is the seventh overall release, third album-length release, and first compilation by American hardcore punk band the Minutemen.Released in between their Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat 12" EP and Double Nickels on the Dime double album on their own New Alliance Records label, the album compiles seven tracks meant for a non-SST Minutemen studio album that never materialized, a variety of live tracks of varying recording quality (most done with ordinary cassette machines), and a recording by the Minutemen's predecessor band The Reactionaries.Part of the sleeve note on the back cover facetiously asks listeners to "note the quality of the recording" on the live version of "Fanatics" (from The Punch Line).