Portal:Politics
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Politics (from Ancient Greek πολιτικά (politiká) 'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies politics and government is referred to as political science.
It may be used positively in the context of a "political solution" which is compromising and non-violent, or descriptively as "the art or science of government", but also often carries a negative connotation. The concept has been defined in various ways, and different approaches have fundamentally differing views on whether it should be used extensively or in a limited way, empirically or normatively, and on whether conflict or co-operation is more essential to it.
A variety of methods are deployed in politics, which include promoting one's own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising internal and external force, including warfare against adversaries. Politics is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes of traditional societies, through modern local governments, companies and institutions up to sovereign states, to the international level.
In modern nation states, people often form political parties to represent their ideas. Members of a party often agree to take the same position on many issues and agree to support the same changes to law and the same leaders. An election is usually a competition between different parties.
A political system is a framework which defines acceptable political methods within a society. The history of political thought can be traced back to early antiquity, with seminal works such as Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics, Confucius's political manuscripts and Chanakya's Arthashastra. (Full article...)
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The Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang is a revolutionary socialist political party that sought independence from French colonial rule in Vietnam during the early 20th century. Its origins lie in the mid-1920s, when a group of young Hanoi-based intellectuals began publishing revolutionary material. From 1928, the VNQDD attracted attention through its assassinations of French officials and Vietnamese collaborators. Under increasing French pressure, the VNQDD leadership switched tack, replacing a strategy of isolated clandestine attacks against individuals with a plan to expel the French in a single blow with a large-scale popular uprising. After stockpiling home-made weapons, the VNQDD launched an uprising on 10 February 1930 at Yen Bai with the aim of sparking a widespread revolt. The mutiny was quickly put down, with heavy French retribution. Nguyen Thai Hoc and other leading figures were captured and executed and the VNQDD never regained its political strength in the country. During the 1930s, the party was eclipsed by Ho Chi Minh's Indochinese Communist Party (ICP). Vietnam was occupied by Japan during World War II and, in the chaos that followed the Japanese surrender in 1945, the VNQDD and the ICP briefly joined forces in the fight for Vietnamese independence. However, after a falling out, Ho purged the VNQDD, leaving his communist-dominated Vietminh unchallenged as the foremost anti-colonial militant organisation.
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Gina Krog (20 June 1847 – 14 April 1916) was a Norwegian suffragist, teacher, liberal politician, writer and editor. She played a central role in the Norwegian women's movement from the 1880s until her death, notably as a leading campaigner for women's right to vote. In 1884, Krog co-founded the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights with liberal MP Hagbart Berner. Over the next two decades, Krog co-founded the Women's Voting Association, the National Association for Women's Suffrage, and the Norwegian National Women's Council, spearheading the presentation of women's suffrage proposals to the Storting (the Norwegian parliament). She was an early member of the Liberal Party and served as a deputy member of its national board.
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Pete Buttigieg served as mayor of South Bend, Indiana from 2012 to 2020. Elected in 2011 as a Democrat, he took office in January 2012 at the age of 29, becoming the second-youngest mayor in South Bend history, and the youngest incumbent mayor, at the time, of a U.S. city with at least 100,000 residents. During his mayoralty, he acquired the nickname "Mayor Pete". Coming out as gay in 2015, Buttigieg became the first elected official in Indiana to come out while in office, as well as the highest-ranking Indiana elected official to come out. Buttigieg won reelection later that year. In 2017, Buttigieg unsuccessfully ran for chairman of the Democratic National Committee, pledging to resign as mayor if he had been elected. Buttigieg opted against running for reelection in 2019, instead launching a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election. While he subsequently lost his bid for presidency, during his campaign he garnered a high national profile.
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that despite entering politics as part of a right-wing party, Betty Tejada was later elected president of the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the Movement for Socialism?
- ... that in 1946, Margrethe Parm was appointed the director of a women's prison that had been used as a political prison during the German occupation of Norway?
- ... that John Henry Dunn resigned from the Executive Council of Upper Canada only three weeks after his appointment, throwing away a post he had sought for 16 years, on a matter of political principle?
- ... that the historian and political journalist Lancelot Lawton addressed a House of Commons committee in London in 1935, beginning: "The chief problem in Europe to-day is the Ukrainian problem"?
- ... that nearing the end of his tenure as mayor of Tegal, Indonesia, Adi Winarso took part in a talkshow with his former political competitors?
- ... that New Jersey politics expert Nick Acocella hosted Pasta & Politics, a television show where he would make pasta with various politicians including Thomas Kean, Cory Booker, and Chris Christie?
More did you know...
- ...that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests as a voting qualification in the U.S.?
- ...that Nazi scientists claimed to have trained a dog to call "Adolf Hitler" as "Mein Führer"?
- ...that for many years, the Russian Soviet Republic did not have its Communist Party?
- ...that the World War II idea of Polish-Czechoslovakian confederation was eventually discarded by the Czechs, whose leader chose instead to believe in the Soviet Union promises of alliance?
- ...that although U.S. President Barack Obama is Christian, high-ranked al-Qaida member Ayman al-Zawahiri has falsely claimed that Obama secretly "pray[s] the prayers of the Jews"?
- ...that in April 2009, Lim Hwee Hua became the first woman to be appointed a full Minister in Singapore's Cabinet?
In this month
- June 28, 2004 - Canadian federal elections occur; the Liberal party loses its absolute majority.
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- August 11: 4 local government areas in New South Wales, Australia locked down after COVID-19 case
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- July 21: Technological University Dublin senior lecturer Dr Lorcan Sirr speaks to Wikinews on housing market in Ireland
- July 21: Three rural councils in New South Wales, Australia enter 7-day lockdown
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- July 15: California governor signs new state budget, eligible Californians to get stimulus payments
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