Portal:Politics
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The Politics portal
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 status or resources. The branch of social science that studies politics and government is referred to as political science.
Politics 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 the word often also 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...)
Selected article
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization established on 24 October 1945 to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was created following the Second World War to prevent another such conflict. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193. The UN Headquarters is situated in Manhattan, New York City and enjoys extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. During the Second World War, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated talks on a successor agency to the League of Nations, and the United Nations Charter was drafted at a conference in April–June 1945; this charter took effect on 24 October 1945, and the UN began operation. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UN's work. The organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UN's effectiveness have been mixed. Some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased.
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Salman Khurshid (born 1 January 1953) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress, a lawyer, and a writer who has been elected from Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency in the General Election of 2009. He belongs to the Farrukhabad area. He is presently the Cabinet Minister of the Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Minority Affairs.
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India is a union consisting of 28 states and 8 union territories. As of 2022, with an estimated population of 1.4 billion, India is the world's most populous country. India occupies 2.4% of the world's area and is home to 17.5% of the world's population. The Indo-Gangetic Plain has one of the world's biggest stretches of fertile not-deep alluvium and are among the most densely populated areas of the world. The eastern and western coastal regions of Deccan Plateau are also densely populated regions of India. The Thar Desert in western Rajasthan is one of the most densely populated deserts in the world. The northern and north-eastern states along the Himalayas contain cold arid deserts with fertile valleys. These states have relatively low population density due to indomitable physical barriers. (Full article...) -
The Song dynasty (960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that succeeded the period referred to as Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) and preceded the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), which conquered the Song dynasty in 1279. The conventional division into the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) and Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) is created by the conquest of northern China by the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in 1127 and the consequent shift of the capital from Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng) in the north to Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou) in the south.
Below is a complete list of emperors of the Song dynasty, including their temple names, posthumous names, given names, and era names. The dynasty was founded by Zhao Kuangyin, who became Emperor Taizu (r. 960–976) and concluded with the death of Zhao Bing (r. 1278–1279). The last emperor of the Northern Song was Emperor Qinzong (r. 1126–1127), while the first Southern Song emperor was Emperor Gaozong (r. 1127–1162). (Full article...) -
Map of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania with Municipal Labels showing Boroughs (red) and Townships (white)
Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, United States, is divided into 13 incorporated municipalities. State law defines the two kinds of municipalities present in the county: four boroughs and nine townships. In the 2010 census, the population of Sullivan County was 6,428, making it an "Eighth Class County", defined by Pennsylvania law as "having a population of less than 20,000 inhabitants". Its county seat is Laporte, which was the smallest county seat in Pennsylvania by population, as of 2001.
Sullivan County is located in north central Pennsylvania, about 123 miles (198 km) northwest of Philadelphia and 195 miles (314 km) east-northeast of Pittsburgh. The county covers 452 square miles (1,170 km2), of which 450 square miles (1,165 km2) is land and 2 square miles (5.2 km2) (0.53%) is water. Its municipalities range in size from the borough of Dushore with 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2) to Davidson Township with 78.2 square miles (203 km2). Cherry Township has the highest population of any municipality (1,705 or 26.5% of the county total as of 2010), while the borough of Eagles Mere has the lowest population (120 or 1.9%). (Full article...) -
A map of the counties and county equivalents of the United States. The 100 most populous counties are highlighted, with counties having more than one million residents in orange and counties having fewer than one million residents in green, based on the results of the April 1, 2020 United States census.
This is a list of the 100 most populous of the 3,144 counties in the United States based on the national decennial US census conducted on April 1, 2020, and vintage Census population estimates for July 1, 2023.
Many of the counties on the list include major cities or metropolitan areas in all parts of the United States. Six of the listed counties have consolidated city and county government, namely the City and County of Honolulu, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, City and County of Philadelphia, City and County of San Francisco, City of Jacksonville and Duval County and City and County of Denver. New York County, Bronx County, Kings County, Queens County and Richmond County are coterminous with the respective boroughs of New York City; they fall under the jurisdiction of the combined city government. Independent cities are not counted. (Full article...) -
The Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, which houses the office of the governor
The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the U.S. state of Indiana. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Indiana's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws.
While a territory, Indiana had two governors appointed by the president of the United States. Since statehood in 1816, it has had 49 governors, serving 51 distinct terms; Isaac P. Gray and Henry F. Schricker are the only governors to have served non-consecutive terms. Four governors have served two four-year terms; territorial governor William Henry Harrison served for 11 years. The shortest-serving governor is Henry S. Lane, who served two days before resigning to become a U.S. senator. The current governor is Eric Holcomb, who took office on January 9, 2017. (Full article...) -
Monarchs of the Muhammad Ali dynasty reigned over Egypt from 1805 to 1953. Their rule also extended to Sudan throughout much of this period,[a] as well as to the Levant, and Hejaz during the first half of the nineteenth century. The Muhammad Ali dynasty was founded by Pasha Muhammad Ali, an Albanian commander in the expeditionary force sent by the Ottoman Empire in 1801 to dislodge the French occupation of Egypt led by Napoleon Bonaparte. The defeat and departure of the French left a power vacuum in Egypt, which had been an Ottoman province since the sixteenth century, but in which the pre-Ottoman Mamluk military caste maintained considerable power. After a three-year civil war, Muhammad Ali managed to consolidate his control over Egypt, and declared himself Khedive of the country. The Ottoman government refused to acknowledge this title, instead recognizing Muhammad Ali by the more junior title of Wāli (roughly equivalent to a governor or viceroy) on 18 June 1805, making Muhammad Ali the successor to Ahmad Pasha in that position. In the years following his consolidation of power, Muhammad Ali extended Egypt's borders southwards into Sudan, and eastwards into the Arab-majority Mashriq, particularly the Levant. In 1840, his demand for hereditary control of Egypt and Sudan to be passed to his heirs and successors was accepted and confirmed by the Convention of London, but he was compelled to agree that, upon his death, control over his territories in the Mashreq would revert to the Porte.
Muhammad Ali had a 43-year reign, the longest in the history of modern Egypt. Termed the "father of modern Egypt," he is viewed in Egyptian historiography as the dynasty's most important ruler, due to his massive agricultural, administrative, and military reforms. His son, Ibrahim Pasha, was the shortest-reigning monarch of the dynasty. The duration of his rule varies from one source to another, depending on whether or not his reign as regent is taken into account. Contrary to what the short length of his reign might suggest, Ibrahim Pasha was far from being a historically negligible figure, although most of his significant achievements were made before his accession to the throne. His successor, Abbas Helmi I, a traditionalist described by Lord Cromer as "an Oriental despot of the worst type," reverted many of his predecessors' reform-minded measures, and is considered the most controversial ruler of his family. (Full article...) -
There are 23 counties in the U.S. state of Wyoming. There were originally five counties in the Wyoming Territory: Laramie and Carter, established in 1867; Carbon and Albany established in 1868; and Uinta, and annexed portion of Utah and Idaho, extending from Montana (including Yellowstone Park) to the Wyoming–Utah boundary. On July 10, 1890, Wyoming was admitted to the Union with thirteen counties in it. Ten more counties were created after statehood.
Two counties were renamed after their creation. Carter County was renamed Sweetwater County on December 1, 1869. Pease County, formed in 1875, was renamed Johnson County in 1879. (Full article...) -
The governor of Idaho is the head of government of Idaho and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The officeholder has the duty to see state laws are executed, power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Idaho Legislature. The current governor of Idaho is Brad Little, a Republican, who took office on January 7, 2019.
Thirty-one individuals have held the office of governor of Idaho since the state's admission to the Union in 1890, two of whom served non-consecutive terms. The state's first governor, George L. Shoup, had the shortest term, of three months; Cecil Andrus had the longest, of 14 years. (Full article...) -
The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the Arkansas government and is charged with enforcing state laws. They have the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Arkansas General Assembly, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment.
The state has had 46 elected governors, as well as 11 acting governors who assumed powers and duties following the resignation or death of the governor. Before becoming a state, Arkansas Territory had four governors appointed to it by the president of the United States. Orval Faubus (1955–1967) served the longest term as governor, being elected six times to serve 12 years. Bill Clinton (1979–1981; 1983–1992), elected five times over two distinct terms, fell only one month short of 12 years, and Mike Huckabee (1996–2007) served 10 years for two full four-year terms. The shortest term for an elected governor was the 38 days served by John Sebastian Little before his nervous breakdown; one of the acting successors to his term, Jesse M. Martin, took office only three days before the end of the term, the shortest term overall. (Full article...) -
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the New Jersey Legislature, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of treason or impeachment.
The first New Jersey State Constitution, ratified in 1776, provided that a governor be elected annually by the state legislature, the members of which were selected by the several counties. Under this constitution, the governor was president of the upper house of the legislature, then called the Legislative Council. The 1844 constitution provided for a popular vote to elect the governor, who no longer presided over the upper house of the legislature, now called the Senate. The 1844 constitution also lengthened the governor's term to three years, set to start on the third Tuesday in January following an election, and barred governors from succeeding themselves. The 1947 constitution extended terms to four years, and limits governors from being elected to more than two consecutive terms, though they can run again after a third term has passed. Joseph Bloomfield, Peter Dumont Vroom, Daniel Haines, Joel Parker, Leon Abbett, and Walter Evans Edge each served two non-consecutive stints as governor while A. Harry Moore served three non-consecutive stints. Foster McGowan Voorhees, James Fairman Fielder, and Richard Codey each served two non-consecutive stints, one as acting governor and one as official governor. (Full article...) -
The timeline of elections in Canada covers all the provincial, territorial and federal elections from when each province was joined Confederation through to the present day. The table below indicates which party won the election. Several provinces held elections before joining Canada, but only their post-Confederation elections are shown. These include:
- Lower Canada held 15 elections for its Legislative Assembly, from 1792 to 1835;
- Upper Canada held 13 elections to its Legislative Assembly, from 1792 to 1836;
- the Province of Canada held 8 elections for its Legislative Assembly from 1841 to 1863;
- New Brunswick's first 21 elections, beginning in 1785 (the 21st Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick was elected in 1866, one year before Confederation, and continued until 1870, three years after Confederation);
- Nova Scotia's first 22 elections, beginning in 1758;
- Prince Edward Island's first 25 elections, beginning in 1773; and
- Newfoundland's first 29 elections, beginning in 1832.
The most recent election is shown with a box limited to five years of government, as this is the maximum length of office, as set by the constitution. However, elections can be called at any time by an incumbent government. The federal government, nine provinces, and one territory have changed to fixed election dates every four years. For these legislatures, the box is shown as running until the next scheduled election, but one could still be earlier if the government falls due to a motion of no confidence. Nova Scotia and Yukon do not have fixed election dates in this matter. (Full article...) -
The prime minister of Pakistan (Urdu: وزير اعظم, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam, lit. 'Grand Vizier', Urdu pronunciation: [ʋəˈziːɾˌeː ˈɑː.zəm]) is the popularly elected politician who is the chief executive of the Government of Pakistan. The prime minister is vested with the responsibility of running the administration through his appointed federal cabinet, formulating national and foreign policies to ensure the safeguard of the interests of the nation and its people through the Council of Common Interests as well as making the decision to call nationwide general elections for the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan.
Since 1947, Pakistan has had 20 prime ministers, aside from the appointed caretaker prime ministers who were only mandated to oversee the system until the election process was finished. In Pakistan's parliamentary system, the prime minister is sworn in by the president and usually is the chairman or the president of the party or coalition that has a majority in the National Assembly– the lower house of Pakistan Parliament. (Full article...) -
The U.S. state of Texas is divided into 254 counties, more than any other U.S. state. While only about 20% of Texas counties are generally located within the Houston—Dallas—San Antonio—Austin areas, they serve a majority of the state's population with approximately 22,000,000 inhabitants.
Texas was originally divided into municipalities (municipios in Spanish), a unit of local government under Spanish and Mexican rule. When the Republic of Texas gained its independence in 1836, the 23 municipalities became the original Texas counties. Many of these were later divided into new counties. The last county to be initially created was Kenedy County in 1921, but Loving County is the newest organized county; it was first organized in 1893 in an apparent scheme to defraud, abolished in 1897, then reorganized in 1931. Most of these recent counties, especially near the northwest, were created from Bexar County during the 1870s. (Full article...) -
Map of the counties of colonial Connecticut, 1766.
There are eight counties in the U.S. state of Connecticut.
Four of the counties – Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven and New London – were created in 1666, shortly after the Connecticut Colony and the New Haven Colony combined. Windham and Litchfield counties were created later in the colonial era, while Middlesex and Tolland counties were created after American independence (both in 1785). Six of the counties are named for locations in England, where many early Connecticut settlers originated; Fairfield County was named after the salt marshes that bordered the coast, while New Haven County was named for the New Haven Colony. (Full article...) -
Distribution of mandates after the 2005 election Labour Party (61)Centre Party (11)Liberal Party (10)Conservative Party (23)Progress Party (38)
List of all the members of the Storting in the period 2005 to 2009. The list includes all those initially elected to the Storting. Between 19 October 2005 and 30 September 2009, the Parliament of Norway consisted of 169 members from 7 parties and 19 constituencies, elected during the 2005 Norwegian parliamentary election on 11 and 12 September. The Red-Green Coalition, consisting of the Labour Party (61 members), the Socialist Left Party (15 members) and the Centre Party (11 members) gained a majority and created Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet. The majority cabinet lasted the entire session and was reelected in the 2009 election. The opposition consisted of four parties: the Progress Party (38 members), the Conservative Party (23 members), the Christian Democratic Party (11 members) and the Liberal Party (10 members).
Members of the Parliament of Norway are elected based on party-list proportional representation in plural member constituencies. This means that representatives from different political parties are elected from 19 constituencies, which are identical to the 19 counties. The electorate does not vote for individuals but rather for party lists, with a ranked list of candidates nominated by the party. This means that the person on top of the list will get the seat unless the voter alters the ballot. Parties may nominate candidates from outside their own constituency, and even Norwegian citizens currently living abroad. (Full article...)
Selected quote
Selected biography
Han Sorya (Korean: 한설야, born Han Pyŏngdo; 3 August 1900 – 6 April 1976) was a Korean writer, literary administrator and politician who spent much of his career in North Korea. Regarded as one of the most important fiction writers in North Korean history, Han also served as head of the Korean Writers' Union and Ministry of Education.
During his career, Han survived a number of purges that were caused by factional strife within the Workers' Party of North Korea, to become a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. Han, motivated by personal grievances against his rival writers, sometimes acted as the force behind the purges within the cultural establishment as well. Han himself was purged in 1962. In his works, Han offered some of the earliest known contributions to the cult of personality of Kim Il-sung. His influence is felt in North Korea even today, though his name has been forgotten from official histories. Han's best-known work, the anti-American novella Jackals, however, has been invoked in the 2000s.
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Nigeria's Muslim–Muslim ticket challenges the norm of religious balance in politics?
- ... that Philipp Tanzer has been an army medic, artist, firefighter, hairdresser, massage therapist, festival organiser, political candidate and gay porn star?
- ... that American football wide receiver Bo Hines transferred to Yale University as a freshman to further his political ambitions?
- ... that Disney once created a political advertisement for Dwight D. Eisenhower (featured)?
- ... that Azerbaijan has been a member of the Council of Europe, an organization promoting human rights, for more than twenty years, despite holding political prisoners and rigging elections?
- ... that artist Tove Jansson based the children's book character Snufkin on a political philosopher whom she had dated?
More did you know...
- ...that in the 1930s, Australia was home to a paramilitary Fascist organization called the New Guard?
- ...that four member states of the European Union have de jure opt-outs and do not participate fully in all common policies?
- ...that Cornelius, Oregon is named after pioneer Thomas R. Cornelius, who served in the both the Territorial and State legislatures?
- ...that the Society of the Friends of Peasants had significant influence on the Danish Constitution of 1849?
- ...that the Brown Dog affair, an Edwardian era vivisection controversy, led to massive riots?
- ...that in April 2009, Lim Hwee Hua became the first woman to be appointed a full Minister in Singapore's Cabinet?
In this month
- September 14, 2003 – Estonia approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
- September 21, 1854 – the United States Republican Party is founded. The party opposed the expansion of slavery, called for free homesteads to farmers ("free soil"), and sought to modernize banking, railroads, and industry.
News and Current events
Wikinews on Politics and conflicts
- August 11: 4 local government areas in New South Wales, Australia locked down after COVID-19 case
- August 11: Australia: AstraZeneca vaccine access expanded by Victorian government
- August 1: Australia: Victorian lockdown lifted
- July 29: Tunisia's president dismisses prime minister, suspends parliament
- July 25: Australia: Wikinews interviews Reg Kidd, mayor of the City of Orange, about COVID-19 lockdown and local government
- July 23: South Australia enters week-long lockdown to contain COVID-19 Delta variant spread
- 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
- July 21: Australia: Victoria lockdown extended by a week with 85 active cases recorded
- July 15: California governor signs new state budget, eligible Californians to get stimulus payments
Topics and categories
See the portal's Topics and categories page for a comprehensive overview.
General images
The following are images from various politics-related articles on Wikipedia.
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The logo and slogan for change.org (from Politics and technology) -
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders campaigning for extended US Medicare coverage in 2017. (from Health politics) -
Division of the world according to Haushofer's pan-regions doctrine (from Geopolitics) -
World map with the concepts of Heartland and Rimland applied (from Geopolitics) -
Montenegro's president Milo Đukanović is often described as having strong links to Montenegrin mafia. (from Political corruption) -
Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak was found guilty in the corruption trial over the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal. He is currently serving his sentence in Kajang Prison. (from Political corruption) -
Karl Marx and his theory of Communism, developed with Friedrich Engels, proved to be one of the most influential political ideologies of the 20th century. (from History of political thought) -
US Military Police officer restraining and sedating prisoner, while a soldier holds him down (from Political corruption) -
A map depicting Corruption Perceptions Index in the world in 2023; a higher score indicates lower levels of perceived corruption.100 – 9089 – 8079 – 7069 – 6059 – 5049 – 4039 – 3029 – 2019 – 109 – 0No data(from Political corruption) -
American lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation. (from Political corruption) -
The Flag of the United Nations flying at United Nations Plaza in the Civic Center, San Francisco, California. The UN is one of the key organizations in the process of the political globalization. (from Political globalization) -
Countries with politicians, public officials or close associates implicated in the Panama Papers leak on April 15, 2016 (from Political corruption) -
This is the divide of the different political parties in Estonia where in the 2013 elections, over 133,000 people (roughly 21.2% of participating voters) voted over the Internet. The 2013 elections were also the first elections to allow vote verification with mobile devices. (from Politics and technology) -
Blockchain technology has created cryptocurrencies similarly to voting tokens seen in blockchain voting platforms, with recognizable names including Bitcoin and Ethereum. (from Politics and technology) -
Sir Halford Mackinder's Heartland concept showing the situation of the "pivot area" established in the Theory of the Heartland. He later revised it to mark Northern Eurasia as a pivot while keeping area marked above as Heartland. (from Geopolitics) -
Russia handing over the symbolic relay baton for the hosting rights of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar in June 2018 (from Political corruption) -
Savka Dabčević-Kučar, Croatian Spring participant; Europe's first female prime minister (from Civil and political rights) -
Protesters in support of American whistleblower Edward Snowden, Berlin, Germany, 30 August 2014 (from Political corruption) -
Candlelight protest against South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea, 7 January 2017 (from Political corruption) -
Ferdinand Marcos (pictured with his daughter Imee) was a Philippine dictator and kleptocrat. His regime was infamous for its corruption. (from Political corruption) -
A world map distinguishing countries of the world as federations (green) from unitary states (blue), a work of political science (from Political science) -
Detail from Corrupt Legislation (1896) by Elihu Vedder. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. (from Political corruption) -
The sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams' "corrupt bargain" of 1824 is an example of patronage. (from Political corruption) -
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Reformers like the American Joseph Keppler depicted the Senate as controlled by the giant moneybags, who represented the nation's financial trusts and monopolies. (from Political corruption) -
Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1830, Louvre), a painting created at a time where old and modern political philosophies came into violent conflict. (from History of political thought) -
A memorial to the Great Famine (Ireland), a famine event in Ireland that faced elongated suffering from the UK's domestic policy failures at the time under the Prime Ministers Sir Robert Peel and Lord John Russell. (from Health politics)
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