Portal:Politics
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Politics is a set of activities associated with the governance of a country or an area. It involves making decisions that apply to members of a group.
It refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance—organized control over a human community, particularly a state. The academic study focusing on just politics, which is therefore more targeted than general political science, is sometimes referred to as politology (not to be confused with politicology, a synonym for political science).
In modern nation-states, people often form political parties to represent their ideas. Members of a party 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. Some examples of political parties worldwide are: the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, the Democratic Party (D) in the United States, the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Germany and the Bhartiya Janata Party in India.
Politics is a multifaceted word. It has a set of fairly specific meanings that are descriptive and nonjudgmental (such as "the art or science of government" and "political principles"), but does often colloquially carry a negative connotation. The word has been used negatively for many years: the British national anthem as published in 1745 calls on God to "Confound their politics", and the phrase "play politics", for example, has been in use since at least 1853, when abolitionist Wendell Phillips declared: "We do not play politics; anti-slavery is no half-jest with us."
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 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.
A political system is a framework which defines acceptable political methods within a given society. The history of political thought can be traced back to early antiquity, with seminal works such as Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics and the works of Confucius.
Selected article
JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner). Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones) for his alleged participation in a conspiracy to assassinate the president, for which Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) was found responsible by two Government investigations: the Warren Commission, and the House Select Committee on Assassinations (which concluded that there was another assassin shooting with Oswald). The film was adapted by Stone and Zachary Sklar from the books On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison and Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs. Stone described this account as a "counter-myth" to the "fictional myth" of the Warren Commission. The film became embroiled in controversy. Upon JFK's theatrical release, many major American newspapers ran editorials accusing Stone of taking liberties with historical facts, including the film's implication that President Lyndon B. Johnson was part of a coup d'état to kill Kennedy. After a slow start at the box office, Stone's film gradually picked up momentum, earning over $205 million in worldwide gross. JFK went on to win two Academy Awards and was nominated for eight in total, including Best Picture. The film was one of three films Stone made about the American Presidency, followed later by Nixon with Anthony Hopkins in the title role and W. with Josh Brolin as George W. Bush.
Featured picture
Photo taken by a Lockheed U-2 spy plane of the San Cristobal MRBM launch site in Cuba, November 1962, after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although this image was taken days after the crisis had ended (October 28), this image has become iconic of the crisis to the point where it is often cited incorrectly as having been taken during the crisis.
Selected quote
News and Current Events
- August 8: Puerto Rico Supreme Court removes Governor Pierluisi; Wanda Vázquez becomes governor
- August 4: Puerto Rico's governor Rosselló resigns, new governor sworn in
- July 28: Puerto Rico governor announces resignation following protests
- July 24: Boris Johnson elected Conservative leader, slated to be Britain's next Prime Minister
- July 20: US House of Representatives holds two Cabinet officers in criminal contempt of Congress
- July 1: Charlottesville, Virginia killer sentenced to life in prison
- June 23: Hong Kong protesters surround downtown police complex
- May 21: Nickey Iyambo, former vice-president of Namibia, dies aged 82
- May 18: Governor of US state of Alabama signs state anti-abortion measure
- May 15: Polish leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski promises stricter punishments for child abusers
May 27: Andrew Yang (yang2020.com) and Scott McCatty (votescotty.com) 2020 presidential candidates are planning a debate on Telegram. 35.138.243.249 (talk) 12:36, 27 May 2019 (UTC)dnb
Selected biography
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California. He was defeated in his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 as well as 1976, but won both the nomination and election in 1980. As president, Reagan implemented new political initiatives as well as economic policies, advocating a laissez-faire philosophy, but the extent to which these ideas were implemented is debatable. The policies, dubbed "Reaganomics," included substantial tax cuts implemented in 1981. After surviving an assassination attempt and ordering controversial military actions in Grenada, he was re-elected in a landslide victory in 1984. Reagan's second term was marked by the ending of the Cold War, as well as a number of administration scandals, notably the Iran–Contra affair. The president ordered a massive military buildup in an arms race with the Soviet Union, foregoing the previous strategy of détente. He publicly portrayed the USSR as an "Evil Empire" and supported anti-Communist movements worldwide.
Did you know...
- ...that political opportunity theory explains the rise and decline of social movements by their dependence on outside, political factors?
- ...that impeachment in Norway was used six times in 1814–1845, but only twice since?
- ...that The Mass Psychology of Fascism, a book written by Wilhelm Reich in 1933, blamed sexual repression for the rise of fascism?
- ...that the National Assembly of Azerbaijan was the first secular republican parliament in the Muslim world?
- ...that in world-system theory, sociologists debate whether two world-systems have ever existed during the same period?
- ...that former Republican California State Senator Becky Morgan served on the Board of Trustees of both her alma maters, Stanford University and Cornell University?
- ...that co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association Mohammed al-Bejadi spent most of 2011 in prison?
- ...that the controversial Iraq De-Ba'athification policy banned anyone affiliated with the Ba'ath Party from working in the public sector?
In this month
- August 3, 2005 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes office as the 6th President of Iran.
- August 3, 2006 – Tuvalu holds parliamentary elections.
- August 19, 1953 – Cold War: The CIA helps to overthrow the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran, and retain Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on the throne (see Operation Ajax).
- August 29, 2008 – Sarah Palin becomes the first female Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States.
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