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 Fourth International has been a communist international organisation working in opposition to both capitalism and Stalinism. Consisting of supporters of Leon Trotsky, it has striven for an eventual victory of the working class to bring about socialism. In Paris in 1938, Trotsky and many of his supporters, having been expelled from the Soviet Union, considered the Comintern to have become lost to "Stalinism" and incapable of leading the international working class towards political power. Thus, they founded their own competing "Fourth International". Throughout the better part of its existence, the Fourth International was hounded by agents of the Soviet secret police, repressed by capitalist countries such as France and the United States, and rejected by followers of the Soviet Union and later Maoism as illegitimate - a position these communists still hold today. The FI suffered a split in 1940 and an even more significant split in 1953. Despite a partial reunification in 1963, more than one group claims to represent the political continuity of the Fourth International. The broad array of Trotskyist Internationals are split over whether the Fourth International still exists and if so, which organisation represents its political continuity.
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Annkathrin Kammeyer (born 1990) is a German Social Democratic politician. She became a Member of the Hamburg Parliament on 7 March 2011, the youngest person ever elected to that body.
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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) -
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- ... that in his first month in the job, Wali Mohammad Itoo suspended all 23 opposition representatives when they questioned his integrity as the speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly?
- ... 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 Kim E. Nielsen trained as a historian of women and politics, and came to disability history and studies via her discovery of Helen Keller's political life?
- ... that Dante used the third circle of hell to discuss contemporary Florentine politics rather than the sin of gluttony?
- ... that a Chinese corruption investigation into Gao Yan has been interpreted as a political move against Li Peng, then second-in-command of the Communist Party of China?
More did you know...
- ...that the phrase "lipstick on a pig" may have its origins in the 18th-century expression "A hog in armour is still but a hog"?
- ...that the Pirate Party of the United States was formed after a 2006 raid by the Swedish police on the servers of The Pirate Bay, a popular file sharing website?
- ...that Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky, at the time Ambassador of the Russian Empire to the Austrian Empire, commissioned three string quartets from Beethoven?
- ...that politicians discuss the ways in which they and their families have suffered because of Oprahization?
- ...that Democratic and Republican plans for the 2012 United States federal budget both focus on deficit reduction, but differ in their changes to taxation, entitlement programs, and research funding?
- ...that Conservative Party candidate Bernard Trottier won a seat in the 41st Canadian Parliament by defeating the incumbent Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2011 federal election?
- ...that the New Zealand McGillicuddy Serious Party wanted to return to a medieval lifestyle and establish a monarchy based on the Scottish Jacobite line?
- ...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
- May 5, 2005 – A General Election in the United Kingdom sees Tony Blair's Labour government returned to office with a reduced majority of 66.
- May 14, 1948 – The Declaration of Independence of Israel is made.
- May 18, 1948 – The first Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
News and Current events
- 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
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