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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 European Union is an international organization of 27 European states, established in 1992. It originates from the Coal and Steel Community, founded in 1951 by Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries. However, the French-German politician Robert Schuman presented his proposal of a united Europe, known as the Schuman declaration, already in 1950, which is considered to be the beginning of what is now the European Union. The Union has many activities, the most important being a common single market, consisting of a customs union, a single currency, a Common Agricultural Policy and a Common Fisheries Policy.

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Credit: Photograph credit: Eivind Enger; restored by Adam Cuerden

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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Vladimir Putin
First of all, I would like to say that we discussed these issues at length, face to face, just the two of us. Russia has made its choice in favor of democracy. Fourteen years ago, independently, without any pressure from outside, it made that decision in the interests of itself and interests of its people -- of its citizens. This is our final choice, and we have no way back. There can be no return to what we used to have before. And the guarantee for this is the choice of the Russian people, themselves. No, guarantees from outside cannot be provided. This is impossible. It would be impossible for Russia today. Any kind of turn towards totalitarianism for Russia would be impossible, due to the condition of the Russian society.

As far as the questions that are being discussed among our partners in the media, I can only repeat what has been said by the President of the United States. First, we are not going to make up -- to invent any kind of special Russian democracy; we are going to remain committed to the fundamental principles of democracy that have been established in the world. But, of course, all the modern institutions of democracy -- the principles of democracy should be adequate to the current status of the development of Russia, to our history and our traditions.

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Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) was a British politician and the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a position she held from 1979 to 1990. She was a member of the Conservative Party and the figurehead of a political ideology known as Thatcherism. Even before coming to power she was nicknamed The Iron Lady in Soviet propaganda, an appellation which stuck. The changes she set in motion between coming to power and 1985 were profound, and altered much of the economic, cultural and commercial landscape of Britain and, by example, the world as a whole. Along the way she also aimed to roll back the welfare state, or "nanny state", as she termed it. Her popularity finally declined when she replaced the unpopular local government rates tax with the even less popular Community Charge. At the same time the Conservative Party began to split over her sceptical approach to Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union. Her leadership was challenged from within and she was forced to resign in 1990, her loss at least partly due to inadequate advice and campaigning.

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