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Politics (from 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 nonviolent, or descriptively as "the art or science of government", but also often carries a negative connotation. For example, abolitionist Wendell Phillips declared that "we do not play politics; anti-slavery is no half-jest with us." The concept has been defined in various ways, and different approaches have fundamentally differing views on whether it should be used extensively or limitedly, 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 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 and Aristotle's Politics in the West, and Confucius's political manuscripts and Chanakya's Arthashastra in the East. (Full article...)
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The Cultural Revolution Group (CRG) (Chinese: 中央文革小组) was formed in May 1966 as a replacement organisation to the Central Committee Secretariat and the "Five Man Group", and was initially directly responsible to the Standing Committee of the Politburo. It consisted mainly of radical supporters of Mao, including Chen Boda, the Chairman's wife Jiang Qing, Kang Sheng, Yao Wenyuan, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Li and Xie Fuzhi. The CRG had a central role to play in the Cultural Revolution's first few years, and for a period of time the group replaced the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) as the de facto top power organ of China. Its members were also involved in many of the major events of the Cultural Revolution.
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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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The Maryland Senate is the upper house of the Maryland General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Maryland. One Senator is elected from each of the state's 47 electoral districts. As of January 2019, 32 of those seats are held by Democrats and 15 by Republicans. The leader of the Senate is known as the President, a position currently held by Bill Ferguson, who represents Baltimore City. In addition, senators elect a President Pro Tempore, and the respective party caucuses elect a majority and minority leader and a majority and minority whip.
Senators are elected in even-numbered years when the President of the United States is not being elected, similar to most other state offices in Maryland. The most recent election was in November 2018. Senators are not term-limited. Should a Senator resign from office before his or her term expires, the local central committee of the party to which the retiring senator belonged makes a recommendation to the Governor for whom to appoint to the open seat. It is tradition for the Governor to appoint the recommended person. Nine of the current members of the Maryland State Senate were originally appointed, all of whom have since been elected in their own right. Newly elected senators are sworn in and begin work on the second Wednesday of the January following their election. (Full article...)
The governor of the State of Hawaii is the head of government of Hawaii, and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws; the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Hawaii Legislature; the power to convene the legislature; and the power to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment.
Of the eight governors of the state, two have been elected to three terms, four have been elected to two terms, and one has been elected to one term. No state governor has yet resigned or died in office, nor did any territorial governor die in office. George Ariyoshi was the first Asian American to be governor of any U.S. state. The current governor is Democrat David Ige, who took office on December 1, 2014. (Full article...)
The sultans of Zanzibar (Arabic: سلاطين زنجبار) were the rulers of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which was created on 19 October 1856 after the death of Said bin Sultan, who had ruled Oman and Zanzibar as the sultan of Oman since 1804. The sultans of Zanzibar were of a cadet branch of the Al Said Dynasty of Oman.
In 1698, Zanzibar became part of the overseas holdings of Oman, falling under the control of the sultan of Oman. In 1832, or 1840 (the date varies among sources), Said bin Sultan moved his capital from Muscat in Oman to Stone Town. He established a ruling Arab elite and encouraged the development of clove plantations, using the island's slave labour. Zanzibar's commerce fell increasingly into the hands of traders from the Indian subcontinent, whom Said encouraged to settle on the island. After his death in 1856, two of his sons, Majid bin Said and Thuwaini bin Said, struggled over the succession, so Zanzibar and Oman were divided into two separate principalities; Thuwaini became the sultan of Oman while Majid became the first sultan of Zanzibar. During his 14-year reign as sultan, Majid consolidated his power around the East African slave trade. His successor, Barghash bin Said, helped abolish the slave trade in Zanzibar and largely developed the country's infrastructure. The third sultan, Khalifa bin Said, also furthered the country's progress toward abolishing slavery. (Full article...)- The U.S. state of Texas is divided into 254 counties, more than any other U.S. state. Over 20% of Texas counties are generally located within the Houston-Dallas—San Antonio—Austin areas, serving about 20,000,000 people, the majority of the state's population.
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...)
The premier of Prince Edward Island is the first minister for the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. They are the province's head of government and de facto chief executive.
Prince Edward Island was a British crown colony before it joined Canadian Confederation in 1873. It has had a system of responsible government since 1851, and the province kept its own legislature to deal with provincial matters after joining Confederation. Prince Edward Island has a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the Legislative Assembly. The premier is Prince Edward Island's head of government, and the Queen of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of Prince Edward Island, and presides over that body. (Full article...)- This is a list of the premiers of the province of Quebec, Canada, since Confederation in 1867. Quebec uses a unicameral (originally bicameral) Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the National Assembly (previously called the Legislative Assembly). The premier is Quebec's head of government, while the Queen of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of Quebec, and presides over that body.
Members are first elected to the legislature during general elections. General elections must be conducted every five years from the date of the last election, but the premier may ask for early dissolution of the legislative assembly. An election may also happen if the Governing party loses the confidence of the legislature, by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion. (Full article...)
The governor of Alaska (Iñupiaq: Alaasikam kavanaŋa) is the head of government of Alaska. The governor is the chief executive of the state and is the holder of the highest office in the executive branch of the government as well as being the commander in chief of the Alaska's state forces.
Twelve people have served as governor of the State of Alaska over 14 distinct terms, though Alaska had over 30 civilian and military governors during its long history as a United States territory. Only two governors, William A. Egan and Bill Walker, were born in Alaska. Two people, Egan and Wally Hickel, have been elected to multiple non-consecutive terms as governor. Hickel is also noted for a rare third party win in American politics, having been elected to a term in 1990 representing the Alaskan Independence Party. The longest-serving governor of the state was Egan, who was elected three times and served nearly 12 years. The longest-serving territorial governor was Ernest Gruening, who served 13½ years. (Full article...)- The seven members of the Swiss Federal Council (German: Schweizerischer Bundesrat; French: Conseil fédéral suisse; Italian: Consiglio federale svizzero; Romansh: Cussegl federal svizzer) constitute the federal government of Switzerland and collectively serve as the country's head of state. Each of the seven Federal Councillors heads a department of the Swiss federal administration.
The current Swiss Federal Councillors are: Ueli Maurer (first elected in 2008), Simonetta Sommaruga (first elected in 2010), Alain Berset (first elected in 2011), Guy Parmelin (first elected in 2015), Ignazio Cassis (first elected in 2017), Viola Amherd (first elected in 2018) and Karin Keller-Sutter (first elected in 2018). They were all (re)elected for a full term in the 2019 Swiss Federal Council election. (Full article...)
The governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the head of state and head of government of the U.S. state, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as commander-in-chief of the Commonwealth's military forces.
The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to approve or veto bills passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature and to convene the legislature. The governor may grant pardons except in cases of impeachment, but only when recommended by the Board of Pardons. (Full article...)Participation in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
- Since the office was established in 1789, 45 persons have served as president of the United States. Of these, eight have died in office: four were assassinated, and four died of natural causes. In each of these instances, the vice president has succeeded to the presidency. This practice is presently governed by Section One of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1967, which declares that, "the Vice President shall become President" if the president is removed from office, dies, or resigns. The initial authorization for this practice was provided by Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution, which states that:
The first incumbent U.S. president to die was William Henry Harrison, on April 4, 1841, only one month after Inauguration Day. He died from complications of what at the time was believed to be pneumonia. The second American president to die in office, Zachary Taylor, died on July 9, 1850, from acute gastroenteritis. Abraham Lincoln (who had just begun his second term in office) was the first U.S. president to be assassinated. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth on the night of April 14, 1865, and died the following morning. Sixteen years later, on July 2, 1881, James A. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, surviving for over two months before dying on September 19, 1881. (Full article...)
The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is current title of the First Minister for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, which was at certain points in its history a colony, dominion, and province. The province had a system of responsible government from 1855 to 1934, and again since 1949. Newfoundland became a British crown colony in 1855, in 1907 it became a dominion, and in 1949, it became a province and joined Canadian Confederation. Since then, the province has been a part of the Canadian federation and has kept its own legislature to deal with provincial matters. The province was named Newfoundland and Labrador on April 1, 1949 .
The province has a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the House of Assembly. The premier is Newfoundland and Labrador's head of government, and the Queen of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, and presides over that body. Members are first elected to the House during general elections. General elections must be conducted every four years from the date of the last election. An election may also take place if the governing party loses the confidence of the legislature by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion. (Full article...)- During its sixty-eight-year history, the Soviet Union usually had a de facto leader who would not necessarily be head of state but would lead while holding an office such as premier or general secretary. Under the 1977 Constitution, the chairman of the Council of Ministers, or premier, was the head of government and the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was the head of state. The office of the chairman of the Council of Ministers was comparable to a prime minister in the First World whereas the office of the chairman of the Presidium was comparable to a president. In the ideology of Vladimir Lenin, the head of the Soviet state was a collegiate body of the vanguard party (see What Is To Be Done?).
Following Joseph Stalin's consolidation of power in the 1920s, the post of the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party became synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union, because the post controlled both the Communist Party and the Soviet government both indirectly via party membership and via the tradition of a single person holding two highest posts in the party and in the government. The post of the general secretary was abolished in 1952 under Stalin and later re-established by Nikita Khrushchev under the name of first secretary. In 1966, Leonid Brezhnev reverted the office title to its former name. Being the head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the office of the general secretary was the highest in the Soviet Union until 1990.[incomplete short citation] The post of general secretary lacked clear guidelines of succession, so after the death or removal of a Soviet leader the successor usually needed the support of the Political Bureau (Politburo), the Central Committee, or another government or party apparatus to both take and stay in power. The president of the Soviet Union, an office created in March 1990, replaced the general secretary as the highest Soviet political office. (Full article...) 
Thirteen first ladies of the United States have written a total of twenty-two memoirs. The first lady is the hostess of the White House, and the position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, with some historical exceptions. Every memoir by a first lady published in the 20th and 21st centuries has been a bestseller, at times outselling those of their presidential husbands.
In the early 1800s, Abigail Adams had her correspondence published as Letters of Mrs. Adams, the Wife of John Adams, and Louisa Adams "made several attempts at an autobiography", though she never sought to publish them. The Memoirs and Letters of Dolley Madison, Wife of James Madison, President of the United States were published in 1886 but were actually edited by Lucia Cutts and written by Dolley Madison's niece Mary Cutts. (Full article...)
The lieutenant governor of Wisconsin is the first person in the line of succession of Wisconsin's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, removal, impeachment, absence from the state, or incapacity due to illness of the governor of Wisconsin.
Forty-one individuals have held the office of lieutenant governor since Wisconsin's admission to the Union in 1848, two of whom—Warren Knowles and Jack Olson—have served for non-consecutive terms. The first lieutenant governor was John Holmes, who took office on June 7, 1848. The current lieutenant governor is Mandela Barnes, who took office on January 7, 2019. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
George Herbert Walker Bush (1924–2018) was an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States (1989–93). He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President (1981–89), a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence. He ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States in 1980, but was chosen by party nominee Ronald Reagan to be the vice presidential nominee, and the two were subsequently elected. In 1988, Bush launched a successful campaign to succeed Reagan as president, defeating Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis. Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency; military operations were conducted in Panama and the Persian Gulf at a time of world change; the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union dissolved two years later. In the wake of economic concerns, he lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton.
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Joseph Paduano, the minority floor leader in the Philippine congress, began his political career in the military wing of the Revolutionary Workers' Party under a nom de guerre?
- ... that "phantom borders" left behind by the partitions of Poland by imperial powers have an impact on which political parties Polish citizens vote for?
- ... 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 the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos was blinded at the Theotokos Kosmosoteira monastery?
- ... that an excavation for 75 Wall Street revealed an old crock linked with a leader of the Tammany Hall political machine?
- ... that radio station WADK debuted its first talk show after a local businessman told the owner that "the great pastime of Rhode Island ... is talking politics"?
More did you know...
- ...that the Almanach de Gotha is a directory of European nobility first published in 1763?
- ...that Matt Taibbi's book Griftopia has been described as a "necessary ... corrective" to the assertion that bubbles are an inevitable part of the market economy?
- ...that in the book Net.wars, author Wendy M. Grossman attributes Internet conflict in the 1990s to culture shock from an influx of users?
- ...that former California Assembly Republican Leader and California Republican Party Chair Robert W. Naylor was editor of The Stanford Daily while he was a student at Stanford University?
- ...that Chinese Taipei is the designated name the Republic of China (Taiwan) uses in most international organizations?
- ...that tiao-kuai is the quasi-federal administration system in China?
In this month
- June 28, 2004 - Canadian federal elections occur; the Liberal party loses its absolute majority.
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
Topics and categories
General images
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)
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)
Candlelight protest against South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea, 7 January 2017 (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)
Detail from Corrupt Legislation (1896) by Elihu Vedder. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. (from Political corruption)
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)
Karl Marx and his theory of Communism developed along with Friedrich Engels proved to be one of the most influential political ideologies of the 20th century. (from History of political thought)
Countries with politicians, public officials or close associates implicated in the Panama Papers leak on April 15, 2016 (from Political corruption)
Transparency International 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index (from Political corruption)
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)
Saudi Arabian dissident Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi Government agents after he criticised them many times. (from Political corruption)
American lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation (from Political corruption)
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)
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)
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders campaigning for extended US medicare coverage in 2017. (from Health politics)
The logo and slogan for change.org (from Politics and technology)
Ferdinand Marcos was a Philippine dictator and kleptocrat. His regime was infamous for its corruption. (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)
Savka Dabčević-Kučar, Croatian Spring participant; Europe's first female prime minister (from Civil and political rights)
Division of the world according to Haushofer's Pan-Regions Doctrine (from Geopolitics)
Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak was found guilty in the corruption trial over the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal. (from Political corruption)
Protesters in support of American whistleblower Edward Snowden, Berlin, Germany, 30 August 2014 (from Political corruption)
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