Portal:Politics
| Main | Categories and topics | Tasks and projects |
The Politics Portal
Politics is the process and method of gaining or maintaining support for public or common action, the conduct of decision-making for groups. Although it is usually applied to governments, political behavior is also observed in corporate, academic, religious, and other institutions. Political science is the field devoted to studying political behavior and examining the acquisition and application of power, or the ability to impose one's will on another. Its practitioners are known as political scientists. Political scientists look at elections, public opinion, institutional activities (how legislatures act, the relative importance of various sources of political power), the ideologies behind various politicians and interest groups, how politicians achieve and wield their influence, and so on.
| More about politics… |
Selected article
The unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German Empire after the French capitulation in the Franco-Prussian War. Unofficially, the transition of most of the German-speaking populations into a federated organization of states occurred over nearly a century of experimentation. Unification exposed several glaring religious, linguistic, and cultural differences between and among the inhabitants of the new nation, suggesting that 1871 really only represents one moment in a continuum of the larger unification processes. Historians debate whether or not Otto von Bismarck, the Minister President of Prussia, had a master-plan to expand the North German Confederation of 1866 to include the remaining independent German states into a single entity, or whether he simply sought to expand the power of the Kingdom of Prussia. They conclude that factors in addition to the strength of Bismarck's Realpolitik led a collection of early modern polities to reorganize political, economic, military and diplomatic relationships in the 19th century. By establishing a Germany without Austria, the political and administrative unification in 1871 at least temporarily solved the problem of German dualism.
Featured picture
An 1880 political cartoon depicts Senator Roscoe Conkling over a "presidential puzzle" consisting of some of the potential Republican nominees as pieces of a newly invented sliding puzzle. Conkling held significant influence over the party during the 1880 Republican National Convention and attempted to use that to nominate Ulysses S. Grant, only to lose out to "dark horse" candidate James A. Garfield.
Did you know...
- ...that anarchism once was the strongest current in the Cuban labor movement?
- ...that the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum recorded over 1,200 violations of human rights in Zimbabwe by the law enforcement agencies from 2001 to September 2006?
- ...that the ideology of the Romanian National Renaissance Front has been described as "operetta fascism"?
- ...that in the 1984 Brown v. Hotel and Restaurant Employees case, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a New Jersey gaming law requiring union leaders to be of good moral character?
- ...that just before the invasion of Poland, members of the German minority from Deutscher Volksverband were trained in sabotage by the Abwehr agents arriving in Poland from Germany?
- ...that the controversial Iraq De-Ba'athification policy banned anyone affiliated with the Ba'ath Party from working in the public sector?
Selected biography
Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) was both the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Cleveland is the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897) and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents. He was the winner of the popular vote for President three times—in 1884, 1888, and 1892—and was the only Democrat elected to the Presidency in the era of Republican political domination that lasted from 1860 to 1912. Cleveland's admirers praise him for his honesty, independence, integrity, and commitment to the principles of classical liberalism. As a leader of the Bourbon Democrats, he opposed imperialism, taxes, subsidies and inflationary policies, but as a reformer he also worked against corruption, patronage, and bossism. Critics complained that he had little imagination and seemed overwhelmed by the nation's economic disasters—depressions and strikes—in his second term. Even so, his reputation for honesty and good character survived the troubles of his second term.
News and Current Events
- February 12: UK Parliamentary report: homophobia in sport worse than racism
- February 11: Yemen requests reevaluation of U.S. ground operations on its soil following raid
- February 6: Travel to U.S. resumes after federal judge blocks executive order
- February 3: DR Congo opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi dies
- January 29: U.S. federal judge halts Trump's ban on refugees, people from Muslim countries entering U.S.
- January 28: Anti-abortion March for Life draws thousands in Washington, D.C.
- January 27: Protesters dance for gay rights, health care at Philadelphia 'Queer Rager'
- January 27: Germany to drop 'lese majeste' law
- January 26: Czech diplomats secure release of Polish 'terrorist' in Syria
- January 26: Official death toll from Nigerian refugee camp airstrike passes 100
Other current events:
In this month
- February 4, 2003 – Yugoslavia is renamed to Serbia and Montenegro converting the federal republic to a looser union.
- February 6, 1911 – Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, is born.
- February 16, 2005 – In the United States, the school board in Staunton, Virginia voted to continue classes in Weekday Religious Education. This was a milestone in the issue of Separation of church and state in the United States.
- February 20, 2005 – Spain approves the European Constitution in a consultative referendum, though with a low turnout of 42%.
Selected quote
Related portals
Anarchism
British politics
Canadian politics
Christian Democracy
Communism
Conservatism
Criminal justice
European Union
Freedom of speech
Genocide
Government of India
Government of Pakistan
Government of the United States
Human rights
Law
Liberalism
Libertarianism
NATO
Political science
Presidency of the Philippines
SAARC
Social and political philosophy
Socialism
United Nations
War
Geert Wilders
Right-wing populism
2.JPG){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
Wikimedia
- What are portals?
- List of portals
- Featured portals
