Portal:Politics
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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.
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Selected article
The Convention of 1832 was the first political gathering of colonists in Mexican Texas. Delegates sought reforms from the Mexican government and hoped to quell the widespread belief that settlers in Texas wished to secede from Mexico. The convention was the first of a series of unsuccessful attempts at political negotiation that eventually led to the Texas Revolution. On October 1, 1832, 55 political delegates met at San Felipe de Austin to petition for changes in the governance of Texas. Notably absent was any representation from San Antonio de Béxar, where many of the native Mexican settlers (Tejanos) lived. The delegates elected Stephen F. Austin (pictured), a highly respected immigrant, as president of the convention. Delegates passed a series of resolutions requesting, among other things, a repeal of the immigration restrictions, a three-year exclusion from custom duties enforcement, permission to form an armed militia and independent statehood. They also voted themselves the power to call future conventions. Before the petition could be delivered to Mexico City, the political chief of Texas, Ramón Músquiz, ruled that the convention was illegal and annulled the resolutions. In a compromise, the ayuntamiento (city council) of San Antonio de Béxar drafted a new petition with similar language to the convention resolutions and submitted it through proper legal channels. Músquiz forwarded the new document to the Mexican Congress. (more...)
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.
Did you know...
- ...that the first phase of Mitt Romney's 2012 U.S. presidential campaign was announced via a video message?
- ...that Nazi scientists claimed to have trained a dog to call "Adolf Hitler" as "Mein Führer"?
- ...that for many years, the Russian Soviet Republic did not have its Communist Party?
- ...that the World War II idea of Polish-Czechoslovakian confederation was eventually discarded by the Czechs, whose leader chose instead to believe in the Soviet Union promises of alliance?
- ...that Chinese Taipei is the designated name the Republic of China (Taiwan) uses in most international organizations?
- ...that on the death of Governor George Madison, Kentucky lieutenant governor Gabriel Slaughter was refused the title of "governor" by a hostile state legislature and was referred to as "acting governor" for the duration of his three-year administration?
Selected biography
David Lewis (1909–1981) was a Russian-born Canadian Rhodes Scholar, labour lawyer and social democratic politician. He was national secretary of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1936 to 1950. As the United Steelworkers of America’s legal counsel in Canada, he played a central role in the creation of the Canadian Labour Congress in 1956 and in the New Democratic Party (NDP)'s formation in 1961. In 1962, he was elected as a Member of Parliament. He was the NDP's leader from 1971 to 1975. After his defeat in the 1974 Canadian election, he retired from politics. He spent his last years as a university professor and a newspaper travel correspondent. In retirement, he was named to the highest level of the Order of Canada for his political service. After a lengthy battle with cancer, he died in 1981.
News and Current Events
- March 5: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions bows out of Russia investigation over contact with ambassador
- March 1: Politically concerned movie Zootopia wins Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film
- February 28: Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong to be charged with murder of Kim Jong Nam with VX nerve agent
- February 27: Invited or not, news outlets criticize White House decision to pick and choose their peers
- February 26: Syrian peace talks begin in Geneva
- February 23: Break-in attempted at mortuary housing remains of Kim Jong Nam
- February 19: Malaysian authorities arrest fourth suspect in killing of Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of North Korean leader
- February 15: Michael Flynn resigns as National Security Advisor to Trump administration
- 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
Other current events:
In this month
- March 11, 2006 – Michelle Bachelet is sworn in as the first female President of Chile.
- March 20, 1854 – The Republican Party of the United States is founded in Ripon, Wisconsin.
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