Portal:Politics

The Politics portal

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 status or resources. The branch of social science that studies politics and government is referred to as political science.

Politics 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 the word often also 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 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 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...)

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Credit: Xi Jinping/Chinese leader

Xi Jinping (pronounced [ɕǐ tɕînpʰǐŋ], Chinese: 习近平; born 15 June 1953) is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, China's "paramount leader".

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Featured lists have been determined by the Wikipedia community to be the best lists on English Wikipedia.

Image 1

Seal of the governor

The governor of Washington is the head of government of Washington and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Washington Legislature and line-item veto power to cancel specific provisions in spending bills. The Washington governor may also convene the legislature on "extraordinary occasions".

Washington Territory had 14 territorial governors from its organization in 1853 until the formation of the state of Washington in 1889. Territorial governors were appointed by the president of the United States. Elisha P. Ferry had the longest term of eight years and went on to become the state's first governor. William H. Wallace was appointed governor but never took office due to being elected as the territory's congressional delegate. George Edward Cole was appointed governor and took office, but his appointment was never ratified by the U.S. Senate and he was replaced as governor after four months. (Full article...)
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Seal of the President of Pakistan

The president of Pakistan is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The complete list of presidents of Pakistan includes the persons sworn into the office of president following the proclamation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1956. (Full article...)
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The chancellor of Germany is the political leader of Germany and the head of the federal government. The office holder is responsible for selecting all other members of the government and chairing cabinet meetings.

The office was created in the North German Confederation in 1867, when Otto von Bismarck became the first chancellor. With the unification of Germany and establishment of the German Empire in 1871, the Confederation evolved into a German nation-state and its leader became known as the chancellor of Germany. Originally, the chancellor was only responsible to the emperor. This changed with the constitutional reform in 1918, when the Parliament was given the right to dismiss the chancellor. Under the 1919 Weimar Constitution the chancellors were appointed by the directly elected president, but were responsible to Parliament. (Full article...)
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Imperial coat of arms (from 1882)

The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (Turkish: Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its height, the Ottoman Empire spanned an area from Hungary in the north to Yemen in the south and from Algeria in the west to Iraq in the east. Administered at first from the city of Söğüt since before 1280 and then from the city of Bursa since 1323 or 1324, the empire's capital was moved to Adrianople (now known as Edirne in English) in 1363 following its conquest by Murad I and then to Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) in 1453 following its conquest by Mehmed II.

The Ottoman Empire's early years have been the subject of varying narratives, due to the difficulty of discerning fact from legend. The empire came into existence at the end of the 13th century, and its first ruler (and the namesake of the Empire) was Osman I. According to later, often unreliable Ottoman tradition, Osman was a descendant of the Kayı tribe of the Oghuz Turks. The eponymous Ottoman dynasty he founded endured for six centuries through the reigns of 36 sultans. The Ottoman Empire disappeared as a result of the defeat of the Central Powers, with whom it had allied itself during World War I. The partitioning of the Empire by the victorious Allies and the ensuing Turkish War of Independence led to the abolition of the sultanate in 1922 and the birth of the modern Republic of Turkey in 1922. (Full article...)
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David Eby has been premier of British Columbia since 2022.

The premier of British Columbia is the first minister for the Canadian province of British Columbia. The province was a British crown colony governed by the governors of British Columbia before joining Canadian Confederation in 1871. Since then, it has had 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 British Columbia's head of government, and the king of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the lieutenant governor of British Columbia. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of British Columbia and presides over that body.

Members are first elected to the legislature 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 no-confidence motion. (Full article...)
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Location of Alberta in Canada

Alberta is the fourth-most populous province in Canada with 4,262,635 residents as of 2021 Census of Population and is the fourth-largest in land area at 634,658 km² (245,043 sq mi). Alberta's 344 municipalities cover 99.7% of the province's land mass and are home to 99% of its population. These municipalities provide local government services, including roads, water, sewer and garbage collection among others, and a variety of programs to their residents.

According to the Municipal Government Act (MGA), which was enacted in 2000, a municipality in Alberta is "a city, town, village, summer village, municipal district or specialized municipality, a town under the Parks Towns Act, or a municipality formed by special Act". The MGA also recognizes improvement districts and special areas as municipal authorities while Metis settlements are recognized as municipalities by the Government of Alberta's Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Cities, towns, villages, summer villages, municipal districts, specialized municipalities and improvement districts are formed under the provincial authority of the MGA. Special areas and Metis settlements are formed under the provincial authority of the Special Areas Act (SAA) and the Metis Settlements Act (MSA) respectively, of which both were enacted in 2000. As provincial law, the MGA, the SAA and the MSA were passed by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta with royal assent granted by the Lieutenant Governor. (Full article...)
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Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government

Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office is the title of the official resident cat at 10 Downing Street, the residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in London. There has been a resident cat in the British government employed as a mouser and pet since the 16th century, although modern records date only to the 1920s. Despite other cats having served Downing Street, the first one to be given the official title of chief mouser by the British government was Larry in 2011. Other cats have been given this title affectionately, usually by the British press, and the cats are often portrayed in jest as being actual employees involved in the government's internal politics. In 2004, a study found that voters' perceptions of the chief mouser were not completely above partisanship. (Full article...)
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Flag of the secretary

The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Energy Organization Act, establishing the department. Originally, the secretary and the department focused on energy production and regulation. Over time, the emphasis shifted to developing technology for more efficient energy sources and energy education. After the Cold War, the department's attention also turned to radioactive waste disposal and environmental quality maintenance. Former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger was the first secretary of energy. As a Republican nominated by Democratic President Jimmy Carter, Schlesinger’s appointment remains the only instance of a president choosing a member of another political party for the position. Schlesinger is also the only secretary to be dismissed from the post. Hazel O'Leary, Bill Clinton’s first secretary of energy, was the first female and first African American to hold the position. The first Hispanic to serve as energy secretary was Clinton’s second energy secretary, Federico Peña. Spencer Abraham became the first Arab American to hold the position on January 20, 2001, under President George W. Bush. Steven Chu, appointed on January 20, 2009, under President Barack Obama, became the first Asian American to hold the position. Chu also served as the longest-serving secretary of energy and was the first individual to join the Cabinet after having received a Nobel Prize. Former Michigan governor, Jennifer Granholm, confirmed on February 25, 2021 under President Joe Biden, was the second woman to lead the Department of Energy. Chris Wright is the current secretary of energy under the Trump administration, confirmed on February, 4, 2025. (Full article...)
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President George Washington appointed 9 justices to the Supreme Court and 28 judges to United States district courts.

United States President George Washington appointed 39 Article III United States federal judges during his presidency, which lasted from April 30, 1789, to March 4, 1797. The first group of Washington's appointments—two justices of the Supreme Court of the United States and ten district court judges—began service two days after Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, which formally established the federal judiciary. Washington's last court appointee received his commission twelve days before the end of Washington's presidency.

As the first president, Washington was responsible for appointing the entire Supreme Court; he appointed a record eleven justices, including two Chief Justices who were confirmed from outside the Court, and one former Justice named as Chief Justice by a recess appointment, but not ultimately confirmed to the position. Additionally, Washington nominated Robert H. Harrison, who declined to serve, and nominated William Cushing for elevation to Chief Justice, who likewise declined. (Full article...)
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The prime minister of Pakistan is the head of the Government of Pakistan. The prime minister is vested with the responsibility of running the administration through his appointed federal cabinet, formulating national and foreign policies to ensure the safeguard of the interests of the nation and its people through the Council of Common Interests as well as making the decision to call nationwide general elections for the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan.

Since 1947, Pakistan has had 20 prime ministers, aside from the appointed caretaker prime ministers who were only mandated to oversee the system until the election process was finished. In Pakistan's parliamentary system, the prime minister is sworn in by the president and usually is the chairman or the president of the party or coalition that has a majority in the National Assembly– the lower house of Pakistan Parliament. (Full article...)
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There are 23 counties and one independent city in the U.S. state of Maryland. Many of the counties in Maryland were named for relatives of the Barons Baltimore, who were the proprietors of the Maryland colony from its founding in 1634 through 1771. The Barons Baltimore were Catholic, and George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, originally intended that the colony be a haven for English Catholics, though for most of its history Maryland has had a majority of Protestants.

Though formally an independent city rather than a county, the City of Baltimore is considered the equal of a county for most purposes and is functionally a county-equivalent in most respects. (Full article...)
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India is a union consisting of 28 states and 8 union territories. As of 2024, with an estimated population of 1.484 billion, India is the world's most populous country. India occupies 2.4% of the world's area and is home to 17.5% of the world's population. The Indo-Gangetic Plain has one of the world's biggest stretches of fertile not-deep alluvium and are among the most densely populated areas of the world. The eastern and western coastal regions of Deccan Plateau also densely populated regions of India. The Thar Desert in western Rajasthan is one of the most densely populated deserts in the world. The northern and north-eastern states along the Himalayas contain cold arid deserts with fertile valleys. These states have relatively low population density due to indomitable physical barriers. (Full article...)
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Flag of Arkansas

The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the Arkansas government and is charged with enforcing state laws. They have the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Arkansas General Assembly, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment.

The state has had 46 elected governors, as well as 11 acting governors who assumed powers and duties following the resignation or death of the governor. Before becoming a state, Arkansas Territory had four governors appointed to it by the president of the United States. Orval Faubus (1955–1967) served the longest term as governor, being elected six times to serve 12 years. Bill Clinton (1979–1981; 1983–1992), elected five times over two distinct terms, fell only one month short of 12 years, and Mike Huckabee (1996–2007) served 10 years for two full four-year terms. The shortest term for an elected governor was the 38 days served by John Sebastian Little before his nervous breakdown; one of the acting successors to his term, Jesse M. Martin, took office only three days before the end of the term, the shortest term overall. (Full article...)
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There are 15 counties in the U.S. state of Arizona. Four counties (Mohave, Pima, Yavapai and Yuma) were created in 1864 following the organization of the Arizona Territory in 1862. The now defunct Pah-Ute County was split from Mohave County in 1865, but merged back in 1871. All but La Paz County were created by the time Arizona was granted statehood in 1912. La Paz County was established in 1983 after many years of pushing for independence from Yuma County.

Eight of Arizona's fifteen counties are named after various Native American groups that are resident in parts of what is now Arizona, with another (Cochise County) being named after a native leader. Four other counties, Gila County, Santa Cruz County, Pinal County, and Graham County, are named for physical features of Arizona's landscape: the Gila River, the Santa Cruz River, Pinal Peak, and Mount Graham, respectively. Another county, La Paz County, is named after a former settlement, while the final county, Greenlee County, is named after one of the state's early pioneers. (Full article...)
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According to the Organic Law of Regional Governments, the regions (Spanish: regiones) are, with the departments, the first-level semi autonomous administrative subdivisions of Peru. Since its 1821 independence, Peru had been divided into departments (Regions)

Peru’s 24 departments each have a regional government and legislature responsible for administration, economic planning, and public services. These governments operate with autonomy while still coordinating with national authorities. Each department is led by a regional governor, who is elected by popular vote for a four-year term. The governor is responsible for implementing regional policies, managing budgets, and overseeing infrastructure projects. Supporting the governor is the regional legislative council, composed of elected representatives from different provinces within the department. This council approves budgets, monitors public investments, and ensures government accountability. (Full article...)

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Last of all he exercised his interest and his patience for eight years together at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. There is a fort of enthusiasm in all projectors, absolutely necessary for their affairs, which makes them, proof against the moil: fatiguing delays, the moil mortifying disappointments, the moll mocking insults; and, what is severer than all, the presumptuous judgments of the ignorant upon their designs. Columbus had a sufficient share of this quality^{[disambiguation needed]}. He had every day, during this long space, to combat with every objection that want of knowledge, or that a false knowledge, could propose. Some held that the known world, which they thought was all that could be known, floated like a vast scum upon the ocean; that the ocean itself was infinite. Others, who entertained more just notions, and believed that the whole of the earth and waters composed one vast globe, drew a consequence from it as absurd as the former opinion. For they argued, that if Columbus should fail beyond a certain point, the convexity of this globe would prevent his return. As is usual in such cafes, every one abounded with objections. His whole time was spent in fruitless endeavors to enlighten ignorance, to remove prejudice, and to vanquish that obstinate incredulity, which is of all others the greatest enemy to improvement, rejecting every thing as false and absurd, which is ever little out of the track of common experience ; and it is of the more dangerous consequence, as it carries a delusive air of coolness, of temper and wisdom. With all this, he had yet greater difficulties from the interests of mankind, than from their malignity and ignorance. The expence of the undertaking, inconsiderable as this expense was, was at the bottom the chief support of the other objections, and had more weight than all the rest together. However, with an assiduity and firmness of mind, never enough to be admired and applauded, he at length overcame all difficulties; and, to his inexpreflible joy, with a fleet of three {hips, and the title and command of an admiral, set fail on the third of August, 1492, on a voyage the most daring and grand in the design, and in the event of which the world was the most concerned, of any that ever yet was undertaken.

— Edmund Burke, An account of the European Settlements in America, 1757

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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.

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... that the photograph Kandake of the Sudanese Revolution symbolised the determination of the Sudanese people as they called for political change?
... that political consultant Jim Rivaldo said that moving to San Francisco made him realize that "there were gay lawyers, gay businessmen—a lot of people like me"?
... that no single political party has a mandate in a coalition government?
... that the party leader of the new Dutch youth political party LEF – For the New Generation tattooed his party's program points on his forearm?
... 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 politics in The Simpsons have caused controversy in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, and Japan?

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...that the first phase of Mitt Romney's 2012 U.S. presidential campaign was announced via a video message?

...that "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" (campaign banner pictured) was called the "Marseillaise" of the 1840 United States presidential election?
...that the events of Polish October together with Hungarian November shook the Eastern Bloc in 1956 and set the course for the Revolutions of 1989?
...that the current constitution of Nicaragua, the ninth in the country's history, was the final step in the institutionalization of the Sandinista regime?

...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 Second Malaysia Plan sought to restructure the socioeconomic state of Malaysia through aggressive affirmative action?

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In this month

July 20, 1944 – an assassination attempt is made on Adolf Hitler with involvement by notable German conservatives.
July 23, 1952 – The European Coal and Steel Community is established.
July 27, 1830 – King Charles X of France is overthrown in the French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution.
July 31, 1912 – American conservative economist, statistician, and Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman is born.

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Wikinews on Politics and conflicts

Topics and categories

See the portal's Topics and categories page for a comprehensive overview.

General images

The following are images from various politics-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1World map with the concepts of Heartland and Rimland applied (from Geopolitics)
Image 2The 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)
Image 3Benjamin Constant (from History of political thought)
Image 4Countries with politicians, public officials or close associates implicated in the Panama Papers leak on April 15, 2016 (from Political corruption)
Image 5American lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation. (from Political corruption)
Image 6Montenegro's president Milo Đukanović is often described as having strong links to Montenegrin mafia. (from Political corruption)
Image 7United Nations Convention against Corruption (from Political corruption)
Image 8Savka Dabčević-Kučar, Croatian Spring participant; Europe's first female prime minister (from Civil and political rights)
Image 9John Stuart Mill (from History of political thought)
Image 10Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders campaigning for extended US Medicare coverage in 2017. (from Health politics)
Image 11Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak was found guilty in the corruption trial over the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal. He is currently serving his sentence in Kajang Prison. (from Political corruption)
Image 12This 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)
Image 13Sir 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)
Image 14Niccolò Machiavelli (from History of political thought)
Image 15Candlelight protest against South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea, 7 January 2017 (from Political corruption)
Image 16Division of the world according to Haushofer's pan-regions doctrine (from Geopolitics)
Image 17US Military Police officer restraining and sedating prisoner while a soldier holds him down (from Political corruption)
Image 18Karl Marx and his theory of Communism, developed with Friedrich Engels, proved to be one of the most influential political ideologies of the 20th century. (from History of political thought)
Image 19The logo and slogan for change.org (from Politics and technology)
Image 20A world map distinguishing countries of the world as federations (green) from unitary states (blue), a work of political science (from Political science)
Image 21A 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)
Image 22Ferdinand Marcos (pictured with his daughter Imee) was a Philippine dictator and kleptocrat. His regime was infamous for its corruption. (from Political corruption)
Image 23Russia handing over the symbolic relay baton for the hosting rights of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar in June 2018 (from Political corruption)
Image 24John Locke (from History of political thought)
Image 25Reformers 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)
Image 26Protesters in support of American whistleblower Edward Snowden, Berlin, Germany, 30 August 2014 (from Political corruption)
Image 27The sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams' "corrupt bargain" of 1824 is an example of patronage. (from Political corruption)
Image 28Detail from Corrupt Legislation (1896) by Elihu Vedder. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. (from Political corruption)
Image 29Eugène 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)