Portal:Politics
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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. 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 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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JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner). Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones) for his alleged participation in a conspiracy to assassinate the president, for which Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) was found responsible by two Government investigations: the Warren Commission, and the House Select Committee on Assassinations (which concluded that there was another assassin shooting with Oswald). The film was adapted by Stone and Zachary Sklar from the books On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison and Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs. Stone described this account as a "counter-myth" to the "fictional myth" of the Warren Commission. The film became embroiled in controversy. Upon JFK's theatrical release, many major American newspapers ran editorials accusing Stone of taking liberties with historical facts, including the film's implication that President Lyndon B. Johnson was part of a coup d'état to kill Kennedy. After a slow start at the box office, Stone's film gradually picked up momentum, earning over $205 million in worldwide gross. JFK went on to win two Academy Awards and was nominated for eight in total, including Best Picture. The film was one of three films Stone made about the American Presidency, followed later by Nixon with Anthony Hopkins in the title role and W. with Josh Brolin as George W. Bush.
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Salman Khurshid (born 1 January 1953) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress, a lawyer, and a writer who has been elected from Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency in the General Election of 2009. He belongs to the Farrukhabad area. He is presently the Cabinet Minister of the Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Minority Affairs.
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Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean diplomat and the former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Before becoming Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he graduated college, accepting his first post in New Delhi. In the foreign ministry he established a reputation for modesty and competence. Ban was the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea from January 2004 to November 2006. In February 2006 he began to campaign for the office of Secretary-General. Ban was initially considered to be a long shot for the office. As Foreign Minister of South Korea, however, he was able to travel to all of the countries that were members of the United Nations Security Council, a manoeuvre that turned him into the campaign's front runner. On 13 October 2006, he was elected to be the eighth Secretary-General by the United Nations General Assembly. On 1 January 2007, he succeeded Kofi Annan, and passed several major reforms regarding peacekeeping and UN employment practices. Diplomatically, Ban has taken particularly strong views on global warming, pressing the issue repeatedly with United States President George W. Bush, as well as Darfur, where he helped persuade Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to allow peacekeeping troops to enter Sudan.
Did you know (auto-generated) -

- ... that Peter Merseburger refused to host a 1974 edition of German political TV magazine Panorama after a report by Alice Schwarzer on an abortion was cancelled by authorities?
- ... that advertisements for Road 96 were taken down by Facebook for being too political?
- ... that the continuing influence of the Catholic Church in the politics of the Philippines means that the country lacks a divorce law?
- ... that Dante used the third circle of hell to discuss contemporary Florentine politics rather than the sin of gluttony?
- ... that Australian senator Ben Small had been a ship's officer, bar owner, paramedic, ambulance trainer, and logistician before entering politics?
- ... that the 2009 book Where Heaven and Earth Meet introduced the term "Sacred Esplanade" as a politically neutral term for the religious site in Jerusalem known as al-Haram al-Sharif or the Temple Mount?
More did you know...

- ...that political opportunity theory explains the rise and decline of social movements by their dependence on outside, political factors?
- ...that impeachment in Norway was used six times in 1814–1845, but only twice since?
- ...that The Mass Psychology of Fascism, a book written by Wilhelm Reich in 1933, blamed sexual repression for the rise of fascism?
- ...that politicians discuss the ways in which they and their families have suffered because of Oprahization?
- ...that Democratic and Republican plans for the 2012 United States federal budget both focus on deficit reduction, but differ in their changes to taxation, entitlement programs, and research funding?
- ...that Conservative Party candidate Bernard Trottier won a seat in the 41st Canadian Parliament by defeating the incumbent Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2011 federal election?
- ...that Nunez Community College in Chalmette, Louisiana, is named for the late wife of former Louisiana State Senate President Samuel B. Nunez, Jr.?
- ...that the controversial Iraq De-Ba'athification policy banned anyone affiliated with the Ba'ath Party from working in the public sector?
In this month
- April 1, 1979 – Iran's government becomes an Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the Shah officially.
- April 9, 1948 – the period known as La Violencia begins with the assassination of Colombian Liberal Party leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. For the next ten years Liberals, Communists and Conservatives would fight each other in the conflict.
- April 9, 2003 – Government of Saddam Hussein overthrown by American forces in Iraq.
- April 19, 2006 – Han Myung-sook becomes South Korea's first female Prime Minister.
- April 24, 2005 – Presidential elections in Togo return Faure Gnassingbe to power two months after he was installed by the military following the death of his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma.
- April 28, 1937 – Saddam Hussein, the President of Iraq was born.
- April 30, 1945 – Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun, commit suicide as the Red Army approached the Führerbunker in Berlin. Karl Dönitz succeeds Hitler as President of Germany; Joseph Goebbels succeeds Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.
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
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