Portal:Politics
(Redirected from Portal:Political science)
| Main | Topics and categories | Tasks and projects |
The Politics portal
.jpg)
Politics is the activity of settling affairs in an organized society. Politics is usually concerned with resolving issues within a society via a government. Politicians are individuals engaged in the activity of politics. The branch of social science that studies politics and government is referred to as political science.
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.
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. (Full article...)
Selected article
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the Neo-Stalinist government of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. It began as a student demonstration which attracted thousands as it marched through central Budapest to the Parliament building. The revolt spread quickly across Hungary, and the government fell. Thousands organized into militias, battling the State police force and Soviet troops. The new government formally disbanded the State police force, declared its intention to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and pledged to re-establish free elections. On 4 November, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest using artillery and air strikes, killing thousands of civilians. Organized resistance ceased by 10 November 1956, and mass arrests began. An estimated 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees. By January 1957 the new Soviet-installed government had suppressed all public opposition. Soviet actions alienated many Western Marxists, yet strengthened Soviet control over Eastern Europe, cultivating the perception that communism was both irreversible and monolithic. Public discussion about this revolution was suppressed in Hungary for over 30 years, but since the thaw of the 1980s it has been a subject of intense study and debate.
Featured picture
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.
Featured lists -
Featured lists have been determined by the Wikipedia community to be the best lists on English Wikipedia.
The Sultan of Zanzibar (Arabic: سلاطين زنجبار; Swahili: Sultani wa Zanzibar) was the ruler of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which was created on 19 October 1856 after the death of Said bin Sultan. He had ruled Oman and Zanzibar as the sultan of Oman since 1804. The sultans of Zanzibar were of a cadet branch of the Al Bu Said dynasty of Oman.
In 1698, Zanzibar became part of the overseas holdings of Oman, falling under the control of the sultan of Oman. Omani and other Arab traders had already been prominent in trade with the island for hundreds of years. It was also visited by traders from Persia and India, who arrived with the seasonal musim (west wind). Months later they could return east with a change in the wind. (Full article...)- The U.S. state of Maine has sixteen counties. Before statehood, Maine was officially part of the state of Massachusetts and was called the District of Maine. Maine was granted statehood on March 15, 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise. Nine of the 16 counties had their borders defined while Maine was still part of Massachusetts, and hence are older than the state itself.[page needed] Even after 1820, the exact location of the northern border of Maine was disputed with Britain, until the question was settled and the northern counties assumed their final official form, the Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed in 1842. Almost all of Aroostook County was disputed land until the treaty was signed.[page needed]
Maine counties have some law enforcement, run short-term jails, and maintain roads in areas lacking local government. The U.S. Census Bureau states "The counties are responsible for only limited functions in Maine". (Full article...) 
A map of the counties and county equivalents of the United States. The 100 most populous counties are highlighted, with counties having more than one million residents in orange and counties having fewer than one million residents in green, based on the results of the April 1, 2020 United States census.
This is a list of the 100 most populous of the 3,144 counties in the United States based on the national decennial US census conducted on April 1, 2020, and vintage Census population estimates for July 1, 2025.
Many of the counties on the list include major cities or metropolitan areas in all parts of the United States. Seven of the listed counties have consolidated city and county government, namely the City and County of Honolulu, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, City and County of Philadelphia, City and County of San Francisco, City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Indianapolis and Marion County, and City and County of Denver. Kings County, Queens County, New York County, Bronx County, and Richmond County are coterminous with the respective boroughs of New York City; they fall under the jurisdiction of the combined Government of New York City. Independent cities are not counted. (Full article...)
The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head, while the de facto authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with the majority of seats in the assembly to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that the chief minister has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.
Since 1950, Tamil Nadu has had 14 chief ministers. The first four chief ministers belonged to the Indian National Congress, of which K. Kamaraj held the post for the longest, for more than nine years. With the rise of Dravidian parties in the state, C. N. Annadurai of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) became the first non-Congress chief minister in 1969. Annadurai was from the Tamil film industry, and since his tenure, a significant number of the state's chief ministers have hailed from the industry. (Full article...)
Priestley, painted by James Sharples, c. 1797
Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) was a British natural philosopher, Dissenting clergyman, political theorist, theologian, and educator. He is best known for his discovery, simultaneously with Antoine Lavoisier, of oxygen gas.
A member of marginalized religious groups throughout his life and a proponent of what was called "rational Dissent," Priestley advocated religious toleration and equal rights for Dissenters. He argued for extensive civil rights in works such as the important Essay on the First Principles of Government, believing that individuals could bring about progress and eventually the Millennium; he was the foremost British expounder of providentialism. Priestley also made significant contributions to education, publishing, among other things, The Rudiments of English Grammar, a seminal work on English grammar. In his most lasting contributions to education, he argued for the benefits of a liberal arts education and of the value of the study of modern history. In his metaphysical works, Priestley "attempt[ed] to combine theism, materialism, and determinism," a project that has been called "audacious and original." (Full article...)- The position of president of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a symbolic figurehead role, which dates back to the organization's foundation in New York on November 17, 1871. Founded by George Wood Wingate and William Conant Church, two Union veterans dismayed by the lack of shooting skills among recruits, the rifle association voted to have Union general Ambrose Burnside as its first president. Church succeeded Burnside as the second president of the organization, and Wingate became the tenth in 1886. Traditionally, the first vice president is elevated to president when the position becomes open while the second vice president is similarly promoted, but this practice has not always been followed.
Throughout its history, presidents have served purposes and effects including providing the NRA greater legitimacy; holders of the office have also intentionally provoked outrage and condemnation. Since the 1990s, some NRA presidents have made controversial statements such as when James W. Porter II referred to Barack Obama, whose administration he perceived as hostile to gun rights, as a "fake president" and when Charlton Heston proclaimed to gun control advocates that they could only have his firearm after taking it "from my cold, dead hands." (Full article...)
The Canadian province of Nova Scotia was a British colony with a system of responsible government since 1848, before it joined Canadian Confederation in 1867. Since Confederation, the province has been a part of the Canadian federation and has kept its own legislature to deal with provincial matters.
Nova Scotia 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 Nova Scotia's head of government, and the king in right of Nova Scotia is its head of state and is represented by the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of Nova Scotia, and presides over that body. (Full article...)
Texas Counties and municipalities
The U.S. state of Texas is divided into 254 counties, more than any other U.S. state. While only about 20% of Texas counties are generally located within the Houston—Dallas—San Antonio—Austin areas, they serve a majority of the state's population with approximately 22,000,000 inhabitants.
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 governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the New Jersey Legislature, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of treason or impeachment.
The first New Jersey State Constitution, ratified in 1776, provided that a governor be elected annually by the state legislature, the members of which were selected by the several counties. Under this constitution, the governor was president of the upper house of the legislature, then called the Legislative Council. The 1844 constitution provided for a popular vote to elect the governor, who no longer presided over the upper house of the legislature, now called the Senate. The 1844 constitution also lengthened the governor's term to three years, set to start on the third Tuesday in January following an election, and barred governors from succeeding themselves. The 1947 constitution extended terms to four years, and limits governors from being elected to more than two consecutive terms, though they can run again after a third term has passed. Joseph Bloomfield, Peter Dumont Vroom, Daniel Haines, Joel Parker, Leon Abbett, and Walter Evans Edge each served two non-consecutive stints as governor while A. Harry Moore served three non-consecutive stints. Foster McGowan Voorhees, James Fairman Fielder, and Richard Codey each served two non-consecutive stints, one as acting governor and one as official governor. (Full article...)
The Cabinet of the United States, which is the principal advisory body to the president of the United States, has had 37 African-American members altogether, with one of them serving in multiple different positions for a total of 38 cabinet appointments. Of that particular number, 26 different Black individuals held a total of 27 permanent cabinet posts, serving as the vice president or head of one of the federal executive departments, and 11 more held cabinet-level positions, which can differ under each president; no one officeholder served in both cabinet and cabinet-rank roles. The U.S. Census Bureau defines African Americans as citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. The term is generally used for Americans with at least partial ancestry in any of the original peoples of sub-Saharan Africa. During the founding of the federal government, Black Americans were consigned to a status of second-class citizenship or enslaved. No African American ever held a cabinet position before the civil rights movement or the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and labor unions.
Robert C. Weaver became the first Black-American to serve in a president's cabinet when he was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966. Patricia Roberts Harris was the first black woman to serve in a presidential cabinet when she was named to the same position by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Two years later, Carter tapped her for Secretary of Health and Human services, thus making her the first African-American to hold two different cabinet positions. (Full article...)
The governor of Arizona is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arizona. As the top elected official, the governor is the head of the executive branch of the Arizona state government and is charged with faithfully executing state laws. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Arizona State Legislature; to convene the legislature; and to grant pardons, with the exception of cases of impeachment. The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. Arizona is one of the few states that currently does not have a governor's mansion or other official residence.
Twenty-four people have served as governor over 28 distinct terms. All of the repeat governors were in the state's earliest years, when George W. P. Hunt and Thomas Edward Campbell alternated as governor for 17 years and, after a two-year gap, Hunt served another term. One governor, Evan Mecham, was impeached by the Arizona House of Representatives and subsequently removed from office following his conviction in the Arizona Senate. Another, Fife Symington, resigned upon being convicted of a felony. The longest-serving governor was Hunt, who was elected seven times and served just under fourteen years. The longest single stint was that of Bruce Babbitt, who was elected to two four-year terms after succeeding to the office following the death of his predecessor, Wesley Bolin, serving nearly nine years total. Bolin had the shortest tenure, dying less than five months after succeeding as governor. Arizona has had five female governors, the most in the United States, and was the first—and until 2019 (when Michelle Lujan Grisham succeeded Susana Martinez in neighboring New Mexico) the only—state where female governors served consecutively. (Full article...)
There are fourteen counties in the U.S. state of Vermont. These counties together contain 255 political units, or places, including 237 towns, 10 cities, five unincorporated areas, and four gores. Each county has a county seat, often referred to as a "shire town".
In 1779, Vermont had two counties. The western side of the state was Bennington County and the eastern was Cumberland County. In 1781, three new counties (including then-called Washington that became part of New Hampshire) were created out of Cumberland County, and the remainder of the county was renamed Windham.
Today's Washington County was created in 1810 as Jefferson County; it was renamed Washington in 1814. (Full article...)
The Song dynasty (960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that succeeded the period referred to as Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) and preceded the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), which conquered the Song dynasty in 1279. The conventional division into the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) and Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) is created by the conquest of northern China by the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in 1127 and the consequent shift of the capital from Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng) in the north to Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou) in the south.
Below is a complete list of Song emperors, including their temple names, posthumous names, given names, and era names. The dynasty was founded by Zhao Kuangyin, who became Emperor Taizu (r. 960–976) and concluded with the death of Zhao Bing (r. 1278–1279). The last emperor of the Northern Song was Emperor Qinzong (r. 1126–1127), while the first Southern Song emperor was Emperor Gaozong (r. 1127–1162). (Full article...)
Mike DeWine has been governor since January 14, 2019.
The governor of Ohio is the head of government of Ohio and the 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 Ohio General Assembly, the power to convene the legislature and the power to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment.
There have been 64 governors of Ohio, serving 70 distinct terms. The longest term was held by Jim Rhodes, who was elected four times and served just under sixteen years in two non-consecutive periods of two terms each (1963–1971 and 1975–1983). The shortest terms were held by John William Brown and Nancy Hollister, who each served for only 11 days after the governors preceding them resigned in order to begin the terms to which they had been elected in the United States Senate; the shortest-serving elected governor was John M. Pattison, who died in office five months into his term. (Full article...)
Kathy Hochul has been governor since August 24, 2021. She is the first woman to hold the position.
The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York, the head of the executive branch of New York's state government, and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws, to convene the New York State Legislature, the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the legislature, as well as to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment.
Fifty-seven people have served as state governor, four of whom served non-consecutive terms (George Clinton, DeWitt Clinton, Horatio Seymour, and Al Smith); the official numbering lists each governor only once. There has only been one female governor so far: Kathy Hochul. This numbering includes one acting governor: the lieutenant governor who filled the vacancy after the resignation of the governor, under the 1777 Constitution. The list does not include the prior colonial governors nor those who have acted as governor when the governor was out of state, such as Lieutenant Governor Timothy L. Woodruff during Theodore Roosevelt's vice presidential campaign in 1900, or Acting Speaker of the New York State Assembly Moses M. Weinstein, who acted as governor for 10 days in 1968 while the governor, the Lieutenant Governor and the Senate Majority Leader were out of the state, attending the Republican National Convention in Miami. (Full article...)
.svg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Selected quote
Selected biography
Leverett George DeVeber (sometimes spelled De Veber) (February 10, 1849 – July 9, 1925) was a Canadian politician who served as Member of the Legislative Assemblies of Alberta and the North-West Territories, minister in the government of Alberta, and member of the Senate of Canada. Born in New Brunswick and trained as a physician, he joined the North-West Mounted Police and came west, eventually settling in Lethbridge after leaving the police force. He represented Lethbridge in the North-West Legislative Assembly from 1898 until 1905, when Lethbridge became part of the new province of Alberta. He was appointed Minister without Portfolio in Alberta's first government, but resigned four months later to accept an appointment to the Senate, where he remained until his death.
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that 42 years after Jilly Cooper's How to Stay Married was first published, she described it as "terribly politically incorrect"?
- ... that Framoi Bérété founded a political party with Ahmed Sékou Touré, but later lost his seat in parliament to another party founded by Sékou Touré?
- ... that Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh may have facilitated the killing of a political rival through a United States airstrike?
- ... that valence populism cannot be positioned on the left–right political spectrum?
- ... that a former Uber driver is the nominee to be the deputy secretary of a U.S. government department?
- ... the 2025 student elections at 15 constituent campuses of Tribhuvan University could not be held due to political conflicts between student organizations?
More did you know...
- ...that the traditional form of government in Tibet from 1642 to 1951 was the Cho-sid-nyi?
- ...that, at a congress in May 1921, all Socialist Party of Romania delegates who supported Bolshevik guidelines were arrested 24 hours after a vote on affiliation to the Comintern?
- ...that Ngo Dinh Diem became president of South Vietnam after a fraudulent 1955 election run by his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, polling 133% of registered voters in Saigon?
- ...that the Brothers Grimm were amongst the Göttingen Seven, university teachers who protested changes to the constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover in 1837?
- ...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 2013 United States federal budget may impose a 23% cut on the defense budget due to the Budget Control Act of 2011, according to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta?
In this month
- September 14, 2003 – Estonia approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
- September 21, 1854 – the United States Republican Party is founded. The party opposed the expansion of slavery, called for free homesteads to farmers ("free soil"), and sought to modernize banking, railroads, and industry.
Political news
- 23 September 2026 – War crimes in the Myanmar civil war
- Human Rights Watch reports that women held as political prisoners in Myanmar face torture, sexual violence, and inadequate medical care. The group says more than 6,600 women and 640 children are among over 30,000 political prisoners detained since 2021. (Reuters)
- 23 September 2026 – 2026 Moroccan general election
- Moroccans vote to elect all 395 members of the House of Representatives. (AP)
- 23 September 2026 – Second impeachment of Sara Duterte
- The Philippine Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, rules that only senator-judges able to participate count toward the conviction threshold in vice president Sara Duterte's trial, reducing the required votes from 16 to 14. (Reuters)
- 22 September 2026 –
- Moldova's parliament approves a 60-day state of emergency in the energy and water sectors as low levels in the Dniester and Prut rivers threaten water supplies and global conflicts raise energy costs. (AP)
- 20 September 2026 – 2026 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election, 2026 Berlin state election
- State elections are held in Germany for the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Berlin House of Representatives, with an expected decline for the Chancellor Friedrich Merz's party, the CDU. (BBC News)
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.
Karl 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)
A memorial to the Great Famine (Ireland), a famine event in Ireland that faced prolonged 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)
The Flag of the United Nations at United Nations Plaza. The UN is one of the key organizations in the process of the political globalization. (from Political globalization)
Ferdinand Marcos (pictured with his daughter Imee) was a Philippine dictator and kleptocrat. His regime was infamous for its corruption. (from Political corruption)
Portrait of Constant c. 1820 (from History of political thought)
Candlelight protest against South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea, January 2017 (from Political corruption)
American lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation. (from Political corruption)
Division of the world according to Haushofer's pan-regions doctrine (from Geopolitics)
Savka Dabčević-Kučar, Croatian Spring participant; Europe's first female prime minister (from Civil and political rights)
A world map distinguishing countries of the world as federations (green) from unitary states (blue), a work of political science (from Political science)
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)
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)
The sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams' "corrupt bargain" of 1824 is an example of patronage. (from Political corruption)
Montenegro's former president Milo Đukanović is often described as having strong links to Montenegrin mafia. (from Political corruption)
World map with the concepts of Heartland and Rimland applied (from Geopolitics)
Malaysia'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)
US Military Police officer restraining and sedating prisoner while a soldier holds him down (from Political corruption)
Russia handing over the symbolic relay baton for the hosting rights of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar in June 2018 (from Political corruption)
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)
Countries with politicians, public officials or close associates implicated in the Panama Papers leak on April 15, 2016 (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)
Protesters in support of American whistleblower Edward Snowden, Berlin, Germany, August 2014 (from Political corruption)
Detail from Corrupt Legislation (1896) by Elihu Vedder. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. (from Political corruption)
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)
,_%C3%A9crivain_et_homme_politique_-_P1679_-_Mus%C3%A9e_Carnavalet_(cropped).jpg)
.jpeg)
.jpg)
_(2).jpg)
Related portals
.svg){kind=small}
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Sources
More portals
Discover Wikipedia using portals
