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The Politics Portal
Politics are 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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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.
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A campaign poster from the National Union Party during the US election of 1864, showing presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln (left) and his running-mate Andrew Johnson. The Republican Party changed its name and selected Johnson, a former Democrat, to draw support from War Democrats during the Civil War.
Did you know...
- ...that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests as a voting qualification in the U.S.?
- ...that the National Assembly of Azerbaijan was the first secular republican parliament in the Muslim world?
- ...that in world-system theory, sociologists debate whether two world-systems have ever existed during the same period?
- ...that former Republican California State Senator Becky Morgan served on the Board of Trustees of both her alma maters, Stanford University and Cornell University?
- ...that depending on a time and place, the same social movement may be revolutionary or not?
- ...that in April 2009, Lim Hwee Hua became the first woman to be appointed a full Minister in Singapore's Cabinet?
Selected biography
Ed Stelmach (born 1951) is the current Premier of Alberta, Canada, having served in this capacity since December 14, 2006. He spent his entire pre-political adult life as a farmer, except for some time spent studying at the University of Alberta. His first foray into politics was a 1986 municipal election, when he was elected to the county council of Lamont County. A year into his term, he was appointed reeve. He continued in this position until his entry into provincial politics. In the 1993 provincial election, Stelmach was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Vegreville-Viking. A Progressive Conservative, he served in the cabinets of Ralph Klein. When Klein resigned the party's leadership in 2006, Stelmach was among the first to run to replace him. After a third place finish on the first ballot of the leadership race, he won an upset second ballot victory over former provincial treasurer Jim Dinning. Stelmach's premiership has been heavily focused on management of the province's oil reserves, especially those of the Athabasca Oil Sands. Other policy initiatives have included commencing an overhaul of the province's health governance system, a re-introduction of all-party committees to the Legislature, and the conclusion of a major labour agreement with Alberta's teachers.
News and Current Events
- June 6: Major haemorrhage linked to alcoholism announced as cause of Charles Kennedy's death
- June 4: Charles Kennedy, former Liberal Democrats leader, dies aged 55
- June 2: Beau Biden, son of US vice president, dies at 46
- June 1: Kerry hospitalized after cycling accident
- May 29: Tony Blair resigns as envoy of Quartet to Middle East
- May 28: Joe Hockey agrees to lobby states to ditch tampon tax
- May 27: Pro-government forces in Iraq launch operation to reclaim Ramadi from Islamic State
- May 27: Citizenship of Australian terrorists overseas under question
- May 26: Ireland legalises same-sex marriage
- May 26: Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten moves towards legalising same-sex marriage
Other current events:
In this month
- November 4, 1980 – Ronald Reagan defeats Jimmy Carter in the presidential election and becomes the 40th President of the United States.
- November 4, 2008 – Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States, becoming the first African American elected to the office. Congressional elections for the House of Representatives and one third of the Senators (second class) were also held.
- November 7, 2000 – Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first First Lady of the United States to win public office.
- November 7, 1917 – The workers of the Petrograd Soviet in Russia, led by the Bolshevik Party and leader Vladimir Lenin, storm the Winter Palace and successfully destroy the Kerensky Provisional Government, resulting in the first overthrow of capitalism in history.
- November 11, 2004 – Former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat dies from a mysterious illness, aged 75.
- November 21, 2004 – Ukrainian presidential election, 2004: Viktor Yanukovych is declared the winner in the final round. International election observers express severe criticism, and large crowds gather in a protest rally in Kiev; 12 days later, the Supreme Court annuls the result, and a new poll is scheduled.
- November 22, – In Dallas, Texas, United States President John F. Kennedy is assassinated, Texas Governor John B. Connally is seriously wounded, and Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson becomes the 36th President. All television coverage for the next four days is devoted to the assassination, its aftermath, the procession of the horsedrawn casket to the Capitol Rotunda, and the funeral of President Kennedy. Stores and businesses shut down for the entire weekend and Monday, in tribute.
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