Portal:Politics
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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 Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capital, Salem. The current building, constructed in 1935 and expanded in 1977, is the third to house the Oregon state government since the state administration moved to Salem in 1852. Two former capitol buildings were destroyed by fire, one in 1855 and the other in 1935. New York architects Trowbridge & Livingston conceived the current structure's Art Deco design, in association with Francis Keally. Much of the interior and exterior are made of marble. The Oregon State Capitol was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The Public Works Administration, part of the U.S. government, partially financed construction, which was completed during the Great Depression, in 1937. The building was erected at a cost of $2.5 million for the central portion of the building, which includes a dome of 166 feet (51 m).
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George John Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll KG, KT, PC, FRS, FRSE (30 April 1823 – 24 April 1900), styled Marquess of Lorne until 1847, was a Scottish peer, Liberal politician as well as a writer on science, religion, and the politics of the 19th century.
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There are 16 counties and one independent city in the U.S. state of Nevada. On November 25, 1861, the first Nevada Territorial Legislature established nine counties. Nevada was admitted to the Union on October 31, 1864, with 11 counties. In 1969, Ormsby County and Carson City were consolidated into a single municipal government known as Carson City.
The FIPS county code is the five-digit Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code which uniquely identifies counties and county equivalents in the United States. The three-digit number is unique to each individual county within a state, but to be unique within the entire United States, it must be prefixed by the state code. This means that, for example, while Churchill County, Nevada is 001, Alameda County, California and Baker County, Oregon are also 001. To uniquely identify Churchill County, Nevada, one must use the state code of 32 plus the county code of 001; therefore, the unique nationwide identifier for Churchill County, Nevada is 32001. The links in the column FIPS County Code are to the Census Bureau Info page for that county. (Full article...)
The president of India is the head of state of the Republic of India and the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The president is referred to as the first citizen of India. Although vested with these powers by the Constitution of India, the position is largely a ceremonial one and executive powers are de facto exercised by the prime minister.
The president is elected by the Electoral College composed of elected members of the parliament houses, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, and also members of the Vidhan Sabha, the state legislative assemblies. Presidents may remain in office for a tenure of five years, as stated by article 56, part V, of the Constitution of India. In the case where a president's term of office is terminated early or during the absence of the president, the vice president assumes office. By article 70 of part V, the parliament may decide how to discharge the functions of the president where this is not possible, or in any other unexpected contingency. (Full article...)- The seven members of the Swiss Federal Council (German: Schweizerischer Bundesrat; French: Conseil fédéral suisse; Italian: Consiglio federale svizzero; Romansh: Cussegl federal svizzer) constitute the federal government of Switzerland and collectively serve as the country's head of state. Each of the seven Federal Councillors heads a department of the Swiss federal administration.
The current Swiss Federal Councillors are: Guy Parmelin (first elected in 2015), Ignazio Cassis (first elected in 2017), Karin Keller-Sutter (first elected in 2018), Albert Rösti (first elected in 2022), Élisabeth Baume-Schneider (first elected in 2022), Beat Jans (first elected in 2023), and Martin Pfister (first elected in 2025). (Full article...) 
Seal of the President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan is the ceremonial head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However throughout Pakistan's history, the President has constitutionally oscillated between a nominal role for ceremonial purposes and an executive role holding authority over policy-making.
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...)- There are 23 counties in the U.S. state of Wyoming. There were originally five counties in the Wyoming Territory: Laramie and Carter, established in 1867; Carbon and Albany established in 1868; and Uinta, an annexed portion of Utah and Idaho, extending from Montana (including Yellowstone Park) to the Wyoming–Utah boundary. On July 10, 1890, Wyoming was admitted to the Union with thirteen counties in it. Ten more counties were created after statehood.
Two counties were renamed after their creation. Carter County was renamed Sweetwater County on December 1, 1869. Pease County, formed in 1875, was renamed Johnson County in 1879. (Full article...) - The territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties (Lithuanian: singular apskritis, plural apskritys), all named after their capitals. The counties are divided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: singular savivaldybė, plural savivaldybės): 9 city municipalities, 43 district municipalities and 8 municipalities. Each municipality is then divided into elderates (Lithuanian: singular seniūnija, plural seniūnijos). This division was created in 1994 and slightly modified in 2000.
Until 2010, the counties were administered by county governors (Lithuanian: singular – apskrities viršininkas, plural – apskrities viršininkai) appointed by the central government in Vilnius. Their primary duty was to ensure that the municipalities obeyed the laws and the Constitution of Lithuania. They did not have great powers vested in them, and so it was suggested that 10 counties were too much for Lithuania as the two smallest counties administered only four municipalities. Therefore, on 1 July 2010, the county administrations were abolished, but the counties themselves are retained for statistical and reporting purposes. (Full article...) 
Location of British Columbia in Canada
British Columbia is the third-most populous province in Canada, with 5,000,879 residents as of 2021, and is the second-largest in land area, at 920,687 km2 (355,479 mi2). British Columbia's 161 municipalities cover only 11 percent of the province's land mass yet are home to 89 percent of its population. A municipality is a local government incorporated by the province allowing a community to govern itself and to provide and regulate local services. These services typically include, but are not limited to, the provision of drinking water, sewers, roads, fire protection, street lights, garbage/recycling collection, land use planning, building inspection, and parks.
Within their limited jurisdictions, municipalities are autonomous, responsible and accountable to their citizens and to the province. Their powers and responsibilities are regulated through the Local Government Act, the Community Charter, and, in the case of Vancouver, the Vancouver Charter. They have the power of a natural person, the power to expropriate, and the power to establish and enforce bylaws. They are able to raise funds through property taxes and user fees, and borrow a limited amount through the Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia to pay for capital costs. (Full article...)
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 the Reichstag (parliament). (Full article...)
The governor of West Virginia is the head of government of West Virginia 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 West Virginia Legislature, to convene the legislature at any time, and, except when prosecution has been carried out by the House of Delegates, to grant pardons and reprieves.
Since West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, during the American Civil War, 37 men have served as governor. Two, Arch A. Moore Jr. (West Virginia's 28th and 30th governor) and Cecil H. Underwood (West Virginia's 25th and 32nd governor), served two nonconsecutive terms in office. The longest-serving governor was Moore, who served for three terms over twelve years. The state's first governor after admission into the Union, Arthur I. Boreman, served the most consecutive terms, resigning a week before the end of his third term. Before the state's admission, Francis Harrison Pierpont, the "Father of West Virginia," was elected governor during the Wheeling Convention of 1861. Daniel D.T. Farnsworth was senate president at the time; he filled the last seven days of Boreman's term and remains the shortest-serving governor. Underwood has the unusual distinction of being both the youngest person to be elected as governor (age 34 upon his first term in 1957) and the oldest to both be elected and serve (age 74 upon his second term in 1997; age 78 at the end of his second term in 2001). The current governor is Republican Patrick Morrisey, who assumed office on January 13, 2025. (Full article...)
Population Estimates of India (2024)
India is a union consisting of 28 states and 8 union territories. As of 2026, with an estimated population of 1.47 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 are 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...)
The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Turkish: عثمانلو پادشاهی; 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 from before 1280 and then from the city of Bursa from 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...)- This is a list of the premiers of the province of Quebec since Canadian Confederation in 1867. Quebec uses a unicameral (originally bicameral) Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the National Assembly (previously called the Legislative Assembly). The premier is Quebec's head of government, while the king of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the lieutenant governor of Quebec. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of Quebec, 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, but the premier may ask for early dissolution of the legislative assembly. An election may also happen if the Governing party loses the confidence of the legislature, by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion. (Full article...) 
There are 120 counties in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. Despite ranking 37th in size by area, Kentucky has 120 counties, fourth among states (including Virginia's independent cities). The original motivation for having so many counties was to ensure that residents in the days of poor roads and horseback travel could make a round trip from their home to the county seat in a single day, as well as being able to travel from one county seat to the next in the same fashion. Later, however, politics began to play a part, with citizens who disagreed with their county government petitioning the state to create a new county. Today, 22 of the 120 counties have fewer than 10,000 residents, and half have fewer than 20,000. The 20 largest counties by population all have populations of 50,000 or higher, and just 8 of the 120 have a population of 100,000 or higher. The average county population, based on the estimated 2025 state population of 4.606 million, was 38,391.
Following concerns of too many counties, the 1891 Kentucky Constitution placed stricter limits on county creation, stipulating that a new county:- must have a land area of at least 400 square miles (1,036 km2);
- must have a population of at least 12,000 people;
- must not by its creation reduce the land area of an existing county to less than 400 square miles;
- must not by its creation reduce the population of an existing county to fewer than 12,000 people;
- must not create a county boundary line that passes within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of an existing county seat.
These regulations have reined in the proliferation of counties in Kentucky. Since the 1891 Constitution, only McCreary County has been legally created, in 1912. The General Assembly's creation of Beckham County in 1904 was ruled unconstitutional. Because today's largest county by area, Pike County, is 788 square miles (2,041 km2), it is only still possible to form a new county from portions of more than one existing county; McCreary County was formed in this manner, from parts of Wayne, Pulaski and Whitley counties. (Full article...)
The Mayor of Pichilemu is an elected politician who is the head of the executive branch of government of the commune of Pichilemu, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region, Chile. The mayor presides over the local city council, composed of six members, and serves as the civic representative of the commune. The mayor is popularly elected in a municipal election, by simple majority. The office is held for a four-year term without term limits.
Forty different individuals, including acting mayors, have held the office of mayor since the commune of Pichilemu was created in December 1891. José María Caro Martínez, elected in 1894, was the inaugural mayor of the commune, and served for almost four consecutive terms, interrupted by his resignation in 1905. The current mayor is independent Roberto Córdova Carreño, formerly a Socialist, who was elected in October 2024 and took office on that 6 December. (Full article...)
The official seal of the vice president of the Philippines
The vice president of the Philippines is the second-highest executive official in the government of the Philippines. The vice president is directly elected by qualified voters to a six-year term, and may be a cabinet member without confirmation from the Commission on Appointments and is first in the presidential line of succession.[1]
The incumbent vice president is Sara Duterte, who assumed office on June 30, 2022.[2] (Full article...)
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Selected biography
Alasdair Cochrane (born 31 March 1978) is a British political theorist and ethicist who is currently Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield. He is known for his work on animal rights from the perspective of political theory, which is the subject of his two books: An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory (2010, Palgrave Macmillan) and Animal Rights Without Liberation (2012, Columbia University Press). His third book, Sentientist Politics, was published by Oxford University Press in 2018. He is a founding member of the Centre for Animals and Social Justice, a UK-based think tank focused on furthering the social and political status of nonhuman animals. He joined the Department at Sheffield in 2012, having previously been a faculty member at the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, London School of Economics. Cochrane is a sentientist. Sentientism is a naturalistic worldview that grants moral consideration to all sentient beings.
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that no single political party has a mandate in a coalition government?
- ... that Liechtenstein's first general election had no political parties, and candidates were elected based on their personalities?
- ... that Kit Nascimento, a spokesperson for the government of Guyana during the aftermath of Jonestown, disagrees with current proposals to open the former Jonestown site as a tourist attraction?
- ... that the Chinese Red Army housed its political directorate in a Catholic church in 1935?
- ... that political philosophers focus on desirable norms, while political scientists concentrate on empirical descriptions?
- ... that the limited study of the Afghani plants Aquilegia gracillima, A. maimanica, and A. microcentra has been blamed on political circumstances?
More did you know...
- ...that the Communist League of America was formed after some members of the Communist Party USA were expelled for Trotskyism?
- ...that four member states of the European Union have de jure opt-outs and do not participate fully in all common policies?
- ...that Cornelius, Oregon is named after pioneer Thomas R. Cornelius, who served in both the Territorial and State legislatures?
- ...that the Society of the Friends of Peasants had significant influence on the Danish Constitution of 1849?
- ...that depending on a time and place, the same social movement may be revolutionary or not?
- ...that the Second Malaysia Plan sought to restructure the socioeconomic state of Malaysia through aggressive affirmative action?
In this month
- August 3, 2005 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes office as the 6th President of Iran.
- August 3, 2006 – Tuvalu holds parliamentary elections.
- August 19, 1953 – Cold War: The CIA helps to overthrow the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran, and retain Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on the throne (see Operation Ajax).
- August 29, 2008 – Sarah Palin becomes the first female Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States.
Political news
- 11 August 2026 – Capital punishment in Syria
- The Criminal Court in Damascus sentenced deposed President Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia, and Atef Najib—former Political Security director in Daraa—in person. The rulings cite premeditated murder and crimes against humanity. Arrest warrants were simultaneously issued for all fugitives. (The National)
- 11 August 2026 – 2026 Hungarian presidential election
- András Baka is elected as Hungary's president and is scheduled to take office on 19 August. (Reuters)
- 10 August 2026 – 2026 Russian legislative election
- Upon petition from Rodina, the liberal Yabloko party is barred from participating in the 2026 Russian legislative election on charges of unregistered funding, a controversial copyright infringement, and extremism by the Supreme Court of Russia. (The Guardian) (The Moscow Times)
- 10 August 2026 – Aftermath of the 2026 Nonthaburi shootings
- Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organization president Thongchai Yenprasert is killed in a shooting at a government building in Nonthaburi province, Thailand. Former parliament member Chalong Riewrang is taken into custody over corruption. (BBC News) (AFP via CNA) (Thairath)
- 9 August 2026 – Impact of the 2026 Iran war on Iran
- Iranian state media reports that Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has met president Masoud Pezeshkian last July, his first publicly reported meeting since taking over, amidst ongoing speculation about his health and future. Additionally, a rare video is released of him. (Middle East Monitor) (Reuters) (Shafaq)
Topics and categories
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General images
The following are images from various politics-related articles on Wikipedia.
US Military Police officer restraining and sedating prisoner while a soldier holds him down (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)
Detail from Corrupt Legislation (1896) by Elihu Vedder. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. (from Political corruption)
Candlelight protest against South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea, January 2017 (from Political corruption)
Division of the world according to Haushofer's pan-regions doctrine (from Geopolitics)
The sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams' "corrupt bargain" of 1824 is an example of patronage. (from Political corruption)
World map with the concepts of Heartland and Rimland applied (from Geopolitics)
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)
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)
Montenegro's former president Milo Đukanović is often described as having strong links to Montenegrin mafia. (from Political corruption)
Countries with politicians, public officials or close associates implicated in the Panama Papers leak on April 15, 2016 (from Political corruption)
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)
Portrait of Constant c. 1820 (from History of political thought)
A world map distinguishing countries of the world as federations (green) from unitary states (blue), a work of political science (from Political science)
Ferdinand Marcos (pictured with his daughter Imee) was a Philippine dictator and kleptocrat. His regime was infamous for its corruption. (from Political corruption)
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)
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)
Savka Dabčević-Kučar, Croatian Spring participant; Europe's first female prime minister (from Civil and political rights)
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)
American lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation. (from Political corruption)
The Flag of the United Nations fly 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)
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders campaigning for extended US Medicare coverage in 2017. (from Health politics)
Protesters in support of American whistleblower Edward Snowden, Berlin, Germany, August 2014 (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)
The logo and slogan for change.org (from Politics and technology)
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