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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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"Donald Trump" is a segment of the HBO news satire television series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver that is devoted to Donald Trump, who later became the president of the United States. It first aired on February 28, 2016, as part of the third episode of Last Week Tonight's third season, when Trump was the frontrunner for the Republican Party nomination for the presidency. During the 22-minute segment, comedian John Oliver discusses Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and his career in business. Oliver outlines Trump's campaign rhetoric, varying political positions, and failed business ventures. The comedian also criticizes Trump for making offensive and false statements, and says the Trump family name was changed at one point from the ancestral name "Drumpf".

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Credit: United States Air Force

Photo taken by a Lockheed U-2 spy plane of the San Cristobal MRBM launch site in Cuba, November 1962, after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although this image was taken days after the crisis had ended (October 28), this image has become iconic of the crisis to the point where it is often cited incorrectly as having been taken during the crisis.

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Location of Alberta in Canada
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Flag of Arizona

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, except in cases of impeachment. The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.

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 successfully impeached, and one, 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...)
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There are 16 counties and 1 independent city in the U.S. state of Nevada. On November 25, 1861, the first Nevada Territorial Legislature established 9 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...)
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Emblem of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1929 until the union's dissolution in 1991, the officeholder was the recognized leader of the Soviet Union. Officially, the General Secretary solely controlled the Communist Party directly. However, since the party had a monopoly on political power, the General Secretary had executive control of the Soviet government. Because of the office's ability to direct both the foreign and domestic policies of the state and preeminence over the Soviet Communist Party, it was the de facto highest office of the Soviet Union. (Full article...)
Indiana's congressional districts since 2023
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Coat of arms

The First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union was the deputy head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); despite the title, the office was not necessarily held by a single individual. The office had three different names throughout its existence: First Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1923–1946), First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1946–1991) and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (1991). The term first deputy premier was used by outside commentators to describe the office of first deputy head of government.

A First Deputy Premier was responsible over a specific policy area. For example, Kirill Mazurov was responsible for industry, while Dmitry Polyansky was accorded agriculture. In addition, an officeholder would be responsible for coordinating the activities of ministries, state committees and other bodies subordinated to the government. It was expected that a First Deputy gave these organs guidance in an expeditious manner to ensure the implementation of plans for economic and social development and to check if the orders and decisions of the government were being followed. If the premier could not perform his duties one of the first deputies would take on the role of acting premier until the premier's return. During the late 1970s, when the health of Premier Alexei Kosygin deteriorated, Nikolai Tikhonov as first deputy acted on his behalf during his absence. At last, a first deputy was by right a member of the government Presidium, its highest decision-making organ. (Full article...)
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The Constitution of the Soviet Union recognised the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the earlier Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Congress of Soviets as the highest organs of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) between legislative sessions. Under the 1924, 1936 and 1977 Soviet Constitutions these bodies served as the collective head of state of the Soviet Union. The Chairman of these bodies personally performed the largely ceremonial functions assigned to a single head of state but was provided little real power by the constitution.

The Soviet Union was established in 1922. However, the country's first constitution was only adopted in 1924. Before that time, the 1918 Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic functioned as the constitution of the USSR. According to the 1918 Constitution, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (CEC), whose chairman was head of state, had the power to determine what matters of income and taxation would go to the state budget and what would go to the local soviets. The CEC could also limit taxes. In periods between convocations of the Congress of Soviets the CEC held supreme power. In between sessions of the Congress of Soviets the CEC was responsible for all the affairs of the Congress of Soviets. The CEC and the Congress of Soviets was replaced by the Presidium and the Supreme Soviet respectively by several amendments to the 1936 Constitution in 1938. (Full article...)
The Chamber of the House of Commons
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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: Alain Berset (first elected in 2011), Guy Parmelin (first elected in 2015), Ignazio Cassis (first elected in 2017), Viola Amherd (first elected in 2018), Karin Keller-Sutter (first elected in 2018), Albert Rösti (first elected in 2022), and Élisabeth Baume-Schneider (first elected in 2022) (Full article...)
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Coat of arms of Prince Edward Island

The premier of Prince Edward Island is the first minister for the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. They are the province's head of government and de facto chief executive.

Prince Edward Island was a British crown colony before it joined Canadian Confederation in 1873. It has had a system of responsible government since 1851, and the province kept its own legislature to deal with provincial matters after joining Confederation. Prince Edward Island has 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 Prince Edward Island's head of government, and the king of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of Prince Edward Island, and presides over that body. (Full article...)
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A hanging-scroll portrait painting of Emperor Taizu of Song (r. 960–976), founder of the Song dynasty, painted by an anonymous Song artist

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 emperors of the Song dynasty, 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...)
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Seal of the State of Florida

The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida 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 Florida Legislature, to convene the legislature and grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment.

When Florida was first acquired by the United States, future president Andrew Jackson served as its military governor. Florida Territory was established in 1822 and five people served as governor over 6 distinct terms. The first territorial governor, William Pope Duval, served 12 years, the longest of any Florida governor to date. (Full article...)
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Privy Seal of the State of Wisconsin

The lieutenant governor of Wisconsin is the first person in the line of succession of Wisconsin's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, removal, impeachment, absence from the state, or incapacity due to illness of the governor of Wisconsin.
Forty-one individuals have held the office of lieutenant governor since Wisconsin's admission to the Union in 1848, two of whom—Warren Knowles and Jack Olson—have served for non-consecutive terms. The first lieutenant governor was John Holmes, who took office on June 7, 1848. The current lieutenant governor is Sara Rodriguez, who took office on January 3, 2023. (Full article...)
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Kamala Harris is the highest-ranking African American to serve in a Cabinet as Vice President of the United States.

The Cabinet of the United States, which is the principal advisory body to the president of the United States, has had altogether 35 African-American members, with one of them serving in multiple different positions for a total of 36 cabinet appointments. Of that particular number, 25 unique Black individuals held a total of 26 permanent cabinet posts, serving as vice president or head of one of the federal executive departments, and 10 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, African 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 African-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...)

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But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions. This policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests, the defect of better motives, might be traced through the whole system of human affairs, private as well as public. We see it particularly displayed in all the subordinate distributions of power, where the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other—that the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel over the public rights. These inventions of prudence cannot be less requisite in the distribution of the supreme powers of the State. — James Madison, Federalist No. 51, 1788

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Portrait by John Singleton Copley, c. 1770–1772

John Hancock (January 23, 1737 [O.S. January 12, 1736] – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term John Hancock or Hancock has become a nickname in the United States for one's signature. He also signed the Articles of Confederation, and used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788.

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... that Western media treated Egyptian activist Gihan Ibrahim as a face of the Egyptian revolution of 2011, but rarely mentioned her revolutionary-socialist political views?
... that although Saluche was blacklisted by the Unity Labour Party for his political jokes, the ULP prime minister attended his funeral?
... that the Hollywood Women's Political Committee was formed in 1984 to help elect Geraldine Ferraro, the first U.S. woman vice-presidential candidate for a major party?
... that Kaczyzm is a pejorative term describing the political ideology of Polish politicians Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński and their Law and Justice party?
... that radio station WADK debuted its first talk show after a local businessman told the owner that "the great pastime of Rhode Island ... is talking politics"?
... that Sydney D. Bailey, an expert on international affairs and author of 17 books, left school by the age of 16 and taught himself political science?

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More did you know...

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

...that the 1968 pamphlet Is the School House the Proper Place to Teach Raw Sex? claimed that sex education was a Communist conspiracy?
...that the American Society of Magazine Editors book The Best American Magazine Writing 2007 features investigative journalism about the Beslan school hostage crisis and survivors of Agent Orange?
...that the Libyan opposition has embraced "Zenga Zenga", an Israeli-created auto-tuned song and viral YouTube video that parodies Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi (pictured)?

...that the Brown Dog affair, an Edwardian era vivisection controversy, led to massive riots?

...that the controversial Iraq De-Ba'athification policy banned anyone affiliated with the Ba'ath Party from working in the public sector?

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In this month

May 5, 2005 – A General Election in the United Kingdom sees Tony Blair's Labour government returned to office with a reduced majority of 66.
May 14, 1948 – The Declaration of Independence of Israel is made.
May 18, 1948 – The first Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.

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General images

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

Image 1The 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 2Reformers 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 3Countries with politicians, public officials or close associates implicated in the Panama Papers leak on April 15, 2016 (from Political corruption)
Image 4Sir 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 5Saudi Arabian dissident Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi Government agents after he criticised them many times. (from Political corruption)
Image 6The logo and slogan for change.org (from Politics and technology)
Image 7United Nations Convention against Corruption (from Political corruption)
Image 8This 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 9Candlelight protest against South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea, 7 January 2017 (from Political corruption)
Image 10American lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation. (from Political corruption)
Image 11Karl Marx and his theory of Communism developed along with Friedrich Engels proved to be one of the most influential political ideologies of the 20th century. (from History of political thought)
Image 12Division of the world according to Haushofer's Pan-Regions Doctrine (from Geopolitics)
Image 13Blockchain technology has created cryptocurrencies similarly to voting tokens seen in blockchain voting platforms, with recognizable names including Bitcoin and Ethereum. (from Politics and technology)
Image 14The sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams' "corrupt bargain" of 1824 is an example of patronage. (from Political corruption)
Image 15Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders campaigning for extended US medicare coverage in 2017. (from Health politics)
Image 16Eugène 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)
Image 17World map with the concepts of Heartland and Rimland applied (from Geopolitics)
Image 18A map depicting Corruption Perceptions Index in the world in 2022; a higher score indicates lower levels of corruption.
  100 – 90
  89 – 80
  79 – 70
  69 – 60
  59 – 50
  49 – 40
  39 – 30
  29 – 20
  19 – 10
  9 – 0
  No data
(from Political corruption)
Image 19Ferdinand Marcos was a Philippine dictator and kleptocrat. His regime was infamous for its corruption. (from Political corruption)
Image 20A 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 21Malaysia'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 22Detail from Corrupt Legislation (1896) by Elihu Vedder. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. (from Political corruption)
Image 23A world map distinguishing countries of the world as federations (green) from unitary states (blue), a work of political science (from Political science)
Image 24Montenegro's president Milo Đukanović is often described as having strong links to Montenegrin mafia. (from Political corruption)
Image 25Protesters in support of American whistleblower Edward Snowden, Berlin, Germany, 30 August 2014 (from Political corruption)
Image 26Savka Dabčević-Kučar, Croatian Spring participant; Europe's first female prime minister (from Civil and political rights)