Portal:Politics

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 Liberal Movement was a minor South Australian political party in the 1970s. Stemming from discontent within the ranks of the Liberal and Country League, it was organised in 1972 by former premier Steele Hall as an internal group in response to a perceived resistance to sought reform within its parent. A year later, when tensions heightened between the LCL's conservative wing and the LM, it was established in its own right as a progressive liberal party. When still part of the league, it had eleven parliamentarians; on its own, it was reduced to three. In the federal election of 1974, it succeeded in having Hall elected to the Australian Senate with a primary vote of 10 per cent in South Australia. It built upon this in the 1975 state election, gaining almost a fifth of the total vote and an additional member. However, the non-Labor parties narrowly failed to dislodge the incumbent Dunstan Labor government. That result, together with internal weaknesses, led in 1976 to the LM's being re-absorbed into the LCL, which by then had become the South Australian division of the Liberal Party of Australia. The LM and its successor parties gave voice to what is termed "small-l liberalism" in Australia.

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An 1880 political cartoon depicts Senator Roscoe Conkling over a "presidential puzzle" consisting of some of the potential Republican nominees as pieces of a newly invented sliding puzzle. Conkling held significant influence over the party during the 1880 Republican National Convention and attempted to use that to nominate Ulysses S. Grant, only to lose out to "dark horse" candidate James A. Garfield.

• ...that Thutmose I was the first Pharaoh to be buried in the Valley of the Kings?

• ...that Mussolini's Quota 90 fixed the lira exchange rate against the pound sterling at the prevailing rate from five years earlier, when he assumed power?
• ...that the energy lobby contributed 19 million dollars to United States political campaigns in the 2006 election cycle?
• ...that the lifelong Democrat Jim Naugle is in his sixth straight term as the Mayor of Fort Lauderdale and supported only Republicans for President since 1968?

• ...that Caedwalla of Wessex conquered southeast England during his brief 7th century reign?

• ...that the Proletarian Revolutionary Organisation of Nepal proposed a synthesis of Buddhism and Maoism in 1977?

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David William Donald Cameron (/ˈkæmərən/; born 9 October 1966) is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament (MP). Cameron studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford, gaining a first class honours degree. He then joined the Conservative Research Department and became Special Adviser to Norman Lamont, and then to Michael Howard. He was Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications for seven years. A first candidacy for Parliament at Stafford in 1997 ended in defeat, but Cameron was elected in 2001 as the Member of Parliament for the Oxfordshire constituency of Witney. He was promoted to the Opposition front bench two years later, and rose rapidly to become head of policy co-ordination during the 2005 general election campaign. With a public image of a young, moderate candidate who would appeal to young voters, he won the Conservative leadership election in 2005.

Wikinews on Politics and conflicts

• May 25: Victorian premier apologises for history of criminalisation of homosexuality
• May 21: Lord Howard and Alistair Darling address Confederation of British Industry on EU referendum
• May 19: Besieged Syrian city of Deir Ezzour suffers multi-day attack
• May 17: Telegraph publishes letter from 300 business leaders who back UK leaving EU
• May 16: Wikinews interviews Augustus Sol Invictus, Libertarian Party candidate for U.S. Senate
• May 15: Islamic State claims attack which killed 25 police recruits in Yemen
• May 13: IMF says UK leaving the EU will lead to negative economic consequences
• May 12: Brazilian Senate vote to suspend President Rousseff
• May 12: Italian parliament votes to back same-sex civil unions
• May 10: Political columnist apologises after mocking disabled broadcaster Andrew Marr

Other current events:

• Iran's nuclear program
• United States debt-ceiling crisis
• European sovereign-debt crisis

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	70x45px
Anarchism	Barack Obama	British politics	Canadian politics

Communism	Conservatism	Criminal justice	European Union

Freedom of speech	Genocide	Government of India	Government of Pakistan

Government of the United States	Human rights	Law	Liberalism

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Libertarianism	NATO	Political science	Presidency of the Philippines

SAARC	Social and political philosophy	Socialism	United Nations

War	Geert Wilders	Right-wing populism

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