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 Local Government Commission for England was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992 replacing the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. The Commission could be ordered by the Secretary of State to undertake 'structural reviews' in specified areas and recommend the creation of unitary authorities in the two-tier shire counties of England. The Commission, chaired by John Banham, conducted a review of all the non-metropolitan counties of England from 1993 to 1994, making various recommendations on their future. After much political debate and several legal challenges, the Commission's proposals resulted in the abolition of Berkshire county council and the counties of Avon, Cleveland, Hereford and Worcester and Humberside. Combined with a second wave of reviews in 1995, under the chairmanship of David Cooksey, the Commission's proposals led to the creation of unitary authorities covering many urban areas of England. It was replaced by the Boundary Committee for England in 2002, which finished this review cycle in 2004.

Andrew Gregg Curtin (1817–1894) was a U.S. lawyer and politician. He served as the 15th Governor of Pennsylvania during the American Civil War. During the Civil War, Curtin organized the Pennsylvania reserves into combat units, and oversaw the construction of the first Union military camp for training militia. After the Battle of Gettysburg, Governor Curtin was the principal force behind the establishment of the National Cemetery there. After serving two terms as governor, Curtin was appointed ambassador to Russia by Ulysses S. Grant, and he later served in the House of Representatives from 1881 until 1887.

• ...that the Communist League of America was formed after some members of the Communist Party USA were expelled for Trotskyism?

• ...that Nazi scientists claimed to have trained a dog to call "Adolf Hitler" as "Mein Führer"?
• ...that for many years, the Russian Soviet Republic did not have its Communist Party?
• ...that the World War II idea of Polish-Czechoslovakian confederation was eventually discarded by the Czechs, whose leader chose instead to believe in the Soviet Union promises of alliance?

• ...that the New Zealand McGillicuddy Serious Party wanted to return to a medieval lifestyle and establish a monarchy based on the Scottish Jacobite line?

• ...that the Second Malaysia Plan sought to restructure the socioeconomic state of Malaysia through aggressive affirmative action?

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.

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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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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