Portal:Politics
| Main | Topics and categories | Tasks and projects |
The Politics portal

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).
Featured picture

Salman Khurshid (born 1 January 1953) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress, a lawyer, and a writer who has been elected from Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency in the General Election of 2009. He belongs to the Farrukhabad area. He is presently the Cabinet Minister of the Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Minority Affairs.
Selected quote
Selected biography
Ed Stelmach (born 1951) was the Premier of Alberta, Canada, from December 14, 2006 to October 7, 2011. 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.
Did you know (auto-generated) -

- ... that no single political party has a mandate in a coalition government?
- ... that in 1850s New Orleans, the French revolutionary Joseph Déjacque called for black slaves and the white working class to overthrow the United States in a social revolution?
- ... that Matt Stoller believes that "nearly any other cause or political relationship should be sacrificed" to break up monopolies?
- ... that the Grand Husseini Mosque has served as a gathering point for political demonstrations in Amman for nearly a century?
- ... that Pamela Nicholson left her political party as she did not support her party's choice of a by-election candidate?
- ... that Altuntash, a former slave-soldier, tried to redraw the political map of southern Syria—until his wife surrendered to his enemies?
More did you know...
- ...that Republican National Committee official Rob Bickhart wrote a PowerPoint presentation for a meeting of Republican fundraisers which depicted Nancy Pelosi as Cruella de Vil?
- ...that following its 1994 national convention, the Progress Party of Norway lost its deputy leader and the four MPs Christiansen, Hillgaar, Wetterstad and Bråthen?
- ...that Democrat Mayor Thomas G. Dunn, national co-chairman of Democrats for Nixon, was "read out of the party" for his support of Republican President Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election bid?
- ...that "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" (campaign banner pictured) was called the "Marseillaise" of the 1840 United States presidential election?
- ...that the events of Polish October together with Hungarian November shook the Eastern Bloc in 1956 and set the course for the Revolutions of 1989?
- ...that the current constitution of Nicaragua, the ninth in the country's history, was the final step in the institutionalization of the Sandinista regime?
- ...that the UK's Workers Socialist Federation began as a suffragette group?
- ...that the 2013 United States federal budget may impose a 23% cut on the defense budget due to the Budget Control Act of 2011, according to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta?
In this month
- July 20, 1944 – an assassination attempt is made on Adolf Hitler with involvement by notable German conservatives.
- July 23, 1952 – The European Coal and Steel Community is established.
- July 27, 1830 – King Charles X of France is overthrown in the French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution.
- July 31, 1912 – American conservative economist, statistician, and Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman is born.
Political news
- 6 July 2026 – Corruption in the Philippines
- Philippine police separately arrest senator Rodante Marcoleta and three co-accused, including former party-list representative Mike Defensor, after an anti-graft court orders their arrest in relation to a plunder case filed by the Ombudsman. (AP) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- 6 July 2026 – Second impeachment of Sara Duterte
- The impeachment trial of Philippine vice president Sara Duterte begins in the Senate. (AP) (BBC News)
- 5 July 2026 – Somalia–Turkey relations
- Puntland government issued a statement saying exclusive control over its marine resources, citing its constitution and Somalia's federal framework to block SOMTURK. a joint venture between Somalia's fisheries ministry and Turkey's OYAK fund, from operating without approval. The firm holds a federal licence for fishing permits across Somalia's economic zone, signed in Ankara last December to regulate fishing and curb illegal activities, following as leverage in stalled political talks as rich tuna grounds remain underdeveloped. (Garowe Online) (Horseed Media) (Hiiraan Online)
- 3 July 2026 –
- Armenia's parliament passes a law requiring citizens living abroad to meet stricter residency rules before voting, following reports of Russian efforts to influence the June election through Armenians living in Russia. (Reuters)
- 2 July 2026 – 2026 Algerian parliamentary election
- Algerians vote for 407 seats of the People's National Assembly amid a cost-of-living crisis and candidate bans upon the Hirak movement. (AP)
Topics and categories
General images
Related portals
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus












