| 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 political integration of India established a united nation for the first time in thousands of years from a plethora of princely states, colonial provinces and possessions. Despite partition, a new India arose above demographic distinctions to unite peoples of various geographic, economic, ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. India was transformed after independence through political upheaval and ethnic discontent, and continues to evolve as a federal republic natural to its diversity. The process is defined by sensitive religious conflicts between Hindus and Muslims, diverse ethnic populations, as well as by geo-political rivalry and military conflicts with Pakistan and China. When the Indian independence movement succeeded in ending British Raj on 15 August 1947, India's leaders faced the prospect of inheriting a nation fragmented between medieval-era kingdoms and provinces organized by colonial powers. Under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of India's most respected freedom fighters and the Minister of Home Affairs, the new Government of India employed frank political negotiations backed with the option of military action to weld a nation.
Featured picture

Gina Krog (20 June 1847 – 14 April 1916) was a Norwegian suffragist, teacher, liberal politician, writer and editor. She played a central role in the Norwegian women's movement from the 1880s until her death, notably as a leading campaigner for women's right to vote. In 1884, Krog co-founded the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights with liberal MP Hagbart Berner. Over the next two decades, Krog co-founded the Women's Voting Association, the National Association for Women's Suffrage, and the Norwegian National Women's Council, spearheading the presentation of women's suffrage proposals to the Storting (the Norwegian parliament). She was an early member of the Liberal Party and served as a deputy member of its national board.
Selected quote
Selected biography
Alexander Berkman (born Ovsei Osipovich Berkman; November 21, 1870 – June 28, 1936) was a Russian-American anarchist and author. He was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century, famous for both his political activism and his writing.
Berkman was born into a wealthy Jewish family in Vilna in the Russian Empire (present-day Lithuania) and emigrated to the United States in 1888. He lived in New York City, where he became involved in the anarchist movement. He was the one-time lover and lifelong friend of anarchist Emma Goldman. In 1892, undertaking an act of propaganda of the deed, Berkman made a failed attempt to assassinate businessman Henry Clay Frick during the Homestead strike, for which he served 14 years in prison. His experience in prison was the basis of his first book, Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist.
Did you know (auto-generated) -

- ... 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 Santander anarchist newspaper Adelante had to be printed in neighbouring Torrelavega, as no printing shop in the city was willing to print it due to its political orientation?
- ... 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 after criticizing the political patronage system, John Silva Meehan was hired as Librarian of Congress through "purely an act of political patronage"?
- ... that the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates was intended to stop "yo-yo politics"?
- ... that "O Bêbado e a Equilibrista" was written as a samba to honor Charlie Chaplin, and became a political anthem for the return of exiles during the military dictatorship in Brazil?
More did you know...
- ...that the Almanach de Gotha is a directory of European nobility first published in 1763?
- ...that the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum recorded over 1,200 violations of human rights in Zimbabwe by the law enforcement agencies from 2001 to September 2006?
- ...that the ideology of the Romanian National Renaissance Front has been described as "operetta fascism"?
- ...that in the 1984 Brown v. Hotel and Restaurant Employees case, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a New Jersey gaming law requiring union leaders to be of good moral character?
- ...that co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association Mohammed al-Bejadi spent most of 2011 in prison?
- ...that during the Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party, Raúl Castro proposed term limits for the country's leaders?
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 arrests senator Rodante Marcoleta, former representative Mike Defensor and a businessman in Quezon City, after an anti-graft court orders their arrest in relation to a plunder case filed by the Ombudsman. Another co-accused, also a businessman, remains at large. (AP) (Tempo)
- 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:















