Hot answers tagged politics
20
There was a separation between the noble french and the vulgar Old English.
Or as I wrote in my comment: Who cares about the language of peasants
I found a nice source for this assumption
Middle English (1100-circa 1500 AD): After William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, invaded and conquered England in 1066 AD with his armies and became king, he ...
19
I'll answer just the part about the Roman Republic, if that's alight for now.
The Roman Republic is probably best described as a pseudo-democracy of sorts. Its creation and initial set-up actually pre-dated Athenian democracy by a single year, though even until its dying days it was more of a "democracy for the privileged" than anything. Hence, ...
12
The most important thing for an outsider to understand is that Syria, while ethnically nearly 90% arab, is made up of a rather large amount of religous minorities. Like most middle-east states, its borders were set up by Europeans during the colonial era, and really paid no heed to any actual cultural boundries.
Only about half the population is Suni ...
12
Washington DC was basically "made" the capital after Philadelphia after an insurrection by Revolutionary War soldiers called the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783. The mutiny showed that state governments could not protect federal institutions so there began a search to move the capital where it could be defended by the Federal government. There was a power ...
10
There is an effort underway now called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
These reform efforts wax and wane as demographics meet the various political parties interests. Right now, "progressives" are really excited about the popular vote, because they can successfully get key voting blocks to vote their way with mass media. In earlier times, ...
10
It actually happens fairly often. The last was in 2004, where a Minnesota elector (who would not own up to it) voted for Edwards (the VP candidate) instead of John Kerry. The assumption has been that this was done out of incompetence rather than malice.
The cycle before that, the DC elector refused to vote, in protest to DC having no congressional ...
9
During Persia's invasion of Greece under Xerxes, Ephialtes betrayed the bunch of Greeks at the very strong defensive position at Thermopylae by showing the Persians an alternate path around the pass. This led to the complete defeat of the Greek army and the death of the Spartan king Leonidas, and opening the way to the sacking of Boeotia and Athens. While I ...
9
My answer is confined to the current structure of the United Kingdom.
I recommend you watch this short five minute explanation of all the countries/territories that are governed by the United Kingdom, and the Crown.
Since you are referring to "British" politics I am assuming that you are talking about the United Kingdom which comprises four separate yet ...
8
Depending on exactly what you mean by a "serious effort" the answer would seem to be no. I am assuming that you would consider a proposed constitutional amendment that got to the states and did not receive enough votes in the states as serious.
There have however been numerous efforts to reform or abolish the electoral college. According to archives.gov ...
8
"The world must be made safe for democracy." - Woodrow Wilson
The irony of Wilson's quote is that WWI did not directly make the world safe for democracy. In fact WWI directly led to the rise of state socialism in the former Russian Empire with its evolution into the USSR, and the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany. From a European standpoint WWI ...
7
Some people believe that the Great Mughal ruler Akbar tried creating a new religion called Dīn-i Ilāhī, even though it has been refuted by many others.
His idea was to instill in people of all religions a tolerance for each other, but it was not successful and had less of a following, even though it had the doctrines of all the religions.
Some say that ...
7
Iceland prime minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir had joined in a civil union with Jónína Leósdóttir in 2002, and had converted the union to the marriage in 2010 as soon as that became legal in Iceland. It is logical to suppose she supported gay marriage at least since 2002 though of course she wasn't the prime minister then.
Spain's Zapatero declared he ...
6
While other posters have addressed the issue in regards to the wider region, none have addressed the issue in regards to the Syrian citizens. They have mentioned the different Syrian religions so I won't go back over that.
The current Syrian ruling family (I am referring to the Assads, not the Baath) is known to be a brutal torturer. Early in the uprising ...
6
The reasons are so numerous and overlapping.
There would have been very little to gain from establishing dominance of French culture. People did not form sympathies or loyalties based on language or culture – that development had to wait for another 700 years or so.
It would have been completely impossible to enforce such a ban. There were no such ...
6
Democracies were not necessarily more stable than other forms of government. Polybius describes a cycle of three forms of government - monarchy, then aristocracy, then democracy, then back to monarchy again (of course, this was not always the case in practice). The important point to note is that each first degenerates into an inferior form (tyranny, ...
5
Inherent in your question it seems to me is the thesis that all Empires fall for pretty much the same reasons. I don't think that's right at all. Empires by their very nature are exceptional things, and thus inherently unstable in the long run.
I think the Anna Karenina principle applies to societies as well as families: Successful societies are all alike; ...
5
Anyone can declare that he or she is running for president of the United States. That is essentially unrelated, however, to whether he or she will be placed on the ballot, much less have a chance of winning.
To become president, one must win a majority in the Electoral College, and barring an extraordinary bout of collegiate faithlessness, that means you ...
5
@MichaelF's answer is a very solid explanation of the origin of DC, and references a historical event that I think deserves more attention. His answer is also far better researched and referenced than I will be able to provide. Having said that, I think the answer to the OP's question ought to include a discussion of the changing role of the national ...
4
Note that in the USA, the people responsible for the President's security are The Secret Service. They are not military.
They can be viewed as a kind of Federal-level police. They used to be under the Treasury Department (with the IRS and the folks who make our money), rather than the FBI or Justice Department. In 2003 they got moved into the new ...
4
Piggybacking on what mgb said, it is necessary from a security standpoint that heads of state have a dedicated security force whose sole purpose is the protection of the head of state. Local police forces, or even national police forces, have conflicting agendas that can lower their focus. That said, the Secret Service (in the US) and their counterparts in ...
4
Not exactly a SSM but very, very close: in Denmark "civil union" or "registered partnership" was allowed in 1989 - see wikipedia:
A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in ...
4
@ihtknot's answer is pretty good ( What is the basic structure of British Politics? ), however I'd just add that although the UK Parliament is made up of House of Commons, House of Lords and Monarch, in reality the Lords and Monarch are subservient to the House of Commons. The Monarch must sign all laws that have been passed by Parliament (i.e. there's no ...
4
You are confusing money supply with inflation. Increasing the money supply can sometimes (but not always) increase prices right along with it - this is called inflation. Inflation devalues the currency, and if it devalues too much, smaller denominations, like the penny in the US, becomes an impractical medium of exchange.
Increasing the money supply is a ...
4
The Westminster system does not compel, either by law or by convention, a member to resign from his/her electorate and force a by-election upon resignation or loss of confidence as head of government. The decision is left up to the member, who may choose to do so after a satisfyingly long career or in an attempt to allow the party to present a fresh face ...
4
Most states choose Presidential electors based on the candidate who got the most votes in the November election, but not all do. In particular, Nebraska (which has 3 congressional districts and therefore 5 electoral votes) allocates 2 electors to the state-wide winner, and each of the other 3 to the winner in each congressional district. In the 2008 ...
4
Yes
In 158 instances, electors have cast their votes for President or Vice President in a manner different from that prescribed by the legislature of the state they represented.
faithless elector
Hat tip to @Keith Thompson, but I wanted to provide a more specific answer.
4
You are referring to the 1999 Seattle WTO Ministerial Conference Protests.
It is historically notable for breaking ground in two respects:
1) The way it was organized by the Direct Action Network (pdf) - their organization techniques allowed very different political allies to effectively communicate and collaborate with each other. This was more in-person ...
3
Overall, the primary reason the "status quo" was maintained was the availability of upward mobility and the level of political and economic freedom. Restrictions placed on these freedoms by the British Crown led to the Revolution.
The thing is that in Colonial America it was easy for a man to own land, thus showing an "interest" in colony and giving them ...
3
I think you need to start reading social histories about "mob" studies. Oliver Bringing the Crowd back in, 1985 is an example of crowd studies. Understanding the capacities of the paid and unpaid (slave) American pre-working class, the position of small farmers, and small shop keepers is important. (DOI: 10.1080/03071027808567427 ; DOI: ...
3
The big difference between a UK (and similar Canadian, Australian) system and the US, is that you aren't directly electing the Prime minister.
You vote for a local MP (650 constituencies of around 30,000 voters) to represent your town. Most people vote for the party they want to win. But it's common to vote for a senior figure for an opposing party since ...
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