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Political Theory
Find questions about different political theories and government models here.
2,314 Questions
What is the name of the Italian writer of 'The Prince'?
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (May 3, 1469 - June 21, 1527) is the name of the Italian author of The Prince. The name references a leading diplomat, historian, humanist, philosopher, and politician in his native Florence. People still study the writer in question's sixteenth-century treatise Il Principe, about ruling by blood, power-plays, and subterfuge.
What is the difference between soft affirmative action and hard affirmative action?
Basically, strong affirmative action is openly using race or gender or disability, etc. as a determining factor in employment, acceptance, etc. Like when a college gives someone extra points towards an acceptance decision for being Latino.
Weak affirmative action is not openly using it as a determining factor, but giving social support to those who might be discriminated against. This would be a social program that provides tutors to black students, or scholarships that only females can get. This is not a legal action, but a social one.
What is the origins of the evolutionary theory?
the stupid theory is people eveloved from apes but we really did not and it says the universe was a big accident
but God created us he is the beggining and end do not believe evelution when you think hard about it it does not all add up
in the beggining God created the heavens and the earth genisis 1:1
It is He that made us and not we ourselfs we are the sheep of His pasture and His creation
We are no Accedent
"Rep by pop" is a short-form for "representation by population." It is a principle of democracy that each member elected to, for example, the House of Commons, the US House of Representatives, or a state or provincial legislature, should represent (as nearly as possible) the same number of people. That is why there is a "redistribution" of federal ridings in Canada every ten years. The boundaries of many federal ridings are redrawn to reflect population shifts and increases. While rep by pop is a principle, there are many variables in practice. Rural ridings usually have a smaller number of voters than urban ridings. Because of Canada's constitution, Prince Edward Island is entitled to four members in the House of Commons, even though it would not be entitled to that many on a rep by pop basis. The movement toward rep by pop was promoted in England, back in the 1800s, when several of the ridings had a mere handful of electors but were still entitled to elect a member to the British House of Commons, while electors in heavily populated urban industrial ridings were grossly under represented. In the US, the members of the House of Representatives are elected on a more-or-less rep by pop basis. But senators are not. The voters of each state are entitled to elect two senators, regardless of the state's population. There have been calls in Canada that our Senate should be reformed. Its members are now appointed, rather than being elected. They serve until age 75, rather than having to stand for re-election every few years. Some people say the members of the Senate should be elected, but that the number of senators should be a reflection of the number of provinces, rather than being elected on a rep by pop basis. Is it fair that a state or province with a small population should elect the same number of senators as one with a population that is a hundred times as large? Should someone else's vote be worth a hundred times more than what your or my vote is worth?
How do they choose leaders in the athenian democracy?
Well, at first they didn't really have a couple "Leaders" (besides pericles, and then the Romans came and stuff changed)
They had the Boule. (Boo-lee)
And they were chosen by lottery. Draws etc. Each person could only be chosen ... I think twice.
Only Athenian male citizens could lead.
What factor is most likely to move a dictatorship towards democracy?
Generally it's the removal of the dictator from power, whether by resignation, war, death, exile or some other means. Once in power, a dictator usually does everything he can to prevent a move to democracy.
What is the best explanation of communism?
Anytime you get into the -isms you will always get a certain amount of disagreement, and communism is often mistaken for socialism because most countries in the 20th century that IMPLEMENTED socialism were CALLING THEMSELVES communist. This is because nobody knew how to make communism work, so they implemented socialism on the belief that communism would arise from that (as predicted by Marx).
Communism is a classless, moneyless, and stateless arrangement where everyone produces to the best of their ability, but consumes only what they need.
Socialism is government ownership of the means of production. That is the classic definition. I would substitute the word 'control' for 'ownership' in the sentence. To implement socialism, you need a near-omnipotent state, and there's the rub. Socialism creates such a concentration of power that massive corruption is inevitable.
Very few people actually advocate for real socialism anymore. Usually, they just mean capitalism with a large social welfare presence. Which is not socialism.
What European countries were democratic between 1870-1914?
Britain, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada were Allies that had democracies during all of World War 2. Ireland, Iceland, Sweden and Switzerland were neutral democracies. While they were occupied during the war, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway were democracies before and after occupation.
What form of government does the US operates by?
The Federal government of the United States is called a republic. For a somewhat reasonable comparison the US republic was the first one in the "new world" since ancient Rome was a republic. I use republic loosely with regards to Rome.
In what ways did President Truman propose to contain communism?
President Truman believed that any time Communism was a threat, the United States should act to prevent it. The United States should give aid when necessary to drive out Communists who try to take over other lands.
In a democracy authority rests with?
That depends, as there are plenty of different types of democracy. In America supreme power belongs to congress, in China the 82 million members of the communist party share equal power, and in most democracies (such as NZ, Australia, Venezuela and most of Europe) everyone over the age of 18 shares supreme power.
What is the difference between a republic and a democracy?
'Democracy' comes from the Greek words demos and kratos ('people power' or rule by the people'). It signifies a type of government where the people control or are the government, as opposed to rule a monarch (one ruler), a dictator (0ne ruler) or oligarchs (a few rulers).
There are two general kinds of democracy: a direct democracy, where the people rule the country themselves (that is, they meet regularly and decide on laws and actions); or a representative democracy, where the people elect councillors to represent them in a ruling council. Many of the ancient Greek city-states and early New England colonies were direct democracies, while countries like the United States, Germany or France are far too large for direct democracy to be a viable option, so these countries use the representative democracy model instead.
'Republic' comes from Latin words res publica, meaning 'thing of the people'. It refers to any style of government where there is no monarch - that is, there is no king, no emperor, no shah, no sultan or any other similar position. In a monarchy, the government is effected by the monarch. So, for example, in the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth rules. However it is a 'constitutional monarchy, and the constitution effectively gives power to the parliament elected by the people. But in a republic, there is no such rule - the country is said to belong to 'the people' - but this can be via a president, a council or a parliament or a combination. This is what distinguishes it from a democracy - a republic can be a democracy or an oligarchy.
So every democracy is a republic, but not every republic is a democracy. For example, the United States is both a democracy and a republic. Some countries are republics, but are not considered democracies. Examples include Nazi Germany, the People's Republic of China, the Democratic People's Republic of [North] Korea, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. While not 'democratic' countries from a Western point of view, they are technically republics, since they had no monarchs and even had some form of elections. However, it's also a matter of perception - for example, North Korea calls itself a 'democratic people's republic' and tries to brainwash its people into believing that, but from an outside point of view, it is arguably the most undemocratic country in the world.
By the same token, countries like the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Japan are not republics - since they each have a monarch of some kind (UK has a queen, Belgium has a king and Japan has an emperor), they are each technically a monarchy. However, they are each also considered to be a 'constitutional monarchy', because each has a constitution that gives real power to elected assemblies and the monarch's role is mostly ceremonial, coming into real play only when a constitutional crisis cannot be resolved by the elected assemblies and direction to resolve this is essential. So each of these has a government that resembles a representative democracy.
So these various terms are largely superficial, and the only way to understand them is to examine the real practice of government in each country - looking behind the titles, words and pretenses, and arriving at the real effective forces of government.
Development:
The early experiments in democracy were carried out in Athens and other city-states in Greece. They tried Direct Democracy, where the citizens met fortnightly in assembly and voted on all issues and a council implemented them between meetings. Some rash decisions by the easily-swayed people brought about chaos and collapse, so later countries have used Representative Democracy where the citizens elect representatives to a parliament which directs the state on the citizens' behalf. While not perfect as the representatives play politics and self interest, it is also practical for the present as countries are much larger and assembly of citizens impracticable. Mass electronic communication can solve this, but politicians are not going to rush to a system which replaces them any time soon.
Which freedoms are usually taken away when a democracy is overthrown by military?
Freedoms denied to the people when a democracy is overthrown by the military are so many. In 1973, a military rule or a non-democratic government was established in Chile by General Augusto Pinochet while in Poland, there was a non-democratic government led by General Jeruzelski before 1989. In both these cases the people were denied the following freedoms when they did not have democracies:
- The people had no 'right to freedom of speech' as was the case with the women of Calama in Chile.
- The people had no 'right to from associations or trade unions' as was the case with the workers like a crane operator and an n electrician in Poland.
- In Poland thousands of Solidarity members were put in prison. Freedom to organize, protest and express opinions were taken away.
- In Chile more than three thousand people were killed by the military. The life of the people was at the mercy of the ruler.
- The people had no 'right to have free elections' as was the case in Poland before the dawn of democracy there.
- It was because of the above reasons i.e. no freedom of expression, no freedom of forming their own Trade Unions, no right to have free elections, socio-economic inequality and lack of security of life that the people liked to have change in their dictatorial government.
Why was communism frowned upon by the Americans?
There are some key factors.
A) It is unconstitutional - because of redistribution of wealth - Income tax was unconstitutional until the 16th Amendment
B) It calls for a dictator in order to not fall apart
C) Marxist philosophers have talked about gasing those who are mentaly unfit, or disabled
D) Marxism talks about forced starilization to stop unneeded births of certain groups of people.
E) Mao Tse Sung Communist dictator of China killed between 70 Million and 80 million of his own people. To be safe I stick with saying 70 million.
F) Stalin killed between 10 million and 20 million
G) Communist dictators see the people as worker ants, and the fruit of their labor as property of the state to be used for war, causing mass starvation, and poverty
H) Communism, and Marxism sees war as the salution to economic problems (true, but prolonged war, usually ends is a broke nation)
I) Communsim you own nothing
J) Communism there is no religion
K) Communism the Government has unlimited power and can take away anay of your rights
L) Communism sees no individual rights, besides right to work, and right to rest
M) Communism always ends in a ruinned economy
N) There is not enough money in the World let alone the US for redistribution of wealth to have a possitave effect
NO!!! None of the above are correct. The whole idea of communism is a fair and equal society preferablly over the world. It only ends in a ruinned economy becasue rich people in capatalist countrys are desprate to stop communism because it means the end of rich perople like themselves so they steer the country against communism like america. People were mindwashed and tought from a young age that communism was a terrible idea. This is still tought today.
The guy above me is a idea, and typical marxist radical.
Communisma is form of socialism that abolishes private ownership, as well as socioeconomic classes.
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=communism
Now to explain the reasons I listed above in more detail.
A.) "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." ~ US Bill of Rights, and 5th Amendment to the US constitution.
B.) Communism requires either a dictatorship, or anarchy. Anarchy never lasts, and usually ends up turning into a dictatorship. Somalia is Anarchist, and use to be a Communist Dictatorship. They are war torn, and dirt poor. In a state of Anarchy, there will always be warlords, looking to take control of the region.
C.) George Bernard Shaw purchased ads in various newspapers around Europe, in which he appealed to the chemists to "discover a humane gas that will kill instantly and painlessly. In short- a gentlemanly gas deadly by all means, but humane, not cruel."
Shaw also said in a recorded interview, "I don't want to punish anybody, but there are an extraordinary number of people who I might want to kill…I think it would be a good thing to make everybody come before a properly appointed board just as he might come before the income tax commissioner and say every 5 years or every 7 years…just put them there and say , 'Sir or madam will you be kind enough to justify your existence…if you're not producing as much as you consume or perhaps a little bit more then clearly we cannot use the big organization of our society for the purpose of keeping you alive. Because your life does not benefit us and it can't be of very much use to yourself"
D. Karl Marx advocated genocide and eugenics of certain groups of people, including certain races, as well as the disabled. His reasoning was that they would hinder societal development, and he pointed to Darwinism to support this claim.
E.) Self explanatory
F.) Self explanatory
G.) Communism favors collectivism. The Individual is insignificant compared to the Collective community.
H.) Karl Marx promoted war, and pointed to Darwinism, to suggest that war helps society grow. Sun Tzu, in the book the Art of War, Said that prolonged war causes a society to collapse, as was the case with the Soviet Union.
I.) In communism there is no private property, only public property.
J.) Name a communist country that has a good economy.
K.) see B
L.) See the Soviet Constitution.
M.) See J
N.) The world population is 6.8 billion, and the world GDP is $63,040 billion. That is $9,270.59 per person. In the US an annual salary of $20,000 is considered poor.
How did Imperialism lead to exploration?
I'm afraid it did not, you can argue that the Age of Exploration helped to create imperialism in the form we know it today. Although imperialism has been around for thousands of years, it wasn't until the 1700's that imperialism really started to have an effect.
Is fascism the same as communism?
I will say no because though communist governments in the past and in the present use fascism, communism is a type of economy and has an authoritarian leader, meaning it is controlled by government(aka Executive wing in context to American government), while in fascism the economy is also controlled by an authoritarian leader but will use the military and other violent methods to keep the people in control.
So, to answer your question, No communists are not worse then fascists in theory.
Is colombia a democracy or a dictatorship?
Yes, It is a parlementary democracy headed by a president and prime minister.
Name any two women philosophers of 19th and 20th century?
Frances Wright and Harriet Martineu were philosophers from the 19th century. Judith Jarvis Thompson was a philosopher from the 20th century.
Why does democracy leads to better decisions than any other form of government?
Democracy is purely based on consultation and discussion. A democratic decision always involves many persons, discussions and meetings. When a number of people put their head together they are able to point out possible mistakes in any decision. This takes time. But there is a great advantage in taking time over important decision. This reduces the chances of rash or responsible decision.
Why are nongovermental organizations important?
-They often fill in gaps between goverment-funded services.
-They are private institutions that aid the work of government.
-Apex
secondary socialization is socialization by the school.schools obviously teach us academic skills but as sociologists have shown,they are teaching us alot more.it is from the school that we learn ,for example,punctuality,co-operation,team work,discipline and good work will be rewarded or penalized
Is power divided between the national and state governments under the federal system of government?
Yes, with the stipulation that federal powers override the state powers.
What is the proper role of a national government?
Just to be a government and to improve their justice within a federal government without the help of people around them and employs people with high attendance of consultant manufactures
you retard....
