Politics & Political Systems, ASH-CAR
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Politics & Political Systems Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Ashta Pradhan, administrative and advisory council set up by the Indian Hindu Maratha leader Shivaji (died 1680),......
Asian values, set of values promoted since the late 20th century by some Asian political leaders and intellectuals......
Assam People’s Council, regional political party in Assam state, northeastern India, founded in 1985. The AGP’s......
The president of the United States is one of the most powerful people in the world, and with power comes the potential......
assembly, deliberative council, usually legislative or juridical in purpose and power. The name has been given......
Assembly of Experts, deliberative body in Iran that oversees the supreme leader (officially called rahbar, or leader).......
The Atlantic, American journal of news, literature, and opinion that was founded in 1857 and is one of the oldest......
Atomic Energy Commission, U.S. federal civilian agency established by the Atomic Energy Act, which was signed into......
Australian ballot, the system of voting in which voters mark their choices in privacy on uniform ballots printed......
Australian Colonies Government Act, legislation of the British House of Commons that separated the southeastern......
Australian Democratic Labor Party, (ADLP), right-wing political party in Australia founded in 1956–57 by Roman......
Australian Democrats, left-of-centre political party founded in 1977 and supported by those dissatisfied with the......
Less than a month after becoming Australia’s first woman prime minister, Julia Gillard of the centre-left Australian......
Australian Labor Party (ALP), one of the major Australian political parties. The first significant political representation......
authoritarianism, in politics and government, the blind submission to authority and the repression of individual......
Aventine secession, the withdrawal by some 150 left and centre deputies from the Italian Chamber of Deputies in......
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), national political party in India. It was formed in 1984. The BSP states that it represents......
Balkan League, (1866–68), an alliance organized by the Serbian prince Michael III (Mihailo Obrenović). Concluded......
Balkanization, division of a multinational state into smaller ethnically homogeneous entities. The term also is......
Ballot Act, (1872) British law that introduced the secret ballot for all parliamentary and municipal elections.......
banana republic, derogatory term for a country that has an economy dependent solely on revenue from exporting a......
Bantustan, any of 10 former territories that were designated by the white-dominated government of South Africa......
baojia, traditional Chinese system of collective neighbourhood organization, by means of which the government was......
Confederation of Bar, league of Polish nobles and gentry that was formed to defend the liberties of the nobility......
Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States and the country’s first African American chief executive......
barbarian, word derived from the Greek bárbaros, used among the early Greeks to describe all foreigners, including......
Two years before he challenged Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1964 U.S. presidential election, Senator Barry Goldwater......
Basque Nationalist Party, Basque political party that supports greater autonomy for the Basque Country (including......
Baʿath Party, Pan-Arabist political party advocating the formation of a single Arab socialist nation. It has branches......
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), pro-Hindu political party of postindependence India. The party has enjoyed broad......
Big Stick policy, in American history, policy popularized and named by Theodore Roosevelt that asserted U.S. domination......
Biju Janata Dal (BJD), regional political party in Odisha (Orissa) state, eastern India. Although the party’s focus......
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), U.S. legislation that was the first major amendment of the Federal......
Black Hand, secret Serbian society of the early 20th century that used terrorist methods to promote the liberation......
Black nationalism, political and social movement prominent in the 1960s and early ’70s in the United States that......
Founded in 1966, the Black Panther Party reached its peak just a few years later, although it did not disband until......
The Black Power movement was an American civil rights effort begun in the 1960s that emphasized African American......
Blackshirt, member of any of the armed squads of Italian Fascists under Benito Mussolini, who wore black shirts......
Bloc National, right-wing coalition elected to the French Chamber of Deputies (lower house of the legislature)......
Bloc Québécois, regional political party in Canada, supporting the independence of predominantly French-speaking......
bloody shirt, in U.S. history, the post-Civil War political strategy of appealing to voters by recalling the passions......
Blueshirt, popular name for a member of the Army Comrades Association (ACA), who wore blue shirts in imitation......
BND, foreign intelligence agency of the West German government. Created in April 1956, it absorbed the “Gehlen......
boat people, refugees fleeing by boat. The term originally referred to the thousands of Vietnamese who fled their......
body politic, in Western political thought, an ancient metaphor by which a state, society, or church and its institutions......
Bodø Affair, (1818–21), a diplomatic scandal involving Sweden-Norway (then a dual monarchy) and Great Britain.......
Bolshevik, member of a wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party, which, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized......
Bonapartist, any of the 19th-century supporters of Napoleon I and Napoleon III and of their political theories......
borough, in Great Britain, incorporated town with special privileges or a district entitled to elect a member of......
boule, deliberative council in ancient Greece. It probably derived from an advisory body of nobles, as reflected......
Boundary Commission, consultative committee created in July 1947 to recommend how the Punjab and Bengal regions......
Bounty System, in U.S. history, program of cash bonuses paid to entice enlistees into the army; the system was......
Bracero Program, series of agreements between the U.S. and Mexican governments to allow temporary labourers from......
Brain Trust, in U.S. history, group of advisers to Franklin D. Roosevelt during his first campaign for the presidency......
Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB), centrist Brazilian Christian Democratic political party. The......
Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB), centre-left Brazilian political party. It is particularly strong among......
Brexit, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), which formally occurred on January 31, 2020.......
Brezhnev Doctrine, foreign policy put forth by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1968, calling on the Soviet Union......
brinkmanship, foreign policy practice in which one or both parties force the interaction between them to the threshold......
Whose smile is that? Whose mustache? See how many of these 24 U.S. presidents you can name. For more presidential......
On May 6, 2010, British voters delivered to the House of Commons a hung Parliament—the first time a single party......
British North America Act, the act of Parliament of the United Kingdom by which in 1867 three British colonies......
British Union of Fascists (BUF), British right-wing political party founded in 1932 by would-be dictator Oswald......
Budi Utomo, the first Indonesian nationalist organization. It was founded on May 20, 1908, a day now designated......
Build One South Africa (BOSA), South African political party formed in 2022 and led by veteran opposition politician......
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union, Bulgarian political party founded under the name Bulgarian Agrarian Union in......
Bull Moose Party, U.S. dissident political faction that nominated former president Theodore Roosevelt as its candidate......
Bund, Jewish socialist political movement founded in Vilnius in 1897 by a small group of workers and intellectuals......
Bundesrat, (German: “Federal Council”), one of the two legislative chambers of the Federal Republic of Germany.......
Bundestag, one of the two legislative chambers of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundestag is the lower house,......
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), agency within the United States Department of Justice......
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), agency of the Indian government established in 1987 to devise uniform standards......
bureaucracy, specific form of organization defined by complexity, division of labour, permanence, professional......
bureaucratic politics approach, theoretical approach to public policy that emphasizes internal bargaining within......
House of Burgesses, representative assembly in colonial Virginia, which was an outgrowth of the first elective......
burgomaster, mayor or chief magistrate of a German town, city, or rural commune. The title is also used in such......
Burschenschaft, (German: “Youth Association”), student organization at the German universities that started as......
Bush v. Gore, legal case, decided on December 12, 2000, in which the Supreme Court of the United States reversed......
cabal, a private organization or party engaged in secret intrigues; also, the intrigues themselves. In England......
cabildo, (Spanish: “municipal council”), the fundamental unit of local government in colonial Spanish America.......
cabinet, in political systems, a body of advisers to a head of state who also serve as the heads of government......
lettre de cachet, (French: “letter of the sign [or signet]”), a letter signed by the king and countersigned by......
caciquism, in Latin-American and Spanish politics, the rule of local chiefs or bosses (caciques). As a class, these......
cacos, one of the two leading political factions in Central America immediately before independence was declared......
caesaropapism, political system in which the head of the state is also the head of the church and supreme judge......
Cairns Group, coalition of agricultural countries advocating market-oriented reforms in the international agricultural......
campaign finance, raising and spending of money intended to influence a political vote, such as the election of......
Among legal scholars, pundits, and politicians, the most common answer to this question is no. According to this......
Canadian Alliance, former Canadian populist conservative political party, largely based in the western provinces.......
On October 14, 2008, Canadians voted to return Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party to power,......
After five years of ruling Canada with a minority government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives......
Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Canadian government organization founded in 1989 that coordinates spaceflight activities.......
The Candidate, American film drama, released in 1972, that offered a behind-the-scenes look at political campaigning......
canton, political subdivision in France, Switzerland, and other European countries. In France the canton, a subdivision......
Canton system, trading pattern that developed between Chinese and foreign merchants, especially British, in the......
capacity building, activities through which vested parties (individuals, organizations, communities, or nation-states)......
capitulation, in the history of international law, any treaty whereby one state permitted another to exercise extraterritorial......
Carlisle Commission, during U.S. War of Independence, group of British negotiators sent in 1778, to effect a reconciliation......
Carlism, a Spanish political movement of traditionalist character, originating in the 1820s in the apostólico or......
carpetbagger, in the United States, a derogatory term for an individual from the North who relocated to the South......