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35 votes
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What governmental power does the Monarch hold in Great Britain in practice?

We have been led to believe that much of the power that was once held by the monarchy has been transferred to the Parliament and that the King is mostly a figurehead. However, the government is still ...
SoylentGray's user avatar
  • 8,861
4 votes
3 answers
2k views

Are all the companies in communism ideology nationalized?

Is it true that in the ideology of communism, the government owns all the companies and the exploitable resources? Also, what about the socialist countries and socialism as an ideology and are there ...
Taher's user avatar
  • 428
83 votes
9 answers
11k views

What is meant by the "left" and the "right"?

When discussing political issues and parties, I often hear mention of a party being "left", "centre-left", "right" or "extreme right". In broad terms, what do these designations mean?
Graham Wager's user avatar
  • 1,193
4 votes
1 answer
591 views

What personal decision-making powers does the British monarch retain in practice? [duplicate]

De-jure, the Queen is the supreme ruler of the UK and retains significant decision-making power. But in practice she is obliged to follow the instructions of Parliament and the Prime Minister. ...
JonathanReez's user avatar
  • 52.6k
213 votes
18 answers
124k views

Why is communism considered as evil (like fascism and nazism) in the United States?

In this question, a person asks why it's so easy to ban Nazi symbols and so hard to ban communist symbols: Why is banning communism symbols so hard to achieve as opposed to banning of Nazi symbols? ...
user avatar
42 votes
3 answers
8k views

What are the disadvantages of first-past-the-post electoral systems?

We all know the situation could arise in the U.S. where one candidate wins the popular vote but another one the electoral college. Given that the same could arise in the United Kingdom and other ...
Sven Clement's user avatar
  • 5,335
23 votes
1 answer
2k views

Can a President be impeached after leaving office?

Suppose for the sake of the question that: hypothetical U.S. President Liam Duke begins to be formally impeached on Jan 19, the day before the next President is sworn in. President Duke is in fact ...
agc's user avatar
  • 12.8k
26 votes
2 answers
6k views

If a NATO member state enters a war, are other NATO members obligated to assist it?

Let's say Turkey enters a war that is going on in the Middle East. It does not matter against whom. Are other NATO members in the obligation to assist her? Normally they should have to, if Turkey is ...
Bregalad's user avatar
  • 7,369
25 votes
3 answers
3k views

Can a United States President issue a self-pardon?

In the event a President is accused or found guilty of a serious crime while in office, can they pardon themselves for it?
WOPR's user avatar
  • 1,186
73 votes
10 answers
21k views

What is the most someone can lose the popular vote by but still win the electoral college?

As the 2016 election results continue to come in, it looks pretty clear that Hillary Clinton will win the popular vote but will lose the electoral college. I know this has happened before and usually ...
celeriko's user avatar
  • 839
65 votes
12 answers
33k views

Why can't Northern Ireland just have a stay/leave referendum?

In following the ongoing Brexit drama, I notice that the Northern Ireland border represents an important sticking point. In particular, both sides agree that there must not be a hard border. Not being ...
Allure's user avatar
  • 32.4k
42 votes
11 answers
15k views

How does Hitler's interpretation of "Nationalist Socialism" relate to the modern interpretation of "Socialism" and "Nationalism"?

I noticed a lot of hate focused on the idea of Nazism, especially with Hitler's reputation and whatnot. But I was wondering, because Hitler's scheme was far from 'socialist' and more fascist than '...
yolo's user avatar
  • 828
27 votes
2 answers
3k views

What happens if a US presidential candidate drops out of the race after being nominated but before election day?

If a presidential candidate in the USA drops out of the race before (or during) election day, but after early voting has begun, what happens to that party's ticket? For example, if Donald Trump or ...
End Anti-Semitic Hate's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
5k views

In the US, why is there such a long time between the elections and inauguration?

In the United States, the elections were on 6 November 2012, but inauguration only on 20 January 2013, more than two months later. In France, the presidential elections were on 22 April, and the ...
gerrit's user avatar
  • 47.7k
75 votes
8 answers
11k views

What makes "Voter ID laws" so controversial in the US?

As a European, I am always baffled by the concept that requiring an ID to vote is so controversial in the US, for me is one of the most "natural" things. I hear that it is because obtaining an ID in ...
Federico's user avatar
  • 6,737
57 votes
8 answers
17k views

Do/did non-dictatorial Communist societies exist?

I've often heard the following two points of view: Communism is a failed philosophy, and it has always failed (e.g. USSR, China, Cuba etc...). Therefore it's simply wrong. Communism has never been ...
Sklivvz's user avatar
  • 2,032
40 votes
7 answers
11k views

Is there precedent or are there procedures for a US president refusing to concede to an electoral defeat?

I am wondering what would happen if an incumbent US President were to lose a presidential election, but refuse to accept the result and to concede defeat (even after any legitimate challenges and ...
Time4Tea's user avatar
  • 4,914
31 votes
16 answers
14k views

Direct voting on every issue (referendum) - new political system

First of all, I am not a politician. I am just a computer scientist. I asked this question because I do not think that I have adequate knowledge of various political systems. Background: Over the ...
Node.JS's user avatar
  • 575
14 votes
3 answers
4k views

Why is having border controls in Ireland so problematic for Irish nationalists?

One of the biggest challenges of Brexit is resolving the issue of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. On one hand it is impossible for the UK to leave the Single Market while maintaining ...
JonathanReez's user avatar
  • 52.6k
13 votes
10 answers
5k views

What are the benefits/drawbacks of a weighted vote based upon federal taxes paid?

Alexander Fraser Tytler famously said: "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public ...
user1873's user avatar
  • 14k
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is Donald Trump's plan surrounding the US-Mexico border wall?

Has Donald Trump laid out a plan for the Mexico border wall or ever talked about it with more detail to clarify what his ultimate plan and goal may be to build a wall? Can anyone think of any reason ...
SlickNutz's user avatar
  • 575
59 votes
12 answers
16k views

Does the Electoral College system really favor low population areas?

I was reading some questions on this site, and I stumbled up this comment. I'll transcribe the relevant parts of it here in case it ever goes away: You could throw in something about how Hillary ...
DJMcMayhem's user avatar
46 votes
11 answers
3k views

Why is denying global warming associated with conservatives?

I'm not asking for arguments about whether global warming is true. I'm asking why denying the presence of global warming is primarily associated with a conservative political affiliation. I am looking ...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 767
37 votes
9 answers
7k views

Freedom of speech and where it applies

There seems to be multiple definitions of freedom of speech out there, and I hear a lot about how companies like Google and Twitter are exempt from this as they are private entities and freedom of ...
Owen's user avatar
  • 379
32 votes
2 answers
6k views

What does European Union "freedom of movement" mean, and how much can individual countries restrict intra-EU immigration?

In recent years, France has embarked on a controversial program of expelling Roma people. The controversy is partly about the allegation that France expels people based on ethnic rather than legal ...
gerrit's user avatar
  • 47.7k
29 votes
8 answers
3k views

Could the British government un-trigger Article 50?

At some point, probably early in 2017, the British Prime Minster is likely to trigger Article 50. A number of expert commentators and a large proportion of the British public still believe that it is ...
arboviral's user avatar
  • 897
23 votes
11 answers
7k views

Why would Russia care about NATO troops on its borders if it has nuclear weapons?

In a related question on why Russia is against Ukraine joining the EU, @user4012 writes the following: Basically, Russia has no natural defensive perimeter of its core. Thus, its permanent strategy ...
JonathanReez's user avatar
  • 52.6k
21 votes
4 answers
9k views

What are the main differences between different types of Marxism?

Socialism, Communism, Marxism, Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism, etc are different political idioms with some similarities in ideology. But my question is about their differences: Question: What are the ...
user avatar
18 votes
1 answer
19k views

May the US president launch a nuclear bomb without any oversight on any target?

According to Article II, Section 2, Clause I of the Constitution, the President of the United States is commander in chief of the United States Armed Forces. Source: Wikipedia How does launching a ...
Martin Thoma's user avatar
18 votes
3 answers
3k views

Who supplies Saudi Arabia with weapons?

More than 140 people were killed and over 525 wounded on Saturday, by a Saudi Arabian airstrike on a funeral. (See nytimes, rt, theguardian, and foxnews.) The questions are: Who supplies Saudi ...
user 1's user avatar
  • 6,247
18 votes
5 answers
7k views

What are the steps to become an independent country once independence has been declared?

In How to Become a Country in 3 Easy Steps they mention: Step 1 Declare independence Step 2 Gain recognition Step 3 Join the United Nations Foreign Policy has a similar article How to Start Your Own ...
fedorqui's user avatar
  • 1,806
12 votes
14 answers
8k views

Vote amount according to "intelligence"

My friend and I had a vivid discussion about politics. We discussed about a system in which people had to go through some sort of intelligence evaluation system. According to their intelligence level ...
Matthias Schreiber's user avatar
11 votes
4 answers
1k views

Let's say the impeachment procedure reaches the Senate. What next?

Let's assume for a second that the House votes to impeach Trump. This only takes a simple majority, something that they might be able to achieve, depending on how serious the Ukraine allegations turn ...
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica's user avatar
111 votes
22 answers
27k views

What is the capitalist answer to automation?

While we are not currently at total automation, we are inching closer. An Oxford Study from 2013 indicates by 2033 upwards of 45% of our job force could be automated. This automation, causing a ...
RandomlyOnside's user avatar
86 votes
4 answers
36k views

Is there a way to block an elected President from entering office?

Given the recent results on the national election at the US, I have seen several protests here at Berkeley and the Oakland area. I am wondering whether there exists any legal option to prevent him ...
urpi's user avatar
  • 815
68 votes
4 answers
12k views

Is the US unusually prone to walking away from signed treaties/accords?

For example, the Iran proliferation Deal. Letting aside considerations about where or not it was a good agreement, this is still the US agreeing to something and then not carrying it out. Other ...
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica's user avatar
61 votes
9 answers
17k views

How did Russia retain the UNSC veto power of the Soviet Union?

I am not sure what the criteria are to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council, but I do wonder how did Russia manage to keep its veto power after the dissolution of the Soviet Union? I ...
Jimmy's user avatar
  • 1,178
56 votes
8 answers
19k views

Why is it impossible to leave the Single Market without a hard Irish border?

I see a repeated assumption that puzzles me. From another well asked and answered question: On one hand it is impossible for the UK to leave the Single Market while maintaining an open border with ...
ian's user avatar
  • 652
49 votes
14 answers
11k views

What is the pacifist position on Ukraine?

What/who are the prominent pacifist movements/organizations/thinkers in the 21st century, and what is their position on the conflict in Ukraine? Much of the public and political discussion about the ...
Roger V.'s user avatar
  • 11.8k
46 votes
5 answers
269k views

What is the difference between liberalism and libertarianism?

According to wikipedia Liberalism (from the Latin liberalis) is a political philosophy or worldview founded on the idea of liberty and equality. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on ...
Fela's user avatar
  • 1,682
45 votes
9 answers
19k views

What arguments are there against ranked-choice voting?

In America, most elections are based on first-past-the-post voting, where whoever gets a plurality of the votes wins. For instance if candidate A gets 40% of the vote and each of candidates B and C ...
Keshav Srinivasan's user avatar
44 votes
6 answers
25k views

Why don't British kings and queens veto laws? [duplicate]

I've learned from Wikipedia that the British king or queen has the right to veto laws, but they don't use the right. Why is that? Is it because of tradition, respect for democracy, some regulations or ...
ymar's user avatar
  • 1,627
39 votes
8 answers
9k views

Can the U.S. Senate hold an impeachment trial if the House "passes" articles of impeachment but does not "transmit" them to the Senate?

After passing articles of impeachment against the President, Speaker Pelosi has announced she will not immediately send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial. What does this actually ...
Rain Willow's user avatar
  • 4,130
32 votes
4 answers
4k views

In the Electoral College, why can electors vote in contrast to their pledge ('faithless')?

The United States uses an Electoral College system, where electors pledge to cast their vote in a particular way. However, these electors have the ability to vote in a manner that directly contradicts ...
Tim Post's user avatar
  • 708
31 votes
9 answers
37k views

How do I know that my vote was counted?

Can American citizens verify that their vote was tallied correctly in the public/published results that determine an election? More generally, do there exist any systems that can simultaneously ...
user avatar
30 votes
10 answers
7k views

In the US, why do libertarians tend to side with the Republican party rather than the Democratic party?

A generic way to define a libertarian in the US could be 'fiscally conservative, socially liberal'. Given that the two major parties (Republican and Democratic) tend to (again, speaking generically) ...
user avatar
30 votes
9 answers
4k views

If there's no government, who will stop people from creating one?

How does the doctrine(s) of anarchism address the following issue? If there's no government, no army, no central police, who will stop local charismatic leaders from taking over and creating their ...
Danubian Sailor's user avatar
30 votes
1 answer
5k views

Why would the Senate Majority Leader vote against their own cloture motion to stop a filibuster?

The record shows that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voted against cloture for a continuing resolution which would have kept the government open. Despite this, he said that by not supporting ...
Henry Elliott's user avatar
30 votes
3 answers
4k views

Why don't Western countries penalize Chinese companies in the same way that China restricts Western companies working on its territory?

Some examples: China bans foreign entities from owning land, currency restrictions make it hard for companies to move funds abroad, Chinese companies are known for violating patents, and finally the ...
JonathanReez's user avatar
  • 52.6k
28 votes
8 answers
4k views

Is China really Communist?

Having read Karl Marx, and seeing the 10 tenets of Communism, I find it hard to consider China as a Communist country. Just trying to stick to the 10 tenets. Abolition of private property, ...
Justin Beagley's user avatar

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