Politics

Politics are defined as ethic related issues that are applied to a group of people. Technically, politics also exist to inform individuals about how a society is set up and how an individual should generally interact with others and live within that society. Although this strikes some individuals as conformist view of a politic, a politic is generally something that helps society to function as a community instead of an anarchist or dictatorial society.

• The requirement for any system involving politics is that the individuals within that system is able to function according to their natural character. If that is not the case, it is though that they will either rebel or the system will eventually collapse. Politics is a process in which a group of people comes to a collective agreement by making a decision; usually that system is majority rules although there are other ways of determining this. A politic does not just refer to government elections. Politics can also be recognized in other group interactions including those of an academic, religious, or corporate nature. Politics are supposed to put the power into the hands of the general population.

• Politics are the cause of many arguments all over the world, not just amongst opposing political parties but amongst the public as well. That being said, the actual definition of a politic is something that is artful, shrewd, cunning, or crafty. A public opinion is that anyone in the filed of politics cannot fully be trusted. Statistically, no matter what party an individual affiliates themselves with, it has been found that people think that 99% of politicians lie. In fact, politicians are often thought of as operating along the same principle as used car salespeople.

• In America, politics can be local or national. The two main political parties are the Republicans and the Democrats. The Republican politics represent conservatism and the Democratic politics represent liberalism. In America, which is a democratic society, a politic is supposed to be decided by the people of the United States, with every individual vote that is cast counting equally. In reality, many people believe the system of politics to be corrupt due to several scandals that erupted such the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, and the infamous George W. Bush versus Al Gore presidential election which has long thought to have been fixed in favor of former President George Bush. These types of occurrences have made the American public wary of trusting politics in general.

With the varying opinions of the importance of any politic, individuals eventually seem intent on drawing their own conclusion about the political system and politics in general.

Political News

Political news tends to dominate the medium airwaves because of the importance of staying updated about the current political climate. During times of war and economic crisis such as the issues that American is currently facing, this barrage of political news increases even more.

• In the past few years, political news has been dominated by the Iraq war. The more localized that the political news is, the more interest that society will be in it. Because of the fact that so many Americans have a strong political stance on the war, the political news that is available about it takes precedent over other political news items. Another example of that is the state of the United States economy. In the previous presidential political polls, the state of the economy was of top importance to voter’s, along with the Iraq war.

• Almost every major website, newspaper and television news programs that dedicate large sections and portions of time to political news. Political elections, particularly presidential elections, are always covered heavily by medium outlets since the public considers any major political election to be of great importance in their day-to-day lives. Political policies are included in political news so that people can be knowledgeable about whom they may wish to vote for.

• There is some controversy surrounding the political news that the major stations broadcast: CNN, MSNBC, and Fox news. Many complain that these programs tend to have certain political agendas and favor particular candidates. Fox political news is particularly well-known for declaring George W. Bush the winner of the presidential election, long before they should have done so. They are considered to be very conservative. On the other hand, CNN and MSNBC are considered to lean toward the liberal left and give the most airtime to Democratic candidates. All these political news programs are supposed to be completely unbiased and give equal time to each candidate.

• Regardless of these complaints though, many argue that the political news that has been announced by these programs has been accurate and have done their job on keeping the public well informed of political happenings. An example of this includes when CNN first broke the news about the Richard Nixon Watergate scandal. The millions of websites that offer political news are sometimes very biased, and they are allowed to be. While straight-forward journalism is generally supposed to be un-biased, many bloggers can post their own personal political views on anything they want.

Deciding whether or not an individual is receiving accurate political news can be tricky considering the nature of the news itself. Many people have their own political views and those views sometimes intentionally or unintentionally find their ways into the political news. One should use their best judgment when deciding what to believe about political news they hear.

Political Poll

Political polls are used during any local, regional and national elections. Different candidates use a political poll to measure their success. Political polls give a candidate an estimation of how likely they are to win an election or how popular they are at any given time. Political polls are samplings of political opinions from individuals. When used correctly, political polls are a way to determine the mind-set of the individuals voting in an election.

• Political polls are either gathered from a random selection of people or a specific group. When a political poll is conducted using the method of random sampling, individuals are picked because of a ratio. For example, on a list of individuals and phone numbers, every third person might be picked to participate in the political poll. These individuals are then called and asked a series of questions related to the election and the candidates. These random individuals are picked to represent the entire population in the political polls. Statistically, most of these political polls are actually very accurate, with a 95% confidence level of the reliability of the political polls.

• Unlike random sampling, people from a specific group that is asked to participate in a political poll is chosen especially for the polls. This form of a political poll is not considered to be as accurate as random sampling since the people that participate in the polls are selected for a particular reason. The people chosen to participate in this political poll may have a certain agenda in mind. This is known as convenience polling. Some polls only survey registered voters while other political polls may survey likely voters as well. All these factors determine the probable accuracy of the political polls that are conducted.

• There are many ways that a candidate in an election may use political poll results. One way is to find out which issues concern the voters the most. In local elections, this may include things such as new construction or school districts. In national elections such as the presidential election, the political polls can determine the larger issues on peoples mind such as war, the economy, or civil rights. Candidates can also use political polls to form an opinion of what people generally think of them and their political agenda. Some political poll results may follow with the candidate changing their political policies and agenda.

• Questions in a political poll is often asked in a certain order to increase the accuracy of the political polls. These questions are usually asked in a sequence, with questions about actual issues that the population is facing asked after the questions about the particular candidates are asked. Political polls are usually given by trained individuals. Their job is to pose the questions in a neutral and non-judgmental way so that the individual answering the political poll questions do not feel intimidated.

Political polls are always conducted before and during elections to give the candidates an idea of how they are doing, as well as the opportunity for the public to see which candidates are doing well in a given election.

Political Stance

There are many different political parties in the United States. The two main political parties are the Republican and the Democrats, who take an opposite political stance on most social and economic issues. However, there are other parties such as the Socialist Party and the Independent party who have different political views as well.

• The Democrats’ political views are liberal and the political stance they take on most issues are liberal as well. The political views of the Democrats rely on increased opportunities for the poor and middle class and protecting civil rights of individuals. Generally, the political stance of the Democratic political party are considered to be on the left side of the political agenda.

• The Republican political party has the conservative political views. A Republican political stance will usually be based on a desire to keep the government out of an individual’s personal lives. Republicans do not believe in major tax increases, especially for the rich. Their political views are considered to be on the right side of the political agenda.

• The Independent political party takes a political stance on the rights of an individual. Their political views rely heavily on following the United States Constitution. Like the Republican, the Independent party’s political views reject any tax increases and heavy governmental involvement in an individual’s life. Also like the Republicans, they take a strong political stance on traditional family values. They believe that uniting the individuals who do not believe in the exact political views of the Democrats or the Republicans are the key to the unity of the United States.

• The Socialist political party is more like the Democrats in terms of their political views. They take a political stance that a socialist change is necessary to benefit the needs of an individual and not just the upper class. The Socialist political views rely heavily on a desire to improve the lives of the working class and the working poor. Socialist main goals include raising the minimum wage and securing immediate rights for workers in terms of sick leave and employment protection. Another strong political stance of the Socialist party is that a good education is a right, not a privilege. They believe that college should be free and that living grants should be provided to students while they attend. Their political views also strongly oppose any form of racism or sexism.

Although each political party takes a different political stance on different political issues, their political views tend to blend at times. So far, all United States presidents have been either Democrats or Republicans. America has not yet had a president who aligns themselves with either the Socialist political views nor the Independent political views.

Political Parties

The two political parties that dominate each election is the Republican political party and the Democratic political party. These political parties have different beliefs on a number or different items on a normal political agenda.

• The Republican political party follows a conservative viewpoint and adjusts their political agenda to fit this philosophy. The Democratic political party follows a liberal viewpoint. Economically, the Republican political party believes that the government should not increase any individual’s tax and that minimum wages should continue to be the same as they currently are.

• Economically, the Democratic political party believes that taxes should not be raised for the poor and middle classes. The political parties vehemently disagree on raising taxes for individuals that are rich. The Republican political party believes that taxes on the rich should not be raised and the Democratic political party believes that the rich should pay higher taxes. The Democratic political party also believes in raising minimum wages for the population.

• Each of the political parties are associated with a particular symbol. The Republican political party is represented by an elephant and the Democratic political party is represented by the image of a donkey. The Democratic political party is represented by the color blue and the Republican political party is represented by the color red.

• Socially, both political parties are in favor of a democracy. However, the Republican political party believes that social issues should focus on individual rights and the Democratic political party believes in a shared sense of responsibility within a community.

• The political party views differ drastically on everything from military spending to abortion rights. The Republican political party believes that abortion should be illegal and that military funding should be increased. The Republican political party also believes in the death penalty.

• The Democratic political party, in general, does not believe in the death penalty. The Democratic political party believes that military spending should be reduced and that abortion should remain legal.

• Although both political political parties typically oppose gay marriage, the Democratic political party is more likely to have supporters of it than the Republican political party. The Democratic political party is also more likely to be in favor of legalizing civil unions for gay couples while the Republican political party is likely to oppose it.

• Both political parties have particular states that they are strong in. In elections, New York and California typically swing towards the Democratic political party. States in the south such as Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma will tend to vote for candidates who represent the Republican political party.

Both the Democratic political party and the Republican political party were founded in the early to mid 1800s. The Democratic political party was founded in 1824 and the Republican political party was founded in 1854.