A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.
96-411: In politics , the term often applies in a metaphorical sense to characterize a geographic region where political tendencies match in microcosm those of a wider area, such that the result of an election in the former region might predict the eventual result in the latter. In economics , a 'bellwether' is a leading indicator of an economic trend . Sociologists apply the term in the active sense to
192-508: A royal house . A few of the smaller states survived, such as the independent principalities of Liechtenstein , Andorra , Monaco , and the republic of San Marino . Most theories see the nation state as a 19th-century European phenomenon, facilitated by developments such as state-mandated education, mass literacy , and mass media . However, historians also note the early emergence of a relatively unified state and identity in Portugal and
288-492: A bellwether, Sunderland South (Labour since 1964) was often used in election programming to predict the swing of a general election - principally because it was often the first to declare - though with variable accuracy. Since Greater London formed during 1964–1965, Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council elections have matched those of the party who run (usually with the GLA, or more lately Mayor of London and Assembly)
384-434: A federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism ). In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of either party,
480-512: A geographic region (state, province, etc.) will vote during elections. Bellwethers in the United States typically change every election cycle due to shifts in the electorate. Bellwethers also differ by the type of elections: a midterm bellwether differs from a presidential bellwether or a party primary bellwether. American statistician and political scientist Edward Tufte and his student Richard Sun defined electoral bellwethers (in
576-717: A limited extent. In the Philippines, the winner of the Philippine presidential election has won in Negros Oriental in all instances since 1935 except for 1961 and 2016 , and in Basilan since its creation in December 1973 (first election in 1981 ). After Negros Oriental voted for the runner-up in 2016, Agusan del Norte and Lanao del Sur then had the longest active streak, having its provincial winners be
672-574: A limited way, empirically or normatively, and on whether conflict or co-operation is more essential to it. A variety of methods are deployed in politics, which include promoting one's own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws , and exercising internal and external force , including warfare against adversaries. Politics is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes of traditional societies, through modern local governments , companies and institutions up to sovereign states , to
768-483: A major political problem for the coalition parties. Traditionally all of these areas had been handled by the state governments, and the Coalition had always asserted the importance of states rights, a view backed by Liberal state premiers like Robert Askin and Henry Bolte . Between 1966 and 1972, Labor leader Gough Whitlam developed policies designed to deal with the problems of urban and regional development using
864-494: A majority of Fianna Fáil TDs in years when Fianna Fáil formed the government, and a majority of Fine Gael and Labour TDs when those parties formed the government. In New Zealand, there are three generally accepted bellwether electorates: Hamilton East and Hamilton West , both based around the city of Hamilton , and Northcote on Auckland 's North Shore. Hamilton West and Northcote missed one election each since they were first contested in 1969 and 1996 respectively —
960-479: A person or group of people who tend to create, influence, or set trends . The term derives from the Middle English belle-weder , which referred to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of the lead wether (the castrated male sheep). A shepherd could then note the movements of the animals by hearing the bell, even when the flock was not in sight. The word was first used in the above meaning in
1056-796: A political entity that has monopoly on violence within its territory, while the Montevideo Convention holds that states need to have a defined territory; a permanent population; a government; and a capacity to enter into international relations. A stateless society is a society that is not governed by a state . In stateless societies, there is little concentration of authority ; most positions of authority that do exist are very limited in power and are generally not permanently held positions; and social bodies that resolve disputes through predefined rules tend to be small. Stateless societies are highly variable in economic organization and cultural practices. While stateless societies were
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#17327719723391152-532: A result of political campaigns by nationalists , during the 19th century. In both cases, the territory was previously divided among other states, some of them very small. Liberal ideas of free trade played a role in German unification, which was preceded by a customs union , the Zollverein . National self-determination was a key aspect of United States President Woodrow Wilson 's Fourteen Points , leading to
1248-539: A result of some shared rational interest. The theories largely focus on the development of agriculture, and the population and organizational pressure that followed and resulted in state formation. One of the most prominent theories of early and primary state formation is the hydraulic hypothesis , which contends that the state was a result of the need to build and maintain large-scale irrigation projects. Conflict theories of state formation regard conflict and dominance of some population over another population as key to
1344-496: A set length of time Electoral record of the states for presidential elections, 1896–2024: Highest percentage of the current party system , 1980-2024 Smallest deviation from the national average Another way to measure how much a state's results reflect the national average is how far the state deviates from the national results. The states with the least deviation from a two-party presidential vote from 1896 to 2012 include: States that were considered bellwether states from
1440-505: A slogan which, coupled with its progressive policy programme, gave it great momentum within the electorate after 23 years of Conservative rule. The Coalition government strongly opposed the opening of full diplomatic relationship with Beijing during Mao Zedong's regime. A special Senate election was held in Queensland to replace Liberal senator Annabelle Rankin , who resigned in 1971. Neville Bonner , who had been appointed to fill
1536-488: A society. The history of political thought can be traced back to early antiquity, with seminal works such as Plato 's Republic , Aristotle 's Politics , Confucius 's political manuscripts and Chanakya 's Arthashastra . The English word politics has its roots in the name of Aristotle 's classic work, Politiká , which introduced the Ancient Greek term politiká ( Πολιτικά , 'affairs of
1632-431: A wider area, such that the result of an election in the former region might predict the eventual result in the latter. In a Westminster -style election, for example, a constituency , the control of which tends frequently to change, can have a popular vote that mirrors the result on a national scale. An electoral bellwether can be a ward , precinct , town , county , or other district that accurately reflects how
1728-434: Is a political system that operates for corrupt ends. When corruption is embedded in political culture, this may be referred to as patrimonialism or neopatrimonialism . A form of government that is built on corruption is called a kleptocracy ('rule of thieves'). 1972 Australian federal election William McMahon Liberal/Country coalition Gough Whitlam Labor The 1972 Australian federal election
1824-417: Is based on the use of power, irrespective of the ends being pursued. Agonism argues that politics essentially comes down to conflict between conflicting interests. Political scientist Elmer Schattschneider argued that "at the root of all politics is the universal language of conflict", while for Carl Schmitt the essence of politics is the distinction of 'friend' from 'foe'. This is in direct contrast to
1920-552: Is closely linked to ethics , and is at its extreme in utopian thinking. For example, according to Hannah Arendt , the view of Aristotle was that, "to be political…meant that everything was decided through words and persuasion and not through violence"; while according to Bernard Crick , "politics is the way in which free societies are governed. Politics is politics, and other forms of rule are something else." In contrast, for realists, represented by those such as Niccolò Machiavelli , Thomas Hobbes , and Harold Lasswell , politics
2016-617: Is continually being written by the legislative and judiciary branch of government; this is just one of those cases in which the nature of the circumstances determines the form of government that is most appropriate. England did set the fashion of written constitutions during the Civil War but after the Restoration abandoned them to be taken up later by the American Colonies after their emancipation and then France after
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#17327719723392112-437: Is embedded in a particular political culture. Lucian Pye 's definition is that, "Political culture is the set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments, which give order and meaning to a political process and which provide the underlying assumptions and rules that govern behavior in the political system." Trust is a major factor in political culture, as its level determines the capacity of the state to function. Postmaterialism
2208-411: Is methodologically diverse and appropriates many methods originating in psychology , social research , and cognitive neuroscience . Approaches include positivism , interpretivism , rational choice theory , behavioralism , structuralism , post-structuralism , realism , institutionalism , and pluralism . Political science, as one of the social sciences , uses methods and techniques that relate to
2304-572: Is not limited to modern institutions of government . Frans de Waal argued that chimpanzees engage in politics through "social manipulation to secure and maintain influential positions". Early human forms of social organization—bands and tribes—lacked centralized political structures. These are sometimes referred to as stateless societies . In ancient history, civilizations did not have definite boundaries as states have today, and their borders could be more accurately described as frontiers . Early dynastic Sumer , and early dynastic Egypt were
2400-419: Is referred to as political science . Politics may be used positively in the context of a "political solution" which is compromising and non-violent, or descriptively as "the art or science of government", but the word often also carries a negative connotation. The concept has been defined in various ways, and different approaches have fundamentally differing views on whether it should be used extensively or in
2496-632: Is the degree to which a political culture is concerned with issues which are not of immediate physical or material concern, such as human rights and environmentalism . Religion has also an impact on political culture. Political corruption is the use of powers for illegitimate private gain, conducted by government officials or their network contacts. Forms of political corruption include bribery , cronyism , nepotism , and political patronage . Forms of political patronage, in turn, includes clientelism , earmarking , pork barreling , slush funds , and spoils systems ; as well as political machines , which
2592-418: Is the science of comparison and teaching of different types of constitutions , political actors, legislature and associated fields. International relations deals with the interaction between nation-states as well as intergovernmental and transnational organizations. Political philosophy is more concerned with contributions of various classical and contemporary thinkers and philosophers. Political science
2688-587: The 1993 election for Hamilton West and the 2005 election for Northcote. Hamilton East, first contested in 1972, has missed three elections — 1993, 1999 , and 2005. They were all held by the National Party in the 2017 election although Labour formed the government after the election. Since the National Party was still returned as the largest party in Parliament, however, the two electorates did in fact retain their bellwether status, albeit to
2784-418: The 1999 , 2003 and 2007 elections. The American states with the current longest streak of voting for the winners in the electoral college are Michigan , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin ; their streaks date back to 2008. The American bellwether states can also be determined in different ways (with respect to presidential elections): Highest percentage for varying lengths of time Highest percentage for
2880-875: The 2021 German federal election the SPD placed first in 12 out of 16 states, including Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony as well as federally while being led by former First Mayor of Hamburg , Olaf Scholz , the State of Hamburg borders both Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, but Scholz did not run in Hamburg during that election, instead representing the District Potsdam – Potsdam-Mittelmark II – Teltow-Fläming II in Brandenburg (where he incidentally ran against Annalena Baerbock candidate for chancellor of Alliance 90/The Greens , drawing additional media attention to
2976-717: The Dutch Republic . Scholars such as Steven Weber , David Woodward , Michel Foucault , and Jeremy Black have advanced the hypothesis that the nation state did not arise out of political ingenuity or an unknown undetermined source, nor was it an accident of history or political invention. Rather, the nation state is an inadvertent byproduct of 15th-century intellectual discoveries in political economy , capitalism , mercantilism , political geography , and geography combined with cartography and advances in map-making technologies . Some nation states, such as Germany and Italy , came into existence at least partly as
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3072-489: The House of Commons all see a change at least every few decades to avoid malapportionment , apart from a few island seats. It is possible to dispute any long-term bellwether, citing such changes. However, those below have kept the bulk of their electors in the main, named constituency identified with the place they are named after. Long-running bellwether constituencies Former bellwether constituencies While not strictly
3168-479: The Liberal and Country parties had been in government for 23 years. Successive Coalition governments promoted conservative economics, trade, and defence . However, Australian economic prosperity during the post-war period of the 1950s and 1960s led to the emergence of a range of "quality of life" issues regarding urban development, education, and healthcare. By 1972 these "quality of life" issues came to represent
3264-667: The Revolution and the rest of Europe including the European colonies. Constitutions often set out separation of powers , dividing the government into the executive , the legislature , and the judiciary (together referred to as the trias politica), in order to achieve checks and balances within the state. Additional independent branches may also be created, including civil service commissions , election commissions , and supreme audit institutions . Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system
3360-571: The Riksdag . While since long having shifted right versus the national results, by 2022 this had further extended. In that election Ljungby was 17 points more to the right than Sweden in general. According to Statistics Sweden , election results in Karlstad were the closest to the national results for three consecutive elections around the turn of the 21st century, a fact often highlighted by media through Gallup Polls showing voting intentions in
3456-735: The Uruk period and Predynastic Egypt respectively around approximately 3000 BC. Early dynastic Egypt was based around the Nile River in the north-east of Africa , the kingdom's boundaries being based around the Nile and stretching to areas where oases existed. Early dynastic Sumer was located in southern Mesopotamia , with its borders extending from the Persian Gulf to parts of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Egyptians, Romans, and
3552-531: The Vietnam War disengaged a significant number of Australian voters. Australian involvement in the Vietnam War was initially popular. However, protests grew as the consequences of the war became apparent and the likelihood of a US-led victory diminished. A major part of the protests were directed at conscripting Australians to fight in the war. Liberal policies on Vietnam focused on the need to contain
3648-512: The World Trade Organization . The study of politics is called political science , It comprises numerous subfields, namely three: Comparative politics , international relations and political philosophy . Political science is related to, and draws upon, the fields of economics , law , sociology , history , philosophy , geography , psychology , psychiatry , anthropology , and neurosciences . Comparative politics
3744-678: The casual vacancy by the Queensland Parliament , won the Senate position – the first Indigenous Australian elected to parliament. The election was held at the time of the House of Representatives election as per Section 15 of the Constitution. Otherwise, no Senate election was held. Since then, every Australian federal election has included a half or full Senate election. The 1972 election ended 23 years of Liberal-Country rule,
3840-647: The first civilizations to define their borders . Moreover, up to the 12th century, many people lived in non-state societies. These range from relatively egalitarian bands and tribes to complex and highly stratified chiefdoms . There are a number of different theories and hypotheses regarding early state formation that seek generalizations to explain why the state developed in some places but not others. Other scholars believe that generalizations are unhelpful and that each case of early state formation should be treated on its own. Voluntary theories contend that diverse groups of people came together to form states as
3936-412: The international level . In modern nation states , people often form political parties to represent their ideas. Members of a party often agree to take the same position on many issues and agree to support the same changes to law and the same leaders. An election is usually a competition between different parties. A political system is a framework which defines acceptable political methods within
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4032-410: The 15th century. In the world of economics and finance , a 'bellwether' is a leading indicator of an economic trend . In the stock market , a 'bellwether' is a company or stock taken to be a leading indicator of the direction in a sector, in an industry or in the market as a whole. Bellwether stocks therefore serve as short-term guides. JPMorgan Chase is a U.S. example of a bellwether. As one of
4128-965: The 18th century, the classic non-national states were the multinational empires : the Austrian Empire , Kingdom of France , Kingdom of Hungary , the Russian Empire , the Spanish Empire , the Ottoman Empire , and the British Empire . Such empires also existed in Asia, Africa, and the Americas; in the Muslim world , immediately after the death of Muhammad in 632, Caliphates were established, which developed into multi-ethnic transnational empires. The multinational empire
4224-575: The 4th century granted citizenship rights to their free population; in Athens these rights were combined with a directly democratic form of government that was to have a long afterlife in political thought and history. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) is considered by political scientists to be the beginning of the modern international system, in which external powers should avoid interfering in another country's domestic affairs. The principle of non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs
4320-561: The District). Two individual seats, Valsad and West Delhi , have successfully voted for the victorious party for the last eleven general elections in India . Furthermore, the party that wins the majority of seats in Delhi has always gone on to form the national government since 1998. The state of Uttar Pradesh is also seen as a bellwether, with the national government having been formed
4416-577: The Greeks were the first people known to have explicitly formulated a political philosophy of the state, and to have rationally analyzed political institutions. Prior to this, states were described and justified in terms of religious myths. Several important political innovations of classical antiquity came from the Greek city-states ( polis ) and the Roman Republic . The Greek city-states before
4512-545: The SPD and CDU/CSU respectively. Schleswig-Holstein is also famous for having had several state elections result in a one-seat majority for the winning coalition and Lower Saxony's 1998 election (in which Gerhard Schröder was the SPD candidate) is often seen as a "trial run" for the subsequent federal election (which Schröder also won). Of the first vote constituencies ( Erststimmen ), the constituency of Pinneberg (also located in Schleswig-Holstein) has voted for
4608-618: The US) into the following categories: In Australian federal elections, the Division of Robertson in New South Wales became the nation's new longest-running bellwether seat, continuously won by the party that also won government since the 1983 federal election . Previously, the electoral division of Eden-Monaro elected its Member of Parliament from the party which won government at every federal election from 1972 until 2016 , when
4704-456: The area. Karlstad swung to the left in the 2010s and by 2022 was seven points to the left of Sweden. Therefore, Karlstad is no longer a proper bellwether town. By 2022, the status of bellwethers in Sweden often moved to post-industrial towns for differences between the various municipalities, but also some commuter towns being candidates. This status shifted rapidly due to the big cities moving to
4800-1019: The cities') . In the mid-15th century, Aristotle's composition would be rendered in Early Modern English as Polettiques [ sic ], which would become Politics in Modern English . The singular politic first attested in English in 1430, coming from Middle French politique —itself taking from politicus , a Latinization of the Greek πολιτικός ( politikos ) from πολίτης ( polites , 'citizen') and πόλις ( polis , 'city'). There are several ways in which approaching politics has been conceptualized. Adrian Leftwich has differentiated views of politics based on how extensive or limited their perception of what accounts as 'political' is. The extensive view sees politics as present across
4896-459: The complicated tension between Australia and China The new Labor Government of Gough Whitlam was eager to make long-planned reforms, although it struggled against a lack of experience in its cabinet and the onset of the 1973 oil crisis and 1973–75 recession . In addition, the Senate was hostile to Whitlam, with the Coalition and Democratic Labor Parties holding more seats than the ALP, as the term of
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#17327719723394992-447: The constituencies of Almond Valley , Dundee City West , Edinburgh Eastern , Glasgow Southside , Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and Mid Fife and Glenrothes each elected an MSP from the largest party in the 2011 and 2016 elections. This continues the trend that their predecessor constituencies ( Livingston , Dundee West , Edinburgh East & Musselburgh , Glasgow Govan , Kilmarnock & Loudoun and Fife Central ) achieved in
5088-430: The degree of horizontal integration between the legislature , the executive , the judiciary , and other independent institutions. The source of power determines the difference between democracies , oligarchies , and autocracies . In a democracy, political legitimacy is based on popular sovereignty . Forms of democracy include representative democracy , direct democracy , and demarchy . These are separated by
5184-770: The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire after the First World War , while the Russian Empire became the Soviet Union after the Russian Civil War . Decolonization lead to the creation of new nation states in place of multinational empires in the Third World . Political globalization began in the 20th century through intergovernmental organizations and supranational unions . The League of Nations
5280-500: The elected president since the 1969 election . Lanao del Sur then voted for the loser in 2022, giving Agusan del Norte the longest streak. For vice presidential elections, Pangasinan has voted for the winner in all elections save for 1986 and 2016 . In every general election to the Portuguese National Assembly since the restoration of democracy in 1975, the electoral district of Braga has voted for
5376-507: The financial powers granted to the federal government under the Australian Constitution. As Whitlam put it, Labor focused on "cities, schools and hospitals", and these issues were electorally appealing especially to the young and growing baby boomer generation living in the outer suburbs of the major cities. By contrast, Coalition policies of conservative economic management, increasing trade, and Australian involvement in
5472-427: The formation of states. In contrast with voluntary theories, these arguments believe that people do not voluntarily agree to create a state to maximize benefits, but that states form due to some form of oppression by one group over others. Some theories in turn argue that warfare was critical for state formation. The first states of sorts were those of early dynastic Sumer and early dynastic Egypt , which arose from
5568-571: The future direction of the rest of the bond market ." The quarterly Bellwether Report , published by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), monitors trends in expenditure in the UK advertising and marketing industry. In politics , the term bellwether often applies in a metaphorical sense to characterize a geographic region where political tendencies match in microcosm those of
5664-418: The highest percentage in the elections. Presidential elections The counties that voted in the first round for the winning candidate: The expression " Som Ljungby röstar röstar Sverige " ('As Ljungby votes, Sweden votes') was coined in the early-1970s, but more recently (in 2006) voting results in Karlstad , Kalmar , and Halmstad more closely resembled the result of the whole nation in elections to
5760-597: The interactions through which values are authoritatively allocated for a society." Each political system is embedded in a society with its own political culture, and they in turn shape their societies through public policy . The interactions between different political systems are the basis for global politics . Forms of government can be classified by several ways. In terms of the structure of power , there are monarchies (including constitutional monarchies ) and republics (usually presidential , semi-presidential , or parliamentary ). The separation of powers describes
5856-524: The kinds of inquiries sought: primary sources such as historical documents and official records, secondary sources such as scholarly journal articles, survey research, statistical analysis , case studies , experimental research , and model building. The political system defines the process for making official government decisions. It is usually compared to the legal system , economic system , cultural system , and other social systems . According to David Easton , "A political system can be designated as
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#17327719723395952-418: The largest population of any Australian state or territory, could also be considered a "bellwether", as, until the 2016 federal election the party which wins government has won the majority of House of Representatives seats in that state at every election since 1963 . Unlike many bellwethers, these are cited by analysts solely for their record and are not usually attributed to demographic factors that reflect
6048-455: The left and smaller towns to the right. Among sizeable municipalities that came within half a point of the national average in 2022 included Alingsås , Borlänge , Gävle and Karlskoga . These municipalites were won by the right coalition with narrow margins. In addition, several smaller municipalities came close to the national coalition differential, although no locations closely mirrored exact party results. United Kingdom constituencies of
6144-549: The longest unbroken run in government in Australian history. It is also unusual as Whitlam only scraped into office with a thin majority of nine seats; typically, elections that produce a change of government in Australia take the form of landslides (as in the elections of 1949 , 1975 , 1983 , 1996 , 2007 or 2013 , for example). The comparatively small size of Whitlam's win is partly explained by his strong performance at
6240-513: The major banks in the United States, its stock sets the tone for the rest of the banking industry. JPMorgan Chase also has contracts with companies in other industries, so its performance is reflected in other sectors of the market. Tata Consultancy Services is similarly a bellwether for technology stocks in the Indian markets, BSE and NSE . Similarly, a bellwether bond is "a government bond whose changes in interest rate are believed to show
6336-509: The majority of times by the party that won the most seats in the state. Ireland has a proportional representation electoral system, in which politicians are elected by the single transferable vote . Bellwethers here can only be measured by the number of candidates from each side elected to Ireland's multiple-seat constituencies that elect an odd number of members. Between the 1981 general election and 2011 general election , Meath and its successors, Meath East and Meath West , have elected
6432-467: The median of Australia. Below are seats that have been classified as bellwether seats won by the party forming government at least once at one of the past 10 elections. Below the winning party is the two-party-preferred vote . In the Canadian province of Ontario , Sarnia—Lambton (and its predecessor ridings) voted for the winning party in every federal election from 1963 until 2011 . This streak
6528-469: The mid-to-late 20th century include: Politics This is an accepted version of this page Politics (from Ancient Greek πολιτικά ( politiká ) 'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups , or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources . The branch of social science that studies politics and government
6624-445: The more co-operative views of politics by Aristotle and Crick. However, a more mixed view between these extremes is provided by Irish political scientist Michael Laver, who noted that: Politics is about the characteristic blend of conflict and co-operation that can be found so often in human interactions. Pure conflict is war. Pure co-operation is true love. Politics is a mixture of both. The history of politics spans human history and
6720-459: The most London authorities except went its "miss" to Labour's majority of London councils in 2010 (which has endured since) and the reverse miss in 1978 and 1982. In the latter two results no overall control was the local result. The constituencies of Cunninghame North , Stirling and Na h-Eileanan an Iar have all elected MSPs from the party which won the plurality of seats in the election overall for every Scottish Parliament election . Also,
6816-413: The norm in human prehistory, few stateless societies exist today; almost the entire global population resides within the jurisdiction of a sovereign state . In some regions nominal state authorities may be very weak and wield little or no actual power . Over the course of history most stateless peoples have been integrated into the state-based societies around them . Some political philosophies consider
6912-416: The party of the subsequently chosen Chancellor in all elections except for 1949. Both the 1949 and the 1969 elections were rather narrow, the former resulting in a one-vote majority in the election for chancellor and the latter resulting in a 12-seat majority that had broken down due to defections by 1972. In 2005 SPD and CDU/CSU were only separated by one percentage point and four seats in the final tally. In
7008-467: The party of the subsequently chosen Chancellor the most times is Schleswig-Holstein (with two misses: 1969 and 2005 ), followed by the state of Lower Saxony (with misses in 1949 , 1969 and 2005). Both states lie in the North of the country, neither containing many large industrial cities (the biggest being Kiel and Hannover respectively), nor large rural Catholic populations, the traditional base of
7104-587: The party or coalition that has won the most seats in the election. (Note that following the elections of 2015 , a minority government was eventually formed by the second-largest party in the Assembly.) In every general, European Union , mayoral (except 2009), or presidential elections since the Carnation Revolution , the Portuguese capital of Lisbon voted for the party or coalition that won
7200-464: The personal is political ", which disputes the distinction between private and public issues. Politics may also be defined by the use of power, as has been argued by Robert A. Dahl . Some perspectives on politics view it empirically as an exercise of power, while others see it as a social function with a normative basis. This distinction has been called the difference between political moralism and political realism . For moralists, politics
7296-438: The previous election in 1969 , where he achieved a 7.1% swing and gained 18 seats after Labor had been reduced to 41 of 124 seats and a 43.1% two-party vote in its landslide defeat in 1966 . Prime Minister Gough Whitlam quickly switched the diplomatic recognition from Republic of China (Taiwan) to People's Republic of China a few days before Christmas Day under the one-China policy . The new ruling Labor Party sought to ease
7392-511: The provincial electoral district Peace River has elected only three opposition MLAs since the province was founded in 1905. In Manitoba , the federal district of Winnipeg South has voted for the winning party in each election since it was re-formed in 1988 ; a previous version of the same riding, which elected MPs from 1917 until 1974 inclusive, voted against the national winner only three times, most recently in 1965 . Also in Manitoba,
7488-496: The provincial riding of Rossmere , which has existed since 1969 , has voted for the candidate from the governing party in every general election since it was first contested except for that of 1977 ; it also elected opposition MLAs at by-elections in 1979 and 1993. Since the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany (then West Germany ) in 1949, the state where the leading party list vote ( Zweitstimmen ) matched
7584-632: The record was broken after Labor won the seat, while the Coalition won government. The Division of Lindsay in NSW, has elected its Member of Parliament from the party which won government in every Federal election since its creation in 1984 until 2016. Both Lindsay and Eden-Monaro lost their bellwether status at the 2016 federal election , both electing Labor MPs, despite a narrow Coalition win nationwide. The Division of Makin in South Australia
7680-400: The sphere of human social relations, while the limited view restricts it to certain contexts. For example, in a more restrictive way, politics may be viewed as primarily about governance , while a feminist perspective could argue that sites which have been viewed traditionally as non-political, should indeed be viewed as political as well. This latter position is encapsulated in the slogan "
7776-411: The spread of communism , but the gradual US and Australian troop withdrawal undermined this position. In 1971, Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam visited China. The Coalition heavily criticised the visit, but said criticism soon backfired and became an embarrassment when U.S. President Richard Nixon announced he would visit China the following year. Finally, the incumbent Prime Minister William McMahon
7872-423: The state undesirable, and thus consider the formation of a stateless society a goal to be achieved. A central tenet of anarchism is the advocacy of society without states. The type of society sought for varies significantly between anarchist schools of thought , ranging from extreme individualism to complete collectivism . In Marxism , Marx's theory of the state considers that in a post-capitalist society
7968-441: The state, an undesirable institution, would be unnecessary and wither away . A related concept is that of stateless communism , a phrase sometimes used to describe Marx's anticipated post-capitalist society. Constitutions are written documents that specify and limit the powers of the different branches of government. Although a constitution is a written document, there is also an unwritten constitution. The unwritten constitution
8064-580: The states or the federal political body. Federations were formed first in Switzerland, then in the United States in 1776, in Canada in 1867 and in Germany in 1871 and in 1901, Australia . Compared to a federation , a confederation has less centralized power. All the above forms of government are variations of the same basic polity , the sovereign state . The state has been defined by Max Weber as
8160-460: The three-year Whitlam Labor Government. Whitlam became the first Labor leader after World War II to lead the party to victory from opposition before Bob Hawke in 1983 , Kevin Rudd in 2007 and Anthony Albanese in 2022 . The 1972 election campaign dealt with a combination of Vietnam and domestic policy issues, and the role of the federal government in resolving these issues. The Coalition of
8256-776: The way decisions are made, whether by elected representatives, referendums , or by citizen juries . Democracies can be either republics or constitutional monarchies. Oligarchy is a power structure where a minority rules. These may be in the form of anocracy , aristocracy , ergatocracy , geniocracy , gerontocracy , kakistocracy , kleptocracy , meritocracy , noocracy , particracy , plutocracy , stratocracy , technocracy , theocracy , or timocracy . Autocracies are either dictatorships (including military dictatorships ) or absolute monarchies . In terms of level of vertical integration, political systems can be divided into (from least to most integrated) confederations , federations , and unitary states . A federation (also known as
8352-483: The winning party since 1984 . Also in Ontario, Peterborough—Kawartha (called Peterborough until 2015) has consistently elected the party which has won the provincial election since 1977 . In federal politics, the coterminous federal electoral district Peterborough—Kawartha (also called Peterborough until 2015) elected a member of the winning party from 1965 to 1979 and 1984 until 2021 , inclusive. In Alberta ,
8448-473: Was "unfit to hold the great office of Prime Minister". Gorton swiftly called for a vote of confidence in his leadership, which resulted in a 33-33 tie. Gorton could have continued with the result, but stated "Well, that is not a vote of confidence, so the party will have to elect a new leader.", and McMahon won the ensuing leadership contest against Billy Snedden . This turmoil was only further compounded by Gorton immediately being elected as McMahon's deputy; he
8544-430: Was a bellwether division from 1984 to 2010, although ceased its bellwether record in 2013, when Makin stayed Labor as the Coalition regained power nationwide. Also, in terms of nationwide two party preferred vote, Eden-Monaro , Lindsay , Robertson and Makin have bucked the bellwether trend in the past by voting Liberal at the 1998 federal election . In purely statistical terms, the state of New South Wales , which has
8640-437: Was an absolute monarchy ruled by a king, emperor or sultan . The population belonged to many ethnic groups, and they spoke many languages. The empire was dominated by one ethnic group, and their language was usually the language of public administration. The ruling dynasty was usually, but not always, from that group. Some of the smaller European states were not so ethnically diverse, but were also dynastic states, ruled by
8736-580: Was broken in 2015 , when the Conservative Party held the district while the Liberal Party won government, and the riding has become reliably Conservative since. Toronto—St. Paul's has only elected three opposition MPs since it contested its first election, as St. Paul's, in 1935 , although it has become reliably Liberal in recent years. Burlington and St. Catharines currently share the longest active streak, having elected an MP from
8832-768: Was founded after World War I , and after World War II it was replaced by the United Nations . Various international treaties have been signed through it. Regional integration has been pursued by the African Union , ASEAN , the European Union , and Mercosur . International political institutions on the international level include the International Criminal Court , the International Monetary Fund , and
8928-426: Was held in Australia on 2 December 1972. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, as well as a single Senate seat in Queensland . The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition government, led by Prime Minister William McMahon , was defeated by the opposition Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam . Labor's victory ended 23 years of successive Coalition governments that began in 1949 and started
9024-540: Was laid out in the mid-18th century by Swiss jurist Emer de Vattel . States became the primary institutional agents in an interstate system of relations. The Peace of Westphalia is said to have ended attempts to impose supranational authority on European states. The "Westphalian" doctrine of states as independent agents was bolstered by the rise in 19th century thought of nationalism , under which legitimate states were assumed to correspond to nations —groups of people united by language and culture. In Europe , during
9120-430: Was no match for Whitlam, a witty and powerful orator. McMahon's position was precarious to begin with, for he had only emerged as Liberal Leader after a prolonged period of turmoil following the Coalition's unexpectedly poor showing at the half-Senate election held in 1970 , and various state elections. In March 1971, Defence Minister Malcolm Fraser resigned from the ministry and declared that Prime Minister John Gorton
9216-458: Was ultimately sacked by McMahon for disloyalty in August 1971. These changes all made the Coalition appear weak and divided, and consumed in internal struggles. McMahon was further weakened by concerns about inflation and negative press coverage. For example, Rupert Murdoch and his newspaper The Australian supported the ALP. The ALP ran a strong campaign under the famous slogan It's Time –
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