Proportional representation (PR) refers to any type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions among voters. The essence of such systems is that all votes cast – or almost all votes cast – contribute to the result and are effectively used to help elect someone. Under other election systems, a bare plurality or a scant majority are all that are used to elect candidates. Further, a PR system is one that produces mixed and balanced representation, reflecting how votes are cast.
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums. In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vote is called active suffrage, as distinct from passive suffrage, which is the right to stand for election. The combination of active and passive suffrage is sometimes called full suffrage.
Compulsory voting, also called universal civic duty voting or mandatory voting, is the requirement that registered voters participate in an election. As of January 2023, 21 countries have compulsory voting laws. Law enforcement in those countries varies considerably and the penalty for not casting a ballot without a proper justification ranges from severe to non-existent.
The Republican Left of Catalonia is a pro-Catalan independence, social democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in Valencia, the Balearic Islands and the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. It is also the main sponsor of the independence movement from France and Spain in the territories known as Catalan Countries, focusing in recent years on the creation of a Catalan Republic in Catalonia proper. Its current president is Oriol Junqueras and its secretary-general is Marta Rovira. The party is a member of the European Free Alliance.
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford University political scientists Adam Bonica and Michael McFaul, there is a consensus among political scientists that "democracies perform better when more people vote."
Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they wanted to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen depends upon the electoral system used. The most commonly used systems are the plurality system and the two-round system for single-winner elections, such as a presidential election, and proportional representation for the election of a legislature or executive.
The Popular Orthodox Rally or People's Orthodox Alarm, often abbreviated to LAOS (ΛΑ.Ο.Σ.) as a reference to the Greek word for people, is a Greek right-wing populist political party. It was founded by journalist Georgios Karatzaferis in 2000, a few months after he was expelled from the centre-right New Democracy. Today, the party is led by Philippos Kampouris.
Voter suppression is a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting behavior by changing the opinions of potential voters through persuasion and organization, activating otherwise inactive voters, or registering new supporters. Voter suppression, instead, attempts to gain an advantage by reducing the turnout of certain voters. Suppression is an anti-democratic tactic associated with authoritarianism.
Ghana elects on national level a head of state, the president, and a legislature. The president is elected for a four-year term by the people. According to the constitution, each President can be elected for only two (four-year) terms after which they are no longer eligible to run for Presidency. The Parliament of Ghana has 275 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies. Unlike the Presidency, parliamentarians are eligible to run for as many terms as possible so long as they are of sound mind.
The politics of Catalonia takes place within the framework of its Statute of Autonomy, which grants a degree of self-government to Catalonia and establish it as an autonomous community of Spain with the status of a nationality, operating as a parliamentary democracy. The Generalitat de Catalunya is the Catalan institution of self-government, which includes the Parliament of Catalonia, the President and the Executive Council. The Parliament of Catalonia is one of the oldest in the world.
Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community.
National Democracy is a far-right political party in Spain, founded in 1995. It is modelled on the National Rally (RN) of France, and grew indirectly out of several defunct parties like the Spanish Circle of Friends of Europe (CEDADE) group and Juntas Españolas. Until 2018, its leader was Manuel Canduela Serrano, a former member of Acción Radical, a group active in the Valencian Community. He was also a vocalist in the so-called "identity" rock group Division 250. The party's current leader is Pedro Chaparro.
Party identification refers to the political party with which an individual is affiliated with. Party identification is typically determined by the political party that an individual most commonly supports.
Youth suffrage is the right of youth to vote and forms part of the broader universal suffrage and youth rights movements. Most democracies have lowered the voting age to between 16 and 18, while some advocates for children's suffrage hope to remove age restrictions entirely.
Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. Although the term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, politics is observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. Politics consists of "social relations involving authority or power. The definition of "politics" from "The Free Dictionary" is the study of political behavior and examines the acquisition and application of power. Politics study include political philosophy, which seeks a rationale for politics and an ethic of public behavior, and public administration, which examines the practices of governance.
In political science, political apathy is a lack of interest or apathy towards politics. This includes voter apathy, information apathy and lack of interest in elections, political events, public meetings, and voting.
Voter turnout in US elections is measured as a percentage, calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast by the voting age population (VAP), or more recently, the voting eligible population (VEP). Voter turnout has varied over time, between states, and between demographic groups. In the United States, turnout is higher for presidential elections than for midterm elections. US turnout is generally lower than that in other advanced democracies.
The Italian Social Movement was a neo-fascist political party in Italy. A far-right party, it presented itself until the 1990s as the defender of Italian fascism's legacy, and later moved towards national conservatism. In 1972, the Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity was merged into the MSI and the party's official name was changed to Italian Social Movement – National Right.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to politics and political science:
Political polarization is a prominent component of politics in the United States. Scholars distinguish between ideological polarization and affective polarization, both of which are apparent in the United States. In the last few decades, the U.S. has experienced a greater surge in ideological polarization and affective polarization than comparable democracies.
