Politics For Dummies (For Dummies Series)

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Populism: A movement that challenges the established values and rules of the political establishment.

A group called the electoral college elects the president and the vice president every four years. Voters in a national election tell the electoral college members from their state how to vote. There is so much work involved in ruling a country, the Prime Minister needs help. Therefore he chooses MPs from the House of Commons and members of the House of Lords to be ministers.Cold War: The period between 1946 until 1991 is called the Cold War because there were no large-scale physical conflicts (wars) between the two great powers, the United States and the Soviet Union. In the UK, we have the House of Commons and House of Lords. Similarly, there are two chambers in the US Congress.

What’s funny–yet deeply disturbing–is that despite all the hubbub that this election is stirring up, not many people actually know too much about American politics. Even though it’s taught in American schools, research by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania found that out of 1,416 adults, 36% couldn’t name all three branches of government and 35% couldn’t name any of them. And if almost 60% of Americans turn out to vote in general elections like they did in 2012, that’s a lot of people who don’t know a whole lot about the government and how it works who have a say in who is elected and what laws are passed. The Concert of Europe: The Concert of Europe was the political system in Europe, based on the balance of power concept, that lasted until the outbreak of World War I. It provided Europe for almost a century with peace (despite some minor conflicts). But in addition to that vote, many states are also holding elections for positions in the United States Senate, House of Representatives and state-wide political roles. In general, the right wing outnumbers the left in the U.S. According to recent polls, only 23 percent of Americans identify themselves as being on the left, while 38 percent identify as “conservative,” or members of the right wing. Even so, 23 percent is the highest number self-identifying as being on the left at any time since 1992. Unitary system of government: A system of government where all power is located with the central government. Although lower levels of governments, such as counties or departments, can exist, these don’t have independent powers. All power is derived from the central government.A new, third level of content, designed specially to meet the advanced needs of the sophisticated scholar.