Political Parties
Politics the term used to describe the way that groups of people come to decisions about the actions they will undertake collaboratively. Politics is derived from the Greek word politika. The Greek is taken from the name of a book of theory by Aristotle of the same name. It is used to mean “affairs of state.” Although the word is generally used to refer to the actions and the forces involved in civil governments, religious, social, corporate, and academic institutions all employ tactics that are political in nature.
Politics involves the attempts of different sides in a debate to convince other members of government to pass laws which suit their preference. These sides are often organized into different political parties. While the United States has only two dominant parties, the Republican party and the Democratic party, politics in other countries may consist of many political parties. There are two major conflicts between political theories. The first is the conflict between the left and the right. The left is generally seen as more progressive and seeking to eradicate social inequalities, while the right is generally conservative and sees social inequalities and an intrinsic part of human existence. The other major arguments in politics take place between libertarians and authoritarians. Libertarians value a strong individual and a weak state. Authoritarian politics support a weak individual and an empowered state. Libertarian politics support as great a reduction in the size, scope and authority of the government as feasible, while authoritarian politics support a further consolidation of governmental control. There are various degrees of left, right, libertarian, and authoritarian view. Often with in a single political party different members may espouse libertarian and authoritarian beliefs. It is rare, however for a political party to contain approaches that are liberal, conservative, libertarian, and authoritative within a single unified political party. Political parties which are pulled in so many different directions often fracture before very long.
Coalition governments are governments in which many different political parties combine in order to allow the government to function. In Germany coalition government is the norm. This is the case because it is rare for any political party, whether the Christian-Democratic Union of Germany, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, or the Social Democratic Party of Germany to win a simple majority of vote in an election. Therefore one of these large political parties must form an alliance with a smaller political party or combination of political parties to attain a majority share of the seats. These arraignments are common in other countries where there are not dominant political parties. Some countries where political parties unite to form coalitions include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Turkey, Israel, New Zealand, Kosovo, Pakistan, Kenya, and India. In contrast to coalition governments are countries in which there is only a single political party. Examples include China, Vietnam, Cuba, Eritrea, North Korea, Laos, Syria, and Turkmenistan. The most famous historic example of a country run by a single political power is Soviet Russia.