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Topic Review
Comrade
The term "comrade" generally means 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally', and derives from the Spanish and Portuguese, term camarada, literally meaning 'chamber mate', from Latin camera, meaning 'chamber' or 'room'. It may also specifically mean "fellow soldier". Political use of the term was inspired by the French Revolution , after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers. Since the Russian Revolution, popular culture in the Western world has often associated it with communism.
  • 10.4K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Idealism in International Relations
Idealism in foreign policy holds that a state should make its internal political philosophy the goal of its foreign policy. For example, an idealist might believe that ending poverty at home should be coupled with tackling poverty abroad. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was an early advocate of idealism. Wilson's idealism was a precursor to liberal international relations theory, which would arise amongst the "institution-builders" after World War II. It particularly emphasized the ideal of American exceptionalism. More generally, Michael W. Doyle describes idealism as based on the belief that other nations' stated good intentions can be relied on, whereas Realism holds that good intentions are in the long run subject to the security dilemma described by John H. Herz. Hedley Bull wrote: By the 'idealists' we have in mind writers such as Sir Alfred Zimmern, S. H. Bailey, Philip Noel-Baker, and David Mitrany in the United Kingdom, and James T. Shotwell, Pitman Potter, and Parker T. Moon in the United States. ... The distinctive characteristic of these writers was their belief in progress: the belief, in particular, that the system of international relations that had given rise to the First World War was capable of being transformed into a fundamentally more peaceful and just world order; that under the impact of the awakening of democracy, the growth of 'the international mind', the development of the League of Nations, the good works of men of peace or the enlightenment spread by their own teaching, it was in fact being transformed; and that their responsibility as students of international relations was to assist this march of progress to overcome the ignorance, the prejudices, the ill-will, and the sinister interests that stood in its way.
  • 9.2K
  • 09 Oct 2022
Topic Review
German Question
"The German Question" was a debate in the 19th century, especially during the Revolutions of 1848, over the best way to achieve a unification of all or most lands inhabited by Germans. From 1815 to 1866, about 37 independent German-speaking states existed within the German Confederation. The Großdeutsche Lösung ("Greater German solution") favored unifying all German-speaking peoples under one state, and was promoted by the Austrian Empire and its supporters. The Kleindeutsche Lösung ("Little German solution") sought only to unify the northern German states and did not include any part of Austria (either its German-inhabited areas or its areas dominated by other ethnic groups); this proposal was favored by the Kingdom of Prussia. The solutions are also referred to by the names of the states they proposed to create, Kleindeutschland and Großdeutschland ("Little Germany" and "Greater Germany"). Both movements were part of a growing German nationalism. They also drew upon similar contemporary efforts to create a unified nation state of people who shared a common ethnicity and language, such as the unification of Italy by the House of Savoy and the Serbian Revolution. During the Cold War, the term also referred to the matters pertaining to the division, and re-unification, of Germany.
  • 8.5K
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Lisbon Treaty
The Lisbon Treaty has brought significant changes to the institutional structure of the European Union. The traditional three pillar system has been abolished and provisions regarding formal Union institutions have been amended. The aim of this encyclopedia entry is to briefly describe the functioning of each of the formal EU institutions after the Lisbon amendment. More specifically, their main tasks and powers will be shortly presented, whilst more extensive bibliography will be provided. In this regard, the reader will be in position to understand the fundamentals of the EU institutional structure and also find valuable sources for further research.
  • 8.5K
  • 16 Mar 2021
Topic Review
History of Democratic Socialism
Democratic socialism represents the modernist development of socialism and its outspoken support for democracy. The origins of democratic socialism can be traced back to 19th-century utopian socialist thinkers and the Chartist movement in Great Britain, which somewhat differed in their goals but shared a common demand of democratic decision making and public ownership of the means of production, and viewed these as fundamental characteristics of the society they advocated for. Democratic socialism was also heavily influenced by the gradualist form of socialism promoted by the British Fabian Society and Eduard Bernstein's evolutionary socialism. In the 19th century, the ruling classes were afraid of socialism because it challenged their rule. Socialism has faced opposition since then, and the opposition to it has often been organized and violent. In countries such as Germany and Italy, democratic socialist parties were banned, like with Otto von Bismarck's Anti-Socialist Laws. With the expansion of liberal democracy and universal suffrage during the 20th century, democratic socialism became a mainstream movement which expanded across the world, as centre-left and left-wing parties came to govern, became the main opposition party, or simply a commonality of the democratic process in most of the Western world; one major exception was the United States. Democratic socialist parties greatly contributed to existing liberal democracy.
  • 8.2K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Foreign Influences on Pompeii
Several non-native societies had an influence on Ancient Pompeian culture. Historians’ interpretation of artefacts, preserved by the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79, identify that such foreign influences came largely from Ancient Greece and Hellenistic cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt. Greek influences were transmitted to Pompeii via the Greek colonies in Magna Graecia (Southern Italy), which were formed in the 8th century BC. Hellenistic influences originated from Roman commerce, and later conquest of Egypt from the 2nd century BC. Specifically, these cultures contributed to the development of Pompeii’s art, architecture and religious spheres. For instance, Greek influences can be identified in the Alexander Mosaic, horse-shoe shaped theatres and Pompeii’s adoption of the Greek pantheon of gods. Examples of Egyptian influences can be found in the Nile Mosaic, garden art in the Villa of Julia Felix and the Cult of Isis.
  • 8.1K
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Fascist Syndicalism
Fascist syndicalism (related to national syndicalism) was a trade syndicate movement (syndicat means trade union in French) that rose out of the pre-World War II provenance of the revolutionary syndicalism movement led mostly by Edmondo Rossoni, Sergio Panunzio, A. O. Olivetti, Michele Bianchi, Alceste De Ambris, Paolo Orano, Massimo Rocca, and Guido Pighetti, under the influence of Georges Sorel, who was considered the “‘metaphysician’ of syndicalism.” The Fascist Syndicalists differed from other forms of fascism in that they generally favored class struggle, worker-controlled factories and hostility to industrialists, which lead historians to portray them as “leftist fascist idealists” who “differed radically from right fascists.” Generally considered one of the more radical Fascist syndicalists in Italy, Rossoni was the “leading exponent of fascist syndicalism.”, and sought to infuse nationalism with “class struggle.”
  • 7.7K
  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Post-WWII Anti-fascism
Antifa movements (/ænˈtiːfə, ˈæntiˌfɑː/) and Anti-Fascist Action networks are left wing, often anarchist, extra-parliamentary and often violent political movements that describe themselves as anti-fascist. Such movements have been active in several countries in the second half of the 20th and early 21st century.
  • 7.1K
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Constituent State
A constituent state is a state entity that constitutes a part of a sovereign state. A constituent state holds regional jurisdiction over a defined administrative territory, within a sovereign state. Government of a constituent state is a form of regional government. Throughout history, and also in modern political practice, most constituent states are part of complex states, like federations or confederations. Constituent states can have republican or monarchical forms of government. Those of republican form are usually called states or autonomous states, republics or autonomous republics, or cantons. Those that have a monarchical form of government are often defined by traditional hierarchical rank of their ruler (usually a principality, or an emirate).
  • 6.4K
  • 31 Oct 2022
Topic Review
LGBT Social Movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) social movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Social movements may focus on equal rights, such as the 2000s movement for same-sex marriage, or they may focus on liberation, as in the gay liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Earlier movements focused on self-help and self-acceptance, such as the homophile movement of the 1950s. Although there is not a primary or an overarching central organization that represents all LGBT people and their interests, numerous LGBT rights organizations are active worldwide. The earliest organizations to support LGBT rights were formed in the early 20th century. A commonly stated goal among these movements is social equality for LGBT people, but there is still denial of full LGBT rights. Some have also focused on building LGBT communities or worked towards liberation for the broader society from biphobia, homophobia, and transphobia. There is a struggle for LGBT rights today. LGBT movements organized today are made up of a wide range of political activism and cultural activity, including lobbying, street marches, social groups, media, art, and research.
  • 6.3K
  • 11 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Islamist Shi'ism
Islamist Shi'ism (Persian: تشیع اخوانی‎) is a denomination of Twelver Shia Islam greatly inspired by the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood ideologies and politicized version of Ibn Arabi's mysticism. It sees Islam as a political system and differs from the other mainstream Usuli and Akhbari groups in favoring the idea of formation of Islamist state in occultation of the twelfth Imam. Hadi Khosroshahi was the first person to identify himself as ikhwani (Islamist) Shia. Because of the concept of the hidden Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, Shia Islam is inherently secular in the age of occultation, so islamist Shi'ites had to borrow ideas from Sunni islamists and adjust them with Shi'i outlook. Islamism (Persian: اخوانی گری‎) (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is conceived as a revival or a return to authentic Islamic practice in its totality. Ideologies dubbed Islamist may advocate a "revolutionary" strategy of Islamizing society through exercise of state power, or alternately a "reformist" strategy to re-Islamizing society through grassroots social and political activism. Islamists may emphasize the implementation of sharia, pan-Islamic political unity, the creation of Islamic states, or the outright removal of non-Muslim influences; particularly of Western or universal economic, military, political, social, or cultural nature in the Muslim world; that they believe to be incompatible with Islam and a form of Western neocolonialism. Some analysts such as Graham E. Fuller describe it as a form of identity politics, involving "support for (Muslim) identity, authenticity, broader regionalism, revivalism, (and) revitalization of the community." The term itself is not popular among many Islamists who believe it inherently implies violent tactics, human rights violations, and political extremism when used by Western mass media. Some authors prefer the term "Islamic activism", while Islamist political figures such as Rached Ghannouchi use the term "Islamic movement" rather than Islamism. Central and prominent figures in 20th-century Islamism include Sayyid Rashid Rida, Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Abul A'la Maududi, Hasan al-Turabi,and Ruhollah Khomeini.
  • 6.2K
  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Republicanism
Republicanism is a political ideology centred on citizenship in a state organized as a republic under which the people hold popular sovereignty. Many countries are "republics" in the sense that they are not monarchies. The word "republic" derives from the Latin noun-phrase res publica, which referred to the system of government that emerged in the 6th century BC following the expulsion of the kings from Rome by Lucius Junius Brutus and Collatinus. This form of government in the Roman state collapsed in the latter part of the 1st century BCE, giving way to what was a monarchy in form, if not in name. Republics re-occurred subsequently, with, for example, Renaissance Florence or early modern Britain. The concept of a republic became a powerful force in Britain's North American colonies, where it contributed to the American Revolution. In Europe, it gained enormous influence through the French Revolution and through the First French Republic of 1792–1804.
  • 6.0K
  • 12 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Diarchy
A diarchy (from Greek δι-, di-, "double", and -αρχία, -arkhía, "ruled")[note 1] or duumvirate (from Latin duumvirātus, "the office of the two men")[note 2] is a form of government characterized by corule, with two people ruling a polity together either lawfully or de facto, by collusion and force. The leaders of such a system are usually known as corulers. Historically, diarchy particularly referred to the system of shared rule in British India established by the Government of India Acts 1919 and 1935, which devolved some powers to local councils, which had included native Indian representation under the Indian Councils Act 1892. 'Duumvirate' principally referred to the offices of the various duumviri established by the Roman Republic. Both, along with less common synonyms such as biarchy and tandemocracy,[note 3] are now used more generally to refer to any system of joint rule or office. A monarchy temporarily controlled by two or more people is, however, usually distinguished as a coregency. Corule is one of the oldest forms of government. Historical examples include the Pandyan dynasty of Tamilakam, Sparta's joint kingdom, the Roman Republic's consuls, Carthage's Judges, and several ancient Polynesian societies. Systems of inheritance that often led to corule in Germanic and Dacian monarchies may be included as well, as may the dual occupants of the ranks of the Inca Empire. Modern examples of diarchies are Andorra, whose princes are the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell in Catalonia; and San Marino, whose republic is led by two Captains Regent.
  • 5.9K
  • 14 Nov 2022
Topic Review
A Sustainable Circular Plastics Economy in The Netherlands
The circular economy (CE) has become a key sustainability discourse in the last decade. The Netherlands seeks to become fully circular by 2050 and the EU has set ambitious circularity targets in its CE Action Plan of 2015. The plastics sector, in particular, has gained a lot of attention as it is a priority area of both the EU and Dutch CE policies. However, there has been little research on the different and often contested discourses, governance processes and policy mechanisms guiding the transition to a circular economy and society. There is thus a dominance of technocentric imaginaries, and a general lack of discussion on holistic, and transformative visions, which integrate the full social, political, and ecological implication of a circular future. 
  • 5.9K
  • 02 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Proportional Representation
Proportional representation (PR) characterizes electoral systems in which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical and political divisions of the electorate. The essence of such systems is that all votes contribute to the result—not just a plurality, or a bare majority. The most prevalent forms of proportional representation all require the use of multiple-member voting districts (also called super-districts), as it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. In fact, PR systems that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to include districts with large numbers of seats, as large as a province or an entire nation. The most widely used families of PR electoral systems are party-list PR, single transferable vote (STV), and mixed-member PR (MMP). In the European Parliament for instance, each member state has a number of seats that is (roughly) proportional to its population, enabling geographical proportional representation. Almost all European countries also have political proportional representation (ideological proportional representation to the degree that parties honestly describe their goals): When n% of the electorate support a particular political party or set of candidates as their favorite, then roughly n% of seats are allotted to that party or those candidates. According to the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, some form of proportional representation is used for national lower house elections in 94 countries. Party list PR, being used in 85 countries, is the most widely used. MMP is used in seven lower houses. STV is used in only two: Ireland, since independence in 1922, and Malta, since 1921. STV is also used in the Australian Senate, and can be used for nonpartisan elections such as the city council of Cambridge MA. Due to factors such as electoral thresholds and the use of small constituencies, as well as manipulation tactics such as party splitting and gerrymandering, perfect proportionality is rarely achieved under these systems. Nonetheless, they approximate proportionality much better than other systems. Some jurisdictions use leveling seats to compensate for such factors.
  • 5.8K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
People's Party of Canada
The People's Party of Canada (PPC; French: Parti populaire du Canada or simply People's Party) is a federal political party in Canada. The party was formed by Maxime Bernier in September 2018, shortly after his resignation from the Conservative Party of Canada. Bernier, the Member of Parliament for Beauce and a former cabinet minister, was the party's only MP from its founding in 2018 to his defeat in the 2019 Canadian federal election. Bernier had represented the Quebec riding in Parliament from 2006, when he was elected as a Conservative. The party has been referred to as conservative, libertarian, populist,, and classical liberal, while being seen on the right-wing to far-right of the traditional left-right political spectrum. The PPC formed electoral district associations (EDAs) in all of Canada's 338 ridings and ran a full slate of candidates in the 2019 federal election, but no candidate was elected under its banner and Bernier lost his bid for personal re-election in Beauce.
  • 5.8K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Communalism
Communalism usually refers to a system that integrates communal ownership and federations of highly localized independent communities. A prominent libertarian socialist, Murray Bookchin, defines the Communalism political philosophy that he developed as "a theory of government or a system of government in which independent communes participate in a federation", as well as "the principles and practice of communal ownership". The term 'government' in this case does not imply an acceptance of a State or top-down hierarchy. This usage of communalism appears to have emerged during the late 20th century to distinguish commune-based systems from other political movements and/or governments espousing (if not actually practicing) similar ideas. In particular, earlier communities and movements advocating such practices were often described as "anarchist", "socialist" and/or "communist". Many historical communities practicing utopian socialism or anarcho-communism did implement internal rules of communalist property ownership in the context of federated communalism. It is at least theoretically possible for a federation of communes to include communes which do not practice communalist rules of property, which is to say, that the overall national government may be a federation of communes, but that private property rather than communalist property is the order within each such commune. Karl Marx, often viewed as the founder of modern communism, criticized older forms, including primitive communism and/or utopian socialism, as poorly conceived and/or prone to disintegration in practice. Communalism in the form described above is distinct from the predominant usage in South Asian forms of English: allegiance to a particular ethnic and/or religious group rather than to a broader society. As such, this usage is synonymous with sectarianism and associated with communal violence.
  • 5.8K
  • 16 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Sultan
Sultan (/ˈsʌltən/; Arabic: سلطان sulṭān, pronounced [sʊlˈtˤɑːn, solˈtˤɑːn]) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun سلطة sulṭah, meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty in practical terms (i.e., the lack of dependence on any higher ruler), albeit without claiming the overall caliphate, or to refer to a powerful governor of a province within the caliphate. The adjectival form of the word is "sultanic", and the state and territories ruled by a sultan, as well as his office, are referred to as a sultanate (سلطنة salṭanah). The term is distinct from king (ملك malik), despite both referring to a sovereign ruler. The use of "sultan" is restricted to Muslim countries, where the title carries religious significance, contrasting the more secular king, which is used in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Brunei and Oman are the only independent countries which retain the title "sultan" for their monarchs. In recent years, the title has been gradually replaced by "king" by contemporary hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law. A notable example is Morocco, whose monarch changed his title from sultan to king in 1957.
  • 5.5K
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Paleolibertarianism
Paleolibertarianism is a variety of libertarianism developed by anarcho-capitalist theorists Murray Rothbard and Llewellyn Rockwell that combines conservative cultural values and social philosophy with a libertarian opposition to government intervention.
  • 5.3K
  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Fashion Influencer
A fashion influencer is a personality that has a large number of followers on social media, creates mainly fashion content and has the power to influence the opinion and purchase behavior of others with their recommendations. Brands endorse them to attend fashion shows, parties, designer dinners and exclusive trips and to wear their clothes on social media. If a salary has been involved, the influencer may be required to label such posts as paid or sponsored content. Before social media "they would have been called 'It girls'". Business magazine Forbes identified fashion influencers as "the new celebrity endorsements". However, influencers seem to have a closer relationship with their audience than traditional celebrities. As marketers Jung von Matt, Brandnew IO and Facelift point out: "Daily interactions across multiple channels, through photos, stories or live sessions, create a form of closeness and trust" that make influencers "often more tangible than traditional celebrities".
  • 5.2K
  • 20 Oct 2022
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