Please help me understand
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Please help me understand
I keep hearing these terms and as I want to know a little more about politics, I need to know hat they mean.
Leftist
Left Wing (I always think of Amuneke when I hear this)
Right Wing (Tijani Babangida is the mental image I see)
Conservative (US and UK)
Republican
Democrat
Liberal Democrat
Tory (UK)
Labour (UK)
Fundamentalist.
Veto (I think of Vito Corleone)
Socialist
Communist
More to come.
Bearing in mind that I don't know much about politics, please explain them in simple terms.
Leftist
Left Wing (I always think of Amuneke when I hear this)
Right Wing (Tijani Babangida is the mental image I see)
Conservative (US and UK)
Republican
Democrat
Liberal Democrat
Tory (UK)
Labour (UK)
Fundamentalist.
Veto (I think of Vito Corleone)
Socialist
Communist
More to come.
Bearing in mind that I don't know much about politics, please explain them in simple terms.
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original skeepolah
- Eaglet
- Posts: 24065
- Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2003 6:48 am
-
original skeepolah
- Eaglet
- Posts: 24065
- Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2003 6:48 am
Re: Please help me understand
27,27 wrote:I keep hearing these terms and as I want to know a little more about politics, I need to know hat they mean.
Leftist
Left Wing (I always think of Amuneke when I hear this)
Right Wing (Tijani Babangida is the mental image I see)
Conservative (US and UK)
Republican
Democrat
Liberal Democrat
Tory (UK)
Labour (UK)
Fundamentalist.
Veto (I think of Vito Corleone)
Socialist
Communist
More to come.
Bearing in mind that I don't know much about politics, please explain them in simple terms.
republican and democrat are the two main political parties in the u.s. There are other parties, but, the are small and strong holds in certain geographical locations only. These small parties usually have a short life span. after a certain number of years, they become confined to the history books. While news small ones develop.. The republican and democrats have held power over the last 80 years, so you could describe them as the two main political parties at the national level.
In the uk, up until 1908 or 1928 the liberal party. the liberal party control parliament, however since the creation of the labour party. the then liberals. have failed to control parliamnent and they have since changed their, formed coalition with others parties to be the present day liberal democrat.
conservative in the us are mainly republican, while int he uk they are the tories, or conversatives.
left wing or right wing was derived from the french parliamnent.. those on thr right favour the monarch, while those on the left were against the monarch.
in present day political rights wingers are considered to conservatives, while left wingers are considered to labour, liberal or democrats. also havieng n mind that we have extreme right wingers and left wingers too.
socialist and communist, depending on what you read. there is a difference btw socialism and communism. so authors conflate them together. but you know read know on marxism to undersatnd socialism. also bearing in mind that there are different types of marxism.
lastly, dont confuse marxism and stalinism together. they are different to undersatnd socialism read troskan the spelling not correct
. fundamantalist, those whose disagree with our political view and use extreme ways to have thier voices heard. they have become fundamantalist becos, we have labelled.
this is as simple as i can help, but sorry i could edit it cos, i have a lecture on the other side of campus and it takes me 30 minutes to get there by foot.
remember, all political commentors and authors ahve political affliation, so they are biased in as much as they try to objective.
Re: Please help me understand
27 wrote:I keep hearing these terms and as I want to know a little more about politics, I need to know hat they mean.
Leftist
Left Wing (I always think of Amuneke when I hear this)
Right Wing (Tijani Babangida is the mental image I see)
Conservative (US and UK)
Republican
Democrat
Liberal Democrat
Tory (UK)
Labour (UK)
Fundamentalist.
Veto (I think of Vito Corleone)
Socialist
Communist
More to come.
Bearing in mind that I don't know much about politics, please explain them in simple terms.
Soldier of Fortune...
the term republican or republicanism started in eupore. when certain indiviuals become frustrated with the monarch i.e the GOD given right of the monarch or monarhy to rule over us. so they campaigned for a political system, that was not based on inheritance i.e the passing of the throne from father to son or daughter. they advocate for a system of election and the not divine powers from above. i guess you to could look back in history and say the israelis did the same too. when the asked GOD the that they wanted a king to rule them.27 wrote:fabio, thanks a lot. That really helped.
I hope you get to your lecture on time. Sprint like a left winger.
Okay. So why are democrats called democrats and the same for republicans?
Did the republicans play a big part in forming the republic?
Did the democrats play a similar role in democracy?
countries that are referred to as a republic do not have monarch at the national level .i.e the federal republic of Nigeria, France and Germany.
republican are opposed to the rule of monarch, for in britain the I.R.A are opposed to britain's rule because of the Queen. for instance her majesty's government, police, prison service, the Queen's peace e.t.c.
although the head of sinn fein jerry adams is a elected M.P in the British parliament, but he doesnt sit there because he will not accept the role or constitutional power given to the Queen.
as for the democrats, i know dont know much about Aamerica's political history. however the word democrazy is from the Greek. demo or demos was used by the Greeks. a system which they employed to elect their leaders.
i have only used the I.R.A and sinn fein to explain the point raised.
to really understand democrazy listen to fela's song on democrazy
First of all, I want to give credit to 27 for coming out and admitting that he's not as well-informed as he'd like and asking for help. Not too many people do this, which leads to apathy. i wish more people would understand basic political terms, which would lead to a greater degree of political participation, and as such, more seasoned academics and intellectuals from various fields will take part in the political process, and the degree of awareness will be such that people can see through folks like George W, as well as 90% of elected officials in Nigeria today.
Second, i also want to commend Fabio for his responses. As someone doing his masters in Politics and International Relations, I couldnt really find fault with anything he said. Although let me see if I can add something to what he said.
In political systems all over the world, people usually tend to lean either left or right of the center.
The left constitutes those who generally believe that government is the solution to the problem. They usually favor big government spending, higher taxes, and less emphasis on welfare and social security and stuff. In Nigeria, the late Awo is someone who can be considered a classic example of a left winger.
People on the left usually tend to be more liberal on social issues like abortion, civil rights, gay rights, death penalty, etc.
In Nigeria, examples of parties who have been on the left are the Action Group, AD, UPN, and Tunji Braithwaite's party in the 2nd Republic (I can't remember the name).
In the US, the Democrats are considered the liberal party. It used to be the Republicans who were more liberal until the mid 20th century, with FDR's New Deal, and the civil rights and all that.
This is why the Democrats are popular among minorities, lower income earners, etc. Also, because of their stance on social issues, they are more popular in cosmopolitan areas like California, NY, New Jersey, etc.
Now, the right wing on the other hand is the opposite. People on the right believe government is the problem, and shouldnt participate so much in everyday life. They oppose big government spending, believe taxes should be as low as possible, and generally favor corporatins and businesses because they believe that if businesses are well off, the money will trickle down and government won't have to do anything but just regulate. (which is why Bush passed tax cuts for those earning above 200 grand)
On social issues, they tend to be conservative. They are against affirmative action, for the death penalty, against abortion, against gay rights, etc.
The Republicans are the more conservative party in the US, and they have their biggest support in the Southern and Midwest states, and among rich folks and high income earners. they are also known as the GOP (Grand Old Party). I don't know the origins of the name, perhaps someone could help out.
In the United Kingdom, the Conservative party is the party on the right (I believe that is pretty self explanatory) and they are known as the Tories.
The Labor Party leans towards the left. It used to be the Liberal party that were the main left wing party, but early last century, the labor unions merged (kinda like NLC back home), and trade unions still have a major say in the leadership and running of the party.
As for your other questions
- A fundamentalist is someone from either side who is extremely one sided in his views and believes he is right and is prepared to use any means to pass his message across and impose their views on others. Christian fundamentalists, for example, are people like Jerry Falwell who believe everyone must subscribe to their views and the country must be run according to the bible. Muslim fundamentalists are folks like Bin Laden and Al Qaeda who believe Islam is the way to go and everyone else must die. You get my drift
- A veto is the power a President or Head of State has to stop a law from going through. Before any law or amendment is made, a bill has to be passed and voted on in Congress (or Parliament, or National Assembly), but even if enough people vote on it, it is not a law until the president signs it and says it is OK. If the president vetoes it, it means he is unhappy with it, and the bill is either dead or sent back to Congress for them to change the things the president doesn t like
As Kerry revealed yesterday, Bush is the first president in over 100 years not to veto a single bill throughout his time in office.
- Socialism is essentially a more extreme form of being on the left. It basically means government provides for everything for the individuals, and prices arent determined by markets but by government. Government also decides what is produced, and resources are allocated equally based on need and not ability.
- Communism is socialism at its highest. It is what was operating in the former Soviet Union. Here, the individual has no right whatsoever and government is in total control of everything. It is a utopian concept, and it has good intentions, but like we've seen with the USSR, China, N. Korea and Cuba, it just is not feasible.
Hope I've been able to add some more insight.
Second, i also want to commend Fabio for his responses. As someone doing his masters in Politics and International Relations, I couldnt really find fault with anything he said. Although let me see if I can add something to what he said.
In political systems all over the world, people usually tend to lean either left or right of the center.
The left constitutes those who generally believe that government is the solution to the problem. They usually favor big government spending, higher taxes, and less emphasis on welfare and social security and stuff. In Nigeria, the late Awo is someone who can be considered a classic example of a left winger.
People on the left usually tend to be more liberal on social issues like abortion, civil rights, gay rights, death penalty, etc.
In Nigeria, examples of parties who have been on the left are the Action Group, AD, UPN, and Tunji Braithwaite's party in the 2nd Republic (I can't remember the name).
In the US, the Democrats are considered the liberal party. It used to be the Republicans who were more liberal until the mid 20th century, with FDR's New Deal, and the civil rights and all that.
This is why the Democrats are popular among minorities, lower income earners, etc. Also, because of their stance on social issues, they are more popular in cosmopolitan areas like California, NY, New Jersey, etc.
Now, the right wing on the other hand is the opposite. People on the right believe government is the problem, and shouldnt participate so much in everyday life. They oppose big government spending, believe taxes should be as low as possible, and generally favor corporatins and businesses because they believe that if businesses are well off, the money will trickle down and government won't have to do anything but just regulate. (which is why Bush passed tax cuts for those earning above 200 grand)
On social issues, they tend to be conservative. They are against affirmative action, for the death penalty, against abortion, against gay rights, etc.
The Republicans are the more conservative party in the US, and they have their biggest support in the Southern and Midwest states, and among rich folks and high income earners. they are also known as the GOP (Grand Old Party). I don't know the origins of the name, perhaps someone could help out.
In the United Kingdom, the Conservative party is the party on the right (I believe that is pretty self explanatory) and they are known as the Tories.
The Labor Party leans towards the left. It used to be the Liberal party that were the main left wing party, but early last century, the labor unions merged (kinda like NLC back home), and trade unions still have a major say in the leadership and running of the party.
As for your other questions
- A fundamentalist is someone from either side who is extremely one sided in his views and believes he is right and is prepared to use any means to pass his message across and impose their views on others. Christian fundamentalists, for example, are people like Jerry Falwell who believe everyone must subscribe to their views and the country must be run according to the bible. Muslim fundamentalists are folks like Bin Laden and Al Qaeda who believe Islam is the way to go and everyone else must die. You get my drift
- A veto is the power a President or Head of State has to stop a law from going through. Before any law or amendment is made, a bill has to be passed and voted on in Congress (or Parliament, or National Assembly), but even if enough people vote on it, it is not a law until the president signs it and says it is OK. If the president vetoes it, it means he is unhappy with it, and the bill is either dead or sent back to Congress for them to change the things the president doesn t like
As Kerry revealed yesterday, Bush is the first president in over 100 years not to veto a single bill throughout his time in office.
- Socialism is essentially a more extreme form of being on the left. It basically means government provides for everything for the individuals, and prices arent determined by markets but by government. Government also decides what is produced, and resources are allocated equally based on need and not ability.
- Communism is socialism at its highest. It is what was operating in the former Soviet Union. Here, the individual has no right whatsoever and government is in total control of everything. It is a utopian concept, and it has good intentions, but like we've seen with the USSR, China, N. Korea and Cuba, it just is not feasible.
Hope I've been able to add some more insight.
GOD IS A GOONER
27 wrote:rabbit, do they not swap between wings like Figo?
Well, that would make Figo a flip flopper, wouldnt it?
Yes, there are some people who swap wings. In each party, there is usually a bunch who are closer to the center than the mainstream of their party. A politician might generally be a republican because he identifies with them on a lot of issues, but perhaps he is also more liberal in some issues e.g. someone who is conservative fiscally and does not support huge government spending, but is liberal on social issues and is pro-choice and anti-death penalty and all that. Such person is called a Liberal Republican e.g. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Giuiliani, etc
On the other hand, it could be the same case with the other party, with some Democrats being conservative on some issues, like the Reagan democrats of the 1980s, or people like Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller. Even Clinton, whom I consider the greatest democrat of the 2nd half of the 20th century, didnt lean too far left and was conservative on some issues (e.g. balancing the budget and eradicating the deficit)
GOD IS A GOONER
I applaud those that have answered the questions.
But I want to add that liberal/coservative differ around the world.
All Nigerian political parties ,forinstance, have a liberal agenda/manifesto when it comes to economics....Its free light, free water, free education, free underwear etc. But you wouldnt find any part in nigeria that supports gay marriage/rights and abortion.
I think the most universal umbrella that we can use to describe the liberal/left wing is economics...In this, there is little variation around the world.
But I want to add that liberal/coservative differ around the world.
All Nigerian political parties ,forinstance, have a liberal agenda/manifesto when it comes to economics....Its free light, free water, free education, free underwear etc. But you wouldnt find any part in nigeria that supports gay marriage/rights and abortion.
I think the most universal umbrella that we can use to describe the liberal/left wing is economics...In this, there is little variation around the world.
If purge dey worry you, you no dey select toilet