1.
Luigi Di Maio
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Luigi Di Maio is an Italian politician from the Five Star Movement. He has been Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies in the Italian Parliament since 21 March 2013, at the age of 26, he was the youngest Vice President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies ever elected
2.
Beppe Grillo
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Giuseppe Piero Beppe Grillo is an Italian comedian, actor, blogger, and political activist. He has been involved in politics since 2009 as the co-founder of the Italian Five Star Movement political party, Grillo was born in Genoa, Liguria, on 21 July 1948. He studied as an accountant but did not finish university, after high school, he became a comedian by chance, improvising a monologue in an audition. Two weeks later, he was discovered by Italian television presenter Pippo Baudo, Grillo participated in the variety show Secondo Voi from 1977 to 1978. In 1979, he participated in Luna Park by Enzo Trapani, in the 1980s he appeared in the shows Te la do io lAmerica and Te lo do io il Brasile, in which he narrated his experiences of visits to the United States and Brazil. This led to his appearance as the protagonist of another show, developed especially for him, in 1986, he appeared in a series of prize-winning advertisements for a brand of yoghurt. Soon afterwards, his performances began to include political satire that offended some Italian politicians, as a consequence, Grillo was effectively banished from publicly owned television. Since the early 1990s Grillos appearances on television have become rare, according to Mark Franchetti, when one of his shows was allowed to be broadcast live by RAI in 1993, it obtained a record share of 15 million viewers. Grillo often accuses the public broadcaster RAI is public financing for the parties that abuse it for their own propagandist needs, despite this exile, excerpts from Grillos Five Star Movement political rallies are often broadcast on television, especially on political debate talk shows. The program attracted three million viewers, as of August 2015, Grillo performs on stage in Italy and abroad. His themes include use, political and corporate corruption, finance, freedom of speech, child labour, globalization. Grillo maintains a blog in Italian, English, and Japanese that is updated daily, according to Technorati, the blog ranks among the 10 most visited in the world. In 2008, The Guardian included Grillos blog among the worlds most influential, in October 2005, Time chose him as one of the European Heroes 2005 for targeting corruption and financial scandals. He maintains an updated list of members of the Italian Parliament who have been convicted in all three degrees on his blog. On 26 July 2007, Grillo was permitted to speak to the members of the European Parliament in Brussels, Grillo has led several national and international political campaigns. On 8 September 2007, he organized a V‑Day Celebration in Italy, during the rally, he projected the names of 24 Italian politicians who had been convicted of crimes including corruption, tax evasion and abetting a murder. More than 2 million Italians participated in this rally and he also used the rally to urge Italians to sign a petition calling for the introduction of a Bill of Popular Initiative to remove from office Italian parliamentarians with criminal convictions. According to Internet scholars, V‑day was the first political demonstration in Italy developed and promoted via the blogosphere and the social networking services
3.
Gianroberto Casaleggio
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Gianroberto Casaleggio was an Italian entrepreneur and political activist, born in Milan. He was co-founder and chairman of Casaleggio Associati srl, an internet and publishing company that advises on network strategies and he was also co-founder, with Beppe Grillo, of the Five Star Movement, of which he was sometimes called guru. In the Italian context, Casaleggio promoted the Web as a medium for political communication, Casaleggio began his career working at Olivetti S. p. A, then, in the late 1990s, became CEO at Webegg SpA, an internet consulting company. Webegg suffered heavy losses in the period 2002–2003, and Casaleggio was replaced as CEO of Webegg in 2003 by Giuseppe Longo, Casaleggio Associati has been since 2005 the editor of Beppe Grillos blog as well as of some of Grillos books. Gianroberto Casaleggio died on 12 April 2016 in Milan, at the age of 61, davide Casaleggio, the son of Gianroberto, after Gianrobertos death was appointed as the president of Casaleggio Associati based in Milan. Five Star Movement Personal website John Hooper, italys web guru tastes power as new political movement goes viral. Italys web politicians post their dystopic vision
4.
Genoa
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Genoa is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015,594,733 people lived within the administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Genoa, over 1.5 million people live in the wider metropolitan area stretching along the Italian Riviera. Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba due to its glorious past, part of the old town of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2006. The citys rich history in notably its art, music. It is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, Niccolò Paganini, Giuseppe Mazzini, Genoa, which forms the southern corner of the Milan-Turin-Genoa industrial triangle of north-west Italy, is one of the countrys major economic centres. The city has hosted massive shipyards and steelworks since the 19th century, the Bank of Saint George, founded in 1407, is among the oldest in the world and has played an important role in the citys prosperity since the middle of the 15th century. Today a number of leading Italian companies are based in the city, including Fincantieri, Selex ES, Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS, Edoardo Raffinerie Garrone, Piaggio Aerospace, the Genoa area has been inhabited since the fifth or fourth millennium BC. In ancient times this area was frequented and inhabited by Ligures, Phoenicians, Phocaeans, Greeks, and Etruscans. The city cemetery, dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC, testifies to the occupation of the site by the Greeks, but the fine harbour probably saw use much earlier, perhaps by the Etruscans. In the 5th century BC was founded the first oppidum at the foot of the today called the Castle Hill which now is inside the medieval old town. The ancient Ligurian city was known as Stalia, so referred to by Artemidorus Ephesius and Pomponius Mela, Ligurian Stalia was overshadowed by the powerful Marseille and Vada Sabatia, near modern Savona. Stalia had an alliance with Rome through a foedus aequum in the course of the Second Punic War, the Carthaginians accordingly destroyed it in 209 BC. The town was rebuilt and, after the Carthaginian Wars ended in 146 BC. it received municipal rights, the original castrum thenceforth expanded towards the current areas of Santa Maria di Castello and the San Lorenzo promontory. Trades included skins, wood, and honey, goods were shipped to the mainland, up to major cities like Tortona and Piacenza. Among the archeological remains from the Roman period, an amphitheatre was also found, another theory traces the name to the Etruscan word Kainua which means New City and still another from the Latin word ianua, related to the name of the God Janus, meaning door or passage. The latter is in reference to its position at the centre of the Ligurian coastal arch. The Latin name, oppidum Genua, is recorded by Pliny the Elder as part of the Augustean Regio IX Liguria, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogoths occupied Genoa
5.
Populism
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Populism is a political doctrine that proposes that the common people are exploited by a privileged elite, and which seeks to resolve this. The underlying ideology of populists can be left, right, or center and its goal is uniting the uncorrupt and the unsophisticated little man against the corrupt dominant elites and their camp of followers. It is guided by the belief that political and social goals are best achieved by the actions of the masses. Political parties and politicians often use the terms populist and populism as pejoratives against their opponents, such a view sees populism as demagogy, merely appearing to empathize with the public through rhetoric or unrealistic proposals in order to increase appeal across the political spectrum. Populism is most common in democratic nations, historically, academic definitions of populism vary, and people have often used the term in loose and inconsistent ways to reference appeals to the people, demagogy, and catch-all politics. The term has also used as a label for new parties whose classifications are unclear. In recent years, academic scholars have produced definitions that facilitate populist identification and comparison, in the United States and Latin America, populism has generally been associated with the left, whereas in European countries, populism is more associated with the right. In both, the tenet of populism—that democracy should reflect the pure and undiluted will of the people—means it can sit easily with ideologies of both right and left. Cas Mudde says, Many observers have noted that populism is inherent to representative democracy, after all, most recently, many observers have categorized the rise of Donald Trump in the U. S. and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines as populist in nature. Populism has taken left-wing, right-wing, and even centrist forms, as well as forms of politics that bring together groups and individuals of diverse partisan views. The use of populist rhetoric in the United States has recently included references such as the trial lawyer lobby. Subsistence peasant movements, such as the Eastern European Green Rising militias, intellectuals who romanticize hard-working farmers and peasants and build radical agrarian movements like the Russian narodniki. Populist democracy, including calls for political participation through reforms such as the use of popular referenda. Politicians populism marked by non-ideological appeals for the people to build a unified coalition, reactionary populism, such as the white backlash harvested by George Wallace. Populist dictatorship, such as established by Getúlio Vargas in Brazil. Scholars have argued that populist elements have appeared in authoritarian movements. Conspiracist scapegoating employed by various populist movements can create a seedbed for fascism, National Socialist populism interacted with and facilitated fascism in interwar Germany. In this case, distressed middle–class populists mobilized their anger against the government, the Nazis parasitized the forms and themes of the populists and moved their constituencies far to the right through ideological appeals involving demagoguery, scapegoating, and conspiracism
6.
Anti-establishment
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An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the sense in 1958. In the UK anti-establishment figures and groups are seen as those who argue or act against the ruling class, in particular, satirical humour is commonly used to undermine the deference shown by the majority of the population towards those who govern them. Anti-establishment themes also can be seen in the novels of such as Will Self. Individuals who were anti-establishment often spoke of fighting the man, selling out to the Establishment, the Establishment to these, and these anti-establishment activists was not simply the people of the older generation. Social critic and peoples historian Howard Zinn defines the establishment as Republicans, Democrats, newspapers television in his book, later Zinn calls out the huge military establishment which one could assume is part of his definition of the Establishment. What counts then is his ability to support from the leaders of key institutions in a society. This coalition must include key people in Congress, the branch. The anti-Establishment push began in the 1940s and simmered through the 1950s, many World War II veterans, who had seen horrors and inhumanities, began to question every aspect of life, including its meaning. Urged to return to lives and plagued by post traumatic stress disorder, many veterans found suburbia cloying. A vague unease spawned diverse paths, the Hells Angels were originally composed of WWII veterans feeling rebellious, the name came from WWII fighting units. The image of Marlon Brando as a rebel in The Wild One and James Dean as a Rebel Without a Cause horrified some Americans. Some veterans, who founded the Beat Movement, were denigrated as Beatniks, lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote a Beat autobiography that cited his wartime service. Many people craved angry true commentary such as Lenny Bruces acid-tongued comedy, or simply a desire for personal freedom. Playboy magazine, with its famous nudes, was the first skin mag sold alongside national magazines, many women also harbored a deep resentment. During the war years, they had encouraged to assume mens roles in industry. Rosie the Riveter was a national icon, but after the war, women were forced to give up their jobs and become homemakers. This general dissatisfaction was popularized by Peggy Lees laconic pop song Is That All There Is and it wasnt until the Baby Boomers came along in huge numbers that protest became organized, who were named by the Beats as little hipsters
7.
Direct democracy
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Direct democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide policy initiatives directly. This differs from the majority of democracies, which are representative democracies. Direct democracy is similar to, but distinct from, representative democracy, two leading forms of direct democracy are participatory democracy and deliberative democracy. Semi direct democracies in which representatives administer day-to-day governance, but the citizens remain the sovereign, the first two forms—referendums and initiatives—are examples of direct legislation. Compulsory referendum subjects the legislation drafted by political elites to a popular vote. This is the most common form of direct legislation, popular referendum empowers citizens to make a petition that calls existing legislation to a citizens vote. Institutions specify the frame for a valid petition and the number of signatures required. This form of direct democracy effectively grants the voting public a veto on laws adopted by the elected legislature, initiatives may be direct or indirect, With the direct initiative, a successful proposition is placed directly on the ballot to be subject to vote. Such a form of initiative is utilized by Switzerland for constitutional amendments. Power of Recall gives the public the power to elected officials from office before the end of their term. Some of the most important modern thinkers who were inspired by the concept of democracy are Cornelius Castoriadis, Hannah Arendt. The earliest known direct democracy is said to be the Athenian democracy in the 5th century BC, although it was not a democracy, women, foreigners. There were only about 30,000 male citizens, but several thousand of them were active in each year. Modern democracies, being representative, not direct, do not resemble the Athenian system, also relevant to the history of direct democracy is the history of Ancient Rome, specifically the Roman Republic, beginning around 509 BC. Rome displayed many aspects of democracy, both direct and indirect, from the era of Roman monarchy all the way to the collapse of the Roman Empire. As to direct democracy, the ancient Roman Republic had a system of citizen lawmaking, or citizen formulation and passage of law, and a citizen veto of legislature-made law. Many historians mark the end of the Republic with the passage of a law named the Lex Titia,27 November 43 BC, modern-era citizen lawmaking began in the towns of Switzerland in the 13th century. In 1847, the Swiss added the statute referendum to their national constitution and they soon discovered that merely having the power to veto Parliaments laws was not enough
8.
E-democracy
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E-democracy, also known as digital democracy or Internet democracy, incorporates 21st-century information and communications technology to promote democracy. It is a form of government in all adult citizens are presumed to be eligible to participate equally in the proposal, development. E-democracy encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free, a speech given by Hillary Clinton on January 21,2010, addressed the issue of internet freedom and the role that new technologies have played in shaping democratic practices. The spread of information through the internet has encouraged freedom. The internet is used for promoting human rights, including speech, religion, expression, peaceful assembly, to governments accountability. Clinton supports the freedom to connect, the freedom to connect – the idea that governments should not prevent people from connecting to the internet, to websites, or to each other. The freedom to connect is like the freedom of assembly, only in cyberspace and it allows individuals to get online, come together, and hopefully cooperate. Once youre on the internet, you dont need to be a tycoon or a star to have a huge impact on society. The Internet has several attributes that encourage thinking about it as a democratic medium, the lack of centralized control makes censorship difficult. Another example is the mass communication on the internet, such as through newsgroups, chat rooms. This communication ignored the boundaries established with broadcast media, such as newspapers or radio, finally, because Internet is a massive digital network with open standards, universal and inexpensive access to a wide variety of communication media and models could actually be attained. Some practical issues involving e-democracy include, effective participation, voting equality at decision stage, enlightened understanding, control of the agenda, systemic issues may include cyber-security concerns and protection of sensitive data from third parties. Strictly speaking, modern democracies are generally republics, where the people elect representatives, they are not true democracies and they may be referred to as more or less democratic depending on how well the government represents the will of the people. A shift to E-democracy would resemble a change in the form of government as much as an improvement in the existing system, Democracy in America has become reliant on the Internet, because the Internet is a primary source of information for most Americans. The Internet educates people on democracy, helping people stay up to date with what is happening in their government, Online advertising is becoming more popular for political candidates and groups opinions on propositions. The Internet is the first place that most people look for information, the reason for this, and especially for younger voters, is that it is easy and reliable when used correctly, thus lowering an individuals workload. This gives the user a sense of instant gratification that is crucial in the era of multitasking on computers, if the information is not easy to find then most people will not look for it. Because the Internet is so friendly, people are more likely to research
9.
Environmentalism
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While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologism combines the ideology of social ecology and environmentalism. ‘Ecologism’ is more used in continental European languages while ‘environmentalism’ is more commonly used in English. For this reason, concepts such as an ethic, environmental ethics, biodiversity, ecology. The exact measures and outcomes of this balance is controversial and there are different ways for environmental concerns to be expressed in practice. Environmentalism and environmental concerns are represented by the color green. Environmentalism denotes a movement that seeks to influence the political process by lobbying, activism. The word was first coined in 1922, an environmentalist is a person who may speak out about our natural environment and the sustainable management of its resources through changes in public policy or individual behavior. In various ways, environmentalists and environmental organizations seek to give the world a stronger voice in human affairs. In general terms, environmentalists advocate the sustainable management of resources, in its recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the movement is centered around ecology, health, and human rights. A concern for environmental protection has recurred in diverse forms, in different parts of the world, for example, in Europe, King Edward I of England banned the burning of sea-coal by proclamation in London in 1272, after its smoke had become a problem. The fuel was so common in England that this earliest of names for it was acquired because it could be carted away from some shores by the wheelbarrow. Earlier in the Middle East, the Caliph Abu Bakr in the 630s commanded his army to Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, at the advent of steam and electricity the muse of history holds her nose and shuts her eyes. The origins of the movement lay in the response to increasing levels of smoke pollution in the atmosphere during the Industrial Revolution. An Alkali inspector and four sub-inspectors were appointed to curb this pollution, typically the highest priority went to water and air pollution. The Coal Smoke Abatement Society was formed in 1898 making it one of the oldest environmental NGOs and it was founded by artist Sir William Blake Richmond, frustrated with the pall cast by coal smoke. Although there were pieces of legislation, the Public Health Act 1875 required all furnaces and fireplaces to consume their own smoke. It also provided for sanctions against factories that emitted large amounts of black smoke, financial incentives were offered to householders to replace open coal fires with alternatives, or for those who preferred, to burn coke instead which produces minimal smoke. Smoke control areas were introduced in some towns and cities in which only smokeless fuels could be burnt, the act formed an important impetus to modern environmentalism, and caused a rethinking of the dangers of environmental degradation to peoples quality of life
10.
Euroscepticism
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Euroscepticism means criticism of the European Union. Some observers though prefer to understand opposition to and total rejection of the EU as Euroscepticism, traditionally, the main source of Euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state, and a desire to slow, halt or reverse integration within the EU. Other views often held by Eurosceptics include perceptions of a deficit in the European Union or a belief that the EU is too bureaucratic. A Eurobarometer survey of EU citizens in 2009 showed that support for membership of the EU was lowest in Latvia, the United Kingdom, by 2016, the countries viewing the EU most unfavourably were Greece, France, Spain and the UK. Euroscepticism is found in political parties across the spectrum, however. Trust in the EU and its institutions has declined strongly since a peak in 2007. In 2016, a referendum asking whether the United Kingdom either should remain a member of, or leave. While having some overlaps, Euroscepticism and anti-Europeanism are different, anti-Europeanism has always had a strong influence in American culture and American exceptionalism, which sometimes sees Europe on the decline or as a rising rival power, or both. Some aspects of euroscepticism in the United Kingdom have been mirrored by US authors, there can be considered to be several different types of Eurosceptic thought, which differ in the extent to which adherents reject European integration and in their reasons for doing so. Aleks Szczerbiak and Paul Taggart described two of these as hard and soft Euroscepticism, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the European Parliament, typified by such parties as the United Kingdom Independence Party, is hard Eurosceptic. In western European EU member countries, hard Euroscepticism is currently a hallmark of many anti-establishment parties, some hard Eurosceptics such as UKIP prefer to call themselves Eurorealists rather than sceptics, and regard their position as pragmatic rather than in principle. I think theyre building an empire there, they want us to be a part of their empire, François Asselineau of the French Popular Republican Union has criticised the use of the term sceptic to describe hard Eurosceptics and would rather advocate the use of the term Euro opponent. Soft Euroscepticism is support for the existence of, and membership of, a form of European Union, some have claimed that there is no clear line between hard and soft euroscepticism. Some scholars consider the difference in terminology between hard and soft Euroscepticism inadequate to accommodate the large differences in terms of political agenda. Therefore, hard Euroscepticism has also referred to as Europhobia. Other alternative names for hard and soft Euroscepticism include withdrawalist respectively reformist Euroscepticism, about 43% of Europeans thought things were going in the wrong direction” in the EU, compared with 23% who thought things were going in the right direction. About 32% of EU citizens tend to trust the European Union as an institution, distrust of the EU was highest in Greece, Cyprus, Austria, France Germany, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic. Overall, more respondents distrusted their own government than the EU, distrust of national government was highest in Greece, Slovenia, Portugal, Cyprus and France
11.
Non-interventionism
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This is based on the grounds that a state should not interfere in the internal politics of another state as well as the principles of state sovereignty and self-determination. A similar phrase is strategic independence, historical examples of supporters of non-interventionism are US Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who both favored non-intervention in European wars. Other proponents include United States Senator Robert A. Taft and former United States Representative Ron Paul, non-interventionism is distinct from and often confused with isolationism. Proponents of isolationism differ from proponents of non-interventionism through their advocacy of economic nationalism, non-interventionism is a policy in government only and thus does not exclude non-governmental intervention by organizations. The adoption of such pretexts and the idea that such interventions were to prevent a threat to international peace, additionally, the UNs power to regulate such interventions was hampered during the Cold War due to both the US and USSR holding veto power in the United Nations Security Council. In recent years, New Zealand has become largely non-interventionist, no military support, apart from medical, was given for the first Gulf War, although SAS troops were provided for the war in Afghanistan. Engineers were provided in Iraq after conventional hostilities in the war had ceased, in the Pacific Islands, New Zealand has been involved in humanitarian interventions in the Solomon Islands and East Timor. However, those interventions were non-coercive interventions at the request of the nation being intervened upon and these activities are known as peace keeping. Switzerland has long known for its policy of defensively armed neutrality. This was the most people to answer that question this way in the history of the question, only about a third of respondents felt this way a decade ago. Since the end of the Cold War, new emergent norms of humanitarian intervention are challenging the norm of non-intervention. This is based upon the argument that, while sovereignty gives rights to states, there is also a responsibility to protect its citizens, under this ideal, states can be justified in intervening within other states if that state is failing to protect its citizens. However, after the US Black Hawk Down event in 1993 in Mogadishu and this new norm of humanitarian intervention is not universally accepted and is often seen as still developing. In all of the UN-sanctioned cases, the arguments were further couched in Chapter VII threats to international peace and security. It has been suggested that this newly emerging norm is used to justify the action of only if they want to act. The Humanitarian Responsibilities of Sovereignty, Explaining the Development of a New Norm of Military Intervention for Humanitarian Purposes in International Society in Welsh, Humanitarian Intervention and International Relations Oxford, Oxford Scholarship Online, pp. 29–50. Just and Unjust Wars New York, Basic Books, pp. 86–108
12.
Degrowth
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Degrowth is a political, economic, and social movement based on ecological economics, anti-consumerist and anti-capitalist ideas. It is also considered an economic strategy responding to the limits-to-growth dilemma. Key to the concept of degrowth is that reducing consumption does not require individual martyring or a decrease in well-being, there is a fixed supply of non-renewable resources, such as petroleum, and these resources will inevitably be depleted. Renewable resources can also be depleted if extracted at unsustainable rates over extended periods, for example, this has occurred with caviar production in the Caspian Sea. There is much concern as to how growing demand for these resources will be met as supplies decrease, many organizations and governments look to energy technologies such as biofuels, solar cells, and wind turbines to meet the demand gap after peak oil. Others have argued that none of the alternatives could effectively replace versatility and portability of oil, authors of the book Techno-Fix criticize technological optimists for overlooking the limitations of technology in solving agricultural and social challenges arising from growth. Proponents of degrowth argue that demand is the only way of permanently closing the demand gap. For renewable resources, demand, and therefore production, must also be brought down to levels that prevent depletion and are environmentally healthy, moving toward a society that is not dependent on oil is seen as essential to avoiding societal collapse when non-renewable resources are depleted. The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earths ecosystems and it compares human demand with planet Earths ecological capacity to regenerate. It represents the amount of productive land and sea area needed to regenerate the resources a human population consumes and to absorb. According to a 2005 Global Footprint Network report, inhabitants of high-income countries live off of 6.4 global hectares, for example, while each inhabitant of Bangladesh lives off of what they produce from 0.56 gHa, a North American requires 12.5 gHa. Each inhabitant of North America uses 22.3 times as much land as a Bangladeshi, according to the same report, the average number of global hectares per person was 2.1, while current consumption levels have reached 2.7 hectares per person. In order for the population to attain the living standards typical of European countries. In order for economic equality to be achieved with the current available resources. The eventual reduction of all available resources would lead to a reduction in consumption. Controlled reduction of consumption would reduce the trauma of this change assuming no technological changes increase the carrying capacity. Degrowth thought is in opposition to all forms of productivism and it is, thus, opposed to the current form of sustainable development. While the concern for sustainability does not contradict degrowth, sustainable development is rooted in mainstream development ideas that aim to increase capitalist growth and consumption
13.
Political spectrum
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A political spectrum is a system of classifying different political positions upon one or more geometric axes that symbolize independent political dimensions. Most long-standing spectra include a wing and left wing, which originally referred to seating arrangements in the French parliament after the Revolution. According to the simplest left–right axis, communism and socialism are usually regarded internationally as being on the left, liberalism can mean different things in different contexts, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right. Those with an intermediate outlook are classified as centrists or moderates, politics that rejects the conventional left–right spectrum is known as syncretic politics. Political scientists have noted that a single left–right axis is insufficient for describing the existing variation in political beliefs. As seen from the Speakers seat at the front of the Assembly, the aristocracy sat on the right, originally, the defining point on the ideological spectrum was the Ancien Régime. The Right thus implied support for aristocratic or royal interests, and the church, while The Left implied support for republicanism, secularism, and civil liberties. Because the political franchise at the start of the revolution was relatively narrow, the original Left represented mainly the interests of the bourgeoisie and their political interests in the French Revolution lay with opposition to the aristocracy, and so they found themselves allied with the early capitalists. However, this did not mean that their interests lay with the laissez-faire policies of those representing them politically. As capitalist economies developed, the aristocracy became less relevant and were replaced by capitalist representatives. This evolution has often pulled parliamentary politicians away from laissez-faire economic policies, for almost a century, social scientists have considered the problem of how best to describe political variation. In 1950, Leonard W. Submitting the results to factor analysis and this system was derived empirically, rather than devising a political model on purely theoretical grounds and testing it, Fergusons research was exploratory. As a result of method, care must be taken in the interpretation of Fergusons three factors, as factor analysis will output an abstract factor whether an objectively real factor exists or not. Although replication of the Nationalism factor was inconsistent, the finding of Religionism and Humanitarianism had a number of replications by Ferguson, shortly afterward, Hans Eysenck began researching political attitudes in Great Britain. He believed that there was something similar about the National Socialists on the one hand. Submitting this value questionnaire to the process of factor analysis used by Ferguson. Such analysis produces a factor whether or not it corresponds to a real-world phenomenon, Eysencks dimensions of R and T were found by factor analyses of values in Germany and Sweden, France, and Japan. According to Eysenck, members of both ideologies were tough-minded, in this context, Eysenck carried out studies on nazism and communist groups, claiming to find members of both groups to be more dominant and more aggressive than control groups
14.
European political party
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A European political party is a type of political party organisation operating transnationally in Europe and in the institutions of the European Union. They are regulated and funded by the European Union and are made up of national parties. Europarties have the right to campaign during the European elections and express themselves within the European Parliament by their affiliated political groups. Europarties, through meetings with their affiliated heads of state and government. The term political party in the EU can mean three different types of entities, domestic political parties, political groups in the European Parliament, and European political parties. As of January 2016, there are 15 recognised Europarties, Section 41 of the Treaty of Maastricht added Article 138a to the Treaty of Rome, Article 138a stated that Political parties at European level are important as a factor for integration within the Union. They contribute to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of the citizens of the Union, so the concept of a political party at European level was born. Article J.18 and Article K.13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam established who should pay for expenditure authorised by Article 138/191 within certain areas. This provided a mechanism whereby Europarties could be paid for out of the European budget, such expenditure included funding national parties, an outcome not originally intended. Article 2, section 19 of the Treaty of Nice added a paragraph to Article 191 of the Treaty of Rome. The reference to Article 251 refers to co-decision, which meant the European Parliament had to be involved, so Europarty funding had to be regulated by the Council and the European Parliament, acting together. This meant that the Europarties can set up and fund legally separate affiliated think-tanks to aid them, the revised regulation also gives Europarties the exclusive responsibility to campaign for the European elections and can use their funds for this purpose. The Authority will be a body of the European Union and this regulation repealed Regulation No 2004/2003, however the provisions of that regulation shall continue to apply for the 2014,2015,2016 and 2017 budget years. Although it came into force on 24 November 2014, the regulations only apply from 1 January 2017. The Authority shall however be set up by 1 September 2016, the Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe, a loose association of Eurosceptics and nationalists, met the recognition threshold from 2006 to 2008. The heterogeneous Alliance for Europe of the Nations, which included moderate nationalists, national conservatives and Eurosceptics, the eurosceptic, national conservative, right populist Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy was recognized from 2012 to 2016. On 1 November 2008 Declan Ganley had registered a company in Dublin called the Libertas Party Ltd, Libertas applied for Europarty recognition which was briefly granted but then suspended following the disavowal of two of its candidates. As of 1 November 2008, the regulation governing Europarties is Regulation No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003, as later amended under codecision
15.
Political groups of the European Parliament
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The political groups of the European Parliament are the parliamentary groups of the European Parliament. The European Parliament is unique among supranational assemblies in that its members organise themselves into groups like in traditional national legislatures. The members of other supranational assemblies form national groups, the political groups of the European Parliament are sometimes the formal representation of a European political party in the Parliament. In other cases, they are political coalitions of a number of European parties, national parties and these groups are not parties, but looser coalitions. They are strictly forbidden to campaign during the European elections since this is the responsibility of the Europarties. Each political group is assumed to have a set of core principles, further incentives for co-operating in Groups include financial subsidies from the Parliament and guaranteed seats on committees which are not afforded to Independent MEPs. For a Group to be recognised in the Parliament, it must fulfil the conditions laid down in the relevant European Parliament Rule of Procedure. That Rule lays down the criteria a Group must meet to qualify as a Group. Provided those criteria are met, MEPs can theoretically create any Group they like and this was put to the test when MEPs attempted to create a far-right Group called Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty. This generated controversy and there were concerns about public funds going towards a far-right Group, attempts to block the formation of ITS were unsuccessful, but ITS were blocked from leading positions on committees, a privilege usually afforded to all Groups. Groups may be based around a single European political party or they can more than one European party as well as national parties. Each Group appoints a leader, referred to as a president, co-ordinator or chair, the chairs of each Group meet in the Conference of Presidents to decide what issues will be dealt with at the plenary session of the European Parliament. Groups can table motions for resolutions and table amendments to reports and this is a summary of the standing of existing European Parliament groups, although these are subject to change. The first sitting of the new parliament was on 1 July 2014, major changes compared to the period 2004–2009 are, The formation of a new political group, the European Conservatives and Reformists. This conservative, Eurosceptic group is headed by 26 MEPs from the UKs Conservative Party, the Eurosceptic Independence/Democracy and Union for Europe of the Nations groups suffered heavy losses in the election. On their own they no longer had enough MEPs to form a separate group, MEPs formerly from these groups formed the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group on 1 July 2009. The centre-right European Peoples Party now formed its own group in its entirety. The Democratic Party did not become member of the Party of European Socialists until February 2014, the mandate of previous European Parliament ran from 2004 and 2009
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Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy
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Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy is a Eurosceptic political group in the European Parliament. On 4 June 2014, the Danish Peoples Party and Finns Party were admitted into the European Conservatives and Reformists, on 16 June 2014, Dutch MEP Bas Belder of the Reformed Political Party moved from the EFD to the ECR group. On 24 June 2014, the EFD group name was revised to Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy, and David Borrelli of the Five Star Movement was chosen as the incoming groups new co-president. The criterion was restored on 20 October, with one Polish MEP, Robert Iwaszkiewicz from Congress of the New Right, joining the group, although the other partys MEPs remained Non-Inscrits. On 24 January 2015, Amjad Bashir was suspended from UKIP pending a party investigation into financial fraud, on 20 March 2015, Janice Atkinson was suspended from UKIP and later expelled on 23 March for alleged financial fraud. Atkinson joined the Europe of Nations and Freedom group at its launch on 15 June 2015, on 8 April 2016, Alternative for Germany MEP Beatrix von Storch left the ECR group to join EFDD. On 24 October 2016, Steven Woolfe left the group to sit as Non-Inscrits, on 9 January 2017, the Five Star Movement voted in an online referendum to leave EFDD in order to join the ALDE group, however, they were rejected by ALDE later the same day. In the aftermath, two MEPs left the group, with Marco Affronte defected to the Greens/EFA group, and Marco Zanni to the ENL group. Other Five Star Movement MEPs pulled out of switching parliamentary group after threatened by party leader Beppe Grillo with a fine of €250,000
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Yellow
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Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of visible light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength of roughly 570–590 nm, in traditional color theory, used in painting, and in the subtractive color system, used in color printing, yellow is a primary color. In the RGB color model, used to create colors on television and computer screens, yellow is made by combining red, the word yellow comes from the Old English geolu, geolwe, meaning yellow, yellowish, derived from the Proto-Germanic word gelwaz yellow. It has the same Indo-European base, gʰel-, as the gold and yell. In Iran it has connotations of pallor/sickness, but also wisdom and it plays an important role in Asian culture, particularly in China, where it is seen as the color of happiness, glory, wisdom, harmony, and culture. The word yellow comes from the Old English geolu, geolwe, meaning yellow, yellowish and it has the same Indo-European base, gʰel-, as the words gold and yell, gʰel- means both bright and gleaming, and to cry out. The English term is related to other Germanic words for yellow, namely Scots yella, East Frisian jeel, West Frisian giel, Dutch geel, German gelb, and Swedish and Norwegian gul. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the oldest known use of word in English is from The Epinal Glossary in 700. Yellow, in the form of yellow pigment made from clay, was one of the first colors used in prehistoric cave art. The cave of Lascaux has an image of a horse colored with yellow estimated to be 17,300 years old, in Ancient Egypt, yellow was associated with gold, which was considered to be imperishable, eternal and indestructible. The skin and bones of the gods were believed to be made of gold, the Egyptians used yellow extensively in tomb paintings, they usually used either yellow ochre or the brilliant orpiment, though it was made of arsenic and was highly toxic. A small paintbox with orpiment pigment was found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun, men were always shown with brown faces, women with yellow ochre or gold faces. The ancient Romans used yellow in their paintings to represent gold and it is found frequently in the murals of Pompeii. During the Post-Classical period, yellow became firmly established as the color of Judas Iscariot, from this connection, yellow also took on associations with envy, jealousy and duplicity. The tradition started in the Renaissance of marking non-Christian outsiders, such as Jews, in 16th century Spain, those accused of heresy and who refused to renounce their views were compelled to come before the Spanish Inquisition dressed in a yellow cape. The color yellow has been associated with moneylenders and finance. The National Pawnbrokers Associations logo depicts three golden spheres hanging from a bar, referencing the three bags of gold that the saint of pawnbroking, St. Nicholas, holds in his hands. Additionally, the symbol of three golden orbs is found in the coat of arms of the House of Medici, a fifteenth century Italian dynasty of bankers and lenders
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White
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White is an achromatic color, a color without hue. An incoming light to the eye that stimulates all its three types of color sensitive cone cells in nearly equal amounts results in white. White is one of the most common colors in nature, the color of sunlight, snow, milk, chalk, limestone, in many cultures white represents or signifies purity, innocence, and light, and is the symbolic opposite of black, or darkness. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, white is the color most often associated with perfection, the good, honesty, cleanliness, the beginning, the new, neutrality, and exactitude. In ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, priestesses wore white as a symbol of purity, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance a white unicorn symbolized chastity, and a white lamb sacrifice and purity, the widows of kings dressed in white rather than black as the color of mourning. It was also used in 20th century modern architecture as a symbol of modernity, simplicity. White is an important color for almost all world religions, the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, has worn white since 1566, as a symbol of purity and sacrifice. In Islam, and in the Shinto religion of Japan, it is worn by pilgrims, in Western cultures and in Japan, white is the most common color for wedding dresses, symbolizing purity and virginity. In many Asian cultures, white is also the color of mourning, the white color on television screens and computer monitors is created with the RGB color model by mixing red, green and blue light at equal intensities. The word white continues Old English hwīt, ultimately from a Common Germanic *χwītaz also reflected in OHG wîz, ON hvítr, the root is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language *kwid-, surviving also in Sanskrit śveta to be white or bright and Slavonic světŭ light. The Icelandic word for white, hvítur, is derived from the Old Norse form of the word hvítr. Common Germanic also had the word *blankaz, borrowed into Late Latin as *blancus, the antonym of white is black. Some non-European languages have a variety of terms for white. The Inuit language has seven different words for seven different nuances of white, Japanese has six different words, depending upon brilliance or dullness, or if the color is inert or dynamic. White was one of the first colors used in art, the Lascaux Cave in France contains drawings of bulls and other animals drawn by paleolithic artists between 18,000 and 17,000 years ago. Paleolithic artists used calcite or chalk, they sometimes as a background, sometimes as a highlight, along with charcoal and red, in ancient Egypt, white was connected with the goddess Isis. The priests and priestesses of Isis dressed only in white linen, in Greece and other ancient civilizations, white was often associated with mothers milk. In Greek mythology, the chief god Zeus was nourished at the breast of the nymph Amalthea, in the Talmud, milk was one of four sacred substances, along with wine, honey, and the rose
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Red
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Red is the color at the longer-wavelengths end of the spectrum of visible light next to orange, at the opposite end from violet. Red color has a predominant light wavelength of roughly 620–740 nanometers, light with a longer wavelength than red but shorter than terahertz radiation and microwave is called infrared. Red is one of the secondary colors, resulting from the combination of yellow. Traditionally, it was viewed as a primary colour, along with yellow and blue, in the RYB color space and traditional color wheel formerly used by painters. Reds can vary in shade from light pink to very dark maroon or burgundy. Red is the color of cyan. In nature, the red color of blood comes from hemoglobin, the red color of the Grand Canyon and other geological features is caused by hematite or red ochre, both forms of iron oxide. It also causes the red color of the planet Mars, the color of autumn leaves is caused by pigments called anthocyanins, which are produced towards the end of summer, when the green chlorophyll is no longer produced. One to two percent of the population has red hair, the color is produced by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin. Since red is the color of blood, it has historically been associated with sacrifice, danger, modern surveys in the United States and Europe show red is also the color most commonly associated with heat, activity, passion, sexuality, anger, love and joy. In China, India and many other Asian countries it is the color of symbolizing happiness, since the 19th century, red has also been associated with socialism and communism. The word red is derived from the Old English rēad, the word can be further traced to the Proto-Germanic rauthaz and the Proto-Indo European root rewdʰ-. In Sanskrit, the word means red or blood. In the Akkadian language of Ancient Mesopotamia and in the modern Inuit language of Inuit, the words for colored in Latin and Spanish both also mean red. In Portuguese the word for red is vermelho, which comes from Latin vermiculus, in the Russian language, the word for red, Кра́сный, comes from the same old Slavic root as the words for beautiful—красивый and excellent—прекрасный. Thus Red Square in Moscow, named long before the Russian Revolution, in heraldry, the word gules is used for red. Red can vary in hue from orange-red to violet-red, and for each hue there is a variety of shades and tints. Red hematite powder was found scattered around the remains at a grave site in a Zhoukoudian cave complex near Beijing
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Chamber of Deputies (Italy)
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The Chamber of Deputies is a house of the bicameral Parliament of Italy. The two houses form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Pursuant to article 56 of the Italian Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies has 630 seats, of which 618 are elected from Italian constituencies, Deputies are styled The Honourable and meet at Palazzo Montecitorio. Previously, the seat of the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy had been briefly at the Palazzo Carignano in Turin and the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Under the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, from 1939 to 1943, the Chamber is composed of all members meeting in session at the Montecitorio. The assembly also has the right to meetings of the Government. If required, the Government is obligated to attend the session, conversely, the Government has the right to be heard every time it requires. The term of office of the House is five years,61.2 of the Constitution, states that representatives whose term has expired shall continue to exercise their functions until the first meeting of the new Chamber. An extension of the term, provided for by art,60.2, can be enacted only in case of war. Election of members to the Chamber of Deputies is by voluntary, universal, terms last for a total of five years, unless an early dissolution of the Chamber is called by the President of the Republic, at which point a snap election is held. Unlike the Senate, which members to be 40 years of age. The current system for elections to the Chamber of Deputies has been in operation since 2015, the territory of Italy is divided into 100 constituencies electing between 3 and 9 deputies depending on their size. For each constituency, the parties designate a list of candidates, head of list candidates can run in up to 10 constituencies, if two preference votes are expressed, they must be of a different sex, otherwise, the second preference is discarded. Only parties passing a 3% minimum threshold in the first round are assigned seats, if the party receiving the plurality of the votes passes a 40% threshold, it is attributed a minimum of 340 seats. The remaining 277 seats are allocated to the other parties using the largest remainder method. This provision was however rendered null and void by a Constitutional Courts judgment in January 2017, the President of the Chamber of Deputies performs the role of speaker of the house and is elected during the first session after the election. During this time the prerogatives of speaker are assumed by the vicepresident of Chamber of Deputies of the legislature who was elected first. If two were elected simultaneously, the oldest deputy serves as president of Chamber of Deputies, the President of Chamber of Deputies has also the role of President during the Parliament joint sessions, when the upper and lower houses have to vote together
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Senate of the Republic (Italy)
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The Senate of the Republic is a house of the bicameral Italian Parliament. The two houses form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Members of the Senate are styled Senator or The Honourable Senator and they meet at Palazzo Madama, the Senate consists of 315 elected members, and as of 2016 five senators for life. The elected senators must be over 40 years of age and are elected by Italian citizens aged 25 or older, the Senate is elected on a regional basis. The 309 senators are assigned to each region according to their population. However, Article 57 of the Constitution provides that no region can have fewer than seven senators representing it, except for the Aosta Valley and Molise. The five current life senators are, The current term of the Senate is five years, until a Constitutional change on February 9,1963, the Senate was elected for six-year terms. The Senate may be dissolved before the expiration of its normal term by the President of the Republic, in 2016, Italian Parliament passed a constitutional law that effectively abolishes the Senate as an elected chamber and sharply restricts its ability to veto legislation. The law was rejected on December 4,2016 by a referendum, the election of the Senate is still regulated by Law no. 270, December 21,2005, which however was judged to be partly unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in December 2013, in each Region, except for three, at least 55% of the seats are assigned to the coalition or list which received the most votes. The Aosta Valley elects one senator, so it uses a first past the post system, Molise elects two senators with a proportional system. Trentino-South Tyrol uses a mixed member system, it elects 6 senators in first past the post constituencies. That session, presided by the oldest senator, proceeds to elect the President of the Senate for the parliamentary period. On the first two attempts at voting, a majority of all senators is needed, if a third round is needed. If this third round fails to produce a winner, a ballot is held between the two senators with the highest votes in the previous ballot. In the case of a tie, the senator is deemed the winner. The current President of the Senate is Pietro Grasso, recent Presidents of the Italian Senate, Since 1871, the Senate has met in Palazzo Madama in Rome, an old patrician palace completed in 1505 for the Medici family. The palace takes its name from Madama Margherita of Austria, daughter of Charles V, after the extinction of the Medici, the palace was handed over to the House of Lorraine
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European Parliament
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The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union. Together with the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, the Parliament is composed of 751 members, who represent the second-largest democratic electorate in the world and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world. It has been elected every five years by universal suffrage since 1979. However, voter turnout at European Parliament elections has fallen consecutively at each election since that date, voter turnout in 2014 stood at 42. 54% of all European voters. The Parliament is the first institution of the EU, and shares equal legislative and it likewise has equal control over the EU budget. Finally, the European Commission, the body of the EU, is accountable to Parliament. In particular, Parliament elects the President of the Commission, and it can subsequently force the Commission as a body to resign by adopting a motion of censure. The President of the European Parliament is Antonio Tajani, elected in January 2017 and he presides over a multi-party chamber, the two largest groups being the Group of the European Peoples Party and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. The last union-wide elections were the 2014 elections, the European Parliament has three places of work – Brussels, the city of Luxembourg and Strasbourg. Luxembourg is home to the administrative offices, meetings of the whole Parliament take place in Strasbourg and in Brussels. Committee meetings are held in Brussels, the Parliament, like the other institutions, was not designed in its current form when it first met on 10 September 1952. One of the oldest common institutions, it began as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and it was a consultative assembly of 78 appointed parliamentarians drawn from the national parliaments of member states, having no legislative powers. Its development since its foundation shows how the European Unions structures have evolved without a master plan. Some, such as Tom Reid of the Washington Post, said of the union, nobody would have designed a government as complex. Even the Parliaments two seats, which have switched several times, are a result of various agreements or lack of agreements, the body was not mentioned in the original Schuman Declaration. It was assumed or hoped that difficulties with the British would be resolved to allow the Council of Europes Assembly to perform the task, a separate Assembly was introduced during negotiations on the Treaty as an institution which would counterbalance and monitor the executive while providing democratic legitimacy. The wording of the ECSC Treaty demonstrated the desire for more than a normal consultative assembly by using the term representatives of the people. Its early importance was highlighted when the Assembly was given the task of drawing up the treaty to establish a European Political Community
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Politics of Italy
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Politics of Italy is conducted through a constitutional republic with a multi-party system. The executive power is exercised collectively by the Council of Ministers, legislative power is vested in the two houses of parliament primarily, and secondarily on the Council of Ministers, which can introduce bills and holds the majority in the parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislative branches and it is headed by the High Council of the Judiciary. The president is the head of state, though his position is separate from all branches, the current President is Sergio Mattarella and the current Prime Minister of Italy is Paolo Gentiloni. Article 1 of the Italian Constitution states Italy is a democratic Republic founded on labour, sovereignty belongs to the people and is exercised by the people in the forms and within the limits of the Constitution. By stating that Italy is a republic, the article solemnly declares the results of the constitutional referendum which took place on 2 June 1946. The State is not a property of the ruling monarch. The people who are called to administer the republic are not owners, but servants, and the governed are not subjects. And the sovereignty, that is the power to make choices that involve the community, belongs to the people, in accordance with the concept of a democracy, from the Greek demos. This power, however, is not to be exercised arbitrarily, as the head of state, the President of the Republic represents the unity of the nation and has many of the duties previously given to the king of Italy. The President serves as a point of connection between the three branches, he is elected by the lawmakers, he appoints the executive, and is the president of the judiciary, the president is also commander-in-chief in the time of war. These delegates are elected by their respective Regional Councils so as to guarantee representation to minorities, the election needs a wide majority that is progressively reduced from two-thirds to one-half plus one of the votes after the third ballot. The only Presidents ever to be elected on the first ballot are Francesco Cossiga, mr. Ciampi was replaced by Giorgio Napolitano, who was elected on 10 May 2006. While it is not forbidden by law, no president had ever served two terms, until 20 April 2013, when president Giorgio Napolitano was re-elected. According to the Constitution, any citizen that is fifty on the day of the election, the President cannot hold office in any other branch of power, and the offices salary and privileges are established by law. The President also presides over the High Council of the Judiciary, usually, the President tries to stay out of the political debate, and to be an institutional guarantee for all those involved in the political process. The president can also reject openly anti-constitutional acts as the guardian of the Constitution of Italy, with article 48 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to vote, the people exercise their power through their elected representatives in the Parliament. The Italian legislative branch has rights to declare war with a majority vote, the Parliament has a bicameral system, and consists of the Chamber of deputies and the Senate, elected every five years
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List of political parties in Italy
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Political parties in Italy are numerous and there are hundreds of parties which are no longer active. Since World War II, no party has gained enough support to govern alone. Parties thus form political alliances and coalition governments, in November 2013 The People of Freedom was dissolved and merged into the new Forza Italia, provoking the formation of the split-away New Centre-Right. In December 2016 Left Ecology Freedom was dissolved in order to part to the formation of Italian Left. Between 1945 and 1994, Italian politics was dominated by two parties, Christian Democracy, the main party of government, and the Italian Communist Party. The other opposition party was the post-fascist Italian Social Movement, for 46 consecutive years, the Christian Democrats led the government except for five years. Between 1983 and 1991, they led a government with the Socialists, the Republicans, the Democratic Socialists. These were the years when several regional parties demanding autonomy organised themselves at the regional level. In 1991 they federated themselves into the Northern League, which became the fourth largest party in the 1992 general election. In 1992–94, the system was shaken by a series of corruption scandals known collectively as Tangentopoli. These events led to the disappearance of the five parties of government, consequently, the Communists, who had evolved to become Democratic Party of the Left in 1991, and the post-fascists, who launched National Alliance in 1994, gained strength. Between 1996 and 2008, Italian political parties were organised into two big coalitions, the centre-right Pole for Freedoms and The Olive Tree on the centre-left. The centre-left governed from 1996 to 2001 and again between 2006 and 2008, while the House of Freedoms was in government between 2001 and 2006. In 2008 The Union ceased to exist as the newly founded Democratic Party decided to break the alliance with its left-wing partners, notably including the Communist Refoundation Party. On the centre-right, Forza Italia and National Alliance merged to form The People of Freedom, in November 2013 The People of Freedom was dissolved and merged into the new Forza Italia, provoking the formation of the split-away New Centre-Right. In December 2016 Left Ecology Freedom was dissolved in order to part to the formation of Italian Left
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Elections in Italy
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The President of the Republic is elected for a seven-year term by the two houses of Parliament in joint session. Italy has historically had many parties, both national and regional, with different party systems. The most recent Italian general election was held on 24 and 25 February 2013, on 24 April 2013, Napolitano, gave the task to form a new government to the Deputy-Secretary of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta. On 28 April he sworn in as Prime Minister, the voter turnout in 2013 explains how the people of Italy really feel about the instability of their government. This graph shows the results of elections held in Italy from 1946 to today, with the percentages of consensus gathered by the various parties, passing your mouse over the different colored sections will display the name of the grouping and the percentage in the corresponding election. Clicking on a region will direct you to the article on the party or election selected, the constitution of Italy provides for two kinds of binding referendums. A legislative referendum can be called in order to abrogate a law totally or partially and this kind of referendum is valid only if at least a majority of electors goes to the polling station. It is forbidden to call a referendum regarding financial laws or laws relating to pardons or the ratification of international treaties, a constitutional referendum is valid no matter how many electors go to the polling station. Any citizen entitled to vote in an election to the Chamber of Deputies may participate in a referendum
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Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
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Anti-globalization movement
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The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalisation movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. Participants base their criticisms on a number of related ideas, what is shared is that participants oppose large, multinational corporations having unregulated political power, exercised through trade agreements and deregulated financial markets. As of January 2012, some commentators have characterized changes in the economy as turbo-capitalism, market fundamentalism, casino capitalism. In reaction, various social movements emerged to challenge their influence, use a wide variety of human resources. Neoliberal doctrine argued that free trade and reduction of public-sector regulation would bring benefits to poor countries. That is why the press, in its more honest moments. No sane person is opposed to globalization, that is, international integration, by 2002, many parts of the movement showed wide opposition to the impending invasion of Iraq. Many participants were among those 11 million or more protesters that on the weekend of February 15,2003, Chomsky asserted that these leaders showed their contempt for democracy. The economic and military issues are linked in the eyes of many within the movement. Many participants consider the term anti-globalization to be a misnomer, S. A. Hamed Hosseini, argues that the term anti-globalization can be ideal-typically used only to refer to only one ideological vision he detects alongside three other visions. He argues that the three latter ideal-typical visions can be categorized under the title of global justice movement, some activists, notably David Graeber, see the movement as opposed instead to neoliberalism or corporate globalization. He also notes that use the terms globalization movement and anti-globalization movement interchangeably. The term alter-globalization has been used to make this distinction clear, le Monde Diplomatique s editor, Ignacio Ramonets, expression of the one-way thought became slang against neoliberal policies and the Washington consensus. The term anti-globalization does not distinguish the international leftist anti-globalization position from a strictly nationalist anti-globalization position, other groups, influenced by the Third Position, are also classifiable as anti-globalization. However, their world view is rejected by groups such as Peoples Global Action. In response, the nationalist movements against globalization, argue that the leftist anti-globalization position is actually a support to alter-globalization, several influential critical works have inspired the anti-globalization movement. The writer Arundhati Roy is famous for her position and her activism against Indias massive hydroelectric dam project. The works of Jean Ziegler, Christopher Chase-Dunn, and Immanuel Wallerstein have detailed underdevelopment, pacifist and anti-imperialist traditions have strongly influenced the movement
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Public water system
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Public water system is a regulatory term used in the United States and Canada, referring to certain utilities and organizations providing drinking water. The term public in public water system refers to the people drinking the water, some US states have varying definitions. Over 286 million Americans get their tap water from a community water system, eight percent of the community water systems—large municipal water systems—provide water to 82 percent of the US population. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has defined three types of water systems, Community Water System. A public water system supplies water to the same population year-round. A public water system that supplies water to at least 25 of the same people at least six months per year. Some examples are schools, factories, office buildings, and hospitals which have their own water systems, a public water system that provides water in a place such as a gas station or campground where people do not remain for long periods of time. There are over 150,000 public water systems, Approximately 52,000 CWS serve the majority of the U. S. population Approximately 85,000 NTNCWS Approximately 18,000 TNCWS. Sources of drinking water are subject to contamination and require treatment to remove disease-causing contaminants. Contamination of drinking water supplies can occur in the water as well as in the distribution system after water treatment has already occurred. There are many sources of contamination, including naturally occurring chemicals and minerals, local land use practices, manufacturing processes. The presence of contaminants in water can lead to health effects, including gastrointestinal illness, reproductive problems. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes a list of the causes of waterborne outbreaks in public water systems. The Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Nova Scotia also use this definition, Water supply Drinking water quality in the United States Water supply and sanitation in Canada
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Sustainable transport
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Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport, the source of energy, and the infrastructure used to accommodate the transport. Another component for evaluation is pipelines for transporting liquid or gas materials, Transport operations and logistics as well as transit-oriented development are also involved in evaluation. Transportation sustainability is largely being measured by transportation system effectiveness and efficiency as well as the environmental, the entire life cycle of transport systems is subject to sustainability measurement and optimization. Sustainable transport systems make a contribution to the environmental, social. The advantages of increased mobility need to be weighed against the environmental, social, Transport systems have significant impacts on the environment, accounting for between 20% and 25% of world energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The majority of the emissions, almost 97%, came from burning of fossil fuels. Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are increasing at a faster rate than any other energy using sector, road transport is also a major contributor to local air pollution and smog. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that each year 2.4 million premature deaths from air pollution could be avoided. The social costs of transport include road crashes, air pollution, physical inactivity, time taken away from the family while commuting, many of these negative impacts fall disproportionately on those social groups who are also least likely to own and drive cars. Traffic congestion imposes economic costs by wasting time and by slowing the delivery of goods. Traditional transport planning aims to improve mobility, especially for vehicles, communities which are successfully improving the sustainability of their transport networks are doing so as part of a wider programme of creating more vibrant, livable, sustainable cities. There are many definitions of the transport, and of the related terms sustainable transportation. Is Affordable, operates fairly and efficiently, offers a choice of transport mode, Sustainability extends beyond just the operating efficiency and emissions. A Life-cycle assessment involves production, use and post-use considerations, a cradle-to-cradle design is more important than a focus on a single factor such as energy efficiency. Most of the tools and concepts of sustainable transport were developed before the phrase was coined, walking, the first mode of transport, is also the most sustainable. Public transport dates back at least as far as the invention of the bus by Blaise Pascal in 1662. The first passenger tram began operation in 1807 and the first passenger service in 1825. Pedal bicycles date from the 1860s and these were the only personal transport choices available to most people in Western countries prior to World War II, and remain the only options for most people in the developing world
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Sustainable development
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The desirable end result is a state of society where living conditions and resource use continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural systems. As the concept developed, it has shifted to more on economic development, social development. The concept of development has been — and still is — subject to criticism. What, exactly, is to be sustained in sustainable development, Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social, political, and economic challenges faced by humanity. Sustainability science is the study of the concepts of sustainable development, there is an additional focus on the present generations responsibility to regenerate, maintain and improve planetary resources for use by future generations. Sustainable development has its roots in ideas about sustainable forest management which were developed in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1713 Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a mining administrator in the service of Elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony published Sylvicultura oeconomica. Building upon the ideas of Evelyn and French minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert and his work influenced others, including Alexander von Humboldt and Georg Ludwig Hartig, eventually leading to the development of a science of forestry. Two years later, the United Nations World Charter for Nature raised five principles of conservation by which human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged. In 1987 the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development released the report Our Common Future, the report included what is now one of the most widely recognised definitions of sustainable development. In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development published the Earth Charter, which outlines the building of a just, sustainable and it emphasises that in sustainable development everyone is a user and provider of information. Furthermore, Agenda 21 emphasises that broad public participation in making is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving sustainable development. Broadly defined, sustainable development is an approach to growth and development and to manage natural, produced. A2013 study concluded that sustainability reporting should be reframed through the lens of four interconnected domains, ecology, economics, politics, the goals are to be implemented and achieved in every country from the year 2016 to 2030. Sustainable development, or sustainability, has described in terms of three spheres, dimensions, domains or pillars, i. e. the environment, the economy. The three-sphere framework was proposed by the economist René Passet in 1979. It has also been worded as economic, environmental and social or ecology, economy and this has been expanded by some authors to include a fourth pillar of culture, institutions or governance. The ecological stability of human settlements is part of the relationship between humans and their natural, social and built environments, also termed human ecology, this broadens the focus of sustainable development to include the domain of human health
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Nonviolence
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Nonviolence is the personal practice of being harmless to self and others under every condition. Mahavira, the twenty-fourth tirthankara of the Jain religion, was the torch-bearer of ahimsa and introduced the word to the world and he taught that to attain nirvana, one must abstain from violence. Nonviolence also has active or activist elements, in that believers accept the need for nonviolence as a means to political and social change. In modern times, nonviolent methods of action have been a tool for social protest. There are many examples of their use, fuller surveys may be found in the entries on civil resistance, nonviolent resistance and nonviolent revolution. The 1989 Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the Communist government is considered one of the most important of the largely nonviolent Revolutions of 1989. Most recently the nonviolent campaigns of Leymah Gbowee and the women of Liberia were able to achieve peace after a 14-year civil war and this story is captured in a 2008 documentary film Pray the Devil Back to Hell. In an essay, To Abolish War, evolutionary biologist Judith Hand advocated the use of nonviolent direct action to dismantle the global war machine. The term nonviolence is often linked with or used as a synonym for peace, and despite being frequently equated with passivity and pacifism, this is rejected by nonviolent advocates and activists. Nonviolence refers specifically to the absence of violence and is always the choice to do no harm or the least harm, sometimes nonviolence is passive, and other times it isnt. For example, if a house is burning down with mice or insects in it, there is at times confusion and contradiction written about nonviolence, harmlessness and passivity. A confused person may advocate nonviolence in a specific context while advocating violence in other contexts, for example, someone who passionately opposes abortion or meat eating may concurrently advocate violence to kill an abortionist or attack a slaughterhouse, which makes that person a violent person. On a national level, the strategy of nonviolent action seeks to undermine the power of rulers by encouraging people to withdraw their consent, the forms of nonviolence draw inspiration from both religious or ethical beliefs and political analysis. Commonly, both of these dimensions may be present within the thinking of particular movements or individuals, nicolas Walter noted the idea that nonviolence might work runs under the surface of Western political thought without ever quite disappearing. Walter noted Étienne de La Boéties Discourse on Voluntary Servitude and P. B, shelleys The Masque of Anarchy contain arguments for resisting tyranny without using violence. In 1838, William Lloyd Garrison helped found the New England Non-Resistance Society, in modern industrial democracies, nonviolent action has been used extensively by political sectors without mainstream political power such as labor, peace, environment and womens movements. Lesser known is the role that nonviolent action has played and continues to play in undermining the power of political regimes in the developing world. Also of primary significance is the notion that just means are the most likely to lead to just ends
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Western world
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The Western world or the West is a term usually referring to different nations, depending on the context, most often including at least part of Europe. There are many accepted definitions about what they all have in common, the Western world is also known as the Occident. The concept of the Western part of the earth has its roots in Greco-Roman civilization in Europe, before the Cold War era, the traditional Western viewpoint identified Western Civilization with the Western Christian countries and culture. Its political usage was changed by the antagonism during the Cold War in the mid-to-late 20th Century. The term originally had a literal geographic meaning, Western culture was influenced by many older great civilizations of the ancient Near East, such as Phoenicia, Minoan Crete, Sumer, Babylonia, and also Ancient Egypt. It originated in the Mediterranean basin and its vicinity, Greece, over time, their associated empires grew first to the east and west to include the rest of Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal areas, conquering and absorbing. Later, they expanded to the north of the Mediterranean Sea to include Western, Central, numerous times, this expansion was accompanied by Christian missionaries, who attempted to proselytize Christianity. There is debate among some as to whether Latin America is in a category of its own, specifically, Western culture may imply, a Biblical Christian cultural influence in spiritual thinking, customs and either ethic or moral traditions, around the Post-Classical Era and after. European cultural influences concerning artistic, musical, folkloric, ethic and oral traditions, the concept of Western culture is generally linked to the classical definition of the Western world. In this definition, Western culture is the set of literary, scientific, political, artistic, much of this set of traditions and knowledge is collected in the Western canon. The term has come to apply to countries whose history is marked by European immigration or settlement, such as the Americas, and Oceania. The geopolitical divisions in Europe that created a concept of East and West originated in the Roman Empire, Roman Catholic Western and Central Europe, as such, maintained a distinct identity particularly as it began to redevelop during the Renaissance. Even following the Protestant Reformation, Protestant Europe continued to see itself as more tied to Roman Catholic Europe than other parts of the civilized world. Use of the term West as a cultural and geopolitical term developed over the course of the Age of Exploration as Europe spread its culture to other parts of the world. Additionally, closer contacts between the West and Asia and other parts of the world in recent times have continued to cloud the use, herodotus considered the Persian Wars of the early 5th century BC a conflict of Europa versus Asia. The terms West and East were not used by any Greek author to describe that conflict, the Great Schism and the Fourth Crusade confirmed this deviation. The Renaissance in the West emerged partly from currents within the Roman Empire, Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city-state founded on the Italian Peninsula about the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. In its 12-century existence, Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy, to a republic, nonetheless, despite its great legacy, a number of factors led to the eventual decline of the Roman Empire
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Greater Middle East
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The Greater Middle East is a political term that denotes a set of contiguously connected countries. The region stretches from Morocco in the west all the way to the edge of China in the east. Various countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia are sometimes also included, since then, the U. S. has been involved in balancing conflicts amongst these culturally interconnected nations in order to further its interests in the region. The Greater Middle East is sometimes referred to as The New Middle East, former U. S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski states that a political awakening is taking place in this region which may be an indicator of the multi-polar world that is now developing. He alluded to the Greater Middle East as the Global Balkans, and as a control lever on an area he refers to as Eurasia. S. military failure in the Middle East over the past three decades
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Iraq War
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The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict and it became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003, with the U. S. joined by the United Kingdom and several allies, launching a shock. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as U. S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Baathist government, President Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year, the United States responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U. S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama, the U. S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011. Select U. S. officials accused Saddam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, while others cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship, after the invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism within the U. S. in the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014, the al-Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen as having the effect of alienating the countrys Sunni minority and worsening sectarian tensions. The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civilian, and thousands of military casualties, the majority of casualties occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. A1990 Frontline report on The arming of Iraq said, Officially, most Western nations participated in an arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s. Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key technology for its chemical, missile, any Western governments seemed remarkably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. N Washington, the government consistently followed a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the growth of Saddam Husseins arsenal. The Western arming of Iraq took place in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W. Bush administrations main provider of intelligence on Iraq. The agency was out to disprove linkage between Iraq and terrorism the Pentagon adviser told me, the U. N. had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. This was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with U. N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under United Nations Monitoring, as part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was required to supply a full declaration of its current weapons capabilities and manufacturing
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2011 military intervention in Libya
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On 19 March 2011, a multi-state NATO-led coalition began a military intervention in Libya, ostensibly to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. The United Nations Intent and Voting was to have a ceasefire in Libya, including an end to the current attacks against civilians. Imposing a ban on all flights in the countrys airspace – a no-fly zone – and tightened sanctions on the Qadhafi regime, French jets launched air strikes against Libyan Army tanks and vehicles. The effort was largely led by France and the United Kingdom. NATO took control of the embargo on 23 March, named Operation Unified Protector. An attempt to unify the command of the air campaign, first failed over objections by the French, German. On 24 March, NATO agreed to control of the no-fly zone. The handover occurred on 31 March 2011 at 06,00 UTC, NATO flew 26,500 sorties since it took charge of the Libya mission on 31 March 2011. Fighting in Libya ended in late October following the death of Muammar Gaddafi, Libyas new government requested that its mission be extended to the end of the year, but on 27 October, the Security Council voted to end NATOs mandate for military action on 31 October. 23 February 2011, French President Nicolas Sarkozy pushed for the European Union to pass sanctions against Gaddafi,25 February 2011, Sarkozy said Gaddafi must go. 26 February 2011, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970 was passed unanimously and it imposed an arms embargo on the country and a travel ban and assets freeze on the family of Muammar Al-Qadhafi and certain Government officials. 1 March 2011, The US Senate unanimously passed non-binding Senate resolution S. RES.85 urging the United Nations Security Council to impose a Libyan no-fly zone and encouraging Gaddafi to step down. The US had naval forces positioned off the coast of Libya, as well as already in the region. Canadian National Defence Minister Peter MacKay stated that e are there for all inevitabilities, and NATO is looking at this as well. This is taken as a precautionary and staged measure,7 March 2011, US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder announced that NATO decided to step up surveillance missions of E-3 AWACS aircraft to twenty-four hours a day. The Gulf Cooperation Council also on that day called upon the UN Security Council to take all measures to protect civilians. Three days later, he stated that if pro-Gaddafi forces reached Benghazi and he stated, If there is no no-fly zone imposed on Gaddafis regime, and his ships are not checked, we will have a catastrophe in Libya. 10 March 2011, France recognized the Libyan NTC as the government of Libya soon after Sarkozy met with them in Paris
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United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
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Syrian Civil War
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The Syrian Civil War is an armed conflict taking place in Syria. Syrian opposition groups formed the Free Syrian Army and seized control of the area surrounding Aleppo, over time, some factions of the Syrian opposition split from their original moderate position to pursue an Islamist vision for Syria, joining groups such as al-Nusra Front and ISIL. In 2015, the YPG joined forces with Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, Russia and Hezbollah militarily engaged in support of the Syrian government, while beginning in 2014, a coalition of NATO countries began launching airstrikes against ISIL. International organizations have accused the Syrian government, ISIL, and rebel groups of human rights violations. The conflict has caused a major refugee crisis, over the course of the war a number of peace initiatives have been launched, including the March 2017 Geneva peace talks on Syria led by the United Nations, but fighting continues. Syria became an independent republic in 1946, although democratic rule ended with a coup in March 1949, a popular uprising against military rule in 1954 saw the army transfer power to civilians. From 1958 to 1961, a union with Egypt replaced Syrias parliamentary system with a highly centralized presidential government. The secular Baath Syrian Regional Branch government came to power through a successful coup détat in 1963, for the next several years Syria went through additional coups and changes in leadership. In March 1971, Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, declared himself President, on 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented a new constitution, which led to a national crisis. They labeled Assad the enemy of Allah and called for a jihad against his rule, the government survived a series of armed revolts by Sunni Islamists, mainly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from 1976 until 1982. Upon Hafez al-Assads death in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad was elected as President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma, a Sunni Muslim born and educated in Britain, initially inspired hopes for democratic reforms. The Damascus Spring, a period of social and political debate, the Damascus Spring largely ended in August 2001 with the arrest and imprisonment of ten leading activists who had called for democratic elections and a campaign of civil disobedience. In the opinion of his critics, Bashar al-Assad had failed to deliver on promised reforms, Syrian Arabs, together with some 600,000 Palestinian Arabs, make up roughly 74 percent of the population. Syria Muslims are 74 percent Sunnis, and 13 percent Shias,3 percent were Druze, not all of the Sunnis are Arabs. Bashar is married to a Sunni, with whom he has several children and he is affiliated with the sect that his parents belong to, the minority Alawite sect which comprises an estimated 8-12 percent of the total population. Assyrians, an indigenous Eastern Aramaic-speaking Christian Semitic people, numbering approximately 500,000, are mainly in northeast Syria. A larger population lives over the border in northern Iraq, other ethnic groups include Armenians, Circassians, Turkmens, Greeks, Mhallami, Kawliya, Yezidi, Shabaks, and Mandeans. Socioeconomic inequality increased significantly after free market policies were initiated by Hafez al-Assad in his later years, the country also faced particularly high youth unemployment rates
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Italian general election, 2013
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Close behind, the new anti-establishment Five Star Movement of comedian Beppe Grillo became the third force, clearly ahead of the centrist coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti. In the Senate, no group or party won an outright majority. Eventually a coalition between the centre-left, centre and centre-right was formed, following the European sovereign debt crisis, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned from his position in November 2011. He was replaced as Prime Minister by technocratic Senator for Life Mario Monti, in December 2012, Berlusconi announced his intention to run for Prime Minister for a sixth time. The Constitution of Italy then requires an election to be held within 70 days of the dissolution of parliament by President Giorgio Napolitano, during Montis tenure, Italy had faced tax increases and state spending cuts, as well as reforms intended to improve the competitiveness of the Italian economy. In the approximately one year since Monti took office, unemployment rose by almost two percent, previously Monti had controversially told the rising tide of youth unemployment to forget about a steady job for life, saying such is monotonous its nice to change and take on challenges. The same reforms and austerity-focused policies which upset many Italians are perceived to have improved international confidence in Italy, Monti was supported by other Eurozone leaders, such as Germanys Angela Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble added that he did not foresee any destabilisation in the eurozone expect Italy to keep going forward by respecting its European commitments. Montis statement that he would resign after the budget was passed, was suggested by Reuters to be indicative of him seeking to run for office. The two largest parties in parliament, the PdL and the Democratic Party said they would be willing to work together to expedite passage of the budget, Bersani had won the centre-left primary election shortly before the PdL withdrew from the government. Following a defeat in the primary, Mayor of Florence Matteo Renzi ruled out an approach, in writing, in the following weeks, both PD and Left Ecology Freedom announced their intention to hold primary elections for MP candidates on 29 and 30 December. A few days later, Monti published a political agenda for Italy, dubbed the Monti agenda, after the Third Pole promptly agreed to use it as their own platform for the upcoming elections, talks started regarding a direct involvement of Monti as premiership candidate. Berlusconi said the platform his party would run on includes opposition to Montis economic performance and he also told the media, on the sidelines of AC Milans practice session, I race to win. To win, everyone there had to be a tested leader. Its not that we did not look for one, but there isnt one. Im doing it out of a sense of responsibility. Berlusconi and Five Star Movement leader Beppe Grillo criticised the eurozone, Grillo wrote that the average Italian is literally terrified about the prospects of five more years of Monti-like rule. On 8 December 2012, a new party formed around a think tank named Fermare il Declino, on an initiative by the economic journalist Oscar Giannino. On 19 December 2012, the name FARE per Fermare il Declino was chosen, and it is led by celebrity magistrate Antonio Ingroia and Mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris
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UK Independence Party
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The UK Independence Party is a Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Newton Abbot, Devon, and currently led by Paul Nuttall, at Westminster, UKIP has no Members of Parliament in the House of Commons and three representatives in the House of Lords. It has 20 Members of the European Parliament, making it jointly the largest UK party in that Parliament and it has five Assembly Members in the National Assembly for Wales and has 438 councillors in UK local government. Ideologically positioned on the wing of British politics, UKIP has been characterised as part of a broader European radical right by political scientists. It promotes a British unionist and British nationalist agenda, although its claim that the latter is a form of civic nationalism has been disputed. UKIPs primary emphasis has been on Euroscepticism, calling for the UKs exit from the European Union and it has also placed strong emphasis on lowering immigration, opposing multiculturalism, and encouraging a unitary British identity. On social issues like LGBT rights and education policy it favours traditional values, influenced by Thatcherism and classical liberalism, it describes itself as economically libertarian and promotes liberal economic policies. Having an ideological heritage stemming from the wing of the Conservative Party. UKIP originated as the Anti-Federalist League, a single-issue Eurosceptic party established by the historian Alan Sked in 1991 and it was renamed UKIP in 1993 but its growth remained slow, it was largely eclipsed by the Eurosceptic Referendum Party until the latters 1997 dissolution. Sked was then ousted by a led by Nigel Farage. Under Farages leadership, from 2009 the party adopted a policy platform and capitalised on concerns about rising immigration. This resulted in significant breakthroughs at the 2013 local elections,2014 European elections, the pressure UKIP exerted on the government is widely regarded as the main reason for the 2016 referendum which led to the decision to withdraw from the European Union. Governed by its leader and National Executive Committee, UKIP is divided into regional groups. UKIP began as the Anti-Federalist League, a Eurosceptic political party established in 1991 by the historian Alan Sked, the League opposed the recently signed Maastricht Treaty and sought to sway the governing Conservative Party toward removing the United Kingdom from the European Union. A former Liberal Party candidate, member of the Bruges Group, under the Anti-Federalist Leagues banner, Sked stood as a prospective Member of Parliament in Bath at the 1992 general election, gaining 0. 2% of the vote. UKIP contested the 1994 European Parliament election with little financing and much infighting, securing itself as the fifth largest party in that election with 1% of the vote. During this period, UKIP was viewed as a typical single-issue party by commentators, following the election, UKIP lost much support to the Referendum Party, founded by the multi-millionaire James Goldsmith in 1994, it shared UKIPs Eurosceptic approach but was far better funded. UKIP was beaten by the Referendum Party in 163 of the 165 seats in which stood against each other
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European Parliament election, 2014 (Italy)
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The European Parliament election of 2014 in Italy took place on 25 May 2014. Italy elected 73 MEPs out of 751 European Parliament seats, the governing Democratic Party won the election with 40. 8% of the vote and 31 seats, followed by the Five Star Movement and Forza Italia. The PDs score was also the best result for an Italian party in an election since the 1958 general election. The other parties that have passed the electoral threshold at 4% are Lega Nord, New Centre-Right – Union of the Centre. The 4% threshold can be bypassed by parties representing linguistic minorities, provided they get more than 50,000 votes, the South Tyrolean Peoples Party, representing the German-speaking minority of South Tyrol, won a seat thanks to its connection with the PD. In the following table the twelve parties/lists participating in the election are listed, the alliance column refers to the affiliations of outgoing MEPs. In the following table the top candidates of each party/list in the five constituencies are listed, in the case in which the party leader stands in all five of them as top candidate, also the second in the list is shown. The Five Star Movements slates were compiled following the alphabetical order, poll results are listed according to the date of publication of the survey. Detailed data are published in the official website of the Italian government. The publication of opinion polls during the last 15 days of the campaign is forbidden by Italian law
