1.
Curia Julia
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The Curia Julia is the third named Curia, or Senate House, in the ancient city of Rome. It was built in 44 BC, when Julius Caesar replaced Faustus Cornelius Sullas reconstructed Curia Cornelia, Caesar did so to redesign both spaces within the Comitium and the Roman forum. The alterations within the Comitium reduced the prominence of the senate, the work, however, was interrupted by Caesars assassination at the Theatre of Pompey, where the Senate had been meeting temporarily while the work was completed. The project was finished by Caesars successor, Augustus Caesar. However, the roof, the elevations of the side walls. There were many curiae during the history of the Roman civilization, the Curia Julia is the third named curia within the comitium. Each structure was rebuilt a number of times but originated from a single Etruscan temple, when this original temple was destroyed, Tullus Hostilius rebuilt it and gave it his name. It lasted for a few hundred years until fire destroyed the curia. In fact, the now in the forum is the second incarnation of Caesars curia. From 81 to 96, the Curia Julia was restored under Domitian, in 283, it was heavily damaged by a fire, at the time of Emperor Carinus. From 284 to 305, the Curia was then rebuilt by Diocletian and it is the remnants of Diocletians building that stands today. In 412, the Curia was restored again, this time by Urban Prefect Annius Eucharius Epiphanius. On July 10,1923, the Italian government acquired the Curia Julia, the exterior of the Curia Julia features brick-faced concrete with a huge buttress at each angle. The lower part of the front wall was decorated with slabs of marble, the upper part was covered with stucco imitation of white marble blocks. A single flight of steps leads up the bronze doors, the current bronze doors are modern replicas, the original bronze doors were transferred to the Basilica of St. John Lateran by Pope Alexander VII in 1660. Interestingly enough, a coin was found within the doors during their transfer and that allowed archaeologists to date repairs made to the Senate House and the addition of the bronze doors to the reign of Emperor Domitian. The original appearance of the Senate House is known from an Emperor Augustus denarius of 28 BC, the interior of the Curia Julia is fairly austere. The hall is 25.20 m long by 17.61 m wide, there are three broad steps that could have fitted five rows of chairs or a total of about 300 senators
2.
Roman Forum
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The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, here statues and monuments commemorated the citys great men. The teeming heart of ancient Rome, it has called the most celebrated meeting place in the world. Many of the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum, the Roman kingdoms earliest shrines and temples were located on the southeastern edge. Other archaic shrines to the northwest, such as the Umbilicus Urbis and this is where the Senate—as well as Republican government itself—began. The Senate House, government offices, tribunals, temples, memorials, over time the archaic Comitium was replaced by the larger adjacent Forum and the focus of judicial activity moved to the new Basilica Aemilia. Some 130 years later, Julius Caesar built the Basilica Julia, along with the new Curia Julia, eventually much economic and judicial business would transfer away from the Forum Romanum to the larger and more extravagant structures to the north. The reign of Constantine the Great saw the construction of the last major expansion of the Forum complex—the Basilica of Maxentius and this returned the political center to the Forum until the fall of the Western Roman Empire almost two centuries later. This is the case despite attempts, with success, to impose some order there, by Sulla, Julius Caesar, Augustus. By the Imperial period, the public buildings that crowded around the central square had reduced the open area to a rectangle of about 130 by 50 metres. Its long dimension was oriented northwest to southeast and extended from the foot of the Capitoline Hill to that of the Velian Hill, the Forums basilicas during the Imperial period—the Basilica Aemilia on the north and the Basilica Julia on the south—defined its long sides and its final form. The Forum proper included this square, the buildings facing it and, sometimes, originally, the site of the Forum had been a marshy lake where waters from the surrounding hills drained. This was drained by the Tarquins with the Cloaca Maxima, because of its location, sediments from both the flooding of the Tiber and the erosion of the surrounding hills have been raising the level of the Forum floor for centuries. Excavated sequences of remains of paving show that sediment eroded from the hills was already raising the level in early Republican times. As the ground around buildings rose, residents simply paved over the debris that was too much to remove and its final travertine paving, still visible, dates from the reign of Augustus. Excavations in the 19th century revealed one layer on top of another, the deepest level excavated was 3.60 metres above sea level. Archaeological finds show human activity at that level with the discovery of carbonised wood, an important function of the Forum, during both Republican and Imperial times, was to serve as the culminating venue for the celebratory military processions known as Triumphs. Victorious generals entered the city by the western Triumphal Gate and circumnavigated the Palatine Hill before proceeding from the Velian Hill down the Via Sacra, from here they would mount the Capitoline Rise up to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the summit of the Capitol
3.
Senate of the Czech Republic
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The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, usually referred to as Senate, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague, the Senate has 81 members, elected for six years, every two years one third of them, in one-seat constituencies through two rounds majority system. A candidate for the Senate does not need to be on a political partys ticket, the senate has one President and four Vice-Presidents. Its members participate in specialised committees and commissions, the Senate Chancellery has been created to provide professional, organisational and technical services. The Senate occupies several historical palaces in centre of Prague, in Malá Strana quarter, in 2005 its budget was 561.2 million CZK. The Senate can delay a law which was approved by the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate however cannot be overridden when it votes on constitutional law, Senate decides on confirmation of judges of the Constitutional Court, proposed by the President, right. It often uses to block unacceptable nominees, and may propose new laws, however, the Senate does not get to vote on the country budget and on confidence in the government, unlike the Chamber of Deputies. The President of the Senate is the second-highest official of the Czech Republic for ceremonial purposes, after the President of the Republic, the Senate was established in constitutional law of the Czech National Council No. The immediate reason for its creation was a need to find a place for members of the Federal Assembly, dissolved together with Czechoslovakia. Other reasons given were the positioning of the Senate as a safety device correcting laws endorsed by lower chamber, due to opposition by the Civic Democratic Alliance and those politicians fearing dilution of power the Senate was not set up. The first elections were held in 1996, with turnout around 35%. Further elections were held in accordance with the Constitution every two years after that, the Senate has received criticism for being essentially powerless and unnecessary for a country of the size of the Czech Republic
4.
Wallenstein Palace
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Wallenstein Palace is a Baroque palace in Malá Strana, Prague, currently the home of the Czech Senate. Emperor Ferdinand II feared Albrecht von Wallenstein’s calculating mind and had him assassinated in 1634 in the town of Eger and he lived in the palace for only a year before his death. His widow sold it to his nephew and it remained in the Wallenstein family until 1945, after the Second World War, the palace became Czechoslovak state property and was renovated to house government offices. Today, the Senate of the Czech Republic operates out of the palace buildings. The Riding School is used as a branch of the National Gallery in Prague, the challenging restoration of the main building began in mid-1999. The most valuable parts of building in historical and artistic terms are the Main Hall, the Knights Hall, the Antechamber, the Audience Hall. The Florentine Giovanni de Galliano Pieroni, engineer and army colonel, pieronis father Alessandro had been an architect for the Medici. Pieroni studied the design of the new part to Wallenstein’s Castle in Jičín and the church of St. Jacob there, and the garden, Sala Terrena, Pieroni also influences the astrological and astronomical decoration of the Mythological Corridor and other interiors. The total value of interior furnishings after his death was 70000 gold pieces, while another 134000 gold pieces was invested in jewels, to make space for this palace, Wallenstein razed 26 houses, six gardens, and two brickworks at the site. Wallenstein Palace was built to rival Prague Castle, Four courtyards are created by the palace layout. Its complex includes period gardens, the Avenue of Sculptures, stables, the monumental conception of the loggia with three arcades on doubled columns recalls the Baroque style. The Italian style garden includes an aviary, a grotto, after years of neglect after the war, the gardens have been reconstructed. Wallenstein would have dined in the sala terrena that looks out over fountain. The sala terenna and its rich stucco decoration were modeled after the portico of a Livornese church, today, these are copies of the Netherlander sculptor Adriaen de Vries’ works. The originals were looted by the Swedish army in 1648, immortal Beloved, a 1994 film about the life of Beethoven was filmed in the gardens. The main wing of Wallenstein palace was largely a reconstruction of the Trcka residence that runs 60 meters along Valdstejnske namesti, the façade has three rows of identical windows which stream light into the Main Hall. It incorporates both late renaissance and Nordic mannerism which is expressed in the portals and Netherlandish dormer-windows, initially, in keeping with the architectural style, the Main Hall was decorated with tapestries and furniture ordered from Italy and the Netherlands. Much of the furnishings were looted either in 1648 by the Swedes or 1742 by the French
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Upper house
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An upper house, sometimes called a Senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the house is usually smaller. Examples of upper houses in countries include the UKs House of Lords, Canadas Senate, Indias Rajya Sabha, Russias Federation Council, Irelands Seanad, Germanys Bundesrat, a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral. An upper house is different from the lower house in at least one of the following respects, Powers, In a parliamentary system. Therefore, in countries the Upper House votes on only limited legislative matters. Cannot vote a motion of no confidence against the government, while the house always can. In a presidential system, It may have equal or nearly equal power with the lower house and it may have specific powers not granted to the lower house. For example, It may give advice and consent to some executive decisions and it may have the sole power to try impeachments against officials of the executive, following enabling resolutions passed by the lower house. Status, In some countries, its members are not popularly elected, membership may be indirect and its members may be elected with a different voting system than that used to elect the lower house. Less populated states, provinces, or administrative divisions may be represented in the upper house than in the lower house. Members terms may be longer than in the house. Members may be elected in portions, for staggered terms, rather than all at one time, in some countries, the upper house cannot be dissolved at all, or can be dissolved only in more limited circumstances than the lower house. It typically has fewer members or seats than the lower house and it has usually a higher age of candidacy than the lower house. In parliamentary systems the upper house is seen as an advisory or revising chamber. Some or all of the restrictions are often placed on upper houses. No absolute veto of proposed legislation, though suspensive vetoes are permitted in some states, in countries where it can veto legislation, it may not be able to amend the proposals. A reduced or even absent role in initiating legislation, additionally, a Government must have the consent of both to remain in office, a position which is known as perfect bicameralism or equal bicameralism. An example is the British House of Lords, bills can only be delayed for up to one year before the Commons can use the Parliament Act, although economic bills can only be delayed for one month
6.
Bicameralism
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A bicameral legislature is one in which the legislators are divided into two separate assemblies, chambers or houses. As of 2015, somewhat less than half of the national legislatures are bicameral. Often, the members of the two chambers are elected or selected using different methods, which vary from country to country and this can often lead to the two chambers having very different compositions of members. However, in many Westminster system parliaments, the house to which the executive is responsible can overrule the other house, some legislatures lie in between these two positions, with one house only able to overrule the other under certain circumstances. For example, one house would represent the aristocracy, and the other would represent the commoners as was the case in the Kingdom of England. Others, such as France under the Ancien Régime had a legislature known as the Estates General, which consisted of separate chambers for the clergymen, the nobility. The Founding Fathers of the United States also favoured a bicameral legislature, the idea was to have the Senate be wealthier and wiser. Benjamin Rush saw this though, and noted that, this type of dominion is almost always connected with opulence, the Senate was created to be a stabilising force, elected not by mass electors, but selected by the State legislators. Senators would be more knowledgeable and more sort of republican nobility—and a counter to what Madison saw as the fickleness. He noted further that the use of the Senate is to consist in its proceeding with more coolness, with system and with more wisdom. Madisons argument led the Framers to grant the Senate prerogatives in foreign policy, an area where steadiness, discretion, the Senate was chosen by state legislators, and senators had to possess a significant amount of property in order to be deemed worthy and sensible enough for the position. In fact, it was not until the year 1913 that the 17th Amendment was passed, as part of the Great Compromise, they invented a new rationale for bicameralism in which the Senate would have states represented equally, and the House would have them represented by population. Many nations with parliaments have to some degree emulated the British three-tier model, nevertheless, the older justification for second chambers—providing opportunities for second thoughts about legislation—has survived. An example of controversy regarding a second chamber has been the debate over the powers of the Canadian Senate or the election of the Senate of France. The relationship between the two chambers varies, in cases, they have equal power, while in others. The first tends to be the case in federal systems and those with presidential governments, the latter tends to be the case in unitary states with parliamentary systems. In the United States both houses of the U. S and this is due to their original location in the two-story building that was to house them. In Canada, the country as a whole is divided into a number of Senate Divisions, each with a different number of Senators, Senators in Canada are not elected by the people but are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister
7.
Legislature
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A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
8.
Parliament
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In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative, elected body of government. Generally a modern parliament has three functions, representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government, historically, parliaments included various kinds of deliberative, consultative, and judicial assemblies. The term is derived from Anglo-Norman parlement, from the verb parler talk, the meaning evolved over time, originally any discussion, conversation, or negotiation, through various kinds of deliberative or judicial groups, often summoned by the monarch. By 1400, it had come to mean in Britain specifically the British supreme legislature, various parliaments are claimed to be the oldest in the world, under varying definitions. The Sicilian Parliament, whose first assembly was convened in 1097, the Icelandic Althing, year 930, but only including the main chiefs. Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders, some scholars suggest that in ancient Mesopotamia there was a primitive democratic government where the kings were assessed by council. The same has been said about ancient India, where some form of deliberative assemblies existed, however, these claims are not accepted by most scholars, who see these forms of government as oligarchies. Ancient Athens was the cradle of democracy, the Athenian assembly was the most important institution, and every citizen could take part in the discussions. However, Athenian democracy was not representative, but rather direct, the Roman Senate controlled money, administration, and the details of foreign policy. Some Muslim scholars argue that the Islamic shura is analogous to the parliament, however, others highlight what they consider fundamental differences between the shura system and the parliamentary system. England has long had a tradition of a body of men who would assist, under the Anglo-Saxon kings, there was an advisory council, the Witenagemot. The name derives from the Old English ƿitena ȝemōt, or witena gemōt, the first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent ca. 600, the earliest document which survives in sustained Old English prose, however, the Witan, along with the folkmoots, is an important ancestor of the modern English parliament. As part of the Norman Conquest of England, the new king, William I, did away with the Witenagemot, membership of the Curia was largely restricted to the tenants in chief, the few nobles who rented great estates directly from the king, along with ecclesiastics. William brought to England the feudal system of his native Normandy and this is the original body from which the Parliament, the higher courts of law, and the Privy Council and Cabinet descend. Of these, the legislature is formally the High Court of Parliament, only the executive government is no longer conducted in a royal court. Most historians date the emergence of a parliament with some degree of power to which the throne had to defer no later than the rule of Edward I, like previous kings, Edward called leading nobles and church leaders to discuss government matters, especially finance. A meeting in 1295 became known as the Model Parliament because it set the pattern for later Parliaments, in 1307, Edward I agreed not to collect certain taxes without the consent of the realm
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Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
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Roman Senate
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The Roman Senate was a political institution in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, during the days of the kingdom, it was little more than an advisory council to the king. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was following a coup détat led by Lucius Junius Brutus. During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak, while the executive magistrates were quite powerful, since the transition from monarchy to constitutional rule was most likely gradual, it took several generations before the Senate was able to assert itself over the executive magistrates. By the middle Republic, the Senate had reached the apex of its republican power, the late Republic saw a decline in the Senates power, which began following the reforms of the tribunes Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. After the transition of the Republic into the Principate, the Senate lost much of its power as well as its prestige. Following the constitutional reforms of the Emperor Diocletian, the Senate became politically irrelevant, when the seat of government was transferred out of Rome, the Senate was reduced to a municipal body. This decline in status was reinforced when the emperor Constantine the Great created an additional senate in Constantinople, the Senate in Rome ultimately disappeared at some point after AD603, although the title senator was still used well into the Middle Ages as a largely meaningless honorific. However, the Eastern Senate survived in Constantinople, until the ancient institution finally vanished there c. 14th century, the senate was a political institution in the ancient Roman kingdom. The word senate derives from the Latin word senex, which means old man, the early Roman family was called a gens or clan, and each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male patriarch, called a pater. When the early Roman gentes were aggregating to form a common community, over time, the patres came to recognize the need for a single leader, and so they elected a king, and vested in him their sovereign power. When the king died, that power naturally reverted to the patres. The senate is said to have created by Romes first king, Romulus. The descendants of those 100 men subsequently became the patrician class, Romes fifth king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, chose a further 100 senators. They were chosen from the leading families, and were accordingly called the patres minorum gentium. Romes seventh and final king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, executed many of the men in the senate. During the years of the monarchy, the senates most important function was to new kings. While the king was elected by the people, it was actually the senate who chose each new king
11.
Society
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In the social sciences, a larger society often evinces stratification or dominance patterns in subgroups. A society can also consist of like-minded people governed by their own norms and values within a dominant and this is sometimes referred to as a subculture, a term used extensively within criminology. The term society came from the Latin word societas, which in turn was derived from the noun used to describe a bond or interaction between parties that are friendly, or at least civil. Without an article, the term can refer to the entirety of humanity, Society, in general, addresses the fact that an individual has rather limited means as an autonomous unit. Cultural relativism as an approach or ethic has largely replaced notions of primitive, better/worse. Societies may also be structured politically, in order of increasing size and complexity, there are bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and state societies. These structures may have varying degrees of power, depending on the cultural, geographical. Thus, an isolated society with the same level of technology. A society that is unable to offer a response to other societies it competes with will usually be subsumed into the culture of the competing society. Sociologist Peter L. Berger defines society as. a human product, and nothing but a human product, according to him, society was created by humans but this creation turns back and creates or molds humans every day. This is similar to the earlier developed by anthropologists Morton H. This system of classification contains four categories, Hunter-gatherer bands, tribal societies in which there are some limited instances of social rank and prestige. Civilizations, with complex social hierarchies and organized, institutional governments, in addition to this there are, Humanity, mankind, upon which rest all the elements of society, including societys beliefs. Virtual society, a society based on identity, which is evolving in the information age. Over time, some cultures have progressed toward more complex forms of organization and this cultural evolution has a profound effect on patterns of community. Hunter-gatherer tribes settled around seasonal food stocks to become agrarian villages, villages grew to become towns and cities. Cities turned into city-states and nation-states, many societies distribute largess at the behest of some individual or some larger group of people. This type of generosity can be seen in all cultures, typically
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Ruling class
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The ruling class is the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that societys political agenda. The sociologist C. Wright Mills, argued that the ruling class differs from the power elite, the latter simply refers to the small group of people with the most political power. Many of them are politicians, hired political managers, and military leaders, a common term used to refer to people who directly influence politics, education, and government with the use of wealth or power is the ruling class. Under the feudal society, feudal lords had power over the vassals because of their control of the fiefs and this gave them political and military power over the people. In slavery, because complete rights of the persons life belonged to the owner, they could. Globalization theorists argue that today a transnational capitalist class has emerged, there are several examples of ruling class systems in movies, novels, and television shows. In the novel Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, everyone is genetically made, the Alpha class is the ruling class because they have the highest positions possible and control most of the world in the novel. This situation can also be found in the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four where Big Brother and the government literally control what the nation hears, sees, and learns. Examples in movies include Gattaca, where the genetically-born were superior and the class, and V for Vendetta
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Election
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An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century, Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is used in many other private and business organizations. Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems where they are not in place, psephology is the study of results and other statistics relating to elections. To elect means to choose or make a decision, and so other forms of ballot such as referendums are referred to as elections. Elections were used as early in history as ancient Greece and ancient Rome, and throughout the Medieval period to select rulers such as the Holy Roman Emperor, in Vedic period of India, the raja of a gana was apparently elected by the gana. The raja belonged to the noble Kshatriya varna, and was typically a son of the previous raja, however, the gana members had the final say in his elections. The Pala king Gopala in early medieval Bengal was elected by a group of feudal chieftains, such elections were quite common in contemporary societies of the region. In Chola Empire, around 920 CE, in Uthiramerur, palm leaves were used for selecting the village committee members, the leaves, with candidate names written on them, were put inside a mud pot. To select the members, a young boy was asked to take out as many leaves as the number of positions available. This was known as the Kudavolai system, ancient Arabs also used election to choose their caliph, Uthman and Ali, in the early medieval Rashidun Caliphate. Questions of suffrage, especially suffrage for minority groups, have dominated the history of elections, males, the dominate cultural group in North America and Europe, often dominated the electorate and continue to do so in many countries. Early elections in such as the United Kingdom and the United States were dominated by landed or ruling class males. However, by 1920 all Western European and North American democracies had universal male suffrage. Despite legally mandated universal suffrage for males, political barriers were sometimes erected to prevent fair access to elections. The question of who may vote is an issue in elections. In Australia Aboriginal people were not given the right to vote until 1962, suffrage is typically only for citizens of the country, though further limits may be imposed. However, in the European Union, one can vote in municipal elections if one lives in the municipality and is an EU citizen, the nationality of the country of residence is not required
14.
Inheritance
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Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ between societies and have changed over time, a person does not become an heir before the death of the deceased, since the exact identity of the persons entitled to inherit is determined only then. There is a concept of joint inheritance, pending renunciation by all but one. In modern law, the inheritance and heir refer exclusively to succession to property by descent from a deceased dying intestate. Some ancient societies and most modern states employ egalitarian inheritance, without discrimination based on gender and/or birth order, the Quran also presented efforts to fix the laws of inheritance, and thus forming a complete legal system. This development was in contrast to societies where rules of inheritance varied considerably. Furthermore, the Quran introduced additional heirs that were not entitled inheritance in pre-Islamic times, mentioning nine relatives specifically of which six were female, in addition to the above changes, the Quran imposed restrictions on testamentary powers of a Muslim in disposing his or her property. In their will, a Muslim can only give out a maximum of one third of their property, the Quran contains only three verses that give specific details of inheritance and shares, in addition to few other verses dealing with testamentary. But this information was used as a point by Muslim jurists who expounded the laws of inheritance even further using Hadith. Nowadays, inheritance is considered a part of Sharia law and its application for Muslims is mandatory, though many peoples. The father —that is, the owner of the land— bequeaths only to his male descendants, if there were no living sons and no descendants of any previously living sons, daughters could inherit. In Numbers 27, 1-4, the daughters of Zelophehad of the tribe of Manasseh come to Moses and ask for their fathers inheritance, as they have no brothers. The order of inheritance is set out in Numbers 27, 7-11, a mans sons inherit first, daughters if no sons, brothers if he has no children, and so on. So a further rule is laid down, if a daughter inherits land, the tractate Baba Bathra, written during late Antiquity in Babylon, deals extensively with issues of property ownership and inheritance according to Jewish Law. The first, often abbreviated to Mishneh Torah, was written by Maimonides and was important in Jewish tradition. All these sources agree that the son is entitled to a double portion of his fathers estate. This means that, for example, if a father left five sons, if he left nine sons, the firstborn receives a fifth and each of the other eight receive a tenth. If the eldest surviving son is not the son, he is not entitled to the double portion
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Lower house
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A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position below the house, in many legislatures worldwide. A legislature composed of one house is described as unicameral. In comparison with the house, lower houses frequently display certain characteristics, Powers In a parliamentary system, Much more power. Able to override the upper house in some ways, can vote a motion of no confidence against the government. In a presidential system, Somewhat less power, as the house alone gives advice. Given the sole power to impeach the executive Status Always elected directly, while the house may be elected directly, indirectly. Its members may be elected with a different voting system to the upper house, most populated administrative divisions are better represented than in the upper house, representation is usually proportional to population. Elected all at once, not by staggered terms, in a parliamentary system, can be dissolved by the executive. Has total or original control over budget and monetary laws, lower age of candidacy than the upper house. Many lower houses are named in the manner, House/Chamber of Representatives/the People/Commons/Deputies
16.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
17.
Byzantine Senate
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The Byzantine Senate or Eastern Roman Senate was the continuation of the Roman Senate, established in the 4th century by Constantine I. It survived for centuries, but even with its limited power that it theoretically possessed. Constantine offered free land and grain to any Roman Senators who were willing to move to the East, when Constantine founded the Eastern Senate in Byzantium, it initially resembled the councils of important cities like Antioch rather than the Roman Senate. His son Constantius II raised it from the position of a municipal to that of an Imperial body, Constantius II increased the number of Senators to 2,000 by including his friends, courtiers, and various provincial officials. The traditional principles that Senatorial rank was hereditary and that the way of becoming a member of the Senate itself was by holding a magistracy still remained in full force. By the time of the permanent division of the Roman Empire in 395 and their sole duty was to manage the spending of money on the exhibition of games or on public works. The Praetorship was a position to hold as Praetors were expected to possess a treasury from which they could draw funds for their municipal duties. There are known to have been eight Praetors in the Eastern Roman Empire who shared the burden between them. The Emperor or the Senate itself could also issue a decree to grant a man not born into the Senatorial order a seat in the Senate, exemption from the expensive position of praetor would also often be conferred on such persons that had become Senators in this way. The senatorial families in Constantinople tended to be less affluent and less distinguished than those in the West, some aristocrats attempted to become senators in order to escape the difficult conditions that were imposed on them by late Roman Emperors such as Diocletian. The Senate was led by the Prefect of the City, who conducted all of its communications with the Emperor and it was composed of three orders, the illustres, spectabiles and clarissimi. The members of the illustres were those who held the highest offices in Eastern Rome, such as the Master of Soldiers, the spectabiles formed the middle class of the Senate and consisted of important statesmen such as proconsuls, vicars and military governors of the provinces. The clarissimi was the class of the senate and was attached to the governors of the provinces. Members of the two orders were permitted to live anywhere within the Empire and were generally inactive Senators. The majority of members in the Senate were the illustres, whose important offices were usually based in Constantinople. By the end of the 5th century the two classes were completely excluded from sitting in the Senate. As a result, a new order, the gloriosi, was created to accommodate the highest ranking senators, whilst the powers of the Senate were limited, it could pass resolutions which the Emperor might adopt and issue in the form of edicts. It could thus suggest Imperial legislation, and it acted from time to time as a consultative body, some Imperial laws took the form of Orations to the Senate, and were read aloud before the body
18.
Fourth Crusade
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The Fourth Crusade was a Western European armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III, originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, a sequence of events culminated in the Crusaders sacking the city of Constantinople, the intention of the crusaders was then to continue to the Holy Land with promised Byzantine financial and military assistance. On 23 June 1203 the main fleet reached Constantinople. In August 1203, following clashes outside Constantinople, Alexios Angelos was crowned co-Emperor with crusader support, however, in January 1204, he was deposed by a popular uprising in Constantinople. In April 1204, they captured and brutally sacked the city, Byzantine resistance based in unconquered sections of the empire such as Nicaea, Trebizond, and Epirus ultimately recovered Constantinople in 1261. Ayyubid Sultan Saladin had conquered most of the Frankish, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, including the ancient city itself, the Kingdom had been established 88 years before, after the capture and sack of Jerusalem in the First Crusade. The city was sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews, Saladin led a Muslim dynasty, and his incorporation of Jerusalem into his domains shocked and dismayed the Catholic countries of Western Europe. Legend has it that Pope Urban III literally died of the shock, the crusader states had been reduced to three cities along the sea coast, Tyre, Tripoli, and Antioch. The Third Crusade reclaimed an extensive amount of territory for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, including the key towns of Acre and Jaffa, but had failed to retake Jerusalem. The crusade had also marked by a significant escalation in long standing tensions between the feudal states of western Europe and the Byzantine Empire, centred in Constantinople. The experiences of the first two crusades had thrown into relief the vast cultural differences between the two Christian civilisations. For their part, the educated and wealthy Byzantines maintained a sense of cultural, organizational. Constantinople had been in existence for 874 years at the time of the Fourth Crusade and was the largest and most sophisticated city in Christendom. Almost alone amongst major medieval urban centres, it had retained the civic structures, public baths, forums, monuments, at its height, the city held an estimated population of about half a million people behind thirteen miles of triple walls. As a result, it was both a rival and a target for the aggressive new states of the west, notably the Republic of Venice. Crusaders also seized the breakaway Byzantine province of Cyprus, rather than return it to the Empire, barbarossa died on crusade, and his army quickly disintegrated, leaving the English and French, who had come by sea, to fight Saladin. There they captured Sidon and Beirut, but at the news of Henrys death in Messina along the way, many of the nobles, deserted by much of their leadership, the rank and file crusaders panicked before an Egyptian army and fled to their ships in Tyre. Also in 1195, the Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelos was deposed in favour of his brother by a palace coup, ascending as Alexios III Angelos, the new emperor had his brother blinded and exiled
19.
Parliamentary system
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In a parliamentary system, the head of state is usually a different person from the head of government. Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders, eventually these councils have slowly evolved into the modern Parliamentary system. The first parliaments date back to Europe in the Middle Ages, for example in 1188 Alfonso IX, the modern concept of parliamentary government emerged in the Kingdom of Great Britain and its contemporary, the Parliamentary System in Sweden. In England, Simon de Montfort is remembered as one of the fathers of representative government for holding two famous parliaments, the first, in 1258, stripped the King of unlimited authority and the second, in 1265, included ordinary citizens from the towns. Later, in the 17th century, the Parliament of England pioneered some of the ideas and systems of liberal democracy culminating in the Glorious Revolution, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, the monarch, in theory, chaired cabinet and chose ministers. In practice, King George Is inability to speak English led the responsibility for chairing cabinet to go to the minister, literally the prime or first minister. By the nineteenth century, the Great Reform Act of 1832 led to parliamentary dominance, with its choice invariably deciding who was prime minister, hence the use of phrases like Her Majestys government or His Excellencys government. Nineteenth century urbanisation, industrial revolution and, modernism had already fueled the political struggle for democracy. In the radicalised times at the end of World War I, a parliamentary system may be either bicameral, with two chambers of parliament or unicameral, with just one parliamentary chamber. Scholars of democracy such as Arend Lijphart distinguish two types of parliamentary democracies, the Westminster and Consensus systems, the Westminster system is usually found in the Commonwealth of Nations and countries which were influenced by the British political tradition. These parliaments tend to have a more style of debate. The Australian House of Representatives is elected using instant-runoff voting, while the Senate is elected using proportional representation through single transferable vote, regardless of which system is used, the voting systems tend to allow the voter to vote for a named candidate rather than a closed list. The Western European parliamentary model tends to have a more consensual debating system, Consensus systems have more of a tendency to use proportional representation with open party lists than the Westminster Model legislatures. The committees of these Parliaments tend to be more important than the plenary chamber, some West European countries parliaments implement the principle of dualism as a form of separation of powers. In countries using this system, Members of Parliament have to resign their place in Parliament upon being appointed minister, ministers in those countries usually actively participate in parliamentary debates, but are not entitled to vote. Some countries such as India also require the prime minister to be a member of the legislature, the head of state appoints a prime minister who will likely have majority support in parliament. The head of state appoints a minister who must gain a vote of confidence within a set time. The head of state appoints the leader of the party holding a plurality of seats in parliament as prime minister
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House of Commons
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In the UK and Canada, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the respective upper house of parliament. The leader of the majority party in the House of Commons usually becomes the prime minister, since 2010 the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has had 650 elected members, and since 2015 the House of Commons of Canada has had 338 members. The Commons functions are to consider through debate new laws and changes to existing ones, authorise taxes and it has the power to give a Government a vote of no confidence. The House of Commons of the Kingdom of England evolved from an undivided parliament to serve as the voice of the subjects of the counties. Knights of the shire, elected from county, were usually landowners. These members represented subjects of the Crown who were not Lords Temporal or Spiritual, the House of Commons gained its name because it represented communities. After the Reformation, these bishops were those of the Church of England, since the 19th century, the British and Canadian Houses of Commons have become increasingly representative, as suffrage has been extended. Both bodies are now elected via universal adult suffrage, however, from the Middle Ages until the 18th century there was a tendency to limit the suffrage in various ways, creating by the 18th century a large number of rotten boroughs. Although it is common to associate the title of House of Commons with the Westminster system in general, in practice, only two states actually use the title
21.
Plurality voting
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The plurality voting system is a system in which each voter is allowed to vote for only one candidate, and the candidate who polls the most among their counterparts is elected. In a system based on single-member districts, it may be called first-past-the-post, single-choice voting, in a system based on multi-member districts, it may be referred to as winner-takes-all or bloc voting. The system is used to elect members of a legislative assembly or executive officers. It is the most common form of the system, and is used in Canada, the house in India, the United Kingdom. Plural voting is distinguished from a majority voting system, in which, to win, more votes than all other candidates combined. In some countries such as France a two-ballot or runoff election plurality system is used and this may require two rounds of voting. If on the first round no candidate receives over 50% of the votes, then a second round takes place and this ensures that the winner gains a majority of votes in the second round. Alternatively, all candidates above a threshold in the first round may compete in the second round. If there are more than two standing, then a plurality vote may decide the result. In political science, the use of the plurality voting system with multiple and this combination is also variously referred to as winner-takes-all to contrast it with proportional representation systems. This term is also used to refer to elections for multiple winners in a particular constituency using bloc voting. Plurality voting is particularly prevalent in the United Kingdom and former British colonies, including the United States, Canada and this makes the plurality voting system among the simplest of all voting systems for voters and vote counting officials. Under the plurality system, the winner of the election becomes the representative of the entire electoral district. In an election for a seat, such as for president in a presidential system, the same style of ballot is used. In the two-round voting system, usually the two highest polling candidates in the first ballot progress to the second round Run-off ballot, in a multiple member plurality election, with n seats available, the winners are the n candidates with the highest numbers of votes. The rules may allow the voter to vote for one candidate, or for up to n candidates, generally plurality ballots can be categorized into two forms. The simplest form is a ballot where the name of a candidate is written in by hand. A more structured ballot will list all the candidates and allow a mark to be next to the name of a single candidate
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Federation
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A federation is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions under a central government. The governmental or constitutional structure found in a federation is known as federalism and it can be considered the opposite of another system, the unitary state. Federations are often multiethnic and cover an area of territory. The initial agreements create a stability that encourages other common interests, at some time, that is recognized and a movement is organized to merge more closely. At other times, especially when common cultural factors are at such as ethnicity and language. The Old Swiss Confederacy was an example of formal non-unitary statehood. Several colonies and dominions in the New World consisted of autonomous provinces, the oldest continuous federation, and a role model for many subsequent federations, is the United States. Some of the New World federations failed, the Federal Republic of Central America broke up into independent states ten years after its founding, others, such as Argentina and Mexico, have shifted between federal, confederal, and unitary systems, before settling into federalism. Brazil became a federation only after the fall of the monarchy, australia and Canada are also federations. Germany is another nation-state that has switched between confederal, federal and unitary rules, since the German Confederation was founded in 1815, the North German Confederation, the succeeding German Empire and the Weimar Republic were federations. The Russian Federation has inherited a similar system, Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Malaysia became federations on or shortly before becoming independent from the British Empire. In some recent cases, federations have been instituted as a measure to handle ethnic conflict within a state, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iraq since 2005. The component states are in some sense sovereign, insofar as certain powers are reserved to them that may not be exercised by the central government, however, a federation is more than a mere loose alliance of independent states. The component states of a federation usually possess no powers in relation to foreign policy, however, German Länder have that power, which is beginning to be exercised on a European level. Some federations are called asymmetric because some states have more autonomy than others, an example of such a federation is Malaysia, in which Sarawak and Sabah agreed to form the federation on different terms and conditions from the states of Peninsular Malaysia. A federation often emerges from an agreement between a number of separate states. The purpose can be the will to solve problems and to provide for mutual defense or to create a nation state for an ethnicity spread over several states. The former was the case with the United States and Switzerland, however, as the histories of countries and nations vary, the federalist system of a state can be quite different from these models
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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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Nebraska
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Nebraska /nᵻˈbræskə/ is a state that lies in both the Great Plains and the Midwestern United States. Its area is just over 77,220 sq mi with almost 1.9 million people and its largest city is Omaha, which is on the Missouri River. The state is crossed by many trails and was explored by the Lewis. Nebraska was admitted as the 37th state of the United States in 1867 and it is the only state in the United States whose legislature is unicameral and officially nonpartisan. Nebraska is composed of two major regions, the Dissected Till Plains and the Great Plains. The Dissected Till Plains is a region of rolling hills. The Great Plains occupy most of western Nebraska, characterized by treeless prairie, the state has a large agriculture sector and is a major producer of beef, pork, corn, and soybeans. Two major climatic zones are represented in Nebraska, the half of the state has a humid continental climate, and the western half. Indigenous peoples lived in the region of present-day Nebraska for thousands of years before European exploration. The historic tribes in the state included the Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, when European exploration, trade, and settlement began, both Spain and France sought to control the region. In the 1690s, Spain established trade connections with the Apaches, by 1703, France had developed a regular trade with the native peoples along the Missouri River in Nebraska, and by 1719 had signed treaties with several of these peoples. After war broke out between the two countries, Spain dispatched an expedition to Nebraska under Lieutenant General Pedro de Villasur in 1720. The party was attacked and destroyed near present-day Columbus by a force of Pawnees and Otoes. The massacre of the Villasur expedition effectively put an end to Spanish exploration of Nebraska for the remainder of the 18th century, in 1762, during the Seven Years War, France ceded the Louisiana territory to Spain. Frances withdrawal from the area left Britain and Spain competing for dominance along the Mississippi, by 1773, later that year, Mackays party built a trading post, dubbed Fort Carlos IV, near present-day Homer. In 1819, the United States established Fort Atkinson as the first U. S. Army post west of the Missouri River, the army abandoned the fort in 1827 as migration moved further west. European-American settlement did not begin in any numbers until after 1848, on May 30,1854, the US Congress created the Kansas and the Nebraska territories, divided by the Parallel 40° North, under the Kansas–Nebraska Act. The Nebraska Territory included parts of the current states of Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, the territorial capital of Nebraska was Omaha
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United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
26.
Argentina
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Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century, Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with waves of European immigration radically reshaping its cultural. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century, Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America. Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and it is the country with the second highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of very high. Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector, the description of the country by the word Argentina has to be found on a Venice map in 1536. In English the name Argentina probably comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, Argentina means in Italian of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine of silver > silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word argentine is the form of argentin and derives of argent silver with the suffix -in. The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Argentina Terra land of silver or Argentina costa coast of silver, in Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said lArgentina. The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venitian and Genoese navigators, in Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and of silver is said plateado and prateado. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin. The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina, a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region, the 1826 constitution included the first use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents. The name Argentine Confederation was also used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853. In 1860 a presidential decree settled the name as Argentine Republic
27.
Argentine Senate
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The Argentine Senate is the upper house of the Argentine National Congress. The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29,1854, there are 72 members, three for each province and three for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The number of senators per province was raised two to three following the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution, and the change took effect following the May 14,1995. Historically, Senators were indirectly elected to terms by each provincial legislature. These provisions were abrogated by a 1994 constitutional amendment, and direct elections to the Senate took effect in 2001, currently one-third of the members are elected every two years. One-third of the provinces hold senatorial elections every two years, there are no term limits, the Senate is presided over by the Vice President of the Republic, who has the casting vote in the event of ties. The Senate must obtain quorum to deliberate, this being an absolute majority, see List of current members of the Argentine Senate The titular President of the Senate is the Vice President of Argentina. However, day to day leadership of the Senate is exercised by the Provisional President
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Provinces of Argentina
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Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, which is the federal capital of the nation as decided by Congress. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, during the War of Independence the main cities and their surrounding countrysides became provinces though the intervention of their cabildos. The Anarchy of the Year XX completed this process, shaping the original thirteen provinces, Jujuy seceded from Salta in 1834, and the thirteen provinces became fourteen. After seceding for a decade, Buenos Aires Province accepted the 1853 Constitution of Argentina in 1861, a law from 1862 designated as national territories those under federal control but outside the frontiers of the provinces. In 1884 they served as bases for the establishment of the governorates of Misiones, Formosa, Chaco, La Pampa, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego. The agreement about a dispute with Chile in 1900 created the National Territory of Los Andes, its lands were incorporated into Jujuy, Salta. La Pampa and Chaco became provinces in 1951, Misiones did so in 1953, and Formosa, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz, in 1955. The last national territory, Tierra del Fuego, became the Tierra del Fuego, Argentina is a federation of twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. Provinces are divided for administration purposes into departments and municipalities, except for Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires City itself is divided into communes. Provinces hold all the power that they not to delegate to the federal government, they must be representative republics. Beyond this they are autonomous, they enact their own constitutions, freely organize their local governments. Since 1983 four provinces were intervened, namely Catamarca, Corrientes, Santiago del Estero, article 61 of the Constitution of the city of Buenos Aires states that Suffrage is free, equal, secret, universal, compulsory and not accumulative. The foreign residents enjoy this right, with the obligations, on equal terms with Argentine citizens registered in this district. Argentina is divided into seven geographical regions, many provinces having their territories across more than one. Source, Demographics of Argentina ISO 3166-2, AR, the ISO codes for the provinces of Argentina. com Argentine Provinces since 1973 at World Statesmen
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Buenos Aires Province
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Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous Argentinian province. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the capital until it was federalized in 1880. The current capital of the province is the city of La Plata, the entire province is part of the Pampas geographical region. The province has a population of about 15.6 million people, nearly 10 million people live in Greater Buenos Aires, the metropolitan area surrounding the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The area of the province,307,571 km2, makes it the largest in Argentina with around 11% of the total area. The inhabitants of the province before the 16th century advent of Spanish colonisation were aboriginal peoples such as the Charrúas and their culture was lost over the next 350 years. They were subjected to Eurasian plagues from which few survived, the survivors joined other tribes or have been mostly absorbed by Argentinas European ethnic majority. Pedro de Mendoza founded Santa María del Buen Ayre in 1536, even though the first contact with the aboriginals was peaceful, it soon became hostile. The city was evacuated in 1541, Juan de Garay re-founded the settlement in 1580 as Santísima Trinidad y Puerto Santa María de los Buenos Aires. Amidst ongoing conflict with the aboriginals, the cattle farms extended from Buenos Aires, jesuits unsuccessfully tried to peacefully assimilate the aboriginals into the European culture brought by the Spanish conquistadores. A certain balance was found at the end of the 18th century, the end to this situation came in 1879 with the Conquest of the Desert in which the aboriginals where almost completely exterminated. After the independence from Spain in 1816, the city and province of Buenos Aires became the focus of an intermittent Argentine Civil War with other provinces. A Federal Pact secured by Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas in 1831 led to the establishment of the Argentine Confederation and to his gaining the sum of public power, which provided a tenuous unity. Ongoing disputes regarding the influence of Buenos Aires, between Federalists and Unitarians, and over the Port of Buenos Aires fueled periodic hostilities, the province was declared independent on September 11,1852, as the State of Buenos Aires. Concessions gained in the 1859 Pact of San José de Flores, intermittent conflicts with the nation did not truly cease until 1880, when the city of Buenos Aires was formally federalized and, thus, administratively separated from the province. La Plata was founded in 1882 by Governor Dardo Rocha for the purpose of becoming the provincial capital, the equivalent of a billion dollars of British investment and pro-development, education and immigration policies pursued at the national level subsequently spurred dramatic economic growth. Driven by European immigration and improved health, the population, like Argentinas, nearly doubled to one million by 1895. Rail lines connected nearly every town and hamlet in the province by 1914 and this era of accelerated development was cut short by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which caused a sharp drop in commodity prices and led to a halt in the flow of investment funds between nations
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Catamarca Province
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Catamarca is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province has a population of 334,568 as per the 2001 census, neighbouring provinces are, Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, and La Rioja. To the west it borders Chile, the capital is San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, usually shortened to Catamarca. Other important cities include Andalgalá, Tinogasta, and Belén, located in an arid and semi-arid climate zone, the scarce water resources determine the human settlement pattern. Agricultural activities are concentrated in the pockets and valleys between the mountains, in the east the population is concentrated around a number of water courses, water being distributed by canals and irrigation ditches. The province is located with the region of Argentina. Mean annual precipitation of the province is around 400 to 500 millimetres which decreases significantly to the west, the province is characterized by the presence of different microclimates based on variations in altitude. In general, there are three different climatic zones found within the province, the northeastern parts of the province has a subtropical highland climate that is characterized by abundant rainfall and high temperatures. Summers are hot while winters are mild with abundant humidity, at the highest peaks of Sierra del Aconquija, snow cover is permanment. Most of the province and its valleys have an arid climate. Within these valleys includes the provincial capital, the climate is characterized by its extreme aridity, large thermal amplitudes. The region is characterized by abundant sunshine with winds predominantly coming from the northeast and southeast, nonetheless, there is large variation between different locations owing to differences in altitude and differences in the relief and altitudes of the surrounding mountains that enclose the valleys. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 500 to 700 millimetres in the parts of the region to less than 150 millimetres in the west. In the arid valleys, mean precipitation is around 160 millimetres. Most of the precipitation occurs during summer, falling as short, mean annual temperatures range between 16 to 18 °C with eastern and central parts having mean annual temperatures of 20 °C. In summer, the temperature is 25 °C although they can reach up to 45 °C. Winters, with a temperature of 10 °C are characterized by frequent frosts. Locations in the west experience colder winters due to their higher altitudes with temperatures that can decrease to −30 °C, during winter, the Zonda Wind occasionally occurs, leading to very dry conditions that can lead to dust storms
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Corrientes
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It has a population of 328,689 according to the 2001 Census. It lies opposite its twin city, Resistencia, Chaco and it has a mix of colonial and modern architecture, several churches and a number of lapacho, ceibo, jacaranda and orange trees. It is also home to one of the biggest carnival celebrations in the country, the annual average temperature is 20 °C, with maximum and minimum averages of 45 and 5 °C respectively. The annual rainfall is around 1,200 millimetres, the General Belgrano Bridge crosses the Paraná River that serves as the natural border with the neighbouring Chaco Province. On the other side of the bridge is Resistencia, capital of Chaco, to the west and up the Paraná, between Paraguay and Argentina, lies the Yaciretá dam, one of the largest hydroelectric power generators in the world. The Doctor Fernando Piragine Niveyro International Airport at coordinates 27°26′20″S 58°46′03″W,5 km away from the city, the Ferrocarril Económico Correntino narrow gauge railway line to Mburucuyá operated from 1912 until 1927. In 1516 Juan Díaz de Solís commanded the first expedition to reach the area populated mainly by Guaraní aboriginals, Juan Torres de Vera y Aragón founded on April 3,1588 San Juan de Vera de las Siete Corrientes, which was later shortened to Corrientes. The seven currents refer to the seven peninsulas on the shore of the river at this place, in 1615 Jesuits settled near the Uruguay River. In 1807 the city resisted the British invasions, the annual average temperature is 21 °C, with maximum and minimum averages of 45 and 5 °C respectively. The annual rainfall is around 1,200 millimetres, the Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is Cfa. Frosts are rare, with the dates of the first and last frost being July 5 and July 12 respectively, the highest temperature recorded was 42.4 °C on November 15,1985 while the lowest temperature recorded was −2.8 °C on June 15,1979. National University of the Northeast University of Cuenca del Plata The Graham Greene spy novel The Honorary Consul takes place in Corrientes, municipality of Corrientes – official website MCC Municipal information, Municipal Affairs Federal Institute, Municipal Affairs Secretariat, Ministry of Interior, Argentina
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Mendoza Province
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The Province of Mendoza is a province of Argentina, located in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. Its capital city is the city of Mendoza. Covering an area of 148.827 km², it is the seventh biggest province of Argentina with 5. 35% of the total area. The population for 2010 is 1,741,610 inhabitants, archeological studies have determined that the first inhabitants in the area date from the Holocene, but there are few remains of those people to know their habits. The earliest sites of human occupation in Mendoza Province, Agua de la Cueva, in the basins of the Atuel River, in 300 BC lived a group of people that lived via hunting and the cultivation of maize, pumpkins and beans. Those valleys saw the rise of the Agrelo culture, ancestor of the Huarpes and they were later influenced greatly by the Inca empire during the 15th century. Oral tradition sets the arrival of the Inca Túpac Yupanqui to Coquimbo in 1470, puelches and other groups received a strong influence of the Mapuches. The first Spanish conquerors came around 1550 from the Viceroyalty of Peru, in 1561 Mendoza was founded by the conquistador Pedro del Castillo. Until the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776 and he received important support from Mendoza when he led his Army of the Andes from Plumerillo to the 1817 crossing of the Andes, in his campaign to end Spanish rule in Chile. The Province of Cuyo was ultimately divided in 1820, and Mendoza parted ways with San Luis, the 1861 earthquake nearly destroyed the city of Mendoza, which had to be almost entirely reconstructed. In 1885 railways were built to the province, allowing for transport of the regions wines to the countrys trade hub of Buenos Aires. Following the development of the industry in the province around 1900, Mendoza began to grow quickly, attracting tens of thousands of European immigrants. In 1939 the National University of Cuyo, one of the more important universities of the country, was founded in the province, increasing their presence in the Mendoza Legislature, the Democrats became an obstacle to progressive Governor Ernesto Ueltschi, an ally of president Arturo Frondizis. With majorities in both houses by 1961, they had Gov. Ueltschi removed and Democrat Vice-governor Francisco Gabrielli appointed in his stead, elected governor in his own right in 1963, Gov. These events came to a head in April,1972, however, upon the return to democracy in March 1973, Mendoza voters turned to a left-leaning Peronist, Alberto Martínez Baca. Alarmed by this move from the otherwise pragmatic Martínez Baca, President Perón had him removed in June 1974, fernández and Cobos won in the first round, and Cobos became Vice President of Argentina, he was replaced by pro-Kirchner Justicialist candidate Celso Jaque as governor. The province is represented by three senators in the Argentine Senate, currently María Perceval, Ernesto Sanz and Mónica Troadello, Mendoza is represented by 10 deputies in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. His faction of the UCR won a significant victory in the 2009 mid-term elections in Mendoza, the geography of the province descends from 6,959 metres at the summit of Aconcagua to the semi-flat lands of the east
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Salta Province
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Salta is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, to the north it borders Bolivia and Paraguay and to the west lies Chile. The Atacamas lived in the Puna, and the Wichís, in the Chaco region, the first conquistador to venture into the area was Diego de Almagro in 1535, he was followed by Diego de Rojas. Hernando de Lerma founded San Felipe de Lerma in 1582, following orders of the viceroy Francisco de Toledo, Count of Oropesa, by 1650, the city had around five hundred inhabitants. An intendency of Salta del Tucumán was created within the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, in 1774, San Ramón de La Nueva Orán was founded between Salta and Tarija. In 1783, in recognition of the importance of the city. The battle of Salta in 1813 freed the territory from Spain, gervasio de Posadas created the Province of Salta in 1814, containing the current provinces of Salta, Jujuy, and parts of southern Bolivia and northern Chile. Exploiting internal Argentine conflicts that arose after the Argentine Declaration of Independence, in 1834, Jujuy withdrew from Salta and became a separate province. The borders of Salta were further reduced in 1900, with the loss of Yacuiba to Bolivia. The National Government of Los Andes, constituted from the province in 1902 with a capital at San Antonio de los Cobres, was returned to Salta Province in 1943 as the Department of Los Andes. Antonio Alices painting, La muerte de Güemes, which received a Gold Medal at the Centenary Exposition, is on display at the offices of the Salta Provincial Government. The province is located in the zone and has a warm climate in general. The orientation of the Andes influences the distribution of precipitation within the province, the easternmost parts of the province have a semi-arid climate with a dry winter season. The mean annual temperature and precipitation are 20 °C and 500 millimetres, temperatures can reach up to 47 °C during summers, while they can fall down to −5 °C during winters. The first slopes of the Andes force the moist, easterly winds to rise, provoking very high condensation leading to the formation of clouds that generate copious amounts of rain. The eastern slopes of the mountains receive between 1,000 to 1,500 mm of precipitation a year, although some places receive up to 2,500 mm of precipitation annually owing to orographic precipitation. Most of the precipitation is concentrated in the summer, with winters being dry, the high rainfall on these first slopes creates a thick jungle that extends in a narrow strip along these ranges, creating an area of great species diversity. At higher altitudes on these slopes, the climate is cooler and more humid, with the vegetation consisting of deciduous, between the high altitudes to the east and the low plains to the west lie the valleys
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San Luis Province
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San Luis is a province of Argentina located near the geographical center of the country. Neighboring provinces are, from the clockwise, La Rioja, Córdoba, La Pampa, Mendoza. The city of San Luis was founded in 1594 by Luis Jufré de Loaysa y Meneses and it was refounded by Martín García Óñez de Loyola in 1596 under the name San Luis de Loyola. Politics in San Luis have long influenced by the descendants of the noted mid-19th century advocate for San Luiss integration into the rest of Argentina. Since the return of Argentina to democratic rule in 1983, in particular and this situation is, as in many smaller provinces in Argentina, partly explained by the customary use of a combination of nepotism, propaganda and generous social welfare legislation. This includes substantial allegations of illegal pressure, including the violent 1991 harassment of a local journalist, since 1983, however, Governor Adolfo Rodríguez Saá has also overseen record investment by light manufacturers and advances like the construction of Argentinas most extensive expressway network. The province has low sierras in the north along the Dry Pampas, San Luis economy has, over the past generation, been among the most improved in Argentina. Its 2006 output, estimated at US$3.386 billion, yielded a per capita income of US$9,203, the economic profile of the province changed due to industrial promotion policies implemented since late 1982. Until then, the sector was the productive base. Industrial establishments installed after that year, exhibit great diversification and are mainly in two centers, the capital and Villa Mercedes. Tourism is another of the activities promoted by the San Luis government since the return of democracy in 1983, currently the province has the largest network of highways in the country, which connects most of the resorts with the provincial capital. The province is divided into nine departments, source for department names, Provincia de San Luis - Official website Argentour, San Luis Province
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Santa Fe Province
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The Province of Santa Fe is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, together with Córdoba and Entre Ríos, the province is part of the economico-political association known as the Center Region. Santa Fes most important cities are Rosario, the capital Santa Fe, Rafaela, Villa Gobernador Gálvez, Venado Tuerto, Reconquista, and Santo Tomé. The adult literacy rate in the province is 96. 3% The aboriginal tribes who inhabited this region were the Tobas, Timbúes, Mocovíes, Pilagás, Guaycurúes and they were nomadic, lived from hunting, fishing and fruit recollection. In 1573 Juan de Garay founded the city of Santa Fe in the surroundings of present town Cayastá, but the city was moved in 1651 and 1660 to its present location. In 1812 the lawyer and general Manuel Belgrano created and displayed for the first time the Argentine flag on the banks of the Paraná River and this period was short lived, since that same year Candioti died and central government reestablished the dependent government. However, in 1816, the caudillos Mariano Vera and Estanislao López deposed the governor delegate and proclaimed the sovereignty of the province, during the civil strifes of 1820, Santa Fe troops were decisive in the defeat of Buenos Aires centralist army. So, in time, López gradually became the Federations Patriarch, after Lópezs death it was his secretary and right hand, José María Cullen the one elected governor. These two parties had many strong electoral contests with the conservative parties. After the Electoral Reform of Roque Sáenz Peña in 1912, the UCR reached the government, during this time, more precisely in 1919, the National University of the Littoral was founded. In 1932 it was the PDP who got the governors seat, the contentious 1958 elections brought an ally of President-elect Arturo Frondizi to power in Santa Fe, Dr. Carlos Sylvestre Begnis. The tunnel, most of which runs under the massive Paraná River, is the longest in Argentina, forced to resign after conservative pressure drove Pres. Frondizi from office in 1962, Begnis had the satisfaction of seeing Hernandarias open in 1969, Santa Fe suffered the violence of the late 70s and the depression of the 1980s more than most other provinces. It continued to languish economically during the prosperous 1990s, as the revalued Argentine peso put pressure on its productive sectors, touching bottom around 2002, its economy has grown by 7% a year since then. Most of the consists of green flatlands, part of the humid Pampas. There are low sierras to the west, the south presents lower temperatures, averaging 14 °C, and slightly less precipitations. Thunderstorms are common, and so are heat waves what can bring temperatures up to 40 °C and these are often interrupted by cold fronts that bring crisp, cool weather from the south. March brings cooler nights in the south, and April brings comfortable weather, with highs ranging from 22 °C in the south to 26 °C in the north, winter is dryer in the west of the province and wetter in the east
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Unicameralism
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In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multicameralism, many multicameral legislatures were created to give separate voices to different sectors of society. Multiple chambers allowed for guaranteed representation of different social classes, ethnic or regional interests, where these factors are unimportant, in unitary states with limited regional autonomy, unicameralism often prevails. Unicameral legislatures are also common in official Communist states such as the Peoples Republic of China, similarly, many formerly Communist states, such as Ukraine, Moldova and Serbia, have retained their unicameral legislatures, though others, such as Romania and Poland, adopted bicameral legislatures. Both the former Russian SFSR and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were bicameral, the two chambers were the Soviet of Nationalities and the Soviet of the Union. The Russian Federation retained bicameralism after the dissolution of the USSR, the principal advantage of a unicameral system is more efficient lawmaking, as the legislative process is much simpler and there is no possibility of deadlock. Proponents of unicameralism have also argued that it costs, even if the number of legislators stay the same, since there are fewer institutions to maintain. There is also the risk that important sectors of society may not be adequately represented, approximately half of the worlds sovereign states are currently unicameral, including both the most populous and the least populous. Many subnational entities have unicameral legislatures, and all of the Brazilian states. In the United Kingdom, the devolved Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Congress of Deputies of Second Spanish Republic was unicameral between 1931 and 1936. Dissolved at the end of Spanish Civil War, the actual Spanish Parliament is bicameral, Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan was unicameral before being replaced in 2005 by the current, bicameral Supreme Assembly. National Assembly of Cameroon was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, chamber of Peoples Representative of Equatorial Guinea was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, bicameral Parliament of Equatorial Guinea. National Assembly of Kenya was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Kenya in 2013. National Assembly of Ivory Coast was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Ivory Coast in 2016. Nebraskas state legislature is also unique in the sense that it is the state legislature that is entirely nonpartisan. In 1999, Governor Jesse Ventura proposed converting the Minnesota Legislature into a unicameral chamber. Although debated, the idea was never adopted, if those constitutional changes had been approved, Puerto Rico could have switched to a unicameral legislature as early as 2015
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Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
