1.
Voting age
–
A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain to be eligible to vote in a public election. Typically, the age is set at 18 years, however, ages as low as 16, most countries have set a minimum voting age, often set in their constitution. When the right to vote was first accorded in democracies the voting age was set at 21 or higher. In the 1970s the voting age was reduced to 18 in many countries, debate is currently under way in many places on proposals to reduce the voting age to or below 16. In May 2009, Danish Member of Parliament Mogens Jensen presented an initiative to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg to lower the age in Europe to 16. Before the Second World War, almost all countries had voting ages of 21 or higher, czechoslovakia was early to act, reducing its age to 18 in 1946, and by 1968 a total of 17 states had made the same reduction. A large number of countries, particularly in Western Europe, reduced their voting ages to 18 during the 1970s, the USA, Canada, Australia, France and others followed soon afterwards. By the end of the 20th century,18 had become by far the most common age at which citizens acquired the right to vote, however, a few countries maintained voting ages of 20 years or higher. Eighteen-year-old men could be drafted to go to war, so people felt they should be able to vote at the age of 18. Consideration of a reduction to 18 continued into the late 20th, reductions were seen in India, Switzerland, Austria and Morocco during this time. Japan is due to make the change to 18 in 2016, a dispute is continuing in the Maldives. Around the year 2000 a number of countries began to consider whether the voting age ought to be reduced further, the earliest moves came during the 1990s, when the voting age for municipal elections in some States of Germany was lowered to 16. Lower Saxony was the first state to such a reduction, in 1995. During the 2000s several proposals for a voting age were put forward in U. S. states, including California, Florida and Alaska. A national reduction was proposed in 2005 in Canada and a reduction in New South Wales, Australia. In 2007 Austria became the first member of the European Union to adopt a voting age of 16 for most purposes, the voting age had been reduced in Austria from 19 to 18 at all levels in 1992. At that time an age of 16 was proposed by the Green Party. The voting age for elections in some states was lowered to 16 shortly after 2000
Voting age
–
Demonstration in favor of lowering the voting age by members of
NYRA Berkeley, California, 2004.
2.
Voter turnout
–
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Eligibility varies by country, and the population should not be confused with the total adult population. Age and citizenship status are often among the criteria used to determine eligibility, after increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1980s. In general, low turnout is attributed to disillusionment, indifference, low turnout is usually considered to be undesirable. As a result, there have been efforts to increase voter turnout. In spite of significant study into the issue, scholars are divided on the reasons for the decline and its cause has been attributed to a wide array of economic, demographic, cultural, technological, and institutional factors. Different countries have very different voter turnout rates, for example, turnout in the United States 2012 presidential election was about 55%. In both Belgium, which has compulsory voting, and Malta, which not, participation reaches about 95%. The chance of any one vote determining the outcome is low, some studies show that a single vote in a voting scheme such as the Electoral College in the United States has an even lower chance of determining the outcome. Other studies claim that the Electoral College actually increases voting power, Studies using game theory, which takes into account the ability of voters to interact, have also found that the expected turnout for any large election should be zero. Since P is virtually zero in most elections, PB is also near zero, for a person to vote, these factors must outweigh C. Experimental political science has found that even when P is likely greater than zero, enos and Fowler conducted a field experiment that exploits the rare opportunity of a tied election for major political office. Informing citizens that the election to break the tie will be close has little mobilizing effect on voter turnout. Riker and Ordeshook developed the understanding of D. Other political scientists have since added other motivators and questioned some of Riker, all of these concepts are inherently imprecise, making it difficult to discover exactly why people choose to vote. Recently, several scholars have considered the possibility that B includes not only a personal interest in the outcome, note that this motivation is distinct from D, because voters must think others benefit from the outcome of the election, not their act of voting in and of itself. There are philosophical, moral, and practical reasons that people cite for not voting in electoral politics. High voter turnout is often considered to be desirable, though among scientists and economists specializing in public choice
Voter turnout
–
Voters lining up outside a
Baghdad polling station during the
2005 Iraqi election. Voter turnout was considered high despite widespread concerns of violence.
3.
National Voter Registration Act of 1993
–
The law was enacted under the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution. Six states qualify for exemption from the Act, North Dakota, Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, maine lost the exemption when it abolished EDR in 2011, though it was subsequently restored. The basic requirements to vote are the same in all states, a person has to be a U. S. citizen, of at least 18 years old and a resident of the state that he or she is voting in. However, initial efforts to create national voter registration standards for federal elections failed. In the early 1970s, Congress considered several proposals to require the U. S. Census Bureau to mail voter registration forms to every household. Similar bills introduced throughout the 1980s also failed, nonetheless, Congress did pass two pieces of legislation in the 1980s that made voter registration for federal elections more accessible for certain disadvantaged populations. In light of low turnout in federal elections throughout the 1980s, Congress returned its attention to creating general voter registration standards in the late 1980s. Members of Congress introduced a series of motor voter bills that would require state motor vehicle agencies to offer voter registration opportunities to clients applying for drivers licenses. The first of these bills, the National Voter Registration Act of 1989, passed in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, but it stalled in the Senate. A similar bill, the National Voter Registration Act of 1991, gained less bipartisan support, two years later, Congress passed a nearly identical bill, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. In March 1991, the American rock band R. E. M, placed a mail-away petition in support of the act on the back of the longbox for their latest album Out of Time and encouraged their fans to fill them out and mail them to Rock the Vote. Rock the Vote received over 100,000 such petitions from the bands fans, the bands campaign has been credited with raising significant public awareness and support of the act before it was signed into law. The Act formally applies only to federal elections, however, because states have unified their voter registration systems for state and federal elections, the provisions functionally apply to both state and federal elections. Section 5 requires state motor vehicle offices to provide voter registration opportunities to anyone applying for a new or renewed drivers license or state identification card, the Act reduces costs of voting registration by accumulating individual data when applying for a drivers license or receiving social assistance. The motor voter nickname came from the idea that most of the NVRA data was accumulated from applicants renewing or obtaining drivers licenses, the Federal Voting Assistance Program is responsible for administering NVRA for U. S. citizens abroad. FVAP allows eligible citizens to register to vote at 6000 Armed Forces Recruitment Offices nationwide, section 6 allows for more accessible voter registration through mail voter registration. Nu Mu Lambda filed Charles H. Wesley Education Foundation v. A senior U. S, the Act requires States to accept and use a uniform federal form to register voters for federal elections. Arizona, however, requires voter-registration officials to reject any application for registration, including a Federal Form, a group of Arizona residents and a group of nonprofit organizations challenged the Arizona law in court
National Voter Registration Act of 1993
–
National Voter Registration Act of 1993
4.
Department of Motor Vehicles
–
In the United States, a department of motor vehicles is a state-level government agency that administers vehicle registration and driver licensing. Driver licensing and vehicle registration in the United States are handled by the government in all states but Hawaii. In Canada, driver licensing and vehicle registration are handled at the government level. The Uniform Vehicle Code prefers the name Department of Motor Vehicles, the acronym DMV is most commonly used to describe the agency, however, diverse titles are used in different jurisdictions. Unless otherwise indicated below, one agency or division regulates driver licensing, vehicle registration, the location of a department or division of motor vehicles within the structure of a states government tends to vary widely. Hawaii is the only U. S. state where no part of the state government performs DMV functions, it has completely delegated vehicle registration, in the District of Columbia, which is not part of any state, the DMV is part of the city government. The program is administered by the state, actual inspections are performed by specific authorized employees of privately owned gas stations. In some states, the DMV is not a separate cabinet-level department, examples of departments which perform DMV functions include the Department of Justice, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Revenue, and the Department of Transportation. In New Hampshire and Tennessee, the Division of Motor Vehicles, in Vermont, the Department of Motor Vehicles is a subunit of the state Agency of Transportation. Some states do not separate DMV functions into distinct organizational entities at all, in Maine, Michigan and Illinois, the Secretary of States offices perform responsibilities that would be handled by the DMV in other states. These individuals have the option of retaining the license and vehicle registration of their residence or obtaining a new license. Some states also let out-of-state college students maintain their existing license and/or registration, Vehicles owned by the federal government register with the General Services Administration, rather than a state. Drivers of these vehicles must still be licensed with their home state, the Office of Foreign Missions at the U. S. The REAL ID Act of 2005 is an attempt to provide a standard for identification cards in the United States as identification cards are commonly used in everyday life. In some states, besides conducting the written and hands-on driving tests that are a prerequisite to earning a drivers license, DMVs also regulate private driving schools, all DMVs issue their states Drivers manual, which all drivers are expected to know and abide by. Knowledge of the manual is tested prior to issuing a permit or license. DMVs are responsible for providing a number for vehicles, either with a permanent vehicle registration plate or temporary tag. See also Vehicle registration plates of the United States, a vehicle registration program tracks detailed vehicle information such as odometer history in order to prevent automobile-related crimes such as odometer fraud
Department of Motor Vehicles
–
Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles on
Washington Street in
Boston's Chinatown
Department of Motor Vehicles
–
The headquarters of the largest DMV of all: the
California Department of Motor Vehicles.
5.
Public school (government funded)
–
State schools generally refer to primary or secondary schools mandated for or offered to all children without charge, funded in whole or in part by taxation. The term may refer to public institutions of post-secondary education. State education is inclusive, both in its treatment of students and in that enfranchisement for the government of public education is as broad as for government generally and it is often organized and operated to be a deliberate model of the civil community in which it functions. Although typically provided to groups of students in classrooms in a school, it may be provided in-home, employing visiting teachers. It can also be provided in non-school, non-home settings, such as shopping mall space, State education is generally available to all. In most countries, it is compulsory for children to school up to a certain age. In the case of private schooling, schools operate independently of the state, the funding for state schools, on the other hand, is provided by tax revenues, so that even individuals who do not attend school help to ensure that society is educated. In poverty stricken societies, authorities are often lax on compulsory school attendance because child labour is exploited and it is these same children whose income-securing labor cannot be forfeited to allow for school attendance. The term public education when applied to schools is not synonymous with the term publicly funded education. Government may make a policy decision that it wants to have some financial resources distributed in support of, and it may want to have some control over. Grants-in-aid of private schools and vouchers systems provide examples of publicly funded private education, conversely, a state school may rely heavily on private funding such as high fees or private donations and still be considered state by virtue of governmental ownership and control. In some countries, private associations or churches can operate schools according to their own principles, when these specific requirements are met, especially in the area of the school curriculum, the schools will qualify to receive state funding. Proponents of state education assert it to be necessary because of the need in society for people who are capable of reading, writing. In most industrialized countries, these views are distinctly in the minority, Government schools are free to attend for Australian citizens and permanent residents, whereas independent schools usually charge attendance fees. They can be divided into two categories, open and selective schools, the open schools accept all students from their government-defined catchment areas. Government schools educate approximately 65% of Australian students, with approximately 34% in Catholic, regardless of whether a school is part of the Government or independent systems, they are required to adhere to the same curriculum frameworks of their state or territory. The curriculum framework however provides for flexibility in the syllabus. Public or Government funded schools are found throughout Bangladesh and these schools mostly teach students from Year 1 to 10, with examinations for students in years 5,8, and 10
Public school (government funded)
–
Old Scona High School in
Edmonton,
Alberta.
Public school (government funded)
–
La Sorbonne
Public school (government funded)
–
One of the schools in France
Public school (government funded)
–
A school in Germany
6.
Public library
–
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is generally funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries, Public libraries exist in many countries across the world and are often considered an essential part of having an educated and literate population. Public access to books is not new, romans made scrolls in dry rooms available to patrons of the baths, and tried with some success to establish libraries within the empire. In the middle of the 19th century, the push for public libraries, paid for by taxes. Public libraries were started with a donation, or were bequeathed to parishes, churches. These social and institutional libraries formed the base of many academic and public collections of today. The establishment of circulating libraries in the 18th century, by booksellers and publishers provided a means of gaining profit, the circulating libraries not only provided a place to sell books, but also a place to lend books for a price. These circulating libraries provided a variety of including the increasingly popular novels. Circulating libraries were not exclusively lending institutions and often provided a place for other forms of commercial activity and this was necessary because the circulating libraries did not generate enough funds through subscription fees collected from its borrowers. As a commerce venture, it was important to consider the factors such as other goods or services available to the subscribers. The Malatestiana Library, also known as the Malatesta Novello Library, is a public library dating from 1452 in Cesena, Emilia-Romagna and it was the first European civic library, i. e. belonging to the Commune and open to everybody. It was commissioned by the Lord of Cesena, Malatesta Novello, the works were directed by Matteo Nuti of Fano and lasted from 1447 to 1452. In the early years of the 17th century, many famous collegiate, norwich City library was established in 1608 and Chethams Library in Manchester, which claims to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world, opened in 1653. Claude Sallier, the French philologist and churchman, operated an early form of library in the town of Saulieu from 1737 to 1750. He wished to make culture and learning accessible to all people, the Załuski Library was built in Warsaw 1747–1795 by Józef Andrzej Załuski and his brother, Andrzej Stanisław Załuski, both Roman Catholic bishops. The library was open to the public and indeed was the first Polish public library, at the start of the 18th century, libraries were becoming increasingly public and were more frequently lending libraries. The 18th century saw the switch from closed parochial libraries to lending libraries, before this time, public libraries were parochial in nature and libraries frequently chained their books to desks
Public library
–
Patrons studying and reading at the New York City Public Library.
Public library
–
A public library in
Maadi,
Egypt
Public library
–
Entrance to the National Library in
Tehran,
Iran
Public library
–
Thomas Bodley founded the
Bodleian Library in 1602 as an early public library.
7.
North Dakota
–
North Dakota is the 39th state of the United States, having been admitted to the union on November 2,1889. The state capital is Bismarck, and the largest city is Fargo, North Dakota is the 19th most extensive but the 4th least populous and the 4th least densely populated of the 50 United States. The development has driven strong job and population growth, and low unemployment, North Dakota is located in the U. S. region known as the Great Plains. The state shares the Red River of the North with Minnesota on the east, South Dakota is to the south, Montana is to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are to the north. North Dakota is situated near the middle of North America with a marker in Rugby. With an area of 70,762 square miles, North Dakota is the 19th largest state, the western half of the state consists of the hilly Great Plains as well as the northern part of the Badlands, which are to the west of the Missouri River. The states high point, White Butte at 3,506 feet, the region is abundant in fossil fuels including natural gas, crude oil and lignite coal. The Missouri River forms Lake Sakakawea, the third largest man-made lake in the United States, the central region of the state is divided into the Drift Prairie and the Missouri Plateau. The eastern part of the consists of the flat Red River Valley. Its fertile soil, drained by the meandering Red River flowing northward into Lake Winnipeg, Devils Lake, the largest natural lake in the state, is also found in the east. Eastern North Dakota is overall flat, however, there are significant hills, most of the state is covered in grassland, crops cover most of eastern North Dakota but become increasingly sparse in the center and farther west. This diverse terrain supports nearly 2,000 species of plants, the state of North Dakota is home to the geographical center of North America located near Rugby, North Dakota North Dakota has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. The temperature differences are rather extreme because of its far inland position and being in the center of the Northern Hemisphere, with equal distances to the North Pole. As such, summers are almost subtropical in nature, but winters are cold enough to plant hardiness is very low. Native American peoples lived in what is now North Dakota for thousands of years before the coming of Europeans and their tribes included the Mandan people, the Dakota people and the Yanktonai, the latter two from the Lakota peoples. The first European to reach the area was the French-Canadian trader Pierre Gaultier, sieur de La Vérendrye, in 1762 the region became part of Spanish Louisiana until 1802. Dakota Territory was settled sparsely by European Americans until the late 19th century, with the advantage of grants of land, they vigorously marketed their properties, extolling the region as ideal for agriculture. An omnibus bill for statehood for North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and his successor, Benjamin Harrison, signed the proclamations formally admitting North Dakota and South Dakota to the Union on November 2,1889
North Dakota
–
View of western North Dakota
North Dakota
–
Flag
North Dakota
–
Moose in North Dakota.
North Dakota
–
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
8.
2012 United States Presidential election
–
The United States presidential election of 2012 was the 57th quadrennial American presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6,2012, as the incumbent president, Obama secured the Democratic nomination with no serious opposition. Romney effectively secured the nomination by early May as the economy improved, the campaign was marked by a sharp rise in fundraising, including from new nominally independent Super PACs. The campaigns focused heavily on issues, debate centered largely around sound responses to the Great Recession in terms of economic recovery. Other issues included long-term federal budget issues, the future of social programs. Obama defeated Romney, winning both the popular vote and the college, with 332 electoral votes to Romneys 206. Obama carried all states and districts that he had won in the 2008 presidential election except North Carolina, Indiana, as such, his margin of victory decreased from 2008. Consequently, Obama became the first incumbent since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 to win reelection with fewer electoral votes, nonetheless, Obama also became the first two-term president since Ronald Reagan to win both his presidential bids with an absolute majority of the nationwide popular vote. Not since 1820 had three consecutive American presidents succeeded in securing two consecutive terms, september–October 2012, Early voting begins in some states and continue as late as November 5. November 6,2012, Election Day, at around 11,15 p. m. EST, November 7,2012, Romney concedes the election to Obama at around 1,00 a. m. November 10,2012, The electoral outcomes of all 50 states, Obama won 332 electoral votes while Romney won 206 electoral votes. December 17,2012, The Electoral College formally re-elects President Obama, January 3,2013, The 113th Congress is sworn in. January 4,2013, Electoral votes are counted before a joint session of Congress. The re-election of President Obama and Vice President Biden is certified, January 20,2013, President Obama and Vice President Biden take the oaths of office, Obamas second presidential term begins at noon. January 21,2013, The inauguration ceremonies are held, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginias state legislatures approved measures to shorten early voting periods. Florida and Iowa barred all felons from voting, kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin state legislatures passed laws requiring voters to have government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots. This meant, typically, that people without drivers licenses or passports had to gain new forms of ID, Obama, the NAACP, and the Democratic Party fought against many of the new state laws. Clinton said the moves would effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal, including students, Blacks
2012 United States Presidential election
–
538 members of the
Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win
2012 United States Presidential election
2012 United States Presidential election
–
Mitt Romney on the campaign trail.
9.
Correlation
–
In statistics, dependence or association is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Familiar examples of dependent phenomena include the correlation between the physical statures of parents and their offspring, and the correlation between the demand for a product and its price, correlations are useful because they can indicate a predictive relationship that can be exploited in practice. For example, an electrical utility may produce less power on a day based on the correlation between electricity demand and weather. In this example there is a relationship, because extreme weather causes people to use more electricity for heating or cooling. However, in general, the presence of a correlation is not sufficient to infer the presence of a causal relationship, formally, random variables are dependent if they do not satisfy a mathematical property of probabilistic independence. In informal parlance, correlation is synonymous with dependence, however, when used in a technical sense, correlation refers to any of several specific types of relationship between mean values. There are several correlation coefficients, often denoted ρ or r, the most common of these is the Pearson correlation coefficient, which is sensitive only to a linear relationship between two variables. Other correlation coefficients have been developed to be more robust than the Pearson correlation – that is, mutual information can also be applied to measure dependence between two variables. It is obtained by dividing the covariance of the two variables by the product of their standard deviations, karl Pearson developed the coefficient from a similar but slightly different idea by Francis Galton. The Pearson correlation is defined only if both of the deviations are finite and nonzero. It is a corollary of the Cauchy–Schwarz inequality that the correlation cannot exceed 1 in absolute value, the correlation coefficient is symmetric, corr = corr. As it approaches zero there is less of a relationship, the closer the coefficient is to either −1 or 1, the stronger the correlation between the variables. If the variables are independent, Pearsons correlation coefficient is 0, for example, suppose the random variable X is symmetrically distributed about zero, and Y = X2. Then Y is completely determined by X, so that X and Y are perfectly dependent, however, in the special case when X and Y are jointly normal, uncorrelatedness is equivalent to independence. If we have a series of n measurements of X and Y written as xi, N, then the sample correlation coefficient can be used to estimate the population Pearson correlation r between X and Y. If x and y are results of measurements that contain measurement error, for the case of a linear model with a single independent variable, the coefficient of determination is the square of r, Pearsons product-moment coefficient. If, as the one variable increases, the other decreases, to illustrate the nature of rank correlation, and its difference from linear correlation, consider the following four pairs of numbers. As we go from each pair to the pair x increases
Correlation
–
Several sets of (x, y) points, with the Pearson correlation coefficient of x and y for each set. Note that the correlation reflects the noisiness and direction of a linear relationship (top row), but not the slope of that relationship (middle), nor many aspects of nonlinear relationships (bottom). N.B.: the figure in the center has a slope of 0 but in that case the correlation coefficient is undefined because the variance of Y is zero.
10.
Jim Crow Laws
–
Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Enacted after the Reconstruction period, these continued in force until 1965. They mandated de jure segregation in all public facilities in the states of the former Confederate States of America, starting in 1890 with a separate. Facilities for African Americans were consistently inferior and underfunded compared to available to European Americans. This body of law institutionalized a number of economic, educational, the U. S. military was also segregated, as were federal workplaces, initiated in 1913 under President Woodrow Wilson. By requiring candidates to submit photos, his administration practiced racial discrimination in hiring and these Jim Crow laws followed the 1800–1866 Black Codes, which had previously restricted the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans. The phrase Jim Crow Law can be found as early as 1892 in the title of a New York Times article about voting laws in the South, as a result of Rices fame, Jim Crow by 1838 had become a pejorative expression meaning Negro. When southern legislatures passed laws of racial segregation which were directed against blacks at the end of the 19th century, during the Reconstruction period of 1865–1877, federal laws provided civil rights protections in the U. S. South for freedmen, the African Americans who had formerly been slaves, extensive voter fraud was also used. Gubernatorial elections were close and had been disputed in Louisiana for years, in 1877, a national Democratic Party compromise to gain Southern support in the presidential election resulted in the governments withdrawing the last of the federal troops from the South. White Democrats had regained power in every Southern state. These Southern, white, Democratic Redeemer governments legislated Jim Crow laws, grandfather clauses temporarily permitted some illiterate whites to vote but gave no relief to most blacks. Voter turnout dropped drastically through the South as a result of such measures, in Louisiana, by 1900, black voters were reduced to 5,320 on the rolls, although they comprised the majority of the states population. By 1910, only 730 blacks were registered, less than 0. 5% of eligible black men, in 27 of the states 60 parishes, not a single black voter was registered any longer, in 9 more parishes, only one black voter was. The cumulative effect in North Carolina meant that voters were completely eliminated from voter rolls during the period from 1896–1904. The growth of their middle class was slowed. Alabama had tens of thousands of poor whites disenfranchised and those who could not vote were not eligible to serve on juries and could not run for local offices. They effectively disappeared from political life, as they could not influence the state legislatures, like schools, Jim Crow public libraries were underfunded and often stocked with secondhand books and other resources
Jim Crow Laws
–
Cover to an early edition of "
Jump Jim Crow " sheet music (c 1832)
Jim Crow Laws
–
Freedmen voting in New Orleans, 1867
Jim Crow Laws
–
Sign for the "colored" waiting room at a bus station in
Durham, North Carolina, 1940
Jim Crow Laws
–
1904 caricature of "White" and "Jim Crow" rail cars by
John T. McCutcheon. Despite Jim Crow's legal pretense that the races be "separate but equal" under the law, non-whites were given inferior facilities and treatment.
11.
Solid South
–
The Southern bloc existed especially between 1877 and 1964. During this period, the Democratic Party controlled state legislatures, most local and state officeholders in the South were Democrats, Southern Democrats disenfranchised blacks in every state of the former Confederacy at the turn of the century. This resulted essentially in a one-party system, in which a candidates victory in Democratic primary elections was tantamount to election to the office itself, white primaries were another means that the Democrats used to consolidate their political power, excluding blacks from voting in primaries. The “Solid South” is a term referring to the states that made up the voting bloc at any point in time. The Southern region as defined by U. S. Census comprises sixteen states plus Washington, D. C. —Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D. C. West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and this definition of the Southern region does not necessarily correspond precisely to the states in the definition of the Solid South. Maryland was occasionally considered part of the Solid South, as was Missouri, a former slave state, it became dominated by Democrats. While nearly six million African Americans had left the region by then in the Great Migration to other areas of the country and its national leaders had supported the civil rights movement. Around the same time, white conservatives began to shift to the Republican Party, African Americans have elected numerous candidates of their choice, generally Democrats, from districts where their votes have been concentrated. At the start of the American Civil War, there were 34 states in the United States,15 of which were slave states. The slave states that stayed in the Union were Maryland, Missouri, Delaware, and Kentucky, in 1861, West Virginia was created out of Virginia, and admitted in 1863 and considered a border state. By the time the Emancipation Proclamation was made in 1863 Tennessee was already in Union control, accordingly the Proclamation applied only to the 10 remaining Confederate states. Abolition of slavery was a condition of the return of local rule in those states that had declared their secession, the Reconstruction era came to an end in 1877. Democratic dominance of the South originated in the struggle of white Southerners during and after Reconstruction to establish white supremacy, the U. S. government under the Republican Party had defeated the Confederacy, abolished slavery, and enfranchised blacks. In several states, black voters were a majority or close to it, Republicans supported by blacks controlled state governments in these states. Thus the Democratic Party became the vehicle for the white supremacist “Redeemers”, by 1876, Redeemer Democrats had taken control of all the state governments in the South. From then until the 1960s, state and local government in the South was almost entirely monopolized by Democrats, the Democrats elected all but a handful of U. S. Representatives and Senators, and Democratic presidential candidates regularly swept the region – from 1880 through 1944 and this rhetoric was effective with many Southerners
Solid South
–
The "Solid South" from 1880–1912.
Solid South
–
Arkansas voted Democratic in all 23 presidential elections from 1876 through 1964; other states were not quite as solid but generally supported Democrats for president.
Solid South
–
Missouri goes for Republican
Theodore Roosevelt in the
1904 election. (Cartoon by
John T. McCutcheon.)
12.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
–
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the Civil Rights Movement on August 6,1965, and Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections. According to the U. S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of civil rights legislation enacted in the country. The Act contains numerous provisions that regulate election administration, the Acts general provisions provide nationwide protections for voting rights. Section 2 is a provision that prohibits every state and local government from imposing any voting law that results in discrimination against racial or language minorities. Other general provisions specifically outlaw literacy tests and similar devices that were used to disenfranchise racial minorities. The Act also contains provisions that apply to only certain jurisdictions. Another special provision requires jurisdictions containing significant language minority populations to provide bilingual ballots, Section 5 and most other special provisions apply to jurisdictions encompassed by the coverage formula prescribed in Section 4. The coverage formula was designed to encompass jurisdictions that engaged in egregious voting discrimination in 1965. In Shelby County v. Holder, the U. S. Supreme Court struck down the formula as unconstitutional. The Court did not strike down Section 5, but without a coverage formula, as initially ratified, the United States Constitution granted each state complete discretion to determine voter qualifications for its residents. After the Civil War, the three Reconstruction Amendments were ratified and limited this discretion and these Amendments also empower Congress to enforce their provisions through appropriate legislation. To enforce the Reconstruction Amendments, Congress passed the Enforcement Acts in the 1870s, the Acts criminalized the obstruction of a citizens voting rights and provided for federal supervision of the electoral process, including voter registration. However, in 1875 the Supreme Court struck down parts of the legislation as unconstitutional in United States v. Cruikshank, after the Reconstruction Era ended in 1877, enforcement of these laws became erratic, and in 1894, Congress repealed most of their provisions. Southern states generally sought to disenfranchise racial minorities during and after Reconstruction, from 1868 to 1888, electoral fraud and violence throughout the South suppressed the African-American vote. During this period, the Supreme Court generally upheld efforts to discriminate against racial minorities, in Giles v. Harris, the Court held that irrespective of the Fifteenth Amendment, the judiciary did not have the remedial power to force states to register racial minorities to vote. In the 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement increased pressure on the government to protect the voting rights of racial minorities. In 1957, Congress passed the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, although these acts helped empower courts to remedy violations of federal voting rights, strict legal standards made it difficult for the Department of Justice to successfully pursue litigation
Voting Rights Act of 1965
–
Alabama police in 1965 attack voting rights marchers participating in the first of the
Selma to Montgomery marches, which became known as "Bloody Sunday"
Voting Rights Act of 1965
–
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Voting Rights Act of 1965
–
President
Lyndon B. Johnson,
Martin Luther King, Jr., and
Rosa Parks at the signing of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965
Voting Rights Act of 1965
–
President
George W. Bush signs amendments to the Act in July 2006
13.
United States of America
–
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
United States of America
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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States of America
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Flag
United States of America
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The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States of America
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The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
14.
Australian Electoral Commission
–
The Australian Electoral Commission is the federal independent agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal elections and referendums. The AECs main responsibility is to conduct elections, by-elections. The AEC is also responsible for boundaries and redistributions. Under the Joint Roll Arrangements, the AEC maintains the electoral roll for the whole of Australia, the AEC publishes detailed election results and follows up electors who fail to vote. It also disburses public funding of political parties, the AEC also plays an electoral education role, aiming to educate citizens about the electoral process by which representatives are elected, and by which the Australian Constitution is changed. It also plays a role in industrial voting, the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1902 set up the framework for the Commonwealth electoral system, which was administered as a branch of the Department of Home Affairs. In 1973, the Australian Electoral Office was created, a name it retained until 21 February 1984 when it became the Australian Electoral Commission, a Commonwealth statutory authority. The AEC is answerable to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters of the Parliament of Australia, and must report on how elections were carried out, the AEC was created by and operates under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. It consists of a chairman, the Electoral Commissioner and a non-judicial member, the Electoral Commissioner has the powers of a Secretary of a Department under the Public Service Act 1999 and the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1998. The Chairperson and the third, non-judicial member both hold their offices on a part-time basis, AEC has a National Office in Canberra and an office in each State and Territory, Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Each House of Representatives electorate has a Divisional Returning Officer responsible for administration of elections within the division, each State also has an Australian Electoral Officer responsible for administration of Senate elections. Since the loss of 1,400 ballots during the recount for the 2013 Western Australia Senate election, on 21 February 2014, Ed Killesteyn announced his resignation as Australian Electoral Commissioner, with effect on 4 July 2014. He took personal leave until that date, and Deputy Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers acted in his place, before being appointed to the position
Australian Electoral Commission
–
Australian Electoral Commission
15.
Elections Canada
–
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referendums through an open, Elections Canada is the sole agency responsible for administering Canadian federal elections. The Chief Electoral Officer is seconded by the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer and Chief Legal Counsel, during an election, staff at Elections Canada headquarters increases to 600 and to approximately 190,000 across Canada. Members of the public are recruited to help run the election by manning polling stations, counting ballots, answering voters questions
Elections Canada
–
Elections Canada
16.
Canada Revenue Agency
–
It also oversees the registration of charities in Canada, and tax credit programmes such as the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Credit Program. Before 1927, it was known as the Department of Inland Revenue and it was also referred to as Revenue Canada under the Federal Identity Program of the Treasury Board of Canada. The Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer is the head of the agency and its Board of Management, the current Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of CRA is Bob Hamilton, appointed on August 1,2016. The head office is in Ottawa and is responsible for budgeting, planning, training of managers, rulings, reporting to the minister, the CRA is divided into 5 regions for administrative purposes, including Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairie, and Pacific. Each region has a few tax services office, which carry out field works, such as audit, tSOs are the field offices of the CRA. Their functions mainly include audit and collections, TC is responsible for processing tax returns and conduct limited reviews of the returns filed. Canada has 7 TC, including Jonquière Tax Centre, Shawinigan-Sud Tax Centre, St. Johns Tax Centre, Sudbury Tax Centre, Summerside Tax Centre, Surrey Tax Centre, most of the executives and managers are not represented by unions. Many CRA employees are represented by Union of Taxation Employees, which is a component of Public Service Alliance of Canada, auditors, investigators and computer systems employees are represented by Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. The Canadian tax system is based on voluntary compliance or self-assessment system, every taxpayer is obligated to file their tax returns on time. Penalties may be imposed if returns are filed late, the CRA processes most tax returns with very limited review and promptly issues a Notice of Assessment. The Notice of Assessment is a document and provides a summary of each entitys income, credits. If a taxpayer disagrees with an assessment, they may file an appeal which may lead to challenging the assessment in tax court, once a tax return is assessed, it may be subject to review. In some cases, a tax return could be reviewed before being assessed, a resident of Canada is required to file an income tax return every year. Non-residents may have to file a tax return under certain circumstances, an individual files a T1 return, a corporation files a T2 return, a trust files a T3 return. A trust is not an entity in common law but treated as an entity by the Income Tax Act. A legal representative of an estate of a person may have to file a T3 return for the estate if it has properties that has not been distributed. Unlike US, a family can not file a joint return under the Canadian tax law, a partnership is not taxable entities for income tax purposes and its income is taxed in the hands of its partners. An individual taxpayer can file their T1 return by paper, or using netfile, a software program, provided by commercial vendors and not the CRA, is required to netfile
Canada Revenue Agency
–
The Connaught Building, home of the Canada Revenue Agency
17.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for matters dealing with immigration to Canada, refugees, and Canadian citizenship. On November 10,2016 the Toronto Star reported that the IRCC website crashed when it was flooded with an increase in traffic on the night of the United States presidential election. The increase in traffic was said to be 5 times larger than normal, IRCC operates a large network of Citizenship and Immigration Centres throughout Canada and in an important number of embassies, high commissions and consulates abroad. IRCC remains responsible for the establishment of policies and processing of permanent and temporary residence visa, refugee protection, IRCC helps immigrants and refugees settle in Canada by funding organizations like the Canadian Caregivers Association to provide newcomers with settlement programs. These organizations are called service provider organizations, in 2006 the Canadian government reduced the landing fee per immigrant by 50%. The bodys mandate is directed by the Citizenship Act, the Commission is headed by a Senior Citizenship Judge and serves a 5-year term. The current head of the Commission is Renata Brum Bozzi, CIC Inland Processing Times, A historical graphical record of processing times for applications processed within Canada. Immipedia, A community written guide to Canadian immigration, e-CAS Tracker, A tool that automatically notifies people when their application status is updated on Citizenship and Immigration Canadas e-CAS service. CanadaBaba - Latest Canadian Immigration Information, Free resource for Visas, Immigration, Settling and getting Citizenship in Canada
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
–
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
18.
Chile
–
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, the arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes, the southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Spain conquered and colonized Chile in the century, replacing Inca rule in northern and central Chile. After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable authoritarian republic, in the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil. The regime, headed by Augusto Pinochet, ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010. Chile is today one of South Americas most stable and prosperous nations and it leads Latin American nations in rankings of human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. It also ranks high regionally in sustainability of the state, Chile is a founding member of the United Nations, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile, another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a locally known as trile. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas, ultimately, Almagro is credited with the universalization of the name Chile, after naming the Mapocho valley as such. The older spelling Chili was in use in English until at least 1900 before switching over to Chile, stone tool evidence indicates humans sporadically frequented the Monte Verde valley area as long as 18,500 years ago. About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys, settlement sites from very early human habitation include Monte Verde, Cueva del Milodon and the Pali Aike Craters lava tube. They fought against the Sapa Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his army, the result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, the Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarros lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on 12 February 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chiles central valley
Chile
–
The
Mapuche people were the original inhabitants of southern and central Chile.
Chile
–
Flag
Chile
–
Pedro de Valdivia
Chile
–
Bernardo O'Higgins, The Supreme Director of Chile.
19.
Denmark
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Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Scandinavian country in Europe and a sovereign state. The southernmost and smallest of the Nordic countries, it is south-west of Sweden and south of Norway, Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark has an area of 42,924 square kilometres. The country consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, the islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 10th century as a proficient seafaring nation in the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea, Denmark, Sweden and Norway were ruled together under the Kalmar Union, established in 1397 and ending with Swedish secession in 1523. Denmark and Norway remained under the monarch until outside forces dissolved the union in 1814. The union with Norway made it possible for Denmark to inherit the Faroe Islands, Iceland, beginning in the 17th century, there were several cessions of territory to Sweden. In the 19th century there was a surge of nationalist movements, Denmark remained neutral during World War I. In April 1940, a German invasion saw brief military skirmishes while the Danish resistance movement was active from 1943 until the German surrender in May 1945, the Constitution of Denmark was signed on 5 June 1849, ending the absolute monarchy which had begun in 1660. It establishes a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy, the government and national parliament are seated in Copenhagen, the nations capital, largest city and main commercial centre. Denmark exercises hegemonic influence in the Danish Realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs, Home rule was established in the Faroe Islands in 1948, in Greenland home rule was established in 1979 and further autonomy in 2009. Denmark became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973, maintaining certain opt-outs, it retains its own currency, the krone. It is among the members of NATO, the Nordic Council, the OECD, OSCE. The etymology of the word Denmark, and especially the relationship between Danes and Denmark and the unifying of Denmark as a kingdom, is a subject which attracts debate. This is centred primarily on the prefix Dan and whether it refers to the Dani or a historical person Dan and the exact meaning of the -mark ending. Most handbooks derive the first part of the word, and the name of the people, from a word meaning land, related to German Tenne threshing floor. The -mark is believed to mean woodland or borderland, with references to the border forests in south Schleswig. The first recorded use of the word Danmark within Denmark itself is found on the two Jelling stones, which are believed to have been erected by Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth
Denmark
–
The gilded side of the
Trundholm sun chariot dating from the Nordic Bronze Age.
Denmark
–
Flag
Denmark
–
The
Ladby ship, the largest ship burial found in Denmark.
Denmark
–
Larger of the two Jelling stones, raised by
Harald Bluetooth.
20.
Universal health care
–
Universal health care is not one-size-fits-all and does not imply coverage for all people for everything. Universal health care can be determined by three dimensions, who is covered, what services are covered, and how much of the cost is covered. It is described by the World Health Organization as a situation where citizens can access health services without incurring financial hardship, U. N. member states have agreed to work toward universal health coverage by 2030. The first move towards a health insurance system was launched in Germany in 1883. Other countries soon began to follow suit, in the United Kingdom, the National Insurance Act 1911 provided coverage for primary care for wage earners, covering about one third of the population. The Russian Empire established a system in 1912, and other industrialized countries began following suit. By the 1930s, similar systems existed in all of Western. Japan introduced a health insurance law in 1927, expanding further upon it in 1935 and 1940. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Soviet Union established a fully public, however, it was not a truly universal system at that point, as rural residents were not covered. In New Zealand, a health care system was created in a series of steps. In Australia, the state of Queensland introduced a public hospital system in the 1940s. Following World War II, universal health care began to be set up around the world. On July 5,1948, the United Kingdom launched its universal National Health Service, Universal health care was next introduced in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. Universal health insurance was introduced in Japan, and in Canada through stages, starting with the province of Saskatchewan in 1962. The Soviet Union extended universal health care to its residents in 1969. Italy introduced its Servizio Sanitario Nazionale in 1978, Universal health insurance was implemented in Australia beginning with the Medibank system in 1975, which led to universal coverage under the Medicare system, established in 1984. From the 1970s to the 2000s, Southern and Western European countries began introducing universal coverage, in addition, universal health coverage was introduced in some Asian countries, including South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, and Thailand. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia retained and reformed its universal health system, as did other former Soviet nations
Universal health care
–
58 countries with legislation mandating Universal Health Care, along with >90% health insurance coverage and >90% skilled birth attendance.
21.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
Finland
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Hakkapeliitta featured on a 1940 Finnish stamp
Finland
–
Flag
Finland
–
Now lying within Helsinki,
Suomenlinna is a
UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of an inhabited 18th century sea fortress built on six islands. It is one of Finland's most popular tourist attractions.
Finland
–
Pioneers in Karelia (1900) by
Eero Järnefelt
22.
National identification number
–
The number appears on identity documents issued by several of the countries. The ways in which such a system is implemented vary among countries, non-citizens may be issued such numbers when they enter the country, or when granted a temporary or permanent residence permit. Many countries issued such numbers for a purpose, but over time. For example, the United States developed its Social Security number system as a means of organizing disbursing of Social Security benefits, authorities use databases and they need a unique identifier in order to be sure that data actually refer to the searched person. In countries where there is no established nationwide number, authorities need to create their own number for each person, in The Gambia, the National Identification Number consists of 11 digits in the form DDMMYY-PG- ##CS. DD MM YY indicates date of birth, PG indicates place of issuance and nationality, ## is a number and also indicates sex. In the Republic of South Africa every citizen must apply for an Identity Document from the age of 16 years, the ID number is already allocated at the time the birth certificate is generated and required for child passport applications. This passport-size document contains only 8 pages - the first page containing the identification number, name of bearer, district or country of birth. The other pages are used for recording of voting participation, a page for drivers license information, the document is required to apply for a passport, car learners license, motorcycle learners license, driving license, motorcycle license and to vote. The Identity Document is not used for travel purposes but usually is acceptable photographic identification for internal flights. Some authorities may accept the drivers license as proof of identity, the government has started issuing ID cards which contains a biometric chip which, in turn, holds biographical information which is unique to the holder of that specific card. The South African government wishes to phase out the old Green Barcoded ID book, the Identity number is also used when the holder applies for a grant from the South African Social Security Agency. A South African person identification number is a 13-digit number containing only numeric characters, prior to 1994 this number was used to indicate the holders race, Z is a checksum digit. Using ID Number 8001015009087 as an example, it would read as follows, The ID indicates that a citizen was born on 1 January 1980. Since these documents were not then issued to the majority population, in contrast to other countries the South African ID number is not unique, at least because of the use of a two-digit year. Other issues with duplications exist, however the Department of Home Affairs HANIS Project has planned to rectify that with ID smart cards. The timeline for that is undetermined as the last budget request for 08/09, in Argentina the only nationally issued identification is the DNI, Documento Nacional de Identidad. It is a number not related to anything in particular about the person
National identification number
–
South African identity document
National identification number
–
Explanation of identity number in a South African identity document during apartheid
23.
Municipality
–
It is to be distinguished from the county, which may encompass rural territory and/or numerous small communities such as towns, villages and hamlets. The term municipality may also mean the governing or ruling body of a given municipality, a municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district. The term is derived from French municipalité and Latin municipalis, a municipality can be any political jurisdiction from a sovereign state, such as the Principality of Monaco, or a small village, such as West Hampton Dunes, New York. The power of municipalities range from virtual autonomy to complete subordination to the state, municipalities may have the right to tax individuals and corporations with income tax, property tax, and corporate income tax, but may also receive substantial funding from the state. Similar terms include Spanish ayuntamiento, also called municipalidad, Polish gmina, Dutch/Flemish Gemeente, in Australia, the term local government area is used in place of the generic municipality. Here, the LGA Structure covers only incorporated areas of Australia, incorporated areas are legally designated parts of states and territories over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility. In Canada, municipalities are local governments established through provincial and territorial legislation, the Province of Ontario has different tiers of municipalities, including lower, upper, and single tiers. Types of upper tier municipalities in Ontario include counties and regional municipalities, nova Scotia also has regional municipalities, which include cities, counties, districts, or towns as municipal units. In India, a Nagar Palika or Municipality is a local body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more. Under the Panchayati Raj system, it directly with the state government. Generally, smaller cities and bigger towns have a Nagar Palika. Nagar Palikas are also a form of local self-government entrusted with duties and responsibilities. Such a corporation in Great Britain consists of a head as a mayor or provost, since local government reorganisation, the unit in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is known as a district, and in Scotland as a council area. A district may be awarded borough or city status, or can retain its district title, in Jersey, a municipality refers to the honorary officials elected to run each of the 12 parishes into which it is subdivided. This is the highest level of government in this jurisdiction. In the United States, municipality is usually understood as a city, town, village, or other local government unit, in the Peoples Republic of China, a direct-controlled municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing. In Taiwan, a municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei. In Portuguese language usage, there are two words to distinguish the territory and the administrative organ, when referring to the territory, the word concelho is used, when referring to the organ of State, the word município is used
Municipality
–
The
Ponce City Hall, in the city of
Ponce, is the seat of the government for both the city and the surrounding
barrios making up the municipality.
24.
Federal Electoral Institute
–
The organizations president is Lorenzo Córdova Vianello. The legislative branch of the government, the national political parties. Since its creation, the constitutional and legal regulations in this matter have experienced further major reforms. IFE had legal personnel and assets of its own and its headquarters were located in the Federal District, and it was organized under a decentralized framework that allowed it to exercise its duties throughout the country. As a result of reforms initiated by President Enrique Peña Nieto, the IFE was dissolved on April 4,2014. IFE was also charged with the registration, funding and oversight of national political parties, rules and guidelines for the registration of national political parties are outlined in the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures. The creation of a political association is usually regarded as the first step towards the creation of a full-fledged political party. INE website Federal Electoral Tribunal website IFE, Now INE INE directory
Federal Electoral Institute
–
Mexico
25.
Norway
–
The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
Norway
–
The
helmet found at Gjermundbu near
Haugsbygd,
Buskerud, is the only
Viking Age helmet that has been found.
Norway
–
Flag
Norway
–
The
Gokstad ship at the
Viking Ship Museum in
Oslo, Norway
Norway
–
The
Battle of the Sound between an allied Dano-Norwegian–
Dutch fleet and the Swedish navy, 8 November 1658 (29 October
O.S.)
26.
Voting in Switzerland
–
Voting in Switzerland is the process by which Swiss citizens make decisions about governance and elect officials. The polling stations are opened on Saturdays and Sunday mornings but most people vote by post in advance, at noon on Sunday, voting ends and the results are usually known at the end of the afternoon. Direct democracy allows any citizen to challenge any law approved by the parliament or, at any time, in addition, in most cantons all votes are cast using paper ballots that are manually counted. Federal, cantonal and municipal issues are polled simultaneously, and a majority of votes are cast by mail, between January 1995 and June 2005, Swiss citizens voted 31 times, to answer 103 questions. The most frequent themes are healthcare, taxes, welfare, drug policy, public transport, immigration, asylum, voter turnout in parliamentary elections saw a continuous decline since the 1970s, down to an all-time low of 42. 2% in 1995. In recent years however, voter participation has been slowly growing again and was at 48. 5% in 2011, the average turnout for referendums was at 49. 2% in 2011. Voting can be done through hand counts, mail-in ballots, visits to polling booths, or, more recently, until 1971 some cantons punished citizens for not voting. In the canton of Schaffhausen, voting is still compulsory and this is one reason for the turnout there being usually a little higher than in the rest of the country. There are no voting machines in Switzerland, all votes are counted by hand, every municipality randomly recruits a number of citizens who have the duty of counting the ballots, but penalties for disobeying this duty have become rare. Vote counting is usually accomplished within five or six hours, but in cities, such as Zurich or Geneva. Voters are not required to register before elections in Switzerland, since every person living in the country must register with the municipality within two weeks of moving to a new place, the municipalities know the addresses of their citizens. Approximately two months before the date they send voters a letter containing an envelope, the ballot itself. The booklet on the referendums also includes texts by both the council and the proponents of each referendum, allowing them to promote their position. Once the voter has filled out his/her ballot these are put into a return envelope provided in the package. This first anonymous envelope and a signed transmission card that identify the voter is then put into the return envelope then sent back to the municipality. The return envelope is in fact the shipping envelope with an opening strip that allow it to be reused to send back the vote. Many voters, especially in villages and small cities, put the return envelope directly into the municipality mailbox, others return it by post, although not having to pay the postage. Once received at the municipality, the card is checked to verify the right of the voter
Voting in Switzerland
–
The ballots and other voting documents mailed to each citizen of
Berne for the elections and referendums of 30 November 2008. (Click for description)
27.
Labour Party (UK)
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The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Labour later served in the coalition from 1940 to 1945. Labour was also in government from 1964 to 1970 under Harold Wilson and from 1974 to 1979, first under Wilson and then James Callaghan. The Labour Party was last in government from 1997 to 2010 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, beginning with a majority of 179. Having won 232 seats in the 2015 general election, the party is the Official Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the party also organises in Northern Ireland, but does not contest elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Labour Party is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance. In September 2015, Jeremy Corbyn was elected Leader of the Labour Party, the first Lib–Lab candidate to stand was George Odger in the Southwark by-election of 1870. In addition, several small socialist groups had formed around this time, among these were the Independent Labour Party, the intellectual and largely middle-class Fabian Society, the Marxist Social Democratic Federation and the Scottish Labour Party. In the 1895 general election, the Independent Labour Party put up 28 candidates, Keir Hardie, the leader of the party, believed that to obtain success in parliamentary elections, it would be necessary to join with other left-wing groups. Hardies roots as a lay preacher contributed to an ethos in the party led to the comment by 1950s General Secretary Morgan Phillips that Socialism in Britain owed more to Methodism than Marx. The motion was passed at all stages by the TUC, the meeting was attended by a broad spectrum of working-class and left-wing organisations—trades unions represented about one third of the membership of the TUC delegates. This created an association called the Labour Representation Committee, meant to coordinate attempts to support MPs sponsored by trade unions and it had no single leader, and in the absence of one, the Independent Labour Party nominee Ramsay MacDonald was elected as Secretary. He had the task of keeping the various strands of opinions in the LRC united. The October 1900 Khaki election came too soon for the new party to campaign effectively, only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful, Keir Hardie in Merthyr Tydfil and Richard Bell in Derby. Support for the LRC was boosted by the 1901 Taff Vale Case, the judgement effectively made strikes illegal since employers could recoup the cost of lost business from the unions. In their first meeting after the election the groups Members of Parliament decided to adopt the name The Labour Party formally, the Fabian Society provided much of the intellectual stimulus for the party. One of the first acts of the new Liberal Government was to reverse the Taff Vale judgement, the Peoples History Museum in Manchester holds the minutes of the first Labour Party meeting in 1906 and has them on display in the Main Galleries. Also within the museum is the Labour History Archive and Study Centre, the governing Liberals were unwilling to repeal this judicial decision with primary legislation
Labour Party (UK)
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Keir Hardie, one of the Labour Party's founders and its first leader
Labour Party (UK)
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Labour Party Plaque from Caroone House, 14 Farringdon Street
Labour Party (UK)
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Ramsay MacDonald: First Labour Prime Minister, 1924 and 1929–31
Labour Party (UK)
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Aneurin Bevan speaking in October 1952
