1.
Age of majority
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The age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as recognized or declared in law. Most countries set the age of majority at 18, the word majority here refers to having greater years and being of full age as opposed to minority, the state of being a minor. The law in a jurisdiction may not actually use the term age of majority. The term typically refers to a collection of laws bestowing the status of adulthood, the age of majority does not necessarily correspond to the mental or physical maturity of an individual. Age of majority can be confused with the concept of the age of license. As a legal term of art, license means permission, thus, an age of license is an age at which one has legal permission from government to do something. The age of majority, on the hand, is legal recognition that one has grown into an adult. Many ages of license are correlated to the age of majority, one need not have attained the age of majority to have permission to exercise certain rights and responsibilities. Some ages of license are actually higher than the age of majority, for example, the age of license to purchase alcoholic beverages is 21 in all U. S. states. Another example is the age, which prior to the 1970s was 21. In the Republic of Ireland the age of majority is 18, also, in Portugal the age of majority is 18, but one must be at least 25 years of age to run for public office. A child who is legally emancipated by a court of competent jurisdiction automatically attains to their maturity upon the signing of the court order, only emancipation confers the status of maturity before a person has actually reached the age of majority. In almost all places, minors who are married are automatically emancipated, some places also do the same for minors who are in the armed forces or who have a certain degree or diploma. In the United States, all states have some form of emancipation of minors, judaism,13 years of age for males and 12 years of age for females, such persons are considered adults Roman Catholic Church,18 years of age
2.
Suffrage
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Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections. The right to run for office is sometimes called candidate eligibility, in many languages, the right to vote is called the active right to vote and the right to run for office is called the passive right to vote. In English, these are called active suffrage and passive suffrage. Suffrage is often conceived in terms of elections for representatives, however, suffrage applies equally to referenda and initiatives. Suffrage describes not only the right to vote, but also the practical question of whether a question will be put to a vote. The utility of suffrage is reduced when important questions are decided unilaterally by elected or non-elected representatives, in most democracies, eligible voters can vote in elections of representatives. Voting on issues by referendum may also be available, for example, in Switzerland this is permitted at all levels of government. The United States federal government does not offer any initiatives at all, Suffrage is granted to qualifying citizens once they have reached the voting age. What constitutes a qualifying citizen depends on the governments decision, resident non-citizens can vote in some countries, which may be restricted to citizens of closely linked countries. The word suffrage comes from Latin suffragium, meaning vote, political support, and the right to vote. The etymology of the Latin word is uncertain, with sources citing Latin suffragari lend support, vote for someone, from sub under + fragor crash, din, shouts. Other sources say that attempts to connect suffragium with fragor cannot be taken seriously, some etymologists think the word may be related to suffrago and may have originally meant an ankle bone or knuckle bone. Universal suffrage consists of the right to vote without restriction due to sex, race, social status, education level, or wealth. It typically does not extend the right to vote to all residents of a region, distinctions are made in regard to citizenship, age. The short-lived Corsican Republic was the first country to grant limited universal suffrage to all citizens over the age of 25 and this was followed by other experiments in the Paris Commune of 1871 and the island republic of Franceville. The 1840 constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii granted universal suffrage to all male and female adults, so Finland was the first country in the world to give all citizens full suffrage, in other words the right to vote and to run for office. New Zealand was the first country in the world to grant all citizens the right to vote, Womens suffrage is, by definition, the right of women to vote. This was the goal of the suffragists in the United States, short-lived suffrage equity was drafted into provisions of the State of New Jerseys first,1776 Constitution, which extended the Right to Vote to unwed female landholders & black land owners
3.
Compulsory voting
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Compulsory voting is a system in which voters are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, or lodge a postal vote, as of August 2013,22 countries, including 12 Latin American countries, have laws for compulsory voting, and 11 of these 22 countries enforce these laws in practice. Athenian democracy held that it was every citizens duty to participate in decision making, sometimes there was some form of social opprobrium to those not participating. For example, Aristophaness comedy Acharnians 17–22, in the 5th century BC and those with red on their clothes were fined. This usually happened if fewer than 6,000 people were in attendance, the idea that compulsory voting results in a higher degree of political legitimacy is based on it resulting in high voter turnout. The victorious candidate therefore represents a majority of the population, not just of the politically motivated individuals who would vote without compulsion, the paradox disproportionately affects the socially disadvantaged, for whom the costs of voting tend to be greater. However, since these are the people who are in most need of political representation, hill argues that the introduction of compulsory voting removes this dilemma. If everybody must vote, restrictions on voting are identified and steps are taken to remove them, if voters do not want to support any of the given candidates, they may cast spoilt votes or blank votes. The outcome of an election where voting is compulsory reflects more of the will of the rather than reflecting who was more able to convince people to take time out of their day to cast a vote. It is also argued that since campaign funds are not needed to goad voters to the polls, with non-compulsory voting, the ability of a political machine to get out the vote of its supporters may influence the outcome. High levels of participation decreases the risk of instability created by crises or charismatic. Since elections cannot be determined by turnout, they are decided by swing voters and that is one reason Australia’s version of the far right lacks anything like the power of its European or American counterparts. Australia has had some bad governments, but it hasn’t had any truly extreme ones, Voting may be seen as a civic right rather than a civic duty. While citizens may exercise their civil rights they are not compelled to, furthermore, compulsory voting may infringe other rights. For example, most Christadelphians believe that they should not participate in political events, forcing them to vote ostensibly denies them their freedom of religious practice. Jehovahs Witnesses view voting as a decision to be made based on each ones conscience and understanding of their responsibility to God. In lands where voting is compulsory, Witnesses do not vote, while taking care to preserve neutrality, the law can also allow people to give a valid reason for why they did not vote. Allowing voters to turn in a blank ballot overcomes this objection, some do not support the idea of voters being compelled to vote for candidates they have no interest in or knowledge of
4.
Democracy
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Democracy, in modern usage, is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament. Democracy is sometimes referred to as rule of the majority, Democracy was originally conceived in Classical Greece, where political representatives were chosen by a jury from amongst the male citizens, rich and poor. The English word dates to the 16th century, from the older Middle French, in the 5th century BC, to denote the political systems then existing in Greek city-states, notably Athens, the term is an antonym to aristocracy, meaning rule of an elite. While theoretically these definitions are in opposition, in practice the distinction has been blurred historically, the political system of Classical Athens, for example, granted democratic citizenship to free men and excluded slaves and women from political participation. In 1906, Finland became the first government to harald a more inclusive democracy at the national level. Democracy contrasts with forms of government where power is held by an individual, as in an absolute monarchy, or where power is held by a small number of individuals. Nevertheless, these oppositions, inherited from Greek philosophy, are now ambiguous because contemporary governments have mixed democratic, oligarchic, and monarchic elements. Karl Popper defined democracy in contrast to dictatorship or tyranny, thus focusing on opportunities for the people to control their leaders, No consensus exists on how to define democracy, but legal equality, political freedom and rule of law have been identified as important characteristics. These principles are reflected in all eligible citizens being equal before the law, other uses of democracy include that of direct democracy. In some countries, notably in the United Kingdom which originated the Westminster system, in the United States, separation of powers is often cited as a central attribute. In India, parliamentary sovereignty is subject to the Constitution of India which includes judicial review, though the term democracy is typically used in the context of a political state, the principles also are applicable to private organisations. Majority rule is listed as a characteristic of democracy. Hence, democracy allows for political minorities to be oppressed by the tyranny of the majority in the absence of legal protections of individual or group rights. An essential part of a representative democracy is competitive elections that are substantively and procedurally fair, i. e. just. It has also suggested that a basic feature of democracy is the capacity of all voters to participate freely and fully in the life of their society. While representative democracy is sometimes equated with the form of government. Many democracies are constitutional monarchies, such as the United Kingdom, the term democracy first appeared in ancient Greek political and philosophical thought in the city-state of Athens during classical antiquity. The word comes from demos, common people and kratos, strength, led by Cleisthenes, Athenians established what is generally held as the first democracy in 508–507 BC
5.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
6.
National Youth Rights Association
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The National Youth Rights Association is a youth-led civil rights organization in the United States promoting youth rights, with approximately ten thousand members. The youth rights movement first utilized the Internet in 1991, with the creation of the Y-Rights listserv mailing list, two members of that original Internet presence, Matthew Walcoff and Matt Herman, began a non-profit organization out of that mailing list known as ASFAR. Not too long after ASFAR was founded, a Rockville, Maryland high school student began a youth group called YouthSpeak. At the same time, a youth from Canada, Joshua Gilbert, was starting a youth rights organization for his country. By June 1998, NYRA was incorporated as a Maryland non-profit public-benefit corporation with intention to lead the Youth Rights political movement in the United States. It was formed by the founders of ASFAR because of the desire to create a moderate. NYRAs Executive Director from 2000 to 2012 was Alex Koroknay-Palicz, in 2012, Koroknay-Palicz stepped down before reemerging in 2015. 2005 was a significant year for NYRA, in late March, Koroknay-Palicz and several NYRA members traveled to Vermont in support of a bill lowering the drinking age to 18. They visited numerous colleges and signed up over 2000 new supporters and they participated in a debate at the Vermont state house, and the event was significantly covered by the media. Meanwhile, in Washington state, a new chapter in Olympia, Washington, from February to August 2006, President Adam King led a local campaign to add a nonvoting student adviser onto the Buncombe County Board of Education. His project had the support of the Asheville Citizen-Times and over 60 faculty members and administrators at his high school, however, in August, the Board of Education rejected his proposal citing that they already had sufficient student input. During his campaign, King made several appearances in the media, by 2006, NYRAs main area of focus was expanding its local chapters. Chapters had increased fivefold between 2003 and 2006, in 2006, the Board of Directors formally established that chapters are separate legal entities. The chapter formation division saw a major restructure near the end of 2006, previously, the division was divided into five regions with one person assigned to that region. However, the management decided to utilize a national pool of representatives working with all intents throughout the nation. In December 2006, NYRA received its first substantial grant from the Babson Foundation, and in January 2007, it began renting an office from Common Cause in downtown Washington, D. C. In 2008, the changed its slogan from the last civil rights movement, in reference to the youth rights movement, to live free. In 2009, NYRA began to take prominent legal action and assert itself as a force for youth, robert Epstein wrote The Young Persons Bill of Rights for this event
7.
Berkeley, California
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Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley and it borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south and the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows the ridge of the Berkeley Hills, the 2010 census recorded a population of 112,580. It also has the Graduate Theological Union, one of the largest religious studies institutions in the world and it is one of the most politically liberal cities in the United States. The site of todays City of Berkeley was the territory of the Chochenyo/Huchiun band of the Ohlone people when the first Europeans arrived, other artifacts were discovered in the 1950s in the downtown area during remodeling of a commercial building, near the upper course of the creek. The first people of European descent arrived with the De Anza Expedition in 1776, today, this is noted by signage on Interstate 80, which runs along the San Francisco Bay shoreline of Berkeley. The De Anza Expedition led to establishment of the Spanish Presidio of San Francisco at the entrance to San Francisco Bay, luis Peralta was among the soldiers at the Presidio. For his services to the King of Spain, he was granted a vast stretch of land on the east shore of San Francisco Bay for a ranch, luis Peralta named his holding Rancho San Antonio. The primary activity of the ranch was raising cattle for meat and hides, eventually, Peralta gave portions of the ranch to each of his four sons. What is now Berkeley lies mostly in the portion that went to Peraltas son Domingo, with a little in the portion that went to another son, no artifact survives of the Domingo or Vicente ranches, but their names survive in Berkeley street names. However, legal title to all land in the City of Berkeley remains based on the original Peralta land grant, the Peraltas Rancho San Antonio continued after Alta California passed from Spanish to Mexican sovereignty after the Mexican War of Independence. The lands of the brothers Domingo and Vicente were quickly reduced to reservations close to their respective ranch homes, the rest of the land was surveyed and parceled out to various American claimants. Politically, the area that became Berkeley was initially part of a vast Contra Costa County, on March 25,1853, Alameda County was created from a division within Contra Costa County, as well as from a small portion of Santa Clara County. The area of Berkeley was at this period mostly a mix of land, farms and ranches. It was not yet Berkeley, but merely the part of the Oakland Township subdivision of Alameda County. In 1866, Oaklands private College of California looked for a new site, according to the Centennial Record of the University of California, In 1866…at Founders Rock, a group of College of California men watched two ships standing out to sea through the Golden Gate. Although the philosophers name is pronounced bark-lee, the pronunciation of the name has evolved to suit American English as burk-lee. The College of Californias College Homestead Association planned to raise funds for the new campus by selling off adjacent parcels of land, to this end, they laid out a plat and street grid that became the basis of Berkeleys modern street plan
8.
States of Germany
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Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen federal states. Since todays Germany was formed from a collection of several states, it has a federal constitution. The remaining 13 states are called Flächenländer, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 was through the unification of the western states created in the aftermath of World War II. West Berlin, while not part of the Federal Republic, was largely integrated and considered as a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, in 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as the Saarland. Federalism is one of the constitutional principles of Germany. After 1945, new states were constituted in all four zones of occupation, in 1949, the states in the three western zones formed the Federal Republic of Germany. This is in contrast to the development in Austria, where the Bund was constituted first. The use of the term Länder dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, before this time, the constituent states of the German Empire were called Staaten. Today, it is common to use the term Bundesland. However, this term is not used officially, neither by the constitution of 1919 nor by the Basic Law of 1949, three Länder call themselves Freistaaten, Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. He summarizes the arguments for boundary reform in Germany. The German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation, too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated. But several proposals have failed so far, territorial reform remains a topic in German politics. Federalism has a tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states numbering more than 300 around 1796, the number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars. After the Congress of Vienna,39 states formed the German Confederation, the new German Empire included 25 states and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The empire was dominated by Prussia, which controlled 65% of the territory, after the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation
9.
Lower Saxony
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Lower Saxony is a German state situated in northwestern Germany and is second in area, with 47,624 square kilometres, and fourth in population among the sixteen Länder of Germany. In rural areas Northern Low Saxon, a dialect of Low German, and Saterland Frisian, a variety of Frisian, are still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining. Lower Saxony borders on the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other, its city of Bremerhaven. In fact, Lower Saxony borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland, the states principal cities include the state capital Hanover, Braunschweig, Lüneburg, Osnabrück, Oldenburg, Hildesheim, Wolfenbüttel, Wolfsburg and Göttingen. The northwestern area of Lower Saxony, which lies on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia, in the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, a traditionally poor and sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plains, is almost invariably flat except for the hills around the Bremen geestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of the German Central Uplands, the Weser Uplands, between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges. Thus, Lower Saxony is the only Bundesland that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas, Lower Saxonys major cities and economic centres are mainly situated in its central and southern parts, namely Hanover, Braunschweig, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg, Salzgitter, Hildesheim and Göttingen. Oldenburg, near the coastline, is another economic centre. To the north, the Elbe river separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the banks just south of the Elbe are known as Altes Land. Due to its local climate and fertile soil, it is the states largest area of fruit farming. Most of the territory was part of the historic Kingdom of Hanover. It was created by the merger of the State of Hanover with several states in 1946. Lower Saxony has a boundary in the north in the North Sea. The state and city of Bremen is an enclave surrounded by Lower Saxony. The Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region is a body for the enclave area. To the southeast the state border runs through the Harz, low mountains that are part of the German Central Uplands, in northeast Lower Saxony is Lüneburg Heath
10.
U.S. state
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A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance
11.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
12.
Florida
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Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
13.
Alaska
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Alaska is a U. S. state located in the northwest extremity of North America. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas–the southern parts of the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area, the 3rd least populous, approximately half of Alaskas residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaskas economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy. The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30,1867, the area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11,1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U. S. on January 3,1959, the name Alaska was introduced in the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the peninsula. It was derived from an Aleut, or Unangam idiom, which refers to the mainland of Alaska. Literally, it means object to which the action of the sea is directed, Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state in the United States and has the most easterly longitude in the United States because the Aleutian Islands extend into the Eastern Hemisphere. Alaska is the only non-contiguous U. S. state on continental North America and it is technically part of the continental U. S. but is sometimes not included in colloquial use, Alaska is not part of the contiguous U. S. often called the Lower 48. The capital city, Juneau, is situated on the mainland of the North American continent but is not connected by road to the rest of the North American highway system. Alaskas territorial waters touch Russias territorial waters in the Bering Strait, as the Russian Big Diomede Island, Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U. S. states combined. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by total area at 663,268 square miles, over twice the size of Texas, Alaska is larger than all but 18 sovereign countries. Counting territorial waters, Alaska is larger than the area of the next three largest states, Texas, California, and Montana. It is also larger than the area of the 22 smallest U. S. states. Also referred to as the Panhandle or Inside Passage, this is the region of Alaska closest to the rest of the United States, as such, this was where most of the initial non-indigenous settlement occurred in the years following the Alaska Purchase. The region is dominated by the Alexander Archipelago as well as the Tongass National Forest and it contains the state capital Juneau, the former capital Sitka, and Ketchikan, at one time Alaskas largest city. The Alaska Marine Highway provides a vital transportation link throughout the area. The Interior is the largest region of Alaska, much of it is uninhabited wilderness, Fairbanks is the only large city in the region
14.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
15.
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
16.
New South Wales
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New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and it has a coast line with the Tasman Sea on its east side. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state, New South Wales state capital is Sydney, which is also Australias most populous city. In March 2014, the population of New South Wales was 7.5 million. Just under two-thirds of the population,4.67 million. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen, the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised a more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825, in addition, the colony also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemens Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand. However, the Swan River Colony has never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal Territory, as have the now known as the Australian Capital Territory. The prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi Wodi people are the custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. The Bundjalung people are the custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland. In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land New Wales, however, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he revised the wording to New South Wales. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, macquaries legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855, following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840
17.
Mogens Frey
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Mogens Frey Jensen is a retired Danish amateur cyclist who competed successfully both on the road and on track. He won, along with Gunnar Asmussen, Per Lyngemark and Reno Olsen, however, he is more famous for the way he won stage 9 in the 1970 Tour de France. Here, he defeated his own team captain Joaquim Agostinho, Agostinho was first over the finish line, but was immediately disqualified for putting his hand on Freys handlebars, thus holding him back in the sprint. Frey also won the pursuit event at the 1968 world championships. Official Tour de France results for Mogens Frey Jean de Gribaldy and 1970 Frimatic team
18.
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
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The Assembly held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, making it one of the oldest international assemblies in Europe. In general the Assembly meets four times per year in Strasbourg at the Palace of Europe for week-long plenary sessions, the nine permanent committees of the Assembly meet all year long to prepare reports and draft resolutions in their respective fields of expertise. The Assembly sets its own agenda, but its debates and reports are primarily focused on defending human rights, promoting democracy, protecting minorities and upholding the rule of law. Judges of the European Court of Human Rights are elected by PACE from a list of three candidates nominated by member state which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights. As a result, around one third of the current bench of 47 judges are women, the Assembly has a total of 636 members –318 principal members and 318 substitutes – who are appointed or elected by the parliaments of each member state. Delegations must reflect the balance in the parliament, so contain members of both ruling parties and oppositions. The population of each country determines its number of representatives and number of votes and this is in contrast to the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europes executive body, where each country has one vote. The special guest status of the National Assembly of Belarus was suspended on 13 January 1997, parliaments with Partner for Democracy status pledge to work towards certain basic values of the Council of Europe, and agree to occasional assessments of their progress. In return, they are able to send delegations to take part in the work of the Assembly and its committees, the Assembly has five political groups. The official languages of the Council of Europe are English and French, in 2015 he was re-elected for a second five-year term, which began in February 2016. However, the Russian delegation remained members of the Assembly, the sanction applied throughout the remainder of the 2014 session and was renewed for a full year in January 2015, lapsing in January 2016. It did so again in January 2017, leaving empty seats in the Assembly for a further year, the sanctions applied only to Russian parliamentarians in PACE, the Council of Europes parliamentary body. Russia continues to be a member of the Council of Europe, and retains full rights in the organisations other bodies, including its statutory executive body. According to the report, said member states also hire lobbyists to fend off criticism of their human rights records, German news magazine Der Spiegel had earlier revealed details about the strategies of Azerbaijan’s government to influence the voting behaviour of selected members of the Parliamentary Assembly. Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Le Conseil de lEurope, Jean-Louis Burban, publisher PUF, collection « Que sais-je. », n°885
19.
Council of Europe
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The Council of Europe is an international organisation focused on protecting human rights, democracy, rule of law in Europe and promoting European culture. Founded in 1949, it has 47 member states, covers approximately 820 million people, No country has ever joined the EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe. Unlike the EU, the Council of Europe cannot make binding laws, the best known body of the Council of Europe is the European Court of Human Rights, which enforces the European Convention on Human Rights. The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent institution within the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of, the Secretary General heads the secretariat of the organisation. Other major CoE bodies include the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines, the headquarters of the Council of Europe are in Strasbourg, France. English and French are its two official languages, the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress also use German, Italian, Russian, and Turkish for some of their work. In a speech at the University of Zurich on 19 September 1946, Sir Winston Churchill called for a kind of United States of Europe and he had spoken of a Council of Europe as early as 1943 in a radio broadcast. There were two schools of thought competing, some favoured a classical international organisation with representatives of governments, both approaches were finally combined through the creation of the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly under the Statute of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by the Treaty of London and those conventions and decisions are developed by the member states working together at the Council of Europe. Both organizations function as concentric circles around the foundations for European co-operation and harmony. The European Union could be seen as the circle with a much higher level of integration through the transfer of powers from the national to the EU level. The Council of Europe and the European Union, different roles, Council of Europe conventions/treaties are also open for signature to non-member states, thus facilitating equal co-operation with countries outside Europe. The Convention created the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the Court supervises compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and thus functions as the highest European court. It is to court that Europeans can bring cases if they believe that a member country has violated their fundamental rights. The various activities and achievements of the Council of Europe can be found in detail on its official website, Promotion of the right to education under Article 2 of the first Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights and several conventions on the recognition of university studies and diplomas. Promotion of fair sport through the Anti-Doping Convention Promotion of European youth exchanges and co-operation through European Youth Centres in Strasbourg and Budapest, Promotion of the quality of medicines throughout Europe by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Pharmacopoeia. The institutions of the Council of Europe are, The Secretary General, mr Thorbjørn Jagland, the former Prime Minister of Norway was elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe in September 2009. In June 2014, he was re-elected, and his term in office commenced on 1 October 2014
20.
Strasbourg
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Strasbourg is the capital and largest city of the Grand Est region of France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany in the region of Alsace. In 2014, the city proper had 276,170 inhabitants, Strasbourgs metropolitan area had a population of 773,347 in 2013, making it the ninth largest metro area in France and home to 13% of the Grand Est regions inhabitants. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 915,000 inhabitants in 2014, Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is also the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, Strasbourgs historic city centre, the Grande Île, was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. The largest Islamic place of worship in France, the Strasbourg Grand Mosque, was inaugurated by French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on 27 September 2012. Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail, the port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany. Before the 5th century, the city was known as Argantorati, a Celtic Gaulish name Latinized first as Argentorate, after the 5h century, the city became known by a completely different name Gallicized as Strasbourg. That name is of Germanic origin and means Town of roads, Strasbourg is situated on the eastern border of France with Germany. This border is formed by the River Rhine, which forms the eastern border of the modern city. The historic core of Strasbourg however lies on the Grande Île in the River Ill, which flows parallel to, and roughly 4 kilometres from. The natural courses of the two eventually join some distance downstream of Strasbourg, although several artificial waterways now connect them within the city. This section of the Rhine valley is an axis of north-south travel, with river traffic on the Rhine itself. The city is some 400 kilometres east of Paris, in spite of its position far inland, Strasbourgs climate is classified as Oceanic, with warm, relatively sunny summers and cold, overcast winters. Precipitation is elevated from mid-spring to the end of summer, but remains largely constant throughout the year, on average, snow falls 30 days per year. The highest temperature recorded was 38.5 °C in August 2003. The lowest temperature recorded was −23.4 °C in December 1938. Nonetheless, the disappearance of heavy industry on both banks of the Rhine, as well as effective measures of traffic regulation in and around the city have reduced air pollution
21.
Australian Capital Territory
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The Australian Capital Territory is the federal district in the south east of Australia, enclaved within New South Wales. Its only city is Canberra, the city of Australia. The ACT also has a strip of territory around the southern end of the Beecroft Peninsula. The need for a territory was flagged by colonial delegates during the Federation conventions of the late 19th century. Section 125 of the Australian Constitution provided that, following Federation in 1901, the territory was transferred to the Commonwealth by the state of New South Wales in 1911, two years prior to the naming of Canberra as the national capital in 1913. The floral emblem of the ACT is the royal bluebell and the emblem is the gang-gang cockatoo. The economic activity of the Australian Capital Territory is heavily concentrated around Canberra and this trend continued into 2016, when the territory was ranked the third best performing out of all of Australias states and territories. There is a proportion of young adults in the region compared with other Australian states or territories. Approximately one-fifth of ACT residents were born outside of Australia, mainly in the United Kingdom, almost one-fifth speak a language other than English at home, the most common being Chinese. The ACT also has a strip of territory around the southern end of the Beecroft Peninsula. Apart from the city of Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory also contains agricultural land, small townships and communities located within the ACT include Williamsdale, Naas, Uriarra, Tharwa and Hall. There are a range of mountains, rivers and creeks in the Namadgi National Park. These include the Naas and Murrumbidgee Rivers, Canberra is noted for its warm to hot, dry summers, and cold winters with occasional fog and frequent frosts. Many of the mountains in the territorys south-west are snow-covered for at least part of the winter. Thunderstorms can occur between October and March, and annual rainfall is 623 mm, with rainfall highest in spring and summer, the highest maximum temperature recorded in the ACT was 42.8 °C at Acton on 11 January 1939. The lowest minimum temperature was −14.6 °C at Gudgenby on 11 July 1971, notable geological formations in the Australian Capital Territory include the Canberra Formation, the Pittman Formation, Black Mountain Sandstone and State Circle Shale. In the 1840s fossils of brachiopods and trilobites from the Silurian period were discovered at Woolshed Creek near Duntroon, at the time, these were the oldest fossils discovered in Australia, though this record has now been far surpassed. Other specific geological places of interest include the State Circle cutting, the oldest rocks in the ACT date from the Ordovician around 480 million years ago
22.
Canberra
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Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of 381,488, it is Australias largest inland city, the city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory,280 km south-west of Sydney, and 660 km north-east of Melbourne. A resident of Canberra is known as a Canberran, the site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nations capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australias two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being a planned city outside of any state, similar to Washington, D. C. in the United States. Following an international contest for the design, a blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected. The Griffins plan featured geometric motifs such as circles, hexagons and triangles, the citys design was influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title of the bush capital. Although the Australian Capital Territory is now self-governing, the Commonwealth Government retains some influence through the National Capital Authority, the Australian Armys officer corps is trained at the Royal Military College, Duntroon and the Australian Defence Force Academy is also located in the capital. The ACT is independent of any state to prevent any one state from gaining an advantage by hosting the seat of Commonwealth power, the ACT has voting representation in the Commonwealth Parliament, and has its own independent Legislative Assembly and government, similar to the states. Compared to the averages, the unemployment rate is lower. Property prices are high, in part due to comparatively restrictive development regulations. An 1830s map of the region by Major Mitchell indeed does mark the Sullivans Creek floodplain between two mountains as Nganbra. Nganbra or Nganbira could readily have been anglicised to the name Canberry, survey plans of the district dated 1837 refer to the area as the Canberry Plain. Although popularly pronounced /ˈkænbərə/ or /ˈkænbɛrə/, the pronunciation at its official naming in 1913 was /ˈkæn. brə/. Before white settlement, the area in which Canberra would eventually be constructed was seasonally inhabited by Indigenous Australians, archaeological evidence of settlement in the region includes inhabited rock shelters, rock paintings and engravings, burial places, camps and quarry sites, and stone tools and arrangements. Artefacts suggests early human activity occurred at some point in the area 21,000 years previously, European exploration and settlement started in the Canberra area as early as the 1820s. There were four expeditions between 1820 and 1824, white settlement of the area probably dates from 1823, when a homestead or station was built on what is now the Acton peninsula by stockmen employed by Joshua John Moore. He formally applied to purchase the site on 16 December 1826, on 30 April 1827, Moore was told by letter that he could retain possession of 1,000 acres at Canberry. The European population in the Canberra area continued to grow throughout the 19th century
23.
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
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The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory. It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building located on Civic Square, the Assembly was created by four acts of the Commonwealth Parliament in 1988, including the Australian Capital Territory Act 1988. The first election was held on 4 March 1989 and the assembly first sat on 11 May that year, until this point, the ACT had been directly administered by the Commonwealth Government. It replaced the House of Assembly, which existed from 1976 to 1986, since October 2016, the Legislative Assembly has had five members elected from each of five electorates, Brindabella, Ginninderra, Kurrajong, Murrumbidgee and Yerrabi. Members are elected for four-year terms by the Hare-Clark system, a variation of the Single Transferable Vote form of proportional representation, previously the Legislative Assembly had 17 members elected from three electorates—Brindabella and Ginninderra, which each had five members, and Molonglo, which had seven members. In 2014 the Assembly voted to expand the number of members, the Assembly was originally elected by a modified dHondt system, but a 1992 referendum supported the Hare-Clark method, and this was introduced in the 1995 election. Members of the Legislative Assembly vote to elect a Chief Minister—in practice, the Chief Minister, in turn, selects up to seven ministers to form a cabinet. The leader of the second-largest party in the Assembly usually becomes the Leader of the Opposition, election dates for the Assembly are fixed in legislation, with elections held on the third Saturday in October every four years. The term of the Assembly was increased in 2004 from three to four years, the next election is due on 17 October 2020. Unlike the legislatures of the mainland states and territories, the Assembly also has the functions of a local council. The ACT is unique among Australian states and territories, as it has no vice-regal post exercising authority as the representative of the Head of State, the Governor-General of Australia serves as the representative of the Crown in the ACT. However, the functions of the head of the Executive—commissioning government, proroguing parliament and enacting legislation—are exercised by the Assembly itself and by the Chief Minister. Instead of vice-regal or regal assent, a Bill passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly is enacted on notification—publication in the Government Gazette of a notice authorised by the Chief Minister. As with the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, the ACT Legislative Assembly lacks the full powers of a state legislature, for example, legislation passed by the Assembly can still be overridden by Australian Commonwealth legislation under the Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment Act 2011. Although this is rare in practice, the Civil Unions Act 2006, in July 2006, the Federal Government again threatened to overrule the ACT Stanhope Governments anti-terror legislation, which was not consistent with other state laws. The Commonwealth also retained control of the Territorys justice system until handing it over to the Assembly in 1992. Australian Capital Territory general election,2016 In this diagram, the red, blue and green squares indicate assembly members who belong to the ALP, the Liberal Party,13 votes as a majority are required to pass legislation. Human Rights Act 2004 Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Parliaments of the Australian states and territories Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory
24.
Bill Shorten
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Shorten led Labor at the 2016 federal election at which the Liberal/National Coalition retained majority government. Following the 2010 federal election he was elevated to Cabinet and served as Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, from June 2013 he served as Minister for Education and Minister for Workplace Relations until the defeat of the Rudd Government later that year. Prior to entering Parliament, he was the secretary of the Australian Workers Union from 2001 to 2007. He was also the president of the Labor Party in his state of Victoria. Shorten was born in Melbourne, where his father, William Robert Shorten—from Tyneside, England—was a waterside worker and his mother, Ann Shorten, was a lawyer and university academic of Irish descent. Shorten has a brother, Robert. Shorten was educated at St Marys Catholic Primary School in Malvern East, Xavier College and Monash University and he also gained a Master of Business Administration from Melbourne Business School at the University of Melbourne in 2001. In 1994, Shorten began his career as a trainee organiser under the ACTUs Organising Works program at the AWU. Before taking this post, Shorten had decided to enter Victorian state politics, however, he quickly gave this up to pursue his career with the union. His time as secretary was marked by a reform of the unions structures, Shorten was elected as the AWUs national secretary in 2001 and was re-elected in 2005. He resigned as Victorian state secretary of the AWU in August 2007 and he was an active member of the Labor Party and was a member of the partys national executive until 2011, as well as the administrative committee of the Victorian branch. He was also director of the Superannuation Trust of Australia and the Victorian Funds Management Corporation, from December 2005 until May 2008 he was the Victorian state president of the Labor Party. He was also a member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions executive, until early 2006, he was a board member of GetUp. org. au. During his time as AWU national secretary, Shorten was the chief executive of the Australian Netball Players Association. Shorten also served on the board of the Australian Cricketers Association. Shorten became active in the Labor Party while still a student, working part-time for federal Labor Minister Gareth Evans and he also worked for Bill Landeryou, Minister and later Leader of the Government in the Victorian Legislative Council during the Kirner Labor Government. After graduating, he worked for eighteen months as a lawyer for Maurice Blackburn Cashman, in 2005, Shorten announced that he would seek selection as the Labor candidate for the seat of Maribyrnong, which was already held by Labor MP and Shadow Minister Bob Sercombe. Justifying his challenge to an incumbent Labor MP, Shorten said. we havent won an election since 1993
25.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
26.
States of Austria
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Austria is a federal republic made up of nine states, known in German as Länder. Since Land is also the German word for country, the term Bundesländer is often used instead to avoid ambiguity, the Constitution of Austria uses both terms. In English, the land is commonly rendered as state or province. The other five states, in contrast, are located in the Alps and their terrain is also relatively unfavourable to heavy industry and long-distance trade. Accordingly, the population of what now is the Republic of Austria has been concentrated in the four states since prehistoric times. Austrias most densely populated state is the city-state of Vienna, the heart of what is Austrias only metropolitan area, Lower Austria ranks fourth with regard to population density even though containing Viennas suburbs, this is due to large areas of land being predominantly agricultural. The wealthy alpine state of Vorarlberg is something of a due to its small size, isolated location. The following ranked list of Austrian states cites official Statistik Austria population on 1 January 2015, areas are given in square kilometres, population density is expressed in inhabitants per square kilometre. For the purpose of the above list, a city is a community defined to be a city by Austrian law, many of Austrias cities have population figures on the order of ten thousand inhabitants, some are even smaller. Elections are held five years. The Landeshauptmann is always elected by the Landtag, meaning that it may be necessary to form a coalition in order to secure the election of a particular candidate. Vienna, the capital of Austria, plays a role as city and Bundesland, meaning that the mayor serves as governor. Austrian federalism is largely theoretical as the states are granted few legislative powers, there is also no judiciary of the Länder, since the federal constitution defines the judiciary as an exclusively federal matter. This centralisation follows a model where central power during the time of the empire was largely concentrated in Vienna. However, the governor is in charge of the administration of much of federal administrative law within the respective state. Furthermore, state competences include zoning laws, planning issues and public procurement on the regional level, Austrian Länder are endowed formally and practically with a much smaller degree of autonomy than American or German states. Even so, Austrians tend to identify passionately with their respective Land and it is not unheard of for Austrians to consider themselves, for instance, Tyrolean first, Austrian second. Salzburg is coterminous with the former Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Salzburg, also, the state of Vorarlberg had been a semi-autonomous part of the County of Tyrol since 1861
27.
Burgenland
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Burgenland is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two cities and seven rural districts, with in total 171 municipalities. It is 166 km long north to south but much narrower from west to east. The region is part of the Centrope Project, Burgenland is the seventh largest of Austrias nine states, or Bundesländer, at 3,962 km2. The highest point in the province is Geschriebenstein, at 884 metres above sea level, Burgenland borders the Austrian state of Styria to the southwest, and the state of Lower Austria to the northwest. To the east it borders Hungary, in the extreme north and south there are short borders with Slovakia and Slovenia respectively. Burgenland and Hungary share the Neusiedler See, a known for its reeds and shallowness. The Neusiedler See is Austrias largest lake, and is a great tourist attraction, bringing ornithologists, sailors, Burgenlands state assembly has 36 seats. The provincial government is a coalition of the SPÖ and the FPÖ, the voting age for regional elections in Burgenland was reduced to 16 in 2003. Burgenland consists of nine districts, two cities and seven rural districts. From north to south, These combine the attributes of district, Burgenland is the only Austrian state which has never been part of the Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire, German Confederation nor Austria-Hungarys Cisleithania. The first Indo-European peoples appeared in this region around 3300 BC, from the 4th century BC, the area was dominated by Celts and in the 1st century AD it became part of the Roman Empire. During Roman administration, it was part of the province of Pannonia, during the late Roman Empire, Pannonia Prima province was part of larger administrative units, such are Diocese of Pannonia, Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum and Praetorian prefecture of Italy. The first Germanic people to settle in this region were the Ostrogoths, the Ostrogoths became allies of Rome and were allowed to settle in Pannonia, being tasked to defend the Roman borders. In the 5th century, the area was conquered by the Huns, but after their defeat, in the 6th century, the territory was included in another Germanic state, the Kingdom of the Lombards. However, the Lombards subsequently left towards Italy and the area came under the control of the Avars, briefly in the 7th century, the area was part of the Slavic State of Samo, but was subsequently returned to Avar control. After the Avar defeat at the end of the 8th century, after the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, new Germanic settlers came to the area. On 20 September 1058 Agnes of Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary, whose son married a daughter of Agnes of Poitou
28.
Carinthia
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Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps, it is noted for its mountains and its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carinthian Slovene dialects, which predominated in the part of the region up to the first half of the 20th century, are now spoken by a small minority. Carinthias main industries are tourism, electronics, engineering, forestry, the multinational corporations Philips, Infineon and Siemens have large operations there. The etymology of the name “Carinthia”, similar to Carnia or Carniola, has not been conclusively established, the Ravenna Cosmography referred to a Slavic “Carantani” tribe as the eastern neighbours of the Bavarians. In his History of the Lombards, the 8th century chronicler Paul the Deacon mentions “Slavs in Carnuntum, likewise the Slovene name *korǫtanъ may have been adopted from the Latin *carantanum. The toponym Carinthia is also claimed to be related, deriving from pre-Slavic *carantia. The state stretches about 180 km in east-west and 70 km in north-south direction, with 9,536 km2 it is the fifth largest Austrian state by area. Most of the larger Carinthian towns and lakes are situated within the Klagenfurt Basin in the southeast and these Lower Carinthian lands differ from the mountainous Upper Carinthian region in the northwest, stretching up to the Alpine crest. The Carinthian lands are confined by mountain ranges, the Carnic Alps, the High Tauern mountain range with Mt Grossglockner,3,797 m, separates it from the state of Salzburg in the northwest. To the northeast and east beyond the Pack Saddle mountain pass is the state of Styria, the main river of Carinthia is the Drava, it makes up a continuous valley with East Tyrol to the west. Tributaries are the Gurk, the Glan, the Lavant, carinthias lakes including Wörther See, Millstätter See, Ossiacher See, and Faaker See are a major tourist attraction. The capital city is Klagenfurt, which in Slovenian is called Celovec, the next important town is Villach, both strongly linked economically. While some of these Slovene place names are official designations, the majority are Slovene colloquial usage, Carinthia has a humid continental climate, with hot and moderately wet summers and long harsh winters. In recent decades, winters have been exceptionally arid, the summer precipitation maxima often takes the form of heavy rain and thunderstorms, especially in the mountainous regions. The main Alpine ridge in the north is a divide with pronounced windward and leeward sides where foehn occurs regularly. Due to the terrain, numerous distinct microclimates exist. Nevertheless, the amount of sunshine hours is the highest of all states in Austria
29.
Styria
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Styria is a state or Bundesland, located in the southeast of Austria. In area it is the second largest of the nine Austrian federated states and it borders Slovenia and the Austrian states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Burgenland, and Carinthia. The capital city is Graz which had 276,526 inhabitants at the beginning of 2015, the March of Styria derived its name from the original seat of its ruling Otakar dynasty, Steyr, in todays Upper Austria. In German, the area is still called Steiermark while in English the Latin name Styria is used, the ancient link between Steyr and Styria is also apparent in their nearly identical coats of arms, a white Panther on a green background. The term Upper Styria used by an Austrian refers to the northern and northwestern parts of the federal-state, the term West Styria is used for the districts to the west of Graz, the districts east of Graz are referred to as East Styria. The western and eastern parts of the district Graz-Umgebung may or may not be considered parts of West and East Styria, the southern parts of the Duchy of Styria, which have formed part of Yugoslavia or Slovenia since 1918, were referred to as Lower Styria. During early Roman times, Styria was inhabited by Celtic tribes, after its conquest by the Romans, the eastern part of what is now Styria was part of Pannonia, while the western one was included in Noricum. During the Barbarian invasions, it was conquered or crossed by the Visigoths, the Huns, the Ostrogoths, the Rugii, the Lombards, the Franks, in 595 the latter were defeated by the Slavs, who thenceforth ruled it. In 1180 Styria separated from the Duchy of Carinthia and became a Grand Duchy of its own, after the hereditary subdivision of the latter, Styria formed the central part of Inner Austria. Styria developed culturally and economically under John, Archduke of Inner Austria between 1809 and 1859, as elsewhere in the developed world, there has been a shift away from the manufacturing sector towards the service sector in Styria. This has had consequences for the industrial regions of upper Styria which have suffered a steady decline in population in recent years. Styria is home to more than 150 clean technology companies, of one dozen are world technology leaders in their field. The revenue of Styrian cleantech companies totals €2.7 billion and this equals to 8 percent of the Gross Regional Product, and is one of the highest concentrations of leading clean technology companies in Europe. The companies have a growth rate of 22 percent per year—well above the worldwide cleantech market growth of 18 percent per year. The region created roughly 2,000 additional green jobs in 2008 alone, the state is divided into 13 districts, one of them a statutory city. Graz however is a stronghold of the left-wing Communist Party, the governor has usually been an ÖVP member. In these elections, the KPÖ also received votes after it had gained much popularity through its role in local politics in Graz during the preceding few years. The two right-wing populist parties, the Freedom Party of Austria and the Alliance for the Future of Austria, gebirgsdivision Robert Stolz, composer born in Graz Getty Kaspers, lead vocals of Dutch band Teach-In, who won the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest
30.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
31.
Salzburg (state)
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Salzburg is a state of Austria. It is officially named Land Salzburg, colloquially Salzburgerland, to distinguish it from its eponymous capital, by its centuries-long history as an independent Prince-Bishopric, Salzburgs tradition differs from the other Austrian lands. It is located in the north of the country, close to the border with the German state of Bavaria. It is surrounded by the Austrian lands of Upper Austria in the northeast, by Styria in the east, by Carinthia in the south as well as by Tyrol, South Tyrol and East Tyrol in the southwest. With 529,085 inhabitants, it is one of the smaller states in terms of population. Running through the south are the ranges of the Alpine divide with numerous three-thousanders. The Dachstein massif and the Berchtesgaden Alps ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps border Salzburg Land to the east, the state is traditionally subdivided in five major regions, congruent with its political districts. Tennengau, named after the Tennen Mountains, including the broad Salzach Valley south of Salzburg, the southern, mountainous part is divided into, Pinzgau in the southwest, Pongau on Salzach and Enns, and Lungau in the southeast, separated by the Niedere Tauern range. Salzburg municipalities with town privileges, Wals-Siezenheim, a municipality with about 12,000 inhabitants, is known as Austrias largest village. Salt has played an important role in the development, Salzburg means salt castle. Independence from Bavaria was secured in the late 14th century, the Archbishopric of Salzburg was an independent prince-bishopric and State of the Holy Roman Empire until German Mediatisation in 1813. The territory was secularized and, as the Electorate of Salzburg, given as compensation to Ferdinand III, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, after Austrias defeat in 1809, the province was handed over to Bavaria in 1810. The Salzburger Land was administered as the department of Salzach from Linz, in 1849 the Duchy of Salzburg was established as a crown land of the Austrian Empire and, after 1866, Austria-Hungary. Salzburg participated in World War I, as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,49,000 Salzburgers were called to arms, of whom 6,000 were killed. After the plebiscite of 1938, Salzburg and all the territory of Austria was annexed to the Third Reich, after the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the Allies occupied the territory of Austria, being recognized as an independent territory under their rule. Salzburg was occupied by the United States, in 1955 Austria was again declared independent of the Allies and Salzburg was once again one of the reconstituted federal-states of the second Republik Österreich. Salzburg has its own state constitution since 1999, the state government is headed by a Landeshauptmann governor, who is elected by a majority in the Landtag parliament. State elections are held five years
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Austrian legislative election, 2006
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The 2006 general election for the National Council in Austria was held on 1 October 2006. Following the Austrian legislative election,1999, the Austrian Peoples Party had formed a government with the Austrian Freedom Party. As a result of the 2006 election, the coalition lost their majority in parliament. After three months of negotiations, it was announced on January 8 that the SPÖ and ÖVP would form a grand coalition, the Austrian Peoples Party contested the election with Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel as its leader. It was the first federal election in Austria since 1970 the party entered as strongest party, slogans used by the party in the campaign were Secure. They also attacked the Social Democratic Party, attesting them a lack of economic competence, the ÖVP cited a rising number of academics and shorter study periods, according to them because of the introduction of tuition fees, as some of their successes. The Social Democratic Party was led by Alfred Gusenbauer in the election campaign and they also criticized the abolishment of the Ministry for Women and promised to abolish tuition fees for universities. After coming in first in polls for a long time. On 3 September 2006 the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Forum formed an alliance with the goal to prevent a further ÖVP-led government. The Freedom Party of Austria campaigned with party leader Heinz-Christian Strache as their leading candidate, media considered the initiative Stay free Austria as start of their campaign. Leading candidate for the Green Party was party leader Alexander Van der Bellen, the Greens started their pre-election campaign in May 2006 with the presentation of two Black Books. The Black Book black concentrated on their criticism of the Peoples Party government and they stated abolishment of tuition fees for universities and cancelling the order for Eurofighter as conditions for entering a government. The BZÖ entered the campaign with Peter Westenthaler, former leader of the Freedom Party. Peter Westenthaler was elected as party leader on a special party summit on 23 June 2006, the party contested the election as The Freedom-minded – Westenthalers List – BZÖ. After the Freedom Party obtained an injunction, the BZÖ had to remove the phrase The Freedom-minded from its billboards – it remained on ballot papers nonetheless. The party presented a programme with the title 10 points against a shift to the left in Austria. Policies included, lowering of number of foreigners by 30%, limits for the share of non-native German speakers in classes and termination of the European Unions accession talks with Turkey. On 25 September, six days before the election, Minister of Justice Karin Gastinger, deputy leader of the BZÖ, as reason for her decision she stated that she doesn’t want to be active in a political movement that is xenophobic, that operates with fear
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Social Democratic Party of Austria
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The Social Democratic Party of Austria is a social-democratic political party in Austria. The SPÖ has ties to the Austrian Trade Union Federation and the Austrian Chamber of Labour, Socialist and workers movements and associations had already started to form in Austria by the mid-19th century. The partys first meeting place in 1874 in Neudörfl in what later became Burgenland. The following years saw factional infighting, and the party split into moderate and it was united in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers Party of Austria through the work of Doctor Victor Adler. At the party congress in Hainfeld, the party decided to accept Adlers Declaration of Principles on 30 December 1888,1 January 1889 is therefore considered the partys founding date. On 12 July 1889 the first issue of the party newspaper the Arbeiter-Zeitung was printed, initially close to Marxism, the party continued to grow especially in Vienna and the industrial areas of Bohemia, Moravia, Styria, Lower Austria and Upper Austria. The party participated in the founding of the Second International in Paris on 14 July 1889, the party campaigned for more rights for workers, including their right to vote. In the Brünner Programm of September 1899, the Socialists demanded that the Austro-Hungarian Empire be reformed into a democratic state. The Social Democrats were allowed to run in the City Council elections of Vienna on 30 May 1890, in Trieste the Italian-speaking Social Democratic League decided at its congress in December 1897 to change its name to Adriatic Italian Section of the Social Democratic Workers Party of Austria. Notably, the Trieste Socialists preferred to use the label socialist rather than social democrat, in 1907, after a general strike, universal suffrage was granted. In the elections to the House of Deputies in the Reichsrat, out of a total of 516 seats, the party won 87 seats, becoming the second strongest fraction in parliament after the Christian Social Party. Eventually, by 1911, the Socialists became the strongest party in parliament, after the death of Emperor Franz Joseph, the first peace-meeting was held in December 1916. By January 1918, strikes were breaking out, calling for an end of the war, the Social Democrats wanted a new form of government and, on 12 November 1918, the republic was proclaimed by Renner. Renners government introduced an eight-hour workday and paid holidays, the party had moderate success in the 1920s, but its conflict with right wing forces escalated until it was defeated in the Austrian Civil War. The first republic was founded on principles from Machiavellis The Prince. The SDAPÖ played an important role in the establishment of the First Republic, on November 11,1918, Emperor Charles I relinquished his right to take part in Austrian affairs of state. The following day Karl Renner was declared Chancellor of the Republic of German-Austria, the party clearly wanted to steer Austria towards political union with Germany, calling the new Austrian republic Deutsch-Österreich. But the Treaty of St. Germain clearly forbade any unification between Austria and Germany, the SDAPÖ nevertheless still advocated such a union during the existence of the First Republic, as they hoped for a strengthening of their position and the socialist cause within a Greater Germany
34.
Austrian People's Party
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The Austrian Peoples Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Austria. In federal governance, the ÖVP is currently the smaller partner in a government with the SPÖ. The Austrian Peoples Party is conservative, for the first election after World War II, ÖVP presented itself as the Austrian Party, was decidedly anti-Marxist and regarded itself as the Party of the Centre. The ÖVPs economic policies during the era generally upheld a social market economy, with regard to foreign affairs it strongly supports European integration. Over the last two decades, the Peoples Party has also adopted a more environmentalist stance than other conservative parties. The Austrian Peoples Party is popular mainly amongst white-collar workers, owners of large and small businesses, in particular, it receives the backing of a majority of Austrias civil servants, a remarkably large and influential group due to the size and scope of Austrias government bureaucracy. Austrias blue-collar workers, by comparison, tend to endorse the Social Democratic Party, all in all, Peoples Party supporters are comparatively educated and affluent. While still sometimes honored by ÖVP members for resisting Hitler, the built by Dollfuß was authoritarian in nature and has been dubbed as Austrofascism. In its present form, the Peoples Party was established immediately after the restoration of Austrias independence in 1945, it has been represented in both the Federal Assembly ever since. In terms of Federal Assembly seats, the Peoples Party has consistently been the strongest or second-strongest party, as such, at the state level, the Peoples Party has long dominated the rural states of Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg. It is less popular in the city state of Vienna and in the rural but less strongly Catholic states of Burgenland and Carinthia. In 2004 it lost its plurality in the State of Salzburg, the ÖVP won a sweeping victory in Austrias first postwar election, in December 1945, winning almost half the popular vote and an absolute majority in the legislature. It remained the senior partner in coalition until 1966. Although the FPÖ was the larger of the two, it was considered far too controversial to lead a government, so the ÖVPs Wolfgang Schüssel became chancellor. This caused widespread outrage in Europe, and the European Union imposed informal diplomatic sanctions on Austria, bilateral relations were frozen, including contacts and meetings at an inter-governmental level, and Austrian candidates would not be supported for posts in EU international offices. Austria, in turn, threatened to veto all applications by countries for EU membership until the sanctions were lifted, a few months later, these sanctions were dropped as a result of a fact-finding mission by three former European prime ministers, the so-called three wise men. In November 2002, the 2002 legislative election resulted in a victory for the Peoples Party under Schüssel. Haiders Freedom Party was reduced to 10. 16% of the vote, after the Alliance for the Future of Austria had split from the FPÖ in 2005, so that they could continue their coalition together with the Peoples Party until 2007
35.
Constitution of Austria
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The Austrian Federal Constitution is the body of all constitutional law of the Republic of Austria on the federal level. It is split up over many different acts and its centerpiece is the Federal Constitutional Law, which includes the most important federal constitutional provisions. Apart from the B-VG, there are a number of other constitutional acts. For example, the B-VG does not include a bill of rights, over time, both the B-VG and the numerous pieces of constitutional law supplementing it have undergone literally hundreds of minor and major amendments and revisions. The B-VG was based on a draft by Hans Kelsen and first enacted on October 1,1920. Since political agreement over a bill of rights could not be reached, originally, the B-VG was very parliamentarian in character. The prerogative to enact law was to lie with a strong parliament. The responsibility for implementing law was to reside with a cabinet headed by a chancellor, a relatively weak president, who was elected by both houses, was to serve as head of state. In 1929, the constitution underwent a revision significantly broadening the prerogatives of the president, in particular, the president from then on was to be elected directly by the people rather than by the members of the legislature. The president was also to be vested with the authority to dissolve the parliament and he also had the authority to formally appoint the chancellor and the cabinet. Although the president was vested with powers comparable to those of the President of the United States, the Austrofascist constitution was in force until Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, ceasing to exist as a sovereign state. The Constitution of Austria was eventually reinstated on May 1,1945, the modifications enacted in 1929 were not then rescinded, and essentially remain in effect until this day, although the constitution has been heavily modified and amended since then. In area, the Republic of Austria is slightly smaller than Maine, Scotland, or Hokkaidō and home to an ethnically and culturally homogeneous population of eight and a half million people. Given that more than one fifth of its inhabitants are concentrated in the city of Vienna and its suburbs, the state constitutions congruently define the states to be unicameral parliamentary democracies, each state has a legislature elected by popular vote and a cabinet appointed by its legislature. The federal constitution defines Austria itself as a parliamentary democracy with near-complete separation of powers. Austrias government structure is highly similar to that of incomparably larger federal republics such as Germany or the United States. This is also true for the system, which is exclusively federal in Austria. Federal legislative powers are vested with a body the constitution refers to as a parliament, as a practical matter, however, it continues to function as a parliament anyway
36.
Austrian Parliament
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The Austrian Parliament is the bicameral legislature in Austria. It consists of two chambers, the National Council and the Federal Council, in specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly. The legislature meets in the Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna, the National Council is composed of 183 members elected through proportional representation in a general election. The legislative period lasts five years, elections are held if the National Council prematurely moves for its own dissolution. The National Council is the dominant house in the Austrian Parliament, the Federal Council is elected indirectly, through the provincial assemblies of the nine States of the Federal Republic, and reflects the distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage. The states are represented in the Federal Council roughly in accordance to the size of their populations, seats are redistributed among the states following each general census, and the overall size of the chamber varies slightly as a result. The current Federal Council is composed of 61 delegates, with regard to most issues, the Federal Council only possesses a dilatory right of veto which can be overridden by the National Council. However, the Federal Council enjoys absolute veto powers over bills intended to alter the powers of either the states, the Federal Assembly is a body whose function is mostly ceremonial in nature, and consists of the members of both houses of Parliament. The Federal Assembly convenes only rarely, for instance to witness the inauguration of the Federal President and it might be noted, however, that under exceptional circumstances the Austrian constitution endows the Federal Assembly with significant responsibilities. An example of this would be its pivotal role in the impeachment of a Federal President. Both houses of Parliament, as well as the Federal Assembly, constitution of Austria Austrian Parliament Building Imperial Council Imperial Diet The Austrian Parliament - Official Homepage
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National Council (Austria)
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The National Council is one of the two houses of the Austrian Parliament and is frequently referred to as the lower house. The constitution endows the National Council far more power than the Federal Council, the National Council is where Austrias federal legislative authority is concentrated, for a bill to become federal law, it must be resolved upon by this chamber. Bills passed by the National Council are sent to the Federal Council for corroboration, if the Federal Council approves of the bill or simply does nothing for eight weeks, the bill has succeeded. In other words, the Federal Council does not have any power to prevent adoption of legislation. The approval of the National Council is also required for most of the prerogatives of the Federal Assembly to be exercised. For example, motions to call for a referendum aimed at having the President removed from office by the electorate, only motions to impeach the President can also be from the Federal Council. National Council elections are general elections, the nine regional electoral districts are subdivided into a total of 43 local electoral districts. Political parties submit separate ranked lists of candidates for district, regional or local. They also submit a federal-level list, votes cast are first counted within their local electoral districts. Since there are 43 local districts but 183 seats to fill, the number of votes required to win one seat is simply the number of votes divided by the number of seats assigned to the district in question. For example, if 150,000 votes are cast in a local district. If a party has scored 61,000 votes out of the 150,000 votes cast, since 60,000 votes would have been sufficient to win two seats,1000 votes are left unaccounted for by this first round of tallying. Any vote not accounted for on the level is dealt with on the regional level. Any vote not accounted for on the level either is dealt with on the federal level. The DHondt method is used to allocate any National Council seats remaining to be filled, in addition to voting for a party list, voters may express preference for one individual candidate. It is not possible, however, to vote for party X. In practice, however, Austrias President plays no role in the administration, which is left to the Chancellor and Cabinet, which are dependent on the confidence of the National Council. While the President has the authority to dissolve a hostile National Council
38.
Postal voting
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As postal votes must be distributed and placed in return mail before the scheduled election day, it is sometimes referred to as a form of early voting. It can also be used as an absentee ballot, Postal voting is generally available to voters upon application, sometimes with restrictions. If no reason for a request is required, it may be called postal vote on demand, Postal voting may be an option for voters in some jurisdictions, while in some elections there may be all-postal voting. A form of voting was introduced in Western Australia in 1877. There have been cases of fraud with postal votes in the United Kingdom. Voting at elections originally took place by way of a show of hands or by a public ballot. The right to vote by ballot was introduced by the Parliamentary. After this voting took place at polling stations where voters marked their votes in secret, armed forces still serving overseas at the end of World War I were allowed to vote by post, and permanent arrangements were made for proxy voting by servicemen. The Representation of the People Act 1945 again made temporary provision for postal voting by service voters, all had to provide an address in the UK to which ballot papers could be sent. Service personnel could, alternatively, vote by proxy if they were likely to be at sea or abroad on polling day, in 1983, in its review of electoral law, the Home Affairs Select Committee criticised the categories of absent voters who were allowed to vote by post. The Committee also called for voters absent on holiday to have the right to apply for a postal vote, the Representation of the People Act 1985 subsequently made provision for these extensions to the right to apply for an absent vote. Further amendments were made to the rules governing absent voting in the Representation of the People Act 1989, by 1999 the system of postal and proxy voting for those unable to vote at polling stations was seen as cumbersome and complex. A Working Party on Electoral Procedures chaired by George Howarth, Minister of State at the Home Office, the Representation of the People Regulations 2001 introduced the changes to the absent voting arrangements from 16 February 2001. The main change was to allow postal voting on demand, all-postal voting is a variant of postal voting, where all electors receive their ballot papers through the post. Depending on the applied, electors may have to return their ballot papers by post. There is some evidence that this method of voting leads to higher turnout than one where people vote in person or have to apply for a postal vote. Critics suggest that this is only a temporary impact, and that there are dangers in people using ballot papers intended for other electors, france had absentee voting until the 1970s, when it was abolished because they were classified as a security risk in terms of vote-rigging. Since 2001 Italian citizens living abroad have the right to vote by mail in all referendums, in Malaysia, only teachers, military personnel, and policemen based away from their constituencies are eligible to submit postal votes
39.
Age of candidacy
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Age of candidacy is the minimum age at which a person can legally qualify to hold certain elected government offices. In many cases, it determines the age at which a person may be eligible to stand for an election or be granted ballot access. The first known example of a law enforcing age of candidacy was the Lex Villia Annalis, many youth rights groups view current age of candidacy requirements as unjustified age discrimination. Occasionally people who are younger than the age will run for an office in protest of the requirement or because they dont know that the requirement exists. On extremely rare occasions, young people have elected to offices they do not qualify for and have been deemed ineligible to assume the office. In 1934, Rush Holt of West Virginia was elected to the Senate of the United States at the age of 29. Constitution requires senators to be at least 30, Holt was forced to wait until his 30th birthday, six months after the start of the session, in 1954, Richard Fulton won election to the Tennessee Senate. Shortly after being sworn in, Fulton was ousted from office because he was only 27 years old at the time, the Tennessee State Constitution required that senators be at least 30. Rather than hold a new election, the incumbent, Clifford Allen, was allowed to resume his office for another term. Fulton went on to win the next State Senate election in 1956 and was elected to the US House of Representatives where he served for 10 years. In South Carolina, two Senators aged 24 were elected, but were too young according to the State Constitution, Mike Laughlin in 1969, on several occasions, the Socialist Workers Party has nominated candidates too young to qualify for the offices they were running for. In 1972, Linda Jenness ran as the SWP presidential candidate, Constitution requires that the President and Vice President be at least 35 years old, Jenness was not able to receive ballot access in several states in which she otherwise qualified. Despite this handicap, Jenness still received 83,380 votes, in 2004, the SWP nominated Arrin Hawkins as the partys vice-presidential candidate, although she was only 28 at the time. Hawkins was also unable to receive ballot access in several states due to her age, in the United States, many groups have attempted to lower age of candidacy requirements in various states. In 1994, South Dakota voters rejected a measure that would have lowered the age requirements to serve as a State Senator or State Representative from 25 to 18. In 1998, however, they approved a ballot measure that reduced the age requirements for those offices from 25 to 21. In 2002, Oregon voters rejected a measure that would have reduced the age requirement to serve as a State Representative from 21 to 18. During the early 2000s, the British Youth Council and other groups campaigned to lower age of candidacy requirements in the United Kingdom
40.
Federal Council (Austria)
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The Federal Council (German, Bundesrat is the second chamber of the Austrian Parliament, representing the nine States of Austria on federal level. As part of a bicameral legislature alongside of the National Council, the Bundesrat has its seat at the Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna, in a conclave of the former Herrenhaus chamber of the Imperial Council. Moreover in most cases a Federal Councils veto is just suspensive, meaning the National Council can override it, therefore, the decisions of the Bundesrat can only delay legislation. Since its inauguration on 10 November 1920, the deputies of Bundesrat have never achieved the status of a counterbalance in relation to the National Council, so far, the concept has been maintained as a manifestation of Austrias federal system. The Federal Council and the National Council, if in joint session, form a parliamentary body. The 61 members of the Federal Council are elected according to proportional representation by each of the Austrian states legislatures for 5- to 6-year terms, the composition of the Bundesrat therefore changes after every state election and the distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage. The second largest faction of the particular Landtag has the right to designate at least one deputy, the number of representatives delegated by each Bundesland ranges between three and twelve, depending on its population as ascertained by a regular census, it is fixed per presidential decree. Federal Assembly Politics of Austria List of legislatures by country
41.
Developed country
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Which criteria are to be used and which countries can be classified as being developed are subjects of debate. Developed countries have post-industrial economies, meaning the sector provides more wealth than the industrial sector. They are contrasted with developing countries, which are in the process of industrialization, or undeveloped countries, which are pre-industrial and almost entirely agrarian. As of 2015, advanced economies comprise 60. 8% of global GDP based on values and 42. 9% of global GDP based on purchasing-power parity according to the International Monetary Fund. In 2015, the ten largest advanced economies by GDP in both nominal and PPP terms were Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The term industrialized country may be ambiguous, as industrialization is an ongoing process that is hard to define. The first industrialized country was the United Kingdom, followed by Belgium, later it spread further to Germany, United States, France and other Western European countries. According to some such as Jeffrey Sachs, however, the current divide between the developed and developing world is largely a phenomenon of the 20th century. Economic criteria have tended to dominate discussions, one such criterion is income per capita, countries with high gross domestic product per capita would thus be described as developed countries. Another economic criterion is industrialization, countries in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors of industry dominate would thus be described as developed. More recently another measure, the Human Development Index, which combines an economic measure, national income, with other measures, indices for life expectancy and this criterion would define developed countries as those with a very high rating. According to the United Nations Statistics Division, There is no established convention for the designation of developed, the UN HDI is a statistical measure that gauges a countrys level of human development. While there is a correlation between having a high HDI score and a prosperous economy, the UN points out that the HDI accounts for more than income or productivity. Unlike GDP per capita or per capita income, the HDI takes into account how income is turned into education and health opportunities, since 1990, Norway, Japan, Canada and Iceland have had the highest HDI score. The top 47 countries have scores ranging from 0.793 in Barbados to 0.955 in Norway, many countries listed by IMF or CIA as advanced, possess an HDI over 0.788. Many countries possessing an HDI of 0.788 and over are also listed by IMF or CIA as advanced, thus, many advanced economies are characterized by an HDI score of 0.9 or higher. Since April 2016, the IMF classifies Macau as an advanced economy, the latest index was released on 14 December 2015 and covers the period up to 2014. The following are the 49 countries in the top quartile - having an HDI above 0.8, = Increase = No increase or decrease = Decrease The number in parentheses represents the number of ranks the country has climbed relative to the ranking in 2014 report
42.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
43.
Constitution of Brazil
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The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil is the supreme law of Brazil. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of Brazil and it provides the framework for the organization of the Brazilian government and for the relationship of the federal government to the states, to citizens, and to all people within Brazil. The current Brazilian Constitution is the seventh enacted since the independence in 1822. It was promulgated on October 5,1988 after a process in which it was written from scratch. Among the new constitutional guarantees are the errand of injunction and the habeas data and it also anticipated the existence of a Consumers Defence Code, of a Childrens and Youth Code and of a new Civil Code. It was the first constitution to demand punishment for breaches of civil liberties. Consequently, Brazil later approved a law making the propagation of prejudice against any minority or ethnic group an unbailable crime and this law provided legal remedy against those who spread hate speech or those who do not treat all citizens equally. This second aspect helped disabled people to have a percentage of jobs in the public service and large companies. The Constitution also established many forms of popular participation besides regular voting, such as plebiscite, referendum. The mention of God in the preamble of the Constitution was opposed by most leftists as incompatible with freedom of religion because it does not recognise the rights of polytheists or atheists. The preamble to the Federal Constitution is an introductory statement that sets out the guiding purpose. The text reads, Title 1 is devoted to the principles of the Republic. This section comprises the base of the Republic, stating the States, the cities and it also establishes three independent, harmonic branches and lists the nationss main goals. One of the most important excerpts from this title is in Article 1, single paragraph, stating and this chapter ensures basic rights to all citizens and aliens, prohibits capital punishment, defines citizenship requirements, political rights, among other regulations. Title 3 regulates the State Organization and this title establishes Brasília as the Nations capital, the rights and duties for the Union, the States and the Cities, as well rules for the public staff. Title 4 disposes about the branches of government and this chapter describes the attributes for every government branch, and the rules for Amendment to the Constitution as well. Title 5 regulates the Defense of the State and its Democratic Institutions and this title rules the deployment of the armed forces, the national security baselines, and declaration of state of siege. Title 6 comprises the Taxation and the nations Budget, such title disposes on tax distribution among the Union components and their competencies, and the Nations budget
44.
Luxembourg
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Luxembourg /ˈlʌksəmbɜːrɡ/, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east and its culture, people and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours, making it essentially a mixture of French and Germanic cultures. It comprises two regions, the Oesling in the north as part of the Ardennes massif. With an area of 2,586 square kilometres, it is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe, Luxembourg had a population of 524,853 in October 2012, ranking it the 8th least-populous country in Europe. As a representative democracy with a monarch, it is headed by a Grand Duke, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a country, with an advanced economy and the worlds highest GDP per capita. Luxembourg is a member of the European Union, OECD, United Nations, NATO, and Benelux, reflecting its political consensus in favour of economic, political. The city of Luxembourg, which is the capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions. Luxembourg served on the United Nations Security Council for the years 2013 and 2014, around this fort, a town gradually developed, which became the centre of a state of great strategic value. In the 14th and early 15th centuries, three members of the House of Luxembourg reigned as Holy Roman Emperors, in the following centuries, Luxembourgs fortress was steadily enlarged and strengthened by its successive occupants, the Bourbons, Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the French. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Luxembourg was disputed between Prussia and the Netherlands and this arrangement was revised by the 1839 First Treaty of London, from which date Luxembourgs full independence is reckoned. In 1842 Luxembourg joined the German Customs Union, the King of the Netherlands remained Head of State as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, maintaining a personal union between the two countries until 1890. At the death of William III, the throne of the Netherlands passed to his daughter Wilhelmina and this allowed Germany the military advantage of controlling and expanding the railways there. In August 1914, Imperial Germany violated Luxembourgs neutrality in the war by invading it in the war against France and this allowed Germany to use the railway lines, while at the same time denying them to France. Nevertheless, despite the German occupation, Luxembourg was allowed to maintain much of its independence, in 1940, after the outbreak of World War II, Luxembourgs neutrality was again violated when the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany entered the country, entirely without justification. A government in exile based in London supported the Allies, sending a group of volunteers who participated in the Normandy invasion. Luxembourg was liberated in September 1944, and became a member of the United Nations in 1945. Luxembourgs neutral status under the constitution formally ended in 1948, in 2005, a referendum on the EU treaty establishing a constitution for Europe was held
45.
Luxembourg constitutional referendum, 2015
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A constitutional referendum was held in Luxembourg on 7 June 2015. Although the referendum was non-binding, the government said they would adhere to the result, all three proposed constitutional amendments were ultimately rejected by voters. Introducing term limits, Do you approve of the idea of limiting to ten years the period during which someone can continuously be part of the government. A yes vote to all three questions was supported by the three governing parties, as well as by The Left and the Pirate Party, a no vote to all questions was supported by the conservative Alternative Democratic Reform Party. The largest political party, the Christian Social Peoples Party, also supported three no votes but emphasised that voters should be well-informed before voting, a March 2015 poll indicated support for the third question, but not for the first and second ones. Media related to Luxembourg Referendum 2015 at Wikimedia Commons
46.
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
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The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a left-wing political party in New Zealand. Like many Green parties around the world it has four pillars, ecology, social responsibility, grassroots democracy and it is a member of the Global Greens. The party has both a male and female co-leader, currently Metiria Turei and James Shaw, the male co-leader position was vacant following the November 2005 death of Rod Donald until the 2006 annual general meeting when Russel Norman was elected using the alternative vote system. Following former female co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimonss decision to step down in February 2009, Shaw was elected at the Partys 2015 AGM over fellow MPs Gareth Hughes and Kevin Hague, and Party member Vernon Tava. In the 2014 general election, the Green Partys share of the party vote fell slightly to 10. 70% from 11. 06% in 2011 and it is the third largest political party in the House of Representatives with 14 seats. In addition, the Green Party contests Auckland Council elections under the City Vision banner, in concert with the Labour Party, the Greens place particular emphasis on environmental issues. In recent times, they have expressed concerns about mining of national parks, fresh water, climate change, peak oil and they have also spoken out in support of human rights, and against the military operations conducted by the United States and other countries in Afghanistan and Iraq. In its economic policies, the Green Party stresses factors such as sustainability, taxing the indirect costs of pollution and it also states that measuring economic success should concentrate on measuring well-being rather than analysing economic indicators. The party has said if it forms a government in the 2017 election it will legalise cannabis. Under its proposal, people would be able to legally grow, the party would also urgently amend the law so sick people using medicinal marijuana were not penalised. This world is finite, therefore unlimited material growth is impossible, social responsibility, Unlimited material growth is impossible. Therefore the key to social responsibility is the just distribution of social and natural resources, appropriate decision-making, For the implementation of ecological wisdom and social responsibility, decisions will be made directly at the appropriate level by those affected. Non-violence, Non-violent conflict resolution is the process by which ecological wisdom, social responsibility and this principle applies at all levels. The Executive is the administrative body, responsible for the day to day overall administration of the party, instructed by and answerable to the membership, provinces. A province is a collection of branches which has sufficient sense of common identity defined by geographical boundaries. Branches are a collection of members with a geographical area of responsibility. There are a number of identity or interest-based networks across the party, the Values Party originated in 1972 at Victoria University of Wellington. While it gained a measure of support in several elections
47.
New Zealand House of Representatives
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The New Zealand House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the legislature of New Zealand. The House and the Queen of New Zealand together constitute the New Zealand Parliament, the House of Representatives passes all laws, provides ministers to form a cabinet, and supervises the work of the Government. It is also responsible for adopting the states budgets and approving the states accounts, the House of Representatives is a wholly democratically elected body, usually consisting of 120 members known as Members of Parliament. Members are elected for limited terms, holding office until Parliament is dissolved, a government is formed from the party or coalition with the majority of MPs. If no majority is then a minority government can be formed with a confidence. The chamber was created by the British New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, which established a legislature, however the upper chamber. Parliament received full control over all New Zealand affairs in 1947 with the passage of the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act, the seat of the House of Representatives is Parliament House in Wellington, the capital city. The House of Representatives takes the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as its model, the New Zealand Parliament is based on the Westminster system. As a democratic institution, the role of the House of Representatives is to provide representation for the people. The executive branch of the New Zealand government draws its membership exclusively from the House of Representatives, although it does not elect the Prime Minister, the position of the parties in the House of Representatives is of overriding importance. By convention, a minister is answerable to, and must maintain the support of. Thus, whenever the office of prime minister falls vacant, the governor-general appoints the person most likely to command the support of the House—normally the leader of the largest party and this support is immediately tested through a motion of confidence. The House of Representatives normally consists of 120 members, known as Members of Parliament, the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives has overall charge of the administration of the House, and presides over sittings. Seating in the chamber is arranged in a horseshoe pattern. The Speaker of the House sits in a chair at the open end of the horseshoe. Following the example of the British House of Commons, members of Government are seated on the hand of the Speaker. MPs are assigned seating on the basis of the seniority in a party caucus, for example, the prime minister sits on the front row, in the fourth seat along from the Speaker. The 51st New Zealand Parliament is the current sitting of the House and its membership was elected at the 2014 general election and, so far, one subsequent by-election
Brandenburg, 
Bremen, 
Hamburg and 
Schleswig-Holstein.
Baden-Württemberg, 
Berlin, 
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 
Lower Saxony, 
North Rhine-Westphalia, 
Saxony-Anhalt and 
. Bibcode:2004cs........5105N.
