I got you Giacomo!
Reverting back my last entry, upon reflection, I realised that I had placed a considerable burden on you all, and my writing was rather disorganised. To make this more appealing, it requires a certain level of structure. This will not only excite the academics snobs who believe in “structure” and “flow”, the likes, I would very much like to share a tea with and discuss book collection sizes. But most importantly it will keep me for digressing to much and hopefully making it more enjoyable for you guys.
I typically begin these entries by selecting an absolute banger while describing the beverage fueling my thoughts (I can’t express how excited I am for this detox to be over, March 2024, baby!). So, as for today’s theme, much like the previous entry, we are still exploring the early days of politics. Let’s see if this approach is more appealing than the conventional method of discussing political terminology alphabetically.
Imagine a stylish yet inexperienced average chap strolling through the picturesque streets of London, well-dressed, well-liked, and rather misinformed about many things. Let’s call them Giacomo for the sake of argument. What would make it easier for them to read the political piece they picked up earlier today just because the girl on the cover was more smash-able than passable? As their eyes wander from the cover to the actual content of the article, they encounter numerous terms they are familiar with but would benefit from further explanation.
This raises the question: what are the five most common terms in any political piece or article? ChatGPT to the rescue. The prompt for this is quite simple (hire me, Facebook!). “Analyse all political articles and identify the five most frequently used terms.” It provided the following answer: the most commonly used political terms in articles are “election,” “policy,” “government,” “democracy,” and “legislation.”
These terms deserve their own discussion, but let’s jump right into it, don’t quote me in your last minute essay counting for 50% of your degrees credits people!
Elections
According to the Cambridge dictionary: An election is “a time when people vote to choose someone for a political or official position.” In my family, we held local elections, and it was decided that I would get the smallest room and do the dishes, but I was also elected as the most attractive among my siblings. Please don’t question the legitimacy of this vote; it was 100% valid.
As mentioned, these articles are country-neutral, which means they are also system-neutral (and slightly knowledge-neutral since I’m the author!). While this is great because it allows us to examine whatever I really feel like without limitations, it also means that different systems have varying characteristics related to elections often times create an absolute brain freeze (Is that right term?). Here are the most common ones:
1. General elections: These are a significant event in many systems, where leaders or high-ranking officials are chosen.
2. Presidential elections: In countries with a presidential system, the president is directly elected by the people, as opposed to the parliamentary system.
3. Some countries have different systems and a prime minister instead of a president, as explained here. In these systems, voters select local representatives who then choose the prime minister, whereas presidents are directly elected by the people.
4. Referendums and Initiatives are examples of direct democracy, where specific questions are put to a public vote. While some countries rarely use them or have never used them, there are famous cases, such as the UK’s vote to leave the EU. Or back in 2018 when I led to initiative of protecting our university pub as a national treasure.
Different countries employ various electoral systems, which are crucial in determining how people participate in politics and who holds power in a representative democracy.
Policy
Simply put, a policy is a set of ideas or plans for specific situations, officially agreed upon by a group of people. In politics, these are put in place by elected governments or political parties. Here are the key policy areas that the general population should be aware of:
Economic Policies: how we going to tax you granma and make sure things keep running
Social Policies: Set to promote quality of life of citizens
Foreign Policies: In place to ensure your friendly neighbor on the border shares their barley and doesn’t steal your girlfriend (actually they can really make a rule for that)
Environmental Policies: You like turtles? Well these bad boys are in place to keep them around for a while
Immigration Policies: A significant aspect of political agendas, regulating who can come and go and for how long
Defense and Security Policies: Remember that neighbor who gives you some of their barley, they have a missile pointing at them
Education Policies: How do we govern education and fund tuition for some Belgian chap to be able to write about the fundamentals of drinking
These are disgustingly oversimplified, and the way they are presented might not match an official political agenda, but it provides a good starting point.
Governments
Governments come in various forms, and they are responsible for enforcing the rules and policies, often determined through elections. There are many types of governments, as explained in this inclusive CIA article (This is very surely going to put me on some sort of list, what I wouldn’t do for you!). The main types include Democracy, Republic, Authoritarian, and Totalitarian, kind of the big 4 on the spectrum from most supreme power to the people to least.
Democracy
In the world of politics, there are numerous fancy terms and definitions. Simplifying it, democracy gives people the right to participate in decision-making through voting. In modern times, it typically involves a system of representation by an authority elected by citizens. Remember when I told you I got the smallest room, feel very authoritarian from me parents right? Turns out it was a majority, I’ll get you back some other time my dearest siblings!
Legislation
Legislation refers to the laws that govern a country or system, covering everything from drafting laws to approval and enforcement. It should not be confused with policies, although they are related.
Not going to lie this one is still rather confusing to me but from my understanding the legislation is the process of making and enacting laws and we can seen policy as the plan to follow certain guidelines often guided by said legislation. Know your rules people!
In conclusion, if we delved into different countries and systems, we could spend hours shedding light on various elections, government types, and even what experts like Pepito or Dr. Jack with five PhDs in politics think about democracy. But this will do for now, Giacomo can stop fantasizing about the magazine cover model and ensure his flatmate doesn’t cast an illegal vote to become the absolute ruler of the shitter on a Friday night. That’s democracy for you baby!
Stay curious, stay thirsty, drink safe people!
James-Alexander