Young Wrexham

Rest of the World Politics

There are 195 sovereign states or countries in the world and most of them are run by different political systems.

In economic terms, the world can also be split into the developed and Third World. The developed world is a term used to describe economically stable countries, such as those in Europe and North America. The Third World is often used to describe very poor countries, such as certain African and Asian countries.

World politics is a massively complicated subject, and people devote their whole lives to understanding only small parts of it.

The Political Spectrum

The political spectrum is a way of describing people's political beliefs along an imaginary line. On one end are left wing views, and at the opposite are right wing views.

Left wing

• Left wing ideas promote an equal society. A left wing government will control a country's wealth and resources in order to redistribute them. Money will be distributed to benefit everybody rather than staying in the hands of a few rich people
• A left wing government will ensure that all provisions are provided by the state, such as health care, education and unemployment benefits
• Left wing ideologies include communism, socialism, Marxism and social liberalism

Right Wing

• Right wing ideas emphasise a personal sense of duty rather than anything being owed to society. A right wing government will oversee rather than control wealth, and money and industry will be run by individuals for private benefit
• Right wing views allow people freedom to create their own wealth
• Right wing ideologies include fascism, nationalism, conservatism, economic liberalism and reactionary politics

It is easy to talk about left wing and right wing politics, but in reality it is very difficult to find a clearly defined example of either. Both good and bad things have been done in the name of left wing and right wing politics.

You can find online tests and quizzes that will help you to determine whether your beliefs are left or right wing.

At both extremes of the political spectrum, force has and is used often imposing severe restrictions on people. This was seen during the 20th century when the communist regime in Russia and the fascists under Adolf Hitler used violence to maintain political power.

The 20th century was largely dominated by a struggle between communism and capitalism.

Capitalism

• Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country's means of production, for example, industry, agriculture and tourism, are privately owned by individuals or companies. These individuals and companies work for profit

Communism

• Communism is a political system that is the opposite of capitalism. The country's means of production is run by the state and the gains are shared equally
• Private ownership of land or houses is prohibited and instead houses are allocated by the state

Forms of government

Democracy:

• In a democracy, people vote to elect representatives to a government which makes decisions about how to run a country to benefit the majority of people. The UK is a democracy, with France and the USA both democracies but with an elected President as head of state
• Protest is an important form of political expression in a democracy. Many British people protest against government policy. In 2003, almost two million people marched through London protest against the invasion of Iraq
• For more information go to Activism and Campaigning of the Law and Rights Section

Dictatorship:

• A dictatorship is a form of government in which one person or political party controls the country and its people without restrictions of law or constitution
• Examples of dictatorships include Germany under Adolf Hitler, and the old USSR under communist leaders such as Joseph Stalin

Theocracy:

• A theocracy is a form of government in which religion dominates policy and decision-making such as Vatican City or Iran

Monarchy:

• A monarchy is a country in which the monarch, or royal family, rules the country. Saudi Arabia is ruled by a royal family

Anarchy:

• Anarchy is a system in which there is no government and people live without laws or rules of any kind. An anarchist society hasn't officially existed in modern times but anarchy has often occurred during war or crisis

Militarism:

• Militarism is a form of governing which views the military as a highly-important part of the state and government, Egypt is an example of this

A country can implement more than one of these ideas at the same time, for example a 'military dictatorship', 'democratic monarchy' or a 'socialist democracy'.

Britain is a democratic monarchy, where the Queen is head of state, but important decisions are made by an elected government. For more information go to UK Politics.

World political organisations

Over the years, organisations have been created to unite countries for political or economic reasons.

• These include United Nations, World Trade Organisation and INTERPOL
• European bodies include The European Union, European Free Trade Association, European Space Agency and Council of Europe
• Other significant organisations include The Arab League, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), G8, the Commonwealth of Nations and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference
• There are also Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as Oxfam which play a part in shaping government policy

Current world issues

There are many important and difficult political issues facing the world today which include war, third world debt, poverty, famine and climate change.

Often these issues intersect and affect one another. For instance terrorism and religion, or poverty and debt.

War

War has always been, and still is, one of the major issues in world politics. Since 1945, the world has only had 26 days without war.

• If two countries are at war, or if there is a civil war, sometimes an international force is sent in by the Untied Nations to try to stop the violence. This happened in the 1990s during the war in the Balkans
• British and American forces invaded Iraq in 2003, but they did so without the backing of the UN, which is why some people believe that the war was illegal
• As well as wars that are always in the news in Britain, there are dozens of other conflicts happening all over the world. Civil war has been raging in the north of Uganda for the last 20 years. In Sri Lanka, government forces and a rebel group called the Tamil Tigers have been fighting each other since the 1980s

Terrorism

Terrorism is the use of violence to create disruption to bring about political change or make a personal gain.

• Terrorism can be carried out by governments or by individuals and political groups
• Terrorism often occurs when two different cultural groups clash, and is often caused the frustrations of a particular group who feel that their views are not adequately represented in traditional political systems
• Groups who are at one time considered terrorists may gain power to form legitimate governments. Nelson Mandela was kept in prison in South Africa for 25 years because the government of the time considered him a terrorist
• Since the turn of the 21st century, the issue of terrorism has dominated world politics
• Since the attacks of September 11th, there has been a new feeling amongst many people, especially in the West, that terrorist activities are very difficult to justify
• No country has declared support for Al-Qaida, and no member countries of the UN objected to the USA invaded Afghanistan in response to September 11th

Human Rights

Human rights is the idea that all human beings have universal rights regardless of race, gender, nationality or ethnicity.

• They are based on human dignity and the idea that everyone is equal and should have equal rights
• Humans rights violations occur all over the world in different ways
• The biggest human rights violations in the world today are war, vast poverty, homelessness and hunger, child abuse, racial discrimination, oppression of women, unfair imprisonment and torture
• For more information, please visit the Human Rights section of the website

Religion

Religion plays a big role in world politics. Religion can be a major cause of conflict, such as in the war between Palestine and Israel, or the violence used by the IRA in Northern Ireland.

• Violence between different religious groups after the Second World War led to the partition of India into two separate countries, India and Pakistan. Religious conflicts continue to affect relations between the two countries
• Very often, there is more involved than simply religious issues. A religious minority may be discriminated against, either overtly or through economic means. A particular group may not have access to good schools
• Got to the Religion section for information about individual religions

Third World debt

This is money that is owed by Third World countries to other countries' governments.

• Many poor countries have very large debts and the amount of money they owe is increasing all the time
• Trying to pay off the debt is a serious struggle for some countries. For example, Sub-Saharan Africa pays $10 billion every year in debt service which is four times as much money as the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa spend on healthcare and education
• Debt relief activists, and many other people, say that third-world debt should be dropped because rich governments can afford to pay it off
• For more information, visit the Economic Growth and Development section [link to 3f14 Economic Growth & Development] of the website

Poverty

When people live in poverty they lack basic necessities such as food, water, shelter, healthcare and education.

• Almost three billion people in the world live on less than two dollars a day
• The wealth of the poorest 48 nations in the world is less than the wealth of the three richest people combined
• Make Poverty History is a British campaign to encourage people, especially young people, to help end world poverty through raising awareness and giving money
• For more information, visit the Poverty section of the website