id
int64 1
141k
| title
stringlengths 15
150
| body
stringlengths 43
35.6k
| tags
stringlengths 1
118
| label
int64 0
1
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
61,004 | Why is there different policies from the USA for Turkey vs Greece/ India? | <ul>
<li><a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/russian-s-300s-used-by-3-nato-member-countries/1449436" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Russian S-300s used by 3 NATO member countries</a></li>
</ul>
<p>According to the above link, the Russian S-300 missile defense system is being used by three NATO countries: Greece, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/usa-welcomes-greeces-interest-in-buying-the-f-35/141431.article" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the USA ‘welcomes’ Greece’s interest in buying the F-35</a></li>
</ul>
<p>According to the above link, the USA is welcoming Greece's decision to purchase F-35.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/a/42018/32479">How does Turkey's purchase of the S-400 anti-air system jeopardize the F-35?
</a></li>
</ul>
<p>According to the above link, the USA is worried that Turkey using S-400 and F-35 at the same time would give Russia the opportunity to collect data on F-35.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://theprint.in/diplomacy/no-blanket-waiver-of-caatsa-sanctions-for-buying-russian-chinese-arms-but-india-safe-says-us/569406/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">No blanket waiver of CAATSA sanctions for buying Russian/Chinese arms, but India safe, says the US</a></li>
</ul>
<p>According to the above link, the USA is soft in India for buying S-400.</p>
<p>Now, I have two questions here:</p>
<ol>
<li>Since, Turkey is officially expelled from the F-35 project, why has the USA sanctioned Turkey for S-400?</li>
<li>Why is the same attitude as Turkey is not visible in the case of Greece and India by the USA?</li>
</ol>
 | united states russian federation india turkey greece | 0 |
61,006 | Why is India purchasing S-400 rather than the US made missiles? | <p>Purchasing Russian missiles have risks of inviting US sanctions.</p>
<p>Since <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/q/54798/32479">India is officially a US ally</a>, Why is India purchasing S-400 rather than the US-made missiles (Patriot or David's Sling or THAAD)?</p>
<p>If tech-transfer was the issue, S-400 doesn't come with a tech-transfer. Patriot and THAAD may also deny tech-transfer. In that case, Israel's David's Sling might have been a better option.</p>
<hr />
<p><strong>P.S.</strong> My personal opinion is, India was probably trying to (1) avoid lengthy negotiation, (2) engage Russia with defense deals so that they don't lean or sell arms to Pakistan.</p>
 | united states india military weapons | 0 |
61,007 | Channel Islands Equivalence in Financial Services | <p>The Channel Islands are not 'in' the EU Single Market, but have a close relationship with it; this is particularly true in Financial Services, where they have a wide-ranging Equivalence agreement. Post-Brexit, the UK has been refused Equivalence under the current system, and has to rely on the 'Temporary Permissions Regime' instead to serve EU27-based clients. For activities that require Equivalence, but are not covered by the Temporary Permissions regime, could the UK use the Channel Islands as a base for this?</p>
<p>It is not clear from paragraph 36 in the following reference whether the above-mentioned scenario is covered:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.channelislands.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/FS-background-note-April-2018-final.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.channelislands.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/FS-background-note-April-2018-final.pdf</a></p>
<p>While on the other hand the reference below insists that the Channel Islands relationship with the EU will be practically unchanged:</p>
<p><a href="https://esopcentre.com/2017/11/the-channel-islands-regulatory-financial-services-relationship-with-the-eu-to-remain-unchanged-post-brexit/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://esopcentre.com/2017/11/the-channel-islands-regulatory-financial-services-relationship-with-the-eu-to-remain-unchanged-post-brexit/</a></p>
 | united kingdom european union brexit trade finance | 0 |
61,009 | Does high turnout (on average) actually only slightly favor Democrats? | <p>It is commonly said that generally speaking high turnout favors Democrats and low turnout favors Republicans.</p>
<p>However, I feel that while this is true nationally, it doesn't always happen, and not to the same degree. This is consistent with the 2016 and 2020 election for president as well as 2014 and 2018 (to a certain degree) House elections.</p>
<p><em>Is it true that higher turnout benefits Democrats, but only slightly?</em></p>
<p>I'm not sure if this is an on topic question, but it seems like it. That is because I want to know if there are any statistical models looking into research papers or something of the like that looks into this important issue.</p>
 | united states voter turnout | 0 |
61,020 | Question on Access to Voter Lists on a State by State Basis | <p>In the United States, who (individual, group of individuals, political party) has access to state voter lists that indicate whether or not the given registered voters had voted in (i) the last general election (ii) in any specific general election since each given individual was registered?</p>
 | united states voters freedom of information | 0 |
61,021 | Why did Labour lose the 2019 election? | <p>Please tell me exactly why Labour lost the 2019 election. I heard it was because their program was too leftish that time. Now I've read this passage on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Keir_Starmer&oldid=995011471" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In June 2020, the Labour Together report on the 2019 election concluded that the second referendum policy was a major contributor to the Party's defeat "by a country mile".</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What? Isn't Brexit an unpopular idea (I saw the polls)? Has this changed? I visited that Wiki page because I've just read in a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-55358963" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BBC article</a> that the new Labour leader wants Boris to stop "dithering over Brexit", "get this deal done", and "deliver it for the British people". What? Isn't it a Tory talking point? What is happening?</p>
<p>P.S.: Yes, I realize that it may basically be two different questions: why did Labour lose last year, and what is Labor's today's stance on Brexit. Or it may be one question, I don't know, it's hard for me to tell.</p>
 | united kingdom brexit labour party | 0 |
61,030 | Why did Imran Khan avoid the most obvious answer? | <p>Watch the following video from 16:16 :</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://youtu.be/-aTMY-aefjg?t=976" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pakistan's PM: Our economic future is now linked to China</a></li>
</ul>
<p>The anchor asks the following question:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Don't you see that Pakistan itself should understand that they can't continue as a country to see themselves as the victims forever? And, just I would give you a hint here. You have been trying to rally international support. The UNSC met three times about Kashmir. Absolutely no strong sign of solidarity with your country. All symbolic gestures. Don't you feel like you have been abandoned by western allies?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If I were the PM of Pakistan, the obvious answer that comes to my mind is as follows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Look Hashim, India has a 1.3 billion population. The size of the middle class is 250 million. This is the second biggest market after China. They are also the largest importer of defense products in the world. So, most of the powerful and economically developed countries in the world have a business interest in India. That is why they are reluctant to say anything obvious. Also, India is a close ally of the USA as they signed defense pacts and you know that. So, it should be clear and obvious why India is getting more support than us.</p>
<p>But, we are doing what we can. And, we will continue to knock on the doors of .....</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have observed that this same question was asked by CNBC and the PM of Pakistan didn't say what I am saying here.</p>
<p>Why did Imran Khan avoid the most obvious answer?</p>
<p>What kind of damage does he think this obvious answer will invite in the area of Pakistan's international relations?</p>
 | international relations india pakistan | 1 |
61,035 | Is "The West Wing" accurate when a spouse takes over following a Representative's death? | <p>Season 1, episode 6 of <em>The West Wing</em>, “Mr. Willis of Ohio”, features the titular Mr Willis, who is a school-teacher temporarily filling the seat of his recently departed wife in the House of Representatives.</p>
<p>Assuming the show is any way accurate, what mechanism allows this to happen? Wouldn’t the seat remain empty until a special election is held to appoint a new Representative? Is the fact he was the former Rep.’s husband relevant?</p>
 | united states congress house of representatives | 1 |
61,038 | In what way would invoking martial law help Trump overturn the election? | <p>In the news, it has been said that still-president Trump could invoke martial law in order to help him overturn the election (<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/19/politics/trump-oval-office-meeting-special-counsel-martial-law/index.html" rel="noreferrer">CNN</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-touted-imposing-martial-law-to-overturn-election-reports-2020-12" rel="noreferrer">Business Insider</a>)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Flynn had suggested earlier this week that Trump could invoke martial law as part of his efforts to overturn the election that he lost to President-elect Joe Biden</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In what way would that help</p>
<ul>
<li>Is it possible to do that legally?</li>
<li>Would that be likely to succeed?</li>
</ul>
 | united states donald trump presidential election contested election martial law | 1 |
61,044 | What is the basic difference between Turkey using S-400 vs India purchasing S-400 or Greece using S-300? | <p>See: <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/q/61004/32479">Why is there different policies from the USA for Turkey vs Greece/ India?</a></p>
<p>My above question was closed. So, I am reformulating the question and posting it again.</p>
<hr />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/russian-s-300s-used-by-3-nato-member-countries/1449436" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Russian S-300s used by 3 NATO member countries</a></li>
</ul>
<p>According to the above link, the Russian S-300 missile defense system is being used by three NATO countries: Greece, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/usa-welcomes-greeces-interest-in-buying-the-f-35/141431.article" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the USA ‘welcomes’ Greece’s interest in buying the F-35</a></li>
</ul>
<p>According to the above link, the USA is welcoming Greece's decision to purchase F-35.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/a/42018/32479">How does Turkey's purchase of the S-400 anti-air system jeopardize the F-35?
</a></li>
</ul>
<p>According to the above link, the USA is worried that Turkey using S-400 and F-35 at the same time would give Russia the opportunity to collect data on F-35. However, we all know that Turkey is already out of the F-35 project.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://theprint.in/diplomacy/no-blanket-waiver-of-caatsa-sanctions-for-buying-russian-chinese-arms-but-india-safe-says-us/569406/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">No blanket waiver of CAATSA sanctions for buying Russian/Chinese arms, but India safe, says the US</a></li>
</ul>
<p>According to the above link, the USA is soft in India for buying S-400.</p>
<hr />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20201214-us-imposes-sanctions-on-turkey-over-purchase-of-russian-air-defence-system" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the US imposes sanctions on Turkey over the purchase of Russian air defense system</a></li>
</ul>
<p>In light of the above links and information, What is the <strong>basic</strong> difference between Turkey using S-400 vs India purchasing S-400 or Greece/Bulgaria/Slovakia using S-300?</p>
 | united states turkey sanctions weapons | 0 |
61,049 | How can Scotland become an independent country, before the next UK general election on May 2 2024? | <p>Can someone brainstorm hypotheticals for <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/a/16704">the UK Parliament to consent</a> to a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_second_Scottish_independence_referendum#cite_note-66" rel="nofollow noreferrer">second referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom (henceforth "Indyref2")</a>? This doesn't duplicate <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/q/16529">How could Scotland become independent given that Theresa May rejected a referendum?</a>, which was asked in March 2017 and answered in July 2017.</p>
<h2>Disclaimers against <em>deus ex machina</em>. Rule out black swans.</h2>
<ol>
<li><p>No superweapons. The change must be realistically justified.</p>
</li>
<li><p>No <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_event#Impacts_and_the_Earth" rel="nofollow noreferrer">impacts by astronomical objects</a> or natural disasters. A tsunami, earthquake, <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2013/03/10/comet-meteor-asteroid-heres-how-to-tell-the-difference/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">meteorite or asteroid</a>, disease, or COVID strain or variant can't suddenly impacting just England, but not Scotland.</p>
</li>
<li><p>No sudden increases in wealth. Scotland can't just suddenly discover gold or precious minerals, and pay the U.K. for independence.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is still repeating her demands for Indyref2. On
Dec 1 2020, <a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/will-scotland-get-second-independence-referendum-latest-poll-nicola-sturgeon-pushes-ahead-indyref2-plans-3053772" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Scotland’s First Minister said she will use next May’s Holyrood election to try to win a mandate to hold an independence referendum “in the early part of the new Parliament”.</a> I can't imagine how this will happen before <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_United_Kingdom_general_election" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the next UK general election on 2 May 2024</a>, even if the UK reaches no deal on Brexit and trades with the EU on WTO terms. Here are my reasons.</p>
<ol start="4">
<li>I can't imagine why <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_second_Scottish_independence_referendum#2020" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Boris Johnson would reverse his rejection in January 2020</a>.</li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>Nicola Sturgeon's request for a referendum was rejected by the UK government in January 2020.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_second_Scottish_independence_referendum#cite_note-bbc2020-62" rel="nofollow noreferrer">[62]</a> In his official response, Boris Johnson wrote that Sturgeon and Salmond had promised that the 2014 referendum would be a "once in a generation" vote, that both the Scottish and UK governments had pledged to implement the outcome of that vote, and that his government "cannot agree to any request for a transfer of power that would lead to further independence referendums".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_second_Scottish_independence_referendum#cite_note-bbc2020-62" rel="nofollow noreferrer">[62]</a></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-55094835" rel="nofollow noreferrer">However, the UK government has repeatedly said it would not grant the consent that Ms Sturgeon has argued would be needed if any referendum was to be legal.</a> And Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has said there should not be another referendum for "25 or 40 years".</p>
</blockquote>
<ol start="5">
<li>The UK government and SNP (Scottish National Party) won't hold a referendum amidst COVID19, which has to be mitigated and curbed first. <a href="https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18957635.two-thirds-snp-voters-want-covid-recovery-scottish-independence-referendum/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Two-thirds of SNP voters want Covid recovery before Scottish independence referendum.</a></li>
</ol>
<p>2022 appears to be the earliest date. <a href="https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2020/12/15/covid19-coronavirus-vaccine-covaxi-who/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">One-quarter of the world may not get a vaccine until 2022, experts warn</a>. <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/05/physical-distancing-may-extend-2022-covid-19-study-finds" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Harvard University researchers predict that recurrent winter outbreaks will probably occur after the first, most severe pandemic wave; prolonged or intermittent physical distancing may be necessary into 2022; and a resurgence is possible as late as 2024.</a> According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, <a href="https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20201022/fauci-masks-social-distancing-likely-until-2022" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a “profound degree” of herd immunity won’t likely happen until the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022, he said, which is why he predicts public health measures such as face masks and social distancing will continue until then.</a>.</p>
<ol start="6">
<li>I can't imagine how else the SNP can convince the UK government. The SNP probably cannot insurrect violence, as Scotland doesn't have its own military. The British Armed Forces can probably suppress any attempt at violence.</li>
</ol>
 | independence scotland | 1 |
61,050 | Is the Vimy Ridge Memorial Canadian territory? | <p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Vimy_Memorial" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Canadian National Vimy Memorial</a> is a war memorial site in France dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Suppose I want to open a gift store in the area. Does France or Canada have the authority to grant the license?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Congratulations, my license is granted! Does my store pay taxes to France or Canada?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Oh no, someone robs my store! Will they be prosecuted under French or Canadian laws?</p>
</li>
<li><p>The French hate my poutine and want to close the store. Can they legally take back the land without Canadian consent? Invasion doesn't count.</p>
</li>
</ol>
 | international relations france canada territory | 1 |
61,060 | Why didn't poll observers use binoculars? | <p>Apparently some of the lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign have protested the fact that their observers could not stand close enough to election workers to see the writing on mail-in ballots:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In November, the state’s highest court upheld a Philadelphia judge’s ruling that state law only required election officials to allow partisan observers to be able to see mail-in ballots being processed, not stand close enough to election workers to see the writing on individual envelopes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-pennsylvania-elections-electoral-college-151f9a6ca176bd92bb67e4494fecc3c7" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Source</a></p>
<p>This strikes me as a rather weird lawsuit to have, because there's an obvious workaround: the partisan observers could simply take out a pair of binoculars. They would be able to see the writing on individual envelopes while standing where they are, and everyone would be happy.</p>
<p>What's wrong with this workaround?</p>
 | united states donald trump presidential election contested election | 1 |
61,066 | Is claiming to be President after your term ends treason? | <p>Let's imagine a hypothetical case where a President of the US, having lost an election and after his term expires, continues to go around saying that he is the rightful President and that the guy currently in the Whitehouse is illegitimate.</p>
<p>It seems to me that comes very close to being treason, setting yourself up as an alternative government. How far would such a person have to take their claims before they could be arrested?</p>
<p>If it's not treason, is it some other crime?</p>
 | united states president | 0 |
61,072 | What prevents a single senator from passing a bill they want with a 1-0 vote? | <p>As a follow-up to <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/2269/how-can-a-bill-pass-the-us-senate-by-a-vote-of-3-0">this question</a>, the answer there indicates that by the rules set by the Senate, a quorum is assumed to be present unless someone requests a roll-call vote. Because of this rule, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Sunday_Compromise" rel="noreferrer">Palm Sunday Compromise</a> was passed 3-0.</p>
<p>Under these same rules, what prevents a lone Senator from simply going somewhere by themselves, holding a vote on a bill, and then passing that bill 1-0? It seems safe to assume that such a thing cannot actually work in practice, because if it could then the entire system of the Senate would break down, with each individual Senator actually having the full power/authority of the entire body. But what would make such a situation legally different than the 3-0 vote that actually happened?</p>
 | united states congress senate legislative process senate rules | 0 |
61,075 | Trump's presidential record to denounce Russia for wrongdoing | <p>How many different instances has Trump been defiant to denounce (or sanction) Russia regarding Russian wrongdoing related to US national security (and intelligence) that we know about in the public eye since he's been POTUS?</p>
<p>For example, currently he is being silent (or blaming other countries) for the cyberattacks the US intelligence says they have proof tracing it back to Russia that his own Secretary of State and Attorney General publicly say they agree with the US intelligence reports yet he refuses to denounce Russia himself in public.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how many different instances of such Russian wrongdoing since he's been in office he has refused to agree with others in the US intelligence community or his cabinet and such to sanction or publicly denounce Russia?</p>
<h2>Potential Objective Measures (but not limited to)</h2>
<ul>
<li>The US intelligence community and/or the administration's cabinet publicly denouncing</li>
<li>Others providing evidence of Russian wrongdoing</li>
<li>Issues that other NATO members have responded with regard to Russia</li>
</ul>
<h2>Notable Items</h2>
<p>Many people believe there is a reason why Trump will not denounce Russia for wrongdoing. It doesn't take too much research or effort to find notable claims as such which I've included just a few of those with lots of detail below.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/connections-trump-putin-russia-ties-chart-flynn-page-manafort-sessions-214868" rel="nofollow noreferrer">All of Trump’s Russia Ties, in 7 Charts</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_projects_of_Donald_Trump_in_Russia" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2018/12/17/464235/following-the-money/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Following the Money: Trump and Russia-Linked Transactions From the Campaign to the Presidential Inauguration</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ig.ft.com/sites/trumps-russian-connections/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Trump’s Russian connections</a></li>
</ul>
 | united states donald trump intelligence | 0 |
61,076 | What is required to put a proposed law to a vote by the US house of representatives? | <p>Suppose a member of the US (federal) house of representatives has authored a proposed law (a.k.a act?) and wants the house of representatives to vote on it.</p>
<p>What are the conditions (or different sets of conditions) for such a vote to be held?</p>
<p>I am specifically, but not solely, interested in the power of the speaker of the house and its limits in this context.</p>
 | united states house of representatives legislative process | 0 |
61,077 | Why are bisexual women more supported then bisexual men in the USA? | <p>I was reading an <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/06/13/chapter-2-social-acceptance/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">pew paper</a> from 2013 on LGBT community and came across a graph about how the LGBT community, in general, deemed each subgroup was accepted.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fcf7u.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fcf7u.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>I was surprised that bisexual women were rated as significantly more accepted then bisexual men with bi women having 33% believe there is a lot of acceptance for them while bisexual men only warranted 8% in the same category.</p>
<p>I was wondering if someone could explain why sex plays such a significant role on level of acceptance for bi individuals within the LGBT community.</p>
<p>I see that lesbian women are ranked as more accepted to gay men, so perhaps society is just more accepting of women having sex with women then men with other men, but that doesn't explain why by women are more supported then lesbians but bi men are less supported then gay men.</p>
 | united states lgbt+ | 0 |
61,078 | What to do if the senate blocks all nominations? | <p>My question is specific to USA politics.</p>
<p>In USA officers and judicial nominees are often subjected to senate confirmation. However, it seems in today's polarizing climate this can effectively break the system. For example, let's say a President is from team Purple and the senate is controlled by team Yellow. Then the senate can effectively block every nominees by voting along the partisan line thus effectively breaking or at least hampering some institutions.</p>
<p>Is there any procedure in case both branches are acting in such a manner? Is there anything like a "nuclear option"?</p>
 | united states senate nomination | 1 |
61,083 | Did Congress pass a 5,593 page bill without chance to amend or even read? | <p>US Representative Justin Amash tweeted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For half a year, congressional leaders refused to put any legislation on the floor to be considered AND scrutinized AND amended. Now, <strong>they release a 5,593-page bill with no opportunity to read it, let alone amend it.</strong> No responsible legislator should vote for such a thing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/justinamash/status/1341096266428784644" rel="noreferrer">https://twitter.com/justinamash/status/1341096266428784644</a></p>
<p>The bill in question is inferred to be the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.</p>
<p>Focusing on the claim about the bill...it is true that congressional leaders released a 5,000+ page bill without opportunity to read or amend?</p>
 | united states congress legislation | 1 |
61,084 | Can a former US President settle in a hostile country? | <p>While I was searching about what are the restrictions on former US Presidents concerning the United States' own security and its classified information. I found nothing more than a Wikipedia page <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_Presidents_Act" rel="noreferrer"> Former Presidents Act </a>.
But that page is not much use for what I am interested in.</p>
<p>I would especially like to know: <strong>can an ex-president of the United States settle in another country with which the current US relations are not very good or tense, or which is/was hostile towards the US, if he wishes to?</strong></p>
 | united states president | 1 |
61,085 | Why did the US have a law that prohibited misusing the Swiss coat of arms? | <p>From Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-christmas-tree/water-chestnuts-and-smokey-bear-surprises-await-under-the-christmas-tree-covid-19-relief-bill-idUSKBN28V2WA" rel="noreferrer">news</a> on recently passed legislation (alongside the spending package):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>those who misused certain emblems - the U.S. Forest Service’s “Smokey Bear” and “Woodsy Owl” characters, the Interior Department’s Golden Eagle insignia, the 4-H Club emblem, and <strong>the Swiss Confederation’s coat of arms</strong> - would no longer face jail time. People who use those symbols could still face civil lawsuits.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Why did the US have such a specific law regarding the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Switzerland" rel="noreferrer">Swiss Confederation’s coat of arms</a> in the first place?</strong></p>
<p>Apparently this prohibition was introduced (in 18 U.S. Code § 708) <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/708" rel="noreferrer">in 1948</a>; the earlier versions seem to date to 1936 "Foreign Relations and Intercourse (June 20, 1936, ch. 635, §§ 1, 2, 49 Stat. 1557)" It's also distinct from prohibitions on misusing the Red Cross (which apparently are/were not repealed).</p>
<p>E.g., did the "Foreign Relations and Intercourse" act of 1936 prohibit misusing other coats of arms (or flags)?</p>
 | united states law switzerland | 1 |
61,089 | Has the Biden administration communicated a plan for overcoming US division? | <p>For now, civil society in the US looks <a href="https://www.ap.org/explore/divided-america/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">divided</a>, and that is a problem.</p>
<p>Has the incoming Biden administration or the Democratic party expressed any specific policies or plans for the purpose of addressing this issue?</p>
 | united states policy democratic party joe biden | 0 |
61,090 | What examples are there of former Cabinet secretaries being appointed back to the same position in a future administration? | <p>President-elect Joe Biden recently announced that he was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/us/politics/marcia-fudge-hud-tom-vilsack-agriculture.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">nominating Tom Vilsack</a> to be his Secretary of Agriculture, the same position that Vilsack served in during President Barack Obama's tenure.</p>
<p>Are there other examples of former Cabinet secretaries being appointed back to the <em><strong>same</strong></em> position in a future administration?</p>
 | united states cabinet nomination political appointments | 1 |
61,096 | Would France and other EU countries have been able to block freight traffic from the UK if the UK was still in the EU? | <p>There are currently lorries queueing in their thousands in the south east of England as France has closed its border due to the fear of spreading the mutated strain of COVID-19.</p>
<p>If the UK was still in the EU*, is this something France and other EU countries would have been allowed to do given the EU tenet of free trade and movement?</p>
<p>*The UK left the EU on the 31st of January 2020. It is currently in a “transition period” until the end of the year at which point the existing EU/UK agreement will end.</p>
 | united kingdom european union brexit | 1 |
61,105 | Do any Republicans support $2000 stimulus checks? | <p>President Donald Trump today called on Congress to increase the direct checks in the stimulus bill <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/22/trump-demands-congress-raise-second-stimulus-check-from-600-to-2000-under-new-covid-relief-bill.html" rel="noreferrer">from $600 to $2000</a>.</p>
<p>It appears that the House will attempt to <a href="https://www.cbs17.com/news/national-news/house-speaker-pelosi-says-democrats-ready-to-bring-president-trumps-2000-stimulus-check-proposal-to-house-floor/" rel="noreferrer">bring the measure onto the floor</a>. Do any Republicans in Congress support $2000 stimulus checks?</p>
 | united states republican party money | 1 |
61,106 | Is the COVID relief package the same legislation as the omnibus bill? | <p>There is a lot of news about the $900 billion COVID relief package passed by Congress on 12/21/2020. There is less news about the $1.4 trillion spending bill that was passed. However, a lot of people out there seem to be mixing up the two, with people saying things like the “$900 billion COVID relief bill contains all this money for foreign assistance, funding wildlife programs, etc.” However, the best I can tell, those budget items are separate from COVID relief; they are part of the omnibus bill.</p>
<p><strong>Is there only one piece of legislation that was passed in congress?</strong> Or 2 separate things, that were tied together based on agreements that neither would pass unless both were passed? Is COVID relief simply a small part of the same omnibus spending bill, or is it a separate bill? If it all one thing, why is $900 billion being talked about as an amount of money, when the actual bill is for much more spending than that?</p>
 | united states covid 19 virus budget legislation | 1 |
61,109 | What's with the threatened Trump veto due to insufficient individual covid relief? | <p>According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-trump/trump-threatens-to-not-sign-covid-19-bill-wants-bigger-stimulus-checks-idUSKBN28X01V" rel="noreferrer">Reuters</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Trump said he wants Congress to increase the amount in the stimulus checks to $2,000 for individuals or $4,000 for couples, instead of the “ridiculously low” $600 for individuals that is in the bill.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>OK, this sounds reasonable-ish/arguable... for Democrats. I thought the Reps had been holding out on covid bills before because the relief measures supposedly made it more lucrative to be Covid-furloughed than working (though a certain breed of free marketer/libertarian might argue that it would be better to hand out lotsa money without much costly oversight to consumers rather than play favorites with - and invite lobbying on - which industries most deserve bailouts in the midst of a massive systemic restructuring).</p>
<p>Did I totally misunderstand previous positions? From <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/07/24/coronavirus-stimulus-package-600-unemployment-discouraging-work-covid-19/5496727002/" rel="noreferrer">USA Today in July</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Democrats have argued for an extension of the benefits. Though President Donald Trump and some Republicans worry that extending the supplement will disincentivize unemployed Americans to return to work because they were earning more through unemployment than their job.</p>
<p>“We had something where ... it gave you a disincentive to work last time,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business earlier this month. “We want to create a very great incentive to work."</p>
</blockquote>
 | united states donald trump covid 19 virus | 1 |
61,112 | Why do UK politicians use pauses between words when giving a speech? | <p>As the question states, is there a particular reason why politicians (news reporters also) in the UK tend to present their speeches with intermittent pauses between words. Also the general speech pace is very inconsistent.</p>
<p>Is the reason behind this purely for the presenter to allow themselves to have time to prepare for the successive sentence or is there a more depth reasoning behind this?</p>
<p><em>For example: Makes the words around the pauses more prominent which causes the listeners pay more attention to these particular words</em></p>
 | united kingdom rhetoric | 0 |
61,113 | Have issues surrounding the Northern Ireland border been resolved? | <p>The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland was one of the thorny issues that plagued the initial stages of Brexit negotiations. During Prime Minister Theresa May's tenure, the debate over the withdrawal agreement was largely focused on the Irish backstop and its practicality. When Prime Minister May resigned, the question of the Northern Ireland border <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/082d16f8-7dfd-11e9-81d2-f785092ab560" rel="noreferrer">remained unresolved</a>.</p>
<p>In end-2019, the BBC noted that the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48826360" rel="noreferrer">Irish border is "blocking" Brexit</a>. At that time, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised <a href="https://www.thejournal.ie/boris-johnson-promises-good-solution-to-irish-border-in-formal-brexit-plan-4831730-Oct2019/" rel="noreferrer">"good solutions"</a> to the Irish border.</p>
<p>Recently, it appears to me that the Irish border has received far less attention as compared to other thorny issues such as the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/u-k-s-latest-brexit-offer-on-fish-rejected-by-eu-officials" rel="noreferrer">post-Brexit fisheries policies of the EU and the UK</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu/eu-acts-to-prepare-path-to-brexit-trade-deal-eu-sources-say-idINKBN28X0RK" rel="noreferrer">competition policies</a>. <strong>Last week, EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier noted that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2020/dec/18/fisheries-still-main-obstacle-in-final-hours-of-brexit-talks-says-barnier-video" rel="noreferrer">fisheries was the main obstacle in Brexit talks</a>.</strong></p>
<h3>Since trade negotiations and the Brexit transition period are ending soon,</h3>
<ul>
<li>What happened to the dispute over the Irish backstop?</li>
<li>Is the Irish border no longer a major obstacle in the negotiations between the UK and the EU?</li>
<li>Has a satisfactory and practical solution to the Irish border issue ever been reached?</li>
</ul>
 | united kingdom brexit northern ireland borders republic of ireland | 1 |
61,115 | Will the COVID vaccines from China be unavailable in the US for political reasons? | <p>I've so far never read any news stories about the "old-fashioned" inactivated-virus vaccines from China, such as Sinovac and Sinopharm, being made available in the United States, even once they pass Phase III trials. Are there legitimate medical and regulatory reasons for this, or is it solely due to political tensions between America and China?</p>
 | united states china covid 19 virus vaccine | 1 |
61,122 | Why is the head of the Department of Justice not called the Secretary of Justice? | <p>In the United States, the Attorney General leads the Department of Justice. This stands in contrast to other federal executive departments whose leaders hold the title of "Secretary".</p>
<p>Is there any particular reason why isn't the Attorney General called the Secretary of Justice?</p>
<p>This question is inspired by the <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/61090/what-examples-are-there-of-former-cabinet-secretaries-being-appointed-back-to-th/61092#61092">comments on this answer</a>.</p>
 | united states executive cabinet attorney general | 1 |
61,125 | In the US, have COVID deaths been evenly distributed among registered party voters? | <p>In the US, have COVID-19 deaths been evenly distributed among registered party voters?</p>
<p>That is, early in 2020 the blue states were the first to suffer. Later in 2020, the red states are suffering. For 2020 as a whole is the mortality rate about equal for both major parties, or has one side suffered greater mortality?</p>
 | united states parties covid 19 virus statistics | 0 |
61,126 | How many people received stimulus (in the full amount) under the CARES act? | <p>Looking at rules for he proposed new $600 stimulus checks passed by Congress (that Trump said is insufficient though), I see a lot of inclusion and exclusion criteria, <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/12/23/stimulus-checks-who-doesnt-get-stimulus-check-covid-19-relief-package/4013736001/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">e.g.</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Many students, for instance, don't qualify. Neither do immigrants who don’t have a Social Security number. Some elderly and disabled people won’t get a check either, along with high-wage earners.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There's a gradual reduction in the amount for high wage earners, for instance. Also students and even minor children might not receive them depending on the parents' immigration status and tax claims. So it seems fairly difficult to say precisely how many people are going to receive them.</p>
<p>But since this is not the first stimulus like this, let me ask from the benefit of hindsight: how many people received CARES stimulus, and how many received the full amount under that law? Wikipedia has a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CARES_Act#Relief_to_individuals" rel="nofollow noreferrer">pretty long article</a> on the latter, but I can't seem to find a simple answer in there on how many people actually got what. It only reports how much money was spent:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>After the enactment of the CARES Act, the Treasury Department and IRS disbursed about 160.4 million stimulus payments totaling $269 billion by the end of April 2020, of which nearly 1.1 million payments, totaling almost $1.4 billion (0.5% of the total value of all payments), were sent to dead people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So how many (well... living) people actually got the full payment of $1,200? And how many $500 disbursements were made for dependent children? (That was the [max] for children under CARES, it seems.) Basically, is there a breakdown in terms of people as opposed to somewhat more abstract payments (which presumably sum entire families) of that CARES sum? (A simple division shows that the average payment/check was $1,681.25, but that surely covered more than one person.)</p>
 | united states covid 19 virus | 0 |
61,131 | Under what circumstances has the USA invoked martial law? | <p>The idea that martial law could be imposed by Trump to rerun the election is currently topical (see <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/q/61038/8658">In what way would invoking martial law help Trump overturn the election?</a>).</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U0vOBQMtSI" rel="noreferrer">the interview</a> where Michael Flynn suggested that Trump should impose martial law in swing states to enforce a rerun of the presidential election he claimed that this had been done plenty of times before (that is, martial law had been used, not necessarily to manage elections).</p>
<p>He claims that martial law has been used 64 times previously. I presume in the history of the USA.</p>
<p>Is he right that the USA has imposed martial law 64 times? And what were the circumstances of those previous cases?</p>
 | united states military history martial law | 0 |
61,139 | Presidential record of personal ties with the power of pardon practice | <p>Has there ever been a US POTUS with a record of more personal ties with the power of pardons being practiced than that of president Trump's at the current moment?</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li><p>While he has less than one month before he can no longer use this power at all it may not be fair to wait if he's already the most
pardoning POTUS for people with personal ties.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Perhaps this question can wait to be answered after this time period expires when deep and comprehensive analyses of his presidency is
likely to exist and we know the exact numbers to answer.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>Trump has used the power of pardon for people that have <em><strong>in fact been very close to him</strong></em>, others that are quite personal in nature, and that also seem to protect himself in connection to Russia and the Mueller probe.</p>
<p>So has there ever been such cronyism practiced according to the records of the presidential power of pardon with this respect that is <em><strong>more than just controversial</strong></em>?</p>
<h2>Notable Items - Personal Ties</h2>
<p>It didn't take too much effort to find notable items of personal ties for those Trump has pardoned that people believe it true, and below are a few of those.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/connections-trump-putin-russia-ties-chart-flynn-page-manafort-sessions-214868" rel="nofollow noreferrer">All of Trump’s Russia Ties, in 7 Charts</a>
<ul>
<li>Re Flynn, Stone, and Manafort at least</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-pardons-rod-blagojevich-others-meant-convince-america-corruption-ncna1138876" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Trump's pardons of Rod Blagojevich and others meant to convince America corruption is OK</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/05/politics/trump-pardons-commutations-list/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Here are the high-profile pardons and commutations Trump has granted during his presidency</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Objectively Measuring</h2>
<p>It doesn't take too much to think of ways to objectively measure how one could have close ties to a president that he pardons and below are just a few examples.</p>
<ul>
<li>Members of the President's campaign, related through marriage, and ties within businesses (including television) before being president.</li>
<li>Count the graph hops, like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon</a>. With SDoKB an imdb entry constitutes a node, but a political pardon node would need to be defined somewhat differently. Perhaps it could be who a given person knows, or has done business with, inferred as per available public records.</li>
<li>It can be done for terrorists (e.g. <a href="https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3300&context=soss_research" rel="nofollow noreferrer">A graph database framework for covert network analysis: An application to the Islamic State network in Europe</a>) and there are lots of SNA papers on terrorism</li>
</ul>
 | united states president donald trump pardon | 0 |
61,140 | What is this stalemate on Covid relief payments all about? | <p>Trump said he wants to raise the size of payments to $2,000, the Democrats are all for it, but the Republicans still block it. What is the disagreement? There was also something with foreign aid that the Republicans, including Trump, oppose but the Democrats support. First, what does it have to do with the Covid relief package (why can't it be voted on with a separate bill?).</p>
<p>Secondly, what foreign aid are they talking about, why is it controversial? Lastly, why is Trump suddenly backing generous across-the-board handouts if it's traditionally something the Democrats propose (especially left-leaning) and, conversely, something the Republicans usually dismiss as "socialism"?</p>
<p>Edit: <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/61109/whats-with-the-trump-veto-due-to-insufficient-individual-covid-relief?noredirect=1&lq=1">This</a> post answers only one of the several questions I asked. It should be reopened.</p>
 | united states congress covid 19 virus house of representatives | 0 |
61,141 | To what extent are financial services in this last Brexit deal (trade agreement)? | <p>I've read two somewhat conflicting accounts from the BBC on this. On <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-55435930" rel="noreferrer">one hand</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[Boris Johnson] acknowledged he had been forced to give ground on his demands on fishing.</p>
<p>"The EU began with I think wanting a transition period of 14 years, we wanted three years, we've ended up at five years," he said.</p>
<p>And he said the UK had not got all it wanted on financial services, a vital part of the UK economy, but he insisted the deal was "nonetheless going to enable our dynamic City of London to get on and prosper as never before".</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So something was agreed on financial services, but what? On the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55444144" rel="noreferrer">other hand</a>, BBC's editor for Europe says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Remember, the UK is a service-based economy, yet this agreement hardly deals with services at all.</p>
<p>UK financial services must wait, possibly for months yet, for the EU to decide unilaterally what access they can have to the single market.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So that means nothing was actually in this deal regarding financial services, it's all left to the EU to decide later?</p>
 | united kingdom european union brexit trade finance | 1 |
61,144 | What are the most important reasons that large urban centers in the U.S. tend to lean towards democrats? | <p>There are many candidate explanations for this: the relatively less important role of religion, the relatively higher level of education, the fact that living in crowded areas leads people to appreciate interdependence, etc.</p>
<p>However, I am looking for more serious scientific studies that seriously test these explanations, instead of just telling stories. If you know any sources, please let me know.</p>
 | united states republican party democratic party | 0 |
61,145 | How do Trump's pardons of other people protect himself from potential future criminal investigations? | <p>A Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/charles-kushner-paul-manafort-roger-stone-trump-pardons/2020/12/23/05cf013a-456d-11eb-975c-d17b8815a66d_story.html" rel="noreferrer">article</a> that describes President Trump's pardons over the last few days says the following:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The move sparked blowback, mostly from Democrats, who accused him of wielding his executive authority to shield himself from possible criminal investigation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>How would Trump's pardoning of other people protect himself from any potential criminal investigation in the future? People who have been pardoned could still be subpoenaed in a future investigation. Wouldn't the only way for Trump to protect himself be to pardon himself, which he has not done yet?</p>
 | united states donald trump crime pardon | 1 |
61,149 | The EU-Uk trade deal ratification by national parliaments | <p>What would follow if any of the national parliaments refused to ratify the EU-UK trade agreement?</p>
 | united kingdom european union brexit trade | 1 |
61,150 | Are there any polls on the acceptance of the "Irish Sea border" in the UK? | <p>I'm venturing a guess that a symbol that may constitute a rallying cry for hardcore Brexiteers is going to be the "Irish Sea border" which is already making its (still subdued) <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-55415418" rel="nofollow noreferrer">appearance</a> as a practical reality following the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement.</p>
<p>I can easily imagine impassioned speeches how that setup impinges on UK's sovereignty, as being a surrender to a rule from Brussels... In fact, I don't have to imagine them. For example, former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib <a href="https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/westminster-news/ben-habib-on-brexit-sovereignty-6574896" rel="nofollow noreferrer">said</a> on Dec 1st:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"I can't see how Boris Johnson unpicks the withdrawal agreement or how he unpicks EU state law applying in Northern Ireland and therefore the United Kingdom."</p>
<p>"I can't see how he will get rid of the Irish Sea border and how he is going to ensure that we stay out of the level playing field, having promised to sign up to it in the political declaration."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And consequently Habib says it will take the UK 25 years to fully regain its sovereignty. In other words, in this vision, (true) Brexit is a long-term project, which includes the dismantling of the Irish Sea border.</p>
<p>So, <strong>are there any polls on the level of acceptance of this "Irish Sea border" setup among the UK public?</strong></p>
<p>The DUP was fairly adamant against it last year, but they <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/brexit-dup-welcomes-elements-of-irish-sea-border-deal-1.4432145" rel="nofollow noreferrer">seem</a> to have softened their stance along the lines of "let's see how it works in practice". In view of that, this question may seem premature, but I'm interested mainly in how many still oppose it as a matter of [sovereignty] principle.</p>
 | united kingdom brexit polling northern ireland | 0 |
61,152 | What are the restrictions that a President has when issuing a pardon? | <p>There is speculation that Trump might be issuing pardons for his family members even if they haven't been charged with a crime.</p>
<p>It seems there is precedent for this and that a President can pardon someone unconditionally for any crime committed within a time period (eg. Ford's pardon of Nixon).</p>
<p>It is unclear whether a President can pardon himself but are there any actual restrictions to the President's pardon powers?</p>
<p>Could a President issue say a pardon for every living person on Earth for all crimes from the beginning of time. Have every murderer, rapist or jaywalker be instantly absolved of his punishment? Would there be anything preventing the President from doing this?</p>
 | united states pardon | 0 |
61,161 | How does the recent EU-UK trade treaty "go beyond a Canada-style" agreement, but still not require ratification by national parliaments under EU law? | <p>The rules for ratifying EU trade treaties depend on what's in them. There are two categories known as "EU-only" and respectively "mixed" treaties, <a href="http://respect.eui.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/05/Mixity.pdf" rel="noreferrer">roughly</a> discriminated along the lines in the following table:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Oct3J.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Oct3J.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/future-relationship-eu-ratification" rel="noreferrer">As examples</a>, the EU-Canada (CETA) agreement is a "mixed" one, whereas the EU-Japan treaty is "EU-only". "Mixed" EU trade treaties require ratification by national parliaments of EU member countries (as well as both regional parliaments of Belgium), whereas the "EU-only" ones do not.</p>
<p>By all accounts, the EU-UK treaty <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/61149/the-eu-uk-trade-deal-ratification-by-national-parliaments">will not</a> require ratification by the national parliaments of EU member countries.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Reuters says <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-trade-bbc/bbc-says-obtained-full-copy-of-post-brexit-trade-deal-idUSKBN28Z0XW" rel="noreferrer">e.g.</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday had described the last-minute agreement as a “jumbo” free trade deal along the lines of that between the EU and Canada, and urged Britain to move on from the divisions caused by the 2016 Brexit referendum.</p>
<p>The BBC report added that at first look, the full post-Brexit text went beyond a so-called “Canada-style” deal.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, in what sense does the EU-UK trade treaty go beyond a Canada-style deal, while not becoming a mixed treaty (that requires ratification by national parliaments under EU law)?</p>
 | european union brexit law trade | 0 |
61,163 | How is it decided where on the left-right spectrum a policy falls? | <p>It seems possible to argue for many policies from either perspective. For example, you could argue against war from a left perspective by calling it imperialism and full of human rights violations. But you could also argue against war from a right perspective by pointing out how the military-industrial complex takes advantage of a large government to milk the populace for cash. Or with the covid relief bill, left-wing supporters may want to put most funds into direct deposits to average citizens because that seems to directly help people. Right-wing supporters may argue for the same thing because a large, complex system deciding who gets relief is vulnerable to lobbying and litigation effectively siphoning that relief to the highest bidder. So how is it decided if a policy is left or right?</p>
<p>These are just examples, I am interested in the subject in general. I have seen other questions asking about how left and right people are defined, but I don't think this is a duplicate as it is about policy.</p>
 | policy political spectrum | 0 |
61,165 | Are there any studies/ data sources into whether Republicans or Democrats suffer the most under the presence of 3rd parties? | <p>I am looking to explore the impact of 3rd parties on mainstream political parties in the United States. Not necessarily at the federal level but at state level too, and across any branch of the federal Government.</p>
<p>There are of course the most significant occurrences in history, such as Ross Perot's independent run in 1992 and 1996. But even more recently, the 2020 US senate election in Georgia saw the libertarian party deny either candidate 50% of the vote. Additionally, the green party was able to detract enough votes from Clinton in Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2016 to prevent her from winning. These are just some recent examples but of course there are many more. However, the above instances are mine, and others', mere assumption about which party the 3rd party impacted the most.</p>
<p>I'm looking to find if there has been any studies into the impact of 3rd parties in US elections, and which party their presence hinders the most. I've looked <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_United_States_presidential_election" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, but the only available data was exit polling information, and I'm curious if there have been more rigorous approaches to examining this that go beyond exit polls.</p>
<p>This is my first question on this forum of StackExchange, I hope I have satisfied the requirements for a good question.</p>
 | united states presidential election data sources third party voting records | 0 |
61,167 | Reference Request: A book that explains the origin of the American political left & right | <p>In 2011 spring, in college, someone recommended a book to me. The book was assigned as a political science reading in an undergraduate introductory level political course they were taking at Johns Hopkins University. He said that the book explains how the American left & right (maybe democrat & republican I cannot remember) developed. I am trying to find that book now, but am having trouble.</p>
 | united states ideology reference request political science | 0 |
61,168 | Why does Puerto Rico have representation in the house, but not in the senate? | <p>Puerto Rico has representation in the US house, albeit non-voting. Only having the right to speak and debate on the floor and votes in committee.</p>
<p>But why does Puerto Rico not have coinciding representation in the senate? And the same for other US territories too?</p>
 | united states congress house of representatives puerto rico | 1 |
61,170 | In parliamentary systems, why are Speakers of Parliament often granted special independence, despite no such protection is required in Constitution? | <p>In parliamentary systems, the Speaker (once elected by the Parliament) usually cannot be removed by a decision of Parliament, which grants them special independence to act impartially.</p>
<p>However, most Constitutions do not actually have such provision to protect the Speaker. Specifically, these documents simply require the Parliament to <strong>elect</strong> a Speaker, but does not specify whether the Speaker can be removed by a parliamentary majority.</p>
<p>Example: German Basic Law, Article 40, Clause 1</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>The Bundestag shall elect its President, Vice-Presidents and
secretaries. It shall adopt rules of procedure.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Example: Finnish Constitution, Chapter 4, Section 34, Clause 1</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>The Parliament elects from among its members a Speaker and two Deputy
Speakers for each parliamentary session.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Example: Danish Constitution, Part V, 35, 2</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Immediately after the proving of the mandates the Folketing shall
constitute itself by the election of a President and Vice-Presidents.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>My question is, why have so many countries evolved to grant the Speaker such protection, when it is not a requirement in the first place?</p>
<p>You can easily imagine that once a ruling coalition seizes power, they would pass laws which allow them to rein in the Speaker as much as possible to further control the legislative process. For instance, they might pass an act that allows the Parliament to remove the Speaker with simple majority.</p>
<p>Yet, each successive ruling coalition seems to have followed the tradition of affirming impartial speakership. Why is that?</p>
 | parliament germany speaker denmark finland | 1 |
61,171 | Why is the current Presiding Officer in Scottish Parliament a member of Labour Party, and not the Scottish National Party? | <p>As of 2016, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presiding_Officer_of_the_Scottish_Parliament" rel="noreferrer">Presiding Officer</a> (i.e. Speaker) in the Scottish Parliament is Ken Macintosh.</p>
<p>The curious thing is that Macintosh is a former member of the Labour Party (Presiding Officers are expected to renounce party affiliation while in office), while the ruling party has been Scottish National Party during the same period.</p>
<p>If conventional wisdom serves, shouldn't the Presiding Officer be someone from the Scottish National Party? What is the political calculus that led to this result?</p>
 | parliament scotland labour party speaker scottish national party | 1 |
61,178 | Why does the EU-UK trade deal have the 7-bit ASCII table as an appendix? | <p>I just noticed this on Twitter:</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/thejsa_/status/1343291595899207681" rel="noreferrer">https://twitter.com/thejsa_/status/1343291595899207681</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Fun fact: the EU-UK post Brexit trade deal text includes a copy of the 7-bit ASCII table on page 977, just in case you happen to need it</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6pAqp.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6pAqp.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Related tweets also show references to Netscape Navigator 4.x and SHA-1, which could probably be attributed to outdated templates, but what specific regulation(s) does the EU-UK trade deal have that requires the inclusion of a 7-bit ASCII table?</p>
 | brexit international relations | 0 |
61,184 | Why are regimes much harsher on mere civilians than their famous leaders? | <p>Looking at events in places like Belarus, the Russian Empire, and modern Russia, it seems like there is more cruelty to mere civilians that to their leaders when those leaders are captured.</p>
<p>The Tsar regime shot people, but Stalin was only imprisoned, and <a href="https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/62367/why-lenins-brother-was-shot-and-he-himself-was-only-banished">Lenin was sent abroad</a>. I heard Solzhenitsyn was treated like a special dissident in Soviet camp, and even had an opportunity to write.</p>
<p>In modern Belarus they beat rioting people like chop cutlets, but they are more lenient with leaders. Similarly in Russia, I've never seen Alexei Navalny beaten with clubs when he attended riots, or treated in a similar manner as his followers are. Yes, there were attacks on him, even an assassination attempt. However these weren't open, but instead hidden cowardly</p>
 | dictatorship political leaders | 1 |
61,190 | How do politicians scrutinize bills that are thousands of pages long? | <p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55324489?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Binforadio%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D" rel="noreferrer">recently passed stimulus bill</a> is said to be 5,593 pages long, and allocates $900 billion in funds. It's no surprise that there was <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/61083/did-congress-pass-a-5-593-page-bill-without-chance-to-amend-or-even-read">no chance to read or amend</a> the bill.</p>
<p>The logistics of revising a 5,593-page document must be nearly overwhelming. I am curious how many people are involved in coordinating the document. I can only guess that the various parts of the documents are written by various parties, and then collated into a longer document. Is it known who wrote the various parts of it? Is there a person who has read the entire document?</p>
 | united states congress legislative process | 0 |
61,191 | Were there any elements of socialism in Nazism? | <p>I know that the Nazis hated communism but it is a bit ironic that they themselves had the word socialism in their party's name (National Socialist German Workers' Party. Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei in German).</p>
<p>My question is that is there any evidence of any socialist elements in Nazi policies or agendas?</p>
<p>If not then why did the Nazi party have the word socialism in its very name?</p>
 | germany socialism nazism | 0 |
61,195 | Why does regulation and legislation on technology take so long to pass? | <p>The presidential campaign of Andrew Yang shined a light on many of what it considered issues on modern practices of technology, data and the internet in today's society. Regarding 'Big Tech', data privacy and internet security, going as far to include even new developments such as blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.yang2020.com/policies/reviveota/" rel="noreferrer">Yang</a> called for the re-opening of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Technology_Assessment" rel="noreferrer">Office of Technology Assessment</a> (OTA), a non-partisan government agency which was closed in 1995, way before the internet made its way in the majority of homes in the modern world.</p>
<p>Yet, why is the response, of the US and other governments, on regulating technology so slow? Given that the US Government is a monolith of military technological power and intelligence practices. Even though many experts and think-tanks have called for more regulation. Is it because the those at the federal level do not see it as a problem? Or are there other more covert reasons for not taking a stance.</p>
 | legislation regulation technology gdpr | 1 |
61,202 | Why is a 2/3 vote required for the Dec 28, 2020 attempt to increase the stimulus checks to $2000? | <p>From a Bloomberg article on December 28, 2020:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The House is set to vote Monday to replace the $600 stimulus payments
in the newly enacted pandemic relief law with the $2,000 President
Donald Trump demanded [...] The bill would need two-thirds support to
clear the House under the procedure being used for the vote ...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Several other news sources referred to this required 2/3 vote, without explaining it. What procedure requires this?</p>
 | united states house of representatives house rules | 1 |
61,203 | Why does the Czech government need EU permission to change the way vaccines are administered? | <p>According to the <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrejBabis/status/1343653164357189633" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Twitter of Andrej Babiš</a> (Czech prime minister):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This evening I have asked the EC President @vonderleyen
to explore and approve together with @EMA_News
as soon as possible the possibility of using a Pfizer ampule for six doses instead of five. It would mean 360 million doses instead of 300 million doses of Pfizer vaccine for the EU. I strongly hope that the EC President will find a solution shortly.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But why is EU approval required in the first place? Couldn't the Czech government unilaterally mandate that all six doses are used instead of five? Is there anything in EU rules that precludes such experimentation?</p>
 | european union covid 19 virus czech republic | 1 |
61,206 | What procedures are in place to stop a U.S. Vice President from ignoring electors? | <p>Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and President Donald Trump's defeated electors appear to be suing Vice President Mike Pence in a Federal Court in Texas. Gohmert and a handful of the electors sued Pence in federal court on Monday in a long-shot bid to throw out the rules that govern Congress' counting of electoral votes next week.</p>
<p>It’s an effort they hope will permit Pence — who is tasked with leading the Jan. 6 session of the House and Senate — to simply ignore President-elect Joe Biden's electors and count Trump's losing slates instead.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/gohmert-suit-may-force-pences-192128724.html" rel="noreferrer">The lawsuit asserts that the 1887 law known as the Electoral Count Act, the vague statute that has long governed the electoral vote counting process with minimal drama, unconstitutionally binds Pence from exercising total authority to choose which votes to count.</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Under the Twelfth Amendment, Defendant Pence alone has the exclusive
authority and sole discretion to open and permit the counting of the
electoral votes for a given state, and where there are competing
slates of electors, or where there is objection to any single slate of
electors, to determine which electors’ votes, or whether none, shall
be counted,"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>the suit contends.</p>
<p>Can the Vice President ignore electors or is he just more of a figure ''Image'' and has no real authority? What's the procedure if he were to refuse? Is there a secondary (Secretary, etc..) who it goes to?</p>
 | united states presidential election electoral college contested election | 1 |
61,211 | What happens after the president signs a bill into law? | <p>Imagine I'm the head of some federal agency, let's say the Treasury. The president Tweets that he just signed a bill into law that requires me to send $600 checks to all Americans. How do I officially know that the president signed it and that I need to boot up the (metaphorical) check printing machine? Do they fax me a copy of the signed bill? Does GPO publish an official notice? Do I call the White House Chief of Staff? It's a super basic question but I'm having trouble finding the answer. <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/14890/what-happens-to-signed-bills-and-what-happens-if-theyre-destroyed">This question</a> comes close but it's slightly different.</p>
 | united states president legislative process | 0 |
61,213 | Can a bill be recalled before it's signed into law? | <p>Let's say the House of Representatives and the Senate pass a bill and it sits on the President's desk. Before the President signs the bill, can it be recalled (by the Senate or the House)?</p>
 | united states congress legislation | 0 |
61,214 | Are the EU's "four freedoms" inseparable when negotiating a deal with a country? | <p>I heard that, for whatever reasons, the EU wants its partners to agree (or not) to all four freedoms as one package (freedom of goods, services, capital, movement). So, for example, Norway agreed to open its borders for human traffic from the EU to get access to the single market.</p>
<p>But then was a deal with Canada, which, unless I'm mistaken, doesn't require that, and, finally, the Brexit deal. Both of these make movement of goods, services, capital or people more flexible across EU lines.</p>
<p>If such partial relaxations are possible, can they really be considered inseparable?</p>
 | european union brexit | 1 |
61,219 | Where can I find shapefiles of US counties and districts? | <p>I am interested in creating some nice plots of election results from this and previous election cycles. I am wondering if there is a publicly available database or website that contains shapefiles of US counties and house districts?</p>
<p>Furthermore if it contains historical district datasets that would be a big plus as well.</p>
 | united states house of representatives data sources gerrymandering voting districts | 1 |
61,225 | Trump vs Section 230 | <p>I see that Trump is against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_230" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Section 230</a>. As I understand it, it relieves social media platforms from the liability associated with the content shared by 3rd parties, which I think should enable free speech. But why is then <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/12/house-overrides-trump-veto-defying-demand-to-repeal-section-230/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Trump against it</a>, if he's for free speech? Am I either not understanding the law or Trump's position on it?</p>
<p>Because if you want social media platforms to be liable for the content others use them to share, you are only forcing them to censor content. It does not "retaliate against Facebook and Twitter for their perceived bias against him".</p>
 | united states donald trump regulation internet social media | 0 |
61,226 | Why does the EEA not include a customs union? | <p>It's easy to find that e.g. the EEA does not include the Common Fisheries Policy because <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36587253" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Iceland</a> and Norway didn't want to have their fish stocks shared/managed in common with the EU. (Aside: seemingly as a result of these exclusions, Norway <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-norway-salmon-idUSKCN0WI1VJ" rel="nofollow noreferrer">has</a> to export most of their fish raw to Poland where it is processed, since imports of processed fish are taxed higher by the EU.)</p>
<p>But <strong>why is the customs union (EUCU) excluded form the EEA? Which countries oppose[d] a customs union extending to the EEA and why?</strong></p>
<p>(I could find out that Norway <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/145507250902600207" rel="nofollow noreferrer">taxes</a> alcohol more heavily and imposes quotas on imports from the EU even for personal use, but that seems like a marginal issue. Norway <a href="https://www.nupi.no/en/News/Free-trade-agreements-increasingly-important-for-Norway" rel="nofollow noreferrer">conducts</a> some 10% of its trade under FTAs agreed outside the EEA, which Norway can do because it's not bound by a common trade policy with EU; but I'm also not sure this was a substantial reason for EEA not having a customs union.)</p>
<p>I suppose a <a href="https://www.efta-studies.org/the-two-pillar-structure" rel="nofollow noreferrer">generic answer</a> may be the (maximal) avoidance of political integration, which would indeed also cover foreign policy in general (also excluded from the EEA) and a common foreign trade policy in particular:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>During the negotiations on the EEA Agreement, the search for an institutional framework proved to be one of the greatest challenges. The EFTA states tried to avoid any political integration that would pool national sovereignty in common institutions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But can anything more specific than this be said about why the EEA not having a customs union?</p>
 | european union borders norway european economic area | 0 |
61,229 | Philosophically what is the difference between stimulus checks and tax breaks? | <p>For example, Republicans are for tax cuts, and Democrats are against them. On the other hand, Democrats are for stimulus checks and Republicans against.</p>
<p>But the net effect of both seems to be the same, namely, a higher deficit and more money in people's pockets.</p>
<p>So what's the difference and why do the parties come out opposites on it?</p>
 | united states parties taxes | 1 |
61,234 | (Why) did the EEA countries accept a guillotine clauses at a later date than the original Agreement? | <p>Wikipedia <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine_clause" rel="nofollow noreferrer">says</a> (alas without citing a clear source) that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>EU also has guillotine clauses in the EEA agreements with Norway (2001), Iceland (2001), and Liechtenstein (2008), which must directly accept both existing and added EU directives within several fields relating to trade (except food) free movement and the internal market. Refusing such directives would give the EU the right to terminate the entire EEA agreement and so the EEA countries have avoided doing so.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>On the other hand, in a UK parliamentary <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201617/ldselect/ldeucom/72/7206.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">report</a> that was discussing the EEA (as option for the UK), it was said that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Dr Sverdrup explained that while existing non-EU EEA countries might find this appealing, the “main framework of the EEA Agreement has never been renegotiated” in the “past 25 years”.</p>
<p>This was due to a number of factors. First, non-EU EEA countries “basically think that they cannot get a better deal”. When the EEA agreement was signed in 1992, EFTA had seven countries while the EU had twelve. Now, however, the “EU consists of 500 million people and the EEA is only five million”. A second reason was that “sentiments in the EU” would not favour such an approach. It was “not very likely” that an “EU member country [would] accept being outvoted by a non-member.” Finally, any change to the Agreement would have to be ratified by all the signatories, which was “not very easy”. Bearing all these factors in mind, Dr Sverdrup concluded that Norway had accepted that “we have what we have, and it is very difficult to negotiate it ‘up’ or ‘down’.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This latter info kinda seems to contradict what Wikipedia says, albeit not directly. If the main EEA treaty was not renegotiated in 25 years, how and why where those guilloite clause(s) added (as Wikipedia claims)?</p>
 | european union norway iceland european economic area | 1 |
61,240 | What is the constitutional basis of the Senate majority leader's power to call issues to a vote? | <p>Framers of the Constitution, such as Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, spoke out against the concept of parties, and the Constitution does not mention them. See for example <a href="https://www.history.com/news/founding-fathers-political-parties-opinion" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.history.com/news/founding-fathers-political-parties-opinion</a> . Therefore, how did we arrive at the situation where the leader of the majority party in the Senate has the enormous power to call issues to a vote? How does this power trace ultimately back to the Constitution?</p>
 | united states constitution senate | 0 |
61,243 | Are fair elections the only possible incentive for governments to work in the interest of their people (for example, in the case of China)? | <p>Why does the Chinese government rule the country not phenomenally, but better than one would expect from unelected authorities? I think it's supposed to work the following way: the officials try to work well so that they are not kicked out next election, like in Europe. Otherwise, we get Russia where the government messes up everything (in my view) but still keeps its grip on power.</p>
<p>China, on the other hand, seems to be governed not as bad after all. For example, they managed the COVID epidemic quite well (aside from their initial attempts to shoot the messenger), they managed to dramatically increase incomes and reduce poverty in the last few decades, and so on.</p>
<p>So my question is: <strong>what are incentives for the authorities to do a good job <em>other than</em> regular and fair elections</strong>? Answers should include the ones that lead the undemocratic and repressive Chinese government to occasionally make good decisions which benefit the public.</p>
 | election democracy china authoritarianism | 0 |
61,255 | How is a vacant House seat filled in Louisiana? | <p>With the passing of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Letlow" rel="noreferrer">Republican congressman-elect Luke Letlow</a> to COVID-19, how will his seat in the House of Representatives be handled? Is it appointed? Is there a snap election?</p>
 | united states house of representatives | 1 |
61,265 | How would one justify public funding for non-STEM (or unprofitable) college majors to a non college educated taxpayer? | <p>I'm curious what kind of arguments one could give to justify to someone without a college education that they would have to pay for someone else's education that they themselves never received.</p>
<p>With majors where it's expected that people will be more capable of producing value than without such as with STEM majors the argument is that long term, they will be able to pay more taxes allowing the original taxpayer to retire more comfortably.</p>
<p>But that's less of an argument when its about a major that has no guarantee of a high paying position as a result of it. In fact you are losing out on tax revenue that they could have paid if they spent the same time working.</p>
<p>So how would one convince someone to pay for a less profitable major for someone else?</p>
 | taxes education | 1 |
61,268 | Why did Saudi-Arabia not launch its own nuclear program in response to Iran’s? | <p>Saudi and Iran have long fought each other through proxy wars throughout the Middle East. However when Iran started its nuclear program, how come Saudi didn’t do it in response?</p>
 | iran nuclear weapons geopolitics middle east saudi arabia | 0 |
61,273 | What will be the makeup of the new Congress (2021)? | <p>There appears to be 2 House elections that are contested and 2 Senate runoff elections yet to be held.</p>
<p>What will be the makeup of the new Congress once they are sworn in on January 3, 2021? In other words, how many Senators and Representatives will be sworn in on January 3, 2021, excluding the undecided races?</p>
 | united states congress | 1 |
61,274 | More Than 40 Years Later---1040 Capital Losses are Still Capped at $3000 (Politically, Why?) | <p>A couple of days ago, I posted this question on the LAW stack exchange:</p>
<p><a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/59618/when-did-u-s-tax-code-limit-the-personal-capital-loss-deduction-to-3000">https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/59618/when-did-u-s-tax-code-limit-the-personal-capital-loss-deduction-to-3000</a></p>
<p>From a answer to the question, I learned that the $3000 figure became so in 1978.</p>
<p>Originally, my question was two parts: (1) When was the $3000 limit first imposed, and (2) the rationale behind why it hasn't been increased in so long a period of time.</p>
<p>The question became ``hot'', was then closed, and then reopened today in a modified form---some thinking that the second part of my query was better suited here.</p>
<p>So, bearing in mind that in any given tax year, the IRS allows capital losses to offset capital gains dollar for dollar, with any excess loss deductible from taxable income up to $3000. This apparently has been the case for over forty years with no increase in the allowable deduction since 1978---</p>
<p>MY QUESTION IS THIS: Have any political attempts been made to increase the $3000 amount to a more equitable figure? If so, can someone provide some information as to the attempts made and reasons for the failures? Or, has no political party seen fit to try and raise this figure in over forty years? Thank you.</p>
 | united states taxes | 1 |
61,277 | What would be the negative effects if the EU created a fiscal union? | <p>Some economists argue that the monetary union of the European Union should be followed by further fiscal integration. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_union" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The wikipedia page</a> lists only advantages of such fiscal union, but what would be possible negative effects if a fiscal union was created?</p>
 | european union eurozone monetary union fiscal policy | 0 |
61,280 | Estimating state-sponsored extreme loss of freedom rates by country | <p>This question deals only with "extreme loss of freedom". "Extreme" means that "going about day-to-day life" is <em>severely</em> curtailed or impossible. Losses of freedoms due to exit bans or dissident suppression don't stop "day-to-day" life so are not included (however they are still very important in their own right).</p>
<p>The US ranks <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-states/freedom-world/2020" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fairly high</a> in global freedom. However, this "free" country ranks <em>at the very top of 193 countries worldwide</em> in per-capita incarceration. <strong>This is a very serious issue that causes great suffering for many people.</strong> But how does the US stack up in terms of a broader definition of state-sponsored "extreme loss of freedom"?</p>
<p>In particular, we can consider the following sources of state-sponsored loss of freedom:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Overly restrictive use of probation, parole, or supervised release. It's hard to define "overly restrictive", but the US is quite high in the rates of non-custodial penalties as well so including it would be unlikely to act in favor of the US.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Incarceration itself: The period of time people are forbidden by force and/or threat to leave an institution. Institution means any confined physical place that is sanctioned by the State. Prison, jail, secret police cells, briggs on ships, involuntary commitment (excluding at the hands of familial guardians) in psych wards and much more all qualify. Incarceration can be for any reason: convicted criminals, pretrial detention, ethnic cleansing, political dissident suppression, state-sponsored secret kidnappings, and state sponsored slavery (which would not be "out in the open"). However, "reasonable" uses of compulsory education and military service on a week-to-week basis don't impinge on individual rights nearly as much so don't count.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Execution and custody-related deaths. This includes capital punishment, summary execution without a proper trial, deaths related to being arrested, extra-legal state-sponsored violence <em>in areas the state has stable control over</em> (war is a separate question entirely), and neglect and (excess) violence risk while in custody. With care this can be converted to an "equivalent" prison sentence.
For example, a 50 year old American has about 30 years of expected life left. If they were killed by a police shooting while being arrested, we could consider (very approximately) a loss of freedom of 30 years from said shooting (regardless of how much they resisted) and ignore any jail/prison time they would be facing. However, for extended stays in custody only <em>excess</em> deaths should count: Say a person of a given demographic has a 0.3% chance of dying of prison violence vs 0.1% outside prison. Prison would be held "responsible" for the excess 0.2%. These extra deaths would be "converted" to ~20-50 year sentences, so could slightly increase the calculation for people serving short sentences.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>When we say "per-capita" we mean (ideally) percentage of people currently physically in a country's controlled territory or military outposts <em>regardless of citizenship</em>.</p>
<p>Would this more complex metric still put the US at or near the top on a per-capita basis? Capital punishment and "secret police" are very rare in the US, while much of the global south has incredible prison brutality. Thus one may think the US is a bit lower (relativly) on a more careful measure of "extreme loss of freedom" burden?</p>
 | police rule of law | 0 |
61,282 | If the Electoral Count Act is repealed, would Pence have the power to throw out states' results? | <p>I have just found that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-election_lawsuits_related_to_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election#Gohmert_et_al._v._Pence" rel="nofollow noreferrer">another lawsuit</a> have been filed in Texas, aimed at overturning the presidential election result and seeking for the courts to invalidate the Electoral Count Act as unconstitutional.</p>
<p>My question: <strong>Assuming that the judge rules on the eve of counting the electoral votes in Congress that the law is unconstitutional, would this give the president of the Senate (Mike Pence) the power to throw out the votes of some electoral slates from contested states and replace them with votes of alternate slates which claim to be appointed by the state legislatures?</strong> The constitution requires him to open the certificates, but does not say which certificates are to be opened if there are several of them.</p>
<p>This is not a duplicate of a previous question, because the possibility of invalidation of the Electoral Count Act by a court decision was not considered before.</p>
 | united states presidential election congress constitution electoral college | 1 |
61,291 | Was the 5,593 pages-long stimulus bill the longest bill ever passed? | <p>The recently passed stimulus bill and appropriations act was <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/61083/did-congress-pass-a-5-593-page-bill-without-chance-to-amend-or-even-read">5,593 pages long</a>. Was that the longest bill ever passed?</p>
 | united states congress | 1 |
61,295 | Are there elections where the second place candidate becomes eligible for a different position? | <p>According to Article 2, clause 3 of the US Constitution (since replaced by the 12th Amendment):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So the first place winner became the President and the second place winner became the Vice President. Are there any similar elections these days? Note that I'm not asking about votes where multiple people on the ballot become elected members with equal rights, but rather where the positions are distinct.</p>
 | election | 1 |
61,302 | What happens to the undecided House seats in NY-22 and IA-02? | <p>There are two House seats still undecided: NY-22 and IA-02. Who will be the representatives for those seats on January 3?</p>
 | united states congress | 0 |
61,304 | Which recent presidents (since Carter) has vetoed an NDAA before? | <p>I saw <a href="https://twitter.com/coreyrobin/status/1343709619739365376?s=21" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this post on Twitter</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Reagan, Carter, Bush, and Obama all vetoed the NDAA. Each time, the veto was upheld and/or the bill was revised to respond to their objections.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is it true that these presidents also vetoed the NDAA? Which presidents (since Carter) has vetoed an NDAA before?</p>
 | united states president veto | 1 |
61,305 | Is President-elect Biden the first to create an "Office of the President-Elect" set? | <p>I keep seeing this image on the internet, of President-elect Biden standing at a lectern that looks a bit like the president's.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/l2OAc.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/l2OAc.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/sItsA.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/sItsA.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>I saw this picture of President-elect Biden in the USA Today, and the caption said: President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks at The Queen in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 9, 2020. I do notice that he has a second American flag to fill the space of the absent flag of the presidency, and a gold seal in lieu of the presidential seal.</p>
<p>It strikes me as a new development that before taking office he should have constructed an office in the theaters that he visits, from which to address the press. When we say "the Office of the President” I suppose that we mean not a room containing office furniture but rather the role of the president, the collection of powers and responsibilities of the president as defined in the Constitution, by comparison to which there isn't really an "Office of the President-elect."</p>
<p>Has any previous politician done this?</p>
 | united states presidential election joe biden political transitions | 1 |
61,312 | Can Trump, Pence, or other Trump loyalists derail the remaining proceedings of the 2020 election, and if so, how? | <p>Building on this question: <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/61206/what-procedures-are-in-place-to-stop-a-u-s-vice-president-from-ignoring-elector">What procedures are in place to stop a U.S. Vice President from ignoring electors?</a>, I am wondering what, if any, actions/inactions might be attempted by Trump, Pence, or other Trump loyalists to subvert the remaining steps toward Biden's inauguration and what effect they may have. It's been said that upcoming joint session presided over by Pence is a mere formality, where any attempt to subvert it would have no real consequence on Biden's inauguration. My question pertains to both the Congressional proceedings on Jan 6<sup>th</sup> and the inauguration on the 20<sup>th</sup> - what actions could conceivably be attempted, what guardrails exist to counter them, and what, if any, practical consequences might ensue? My question is predicated on the notion that "team Trump" shows considerable persistence and deep ingenuity toward keeping him in office (or denying it to a legal successor), so is intended to explore the robustness of the process forward of this point and any potential exploits open to mischief or worse.</p>
 | united states presidential election | 1 |
61,318 | Assuming Pelosi is Speaker, how would it affect the January 6th count if she refused to seat the Reps who plan on objecting to the electoral votes? | <p>As Rep. Bill Pascrell <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/529883-rep-pascrell-jr-asks-pelosi-to-refuse-to-seat-lawmakers-supporting-trumps?amp" rel="noreferrer">said it</a>, "Stated simply, the men and women who would act to tear the United States Government apart cannot serve as Members of the Congress," arguing that the 14th Amendment prohibits members of Congress from rebelling against the U.S., and "trying to overturn a democratic election and install a dictator seems like a pretty clear example of that."</p>
<p>What would happen then?</p>
 | united states election donald trump congress joe biden | 1 |
61,321 | When precisely do federal laws take effect in the United States? | <p>If a bill that was passed by the U.S. Congress is signed by the President, and the bill named an effective date, at what instant does the law take effect? For example, if a provision is set to take effect on January 1, 2021, what time zone determines when it is January 1? Is it Eastern Standard Time, because Washington, D.C., is in that time zone, is it dependent on the local time in each part of the country, or is it determined by some other time zone, such as UTC?</p>
 | united states law legislation | 0 |
61,329 | Can Kevin McCarthy realistically be elected Speaker of the House, albeit temporarily? | <p>There are various articles floating around noting that incumbent Speaker Nancy Pelosi <a href="https://us.cnn.com/2020/12/29/politics/nancy-pelosi-speakership/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">faces</a> <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/11/nancy-pelosi-speaker-vote-444409" rel="nofollow noreferrer">"tight margins"</a> for the Speaker's election, especially since the coronavirus pandemic <em>may</em> force some members into self-isolation, resulting in them unable to be physically present on the floor to vote on January 3.</p>
<p>From <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/530945-covid-19-could-complicate-pelosis-path-to-speaker-next-year" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Hill</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Let's say, just theoretically, we had six or eight people out with Covid and the Republicans have none. They probably could elect [Kevin] McCarthy,” said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), referring to the House GOP leader.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While such a scenario is <em>unlikely</em> to materialise, theoretically, is it realistic for Kevin McCarthy to be elected the Speaker of the House? <strong>Is there any mechanism that allows for the Speaker's election to be delayed <em>if the Democrats do not have enough members present on the floor</em> for the vote on January 3?</strong></p>
<p>I'm aware that even if Kevin McCarthy is elected Speaker, his tenure will probably be temporary since the Speaker <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/38310/can-the-speaker-of-the-house-of-reps-be-replaced">can be removed by a majority vote in the House</a> at a later date. I'm asking whether McCarthy has a realistic chance of being elected Speaker, even if it is temporary, or whether the House can delay the Speaker's election.</p>
 | united states election house of representatives speaker house rules | 1 |
61,331 | Aspects of September 24, 2020 US House Energy Bill that US Rep. Kinzinger characterized as "barriers to energy use and development"? | <p>The October 7, 2020 video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92Gnkfd9U6E" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kinzinger: Addressing the Issues of Clean Energy, Now and for the Future #NuclearMatters</a> on US House member Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) YouTube channel discusses a "partisan bill" brought "to the House Floor for a vote on September 24, 2020."</p>
<p>Here is my transcription of the closed captions in the video:</p>
<p>After about <code>01:37</code> Kinzinger says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I also saw it a s the perfect vehicle to advance my bill and other pro-nuclear policies. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened, and I ultimately voted against Speaker Pelosi’s highly partisan bill.</p>
<p>Frankly, there were some good policies in the bill — even ones that I’ve long supported. <strong>But like so many times over the past two years, Speaker Pelosi took a series of hard-wrought, bipartisan measures from Energy and Commerce and other committees, and lumped them together with a wish-list of partisan priorities that tacks on over $100 billion to the deficit and adds massive new regulatory burdens.</strong></p>
<p>If you take a macro-level view of this package, you’ll see it’s actually somehow divided against itself. It sets up a number of “moonshot” goals and programs to foster breakthrough in innovation in energy development; these are things we should all be able to get behind.</p>
<p>But at the same time, it creates a litany of new regulatory and legal barriers to energy use and development.</p>
<p>...President Kennedy...moonshot...unicorns...</p>
<p>This approach — people pushing through policies according to their emotions and without building consensus — is not doing the hard work. It’s not legislating. It’s not a “moonshot.” It’s called “virtue signaling”.</p>
<p>And without clear objectives and removing as many barriers as possible, it’s a wasted effort because it’s not going to amount to much scientific breakthrough.</p>
<p>Speaker Pelosi and Democrat Leadership in the House had every opportunity to craft a strong, bipartisan package. But that’s not what we voted on.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> What bill was this exactly, and what parts of it is Kinzinger referring to that "creates a litany of new regulatory and legal barriers to energy use and development"? Specifically what parts of the bill are likely to be those that Kinzinger characterizes as "barriers to energy use and development"?</p>
 | united states house of representatives nuclear energy energy policy energy independence | 0 |
61,342 | Is regular Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) something unique to the Westminister system? | <p>I've noticed that Prime Ministers in Westminister systems (i.e. United Kingdom, Scotland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) are expected to answer questions in Parliament on a regular basis. This usually takes place at least once a week.</p>
<p>It was only later that I realize that's not the case everywhere. In countries such as Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, the Parliament tend to summon Ministers for questioning only when something serious has occurred. These countries do not have the same culture as countries with the Westminister system.</p>
<p>Is this just something unique to the United Kingdom and its sister nations? Why do countries evolve differently in this respect?</p>
 | united kingdom parliament prime minister westminster | 0 |
61,346 | Understanding Standing | <p>Another Trump backed lawsuit to overturn the November 2020 election has failed to be heard due to lack of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/2/us-judge-dismisses-lawmaker-case-against-pence-over-vote-count" rel="nofollow noreferrer">standing</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He ruled that US Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas and a slate of Republican electors from Arizona could not show they suffered any personal harm “fairly traceable” to Pence’s allegedly unlawful conduct and, therefore, lacked legal standing to bring the case.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/us/politics/supreme-court-election-texas.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Texas</a> suit last month was similarly dismissed, and lack of standing seems a common result which prevents arguments from being heard.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The court, in a brief unsigned order, said Texas lacked standing to pursue the case, saying it “has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ultimately these suits are being pressed by some of the most senior politicians within the US, they are backed by presumably competent and expensive lawyers. Why are these suits failing at the first and most obvious hurdle and failing to even present their arguments in court?</p>
 | united states presidential election law | 1 |
61,351 | Why wasn't Hirohito tried at the end of WWII? | <p>At the end of the Second World War many Japanese generals such as Tojo and Yamashita were tried and executed, but Hirohito wasn't tried and even continued as emperor. Why wasn't he tried while he was involved in WWII and also in the second Sino-Japanese war?</p>
 | japan world war ii death penalty | 1 |
61,354 | Are there countries where the legislative body is not allowed to issue laws that touch upon unrelated subjects? | <p>As a recent example, the recent $2.3 trillion stimulus bill contained not just provisions related to supporting the American people, but also <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/ufo-report-government-agencies-180-days-1557945" rel="noreferrer">a requirement to produce a report on UFOs</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Federal agencies have been asked to publish a report on unidentified
flying objects (UFOs) in less than 180 days, thanks to an act included
in the $2.3 trillion stimulus and government spending bill signed by
President Donald Trump on Sunday.</p>
<p>A report by the Select Committee on Intelligence attached to the The
Intelligence Authorization Act for 2021 states that the Director of
National Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense and the heads of other
relevant agencies submit a report to the congressional intelligence
and armed services committees on "unidentified aerial phenomena (also
known as "anomalous aerial vehicles''), including observed airborne
objects that have not been identified." They are asked to do this 180
days after the act is enacted.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Are there countries where a law may only focus on one single topic?</p>
 | law | 0 |
61,357 | What's the deal with the Irish border now, exactly? | <p>I've read a couple of BBC articles on that (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-55427004" rel="noreferrer">this</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-55200138" rel="noreferrer">this</a> one) but still don't have a clear picture of what the arrangement is. In the last weeks of 2020, I was a bit bewildered that all they talked about was fish, fish, fish (the sector that is infinitesimally small) but they didn't seem to pay much attention to the border issue which is, in my view, the most challenging and important part of any Brexit deal. So in late 2019, they decided on a border across the Irish sea. It's effectively a border of the Single Market. Please tell me exactly how it will work (how it work<em>s</em>, rather), including:</p>
<ol>
<li>Are EU border guards there right now? Are they supposed to do the job or somebody else?</li>
<li>How does the deal impact the matter? EU border guards still need to make sure that the goods are indeed British, especially after the UK strikes its first FTA with a third country. The checks add up to the cost of exports, don't they? Has it been estimated yet?</li>
<li>Regular British citizens are also now searched and stuff like at a regular international border, aren't they?</li>
<li>The Johnson government showed reluctance to actually accept the EU-enforced Irish border even though they had agreed on that (they hoped to push through a piece of legislature allowing them to neglect that part of the deal last year, you may remember). Are there any rumors or anything on whether they have any other plans to derail that arrangement? It clashes with Johnson's whole "sovereignty" narrative, he must be unhappy.</li>
</ol>
 | united kingdom brexit | 0 |
61,359 | Tied Senate with no VP? | <p>Suppose the Democrats win the Georgia runoffs, and suppose further that something happens to Biden or Harris in the next two years (say one of them succumbs to covid), so that the vice presidency becomes vacant. With the Senate divided 50-50 and no vice president, how will it be organized? Are there rules or precedents for this situation? (I know there are precedents for state legislative chambers being tied, but I don't know if state precedents would apply to the U.S. Senate.)</p>
<p>The fact that there is a procedure for replacing the vice president is not an answer. Even if President Biden or Harris could get a new VP confirmed, there would be a period of time, probably not less than a few months, with no VP.</p>
 | united states senate | 0 |
61,364 | Can Trump use time zones to extend his Presidency? | <p>Time zones in the US are regulated by the Department of Transport, and can thus be changed by the executive without new legislation. Could Trump order the DoT to put the continental US in time zones UTC-24005 to UTC-24008 instead of UTC-5 to UTC-8 and thus delay Biden’s inauguration by a thousand days (as measured by UTC).</p>
 | donald trump executive order | 1 |
61,368 | In constitutional monarchies, what would happen to the line of succession if the heir-apparent is gay? | <p>This question is asked in the context of 2021.</p>
<p>I understand that people used to just get married and have kids anyways. But in 2021, it seems backward - even inhumane - for monarchies to cover up homosexualities among its members. If anything, it might even be politically damaging for the institution to do that.</p>
<p>So hypothetically, if the heir-apparent is gay:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Would he or she still inherit the throne?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Would they be allowed to get married?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Would the line of succession simply skip over them as if they never existed?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Would they still be allowed to perform royal duties?</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>In short, how would a constitutional monarchy respond to such complication in 2021?</p>
 | civil rights constitutional monarchy | 0 |
61,372 | Who are the two dead Georgia voters who voted? | <blockquote>
<p>It was clear from the call that Trump has surrounded himself with aides who have fed his false perceptions that the election was stolen. When he claimed that more than 5,000 ballots were cast in Georgia in the name of dead people, Raffensperger responded forcefully: "The actual number was two. Two. Two people that were dead that voted."</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/i-just-want-to-find-11-780-votes-in-extraordinary-hour-long-call-trump-pressures-georgia-secretary-of-state-to-recalculate-the-vote-in-his-favor/ar-BB1cqNSk" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Source</a></p>
<p>Who are these two people? From a brief search, all the details I could find date from November 2020, e.g. <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/georgia-investigating-two-cases-of-dead-people-voting/ar-BB1aZZzB?fbclid=IwAR0vEK8OKPDfYtQUIOaSyrNUVS3wWvt8T412uriNVCj4SzqakqwxfeTeeTo" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this article</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One Dade County man, Edward Skwiot, who died in 2015 at age 82, was issued a mail-in ballot on Oct. 1, which state records show was accepted on Oct. 19.</p>
<p>County Executive Ted Rumley said the case was now under investigation by the sheriff’s office.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, I couldn't find the results of the investigation (or confirmation that Edward Skwiot is indeed one of the two dead voters), or the name of the other dead person that voted.</p>
 | united states presidential election election fraud contested election | 0 |
61,382 | Can the US President veto Congress' decisions to reject electoral votes for the presidency? | <p>According to the Electoral Count Act on the designation of the US President, the House of Representatives and the Senate may reject votes of some electors when they consider that these votes were not regularly given (3 USC 15). To do this, a concurrent resolution of both Houses is needed.</p>
<p>Can this resolution be vetoed by the outgoing president? I would think so since the presentment clause of the US constitution says that the veto power holds for "[e]very Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment)" (article I, section 7, clause 3).</p>
 | united states presidential election congress electoral college | 1 |
61,384 | Are Indian farm acts anti-environment? | <p>My only focused question: Are Indian farm acts, which were and are in news, anti-environment?</p>
<p>For those willing to read why I am asking, read it below. It is incomplete research.</p>
<p><strong>A. Environmentalists star kids have tweeted, retweeted tweets that support farmers protesting.</strong> It is difficult to find all such people simply because I have never cared about them much. Anyways here are some.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A.1. "Week 21th #ClimateStrikeEarth in #India. I stand with Indian
Farmers who are fighting for their rights. Farmer is the backbone of
every living lives. No Farmer No Food No Future.</p>
<p>#FarmersProtestDelhi2020
#FarmBills2020
#FaceTheClimateEmergency
#FridaysForFuture @GretaThunberg"</p>
<p>-Retweeted by Greta Thunberg</p>
<p>A.2. "Hope my voice will reach all over the world.</p>
<p>No farmers, No food.</p>
<p>No justice, No rest.</p>
<p>#FightFor1Point5 #FarmersProtests #ActNow"</p>
<p>-Tweeted by Licypriya Kanjugam</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are others. To save space, I am restricting to two here.</p>
<p><strong>B. Is it about fear of food shortage or are those acts anti-environment?</strong></p>
<p>My news feed gave me an interesting article today. It is an interview from an Indian minister, who claims India produces lots of food grains, and so he wants to produce ethanol from rice and sugarcane. sounds fair, if everyone gets to eat first.</p>
<p>Details and clarity: <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/nitin-gadkari-coronavirus-lockdown-farmers-bill-protests-electric-vehicles-tesla-plant-india-7131732/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://indianexpress.com/article/india/nitin-gadkari-coronavirus-lockdown-farmers-bill-protests-electric-vehicles-tesla-plant-india-7131732/</a></p>
<p><strong>C. From a previous question here, where my answer was not accepted, something about stubble burning is mentioned. Isn't it good if burning is restricted! No smoke!</strong></p>
<p>Many people here are experienced about politics, law, economics, sciences, social sciences. Forgive my lack of knowledge, everything above (A,B,C) seems strange to me. I want to know about the question. So, my question remains same, are Indian farm acts anti-environment? How?</p>
 | india environmental policy agriculture | 0 |
61,390 | Why can members-elect vote for Speaker of the US House of Representatives? | <p>Nancy Pelosi has just been re-elected to the Speakership in the US House of Representatives, and will be serving her fourth and final term as Speaker there from now until, presumably, the third of January 2023. She was sworn in as Speaker, then administered the oath of office en masse to the <strong>Members-Elect</strong>. Given that Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5 of the Constitution states "The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment," and that, being members-elect, they aren't yet members and thus aren't part of the House of Representatives, why is it they can on vote and elect the Speaker?</p>
 | united states congress house of representatives house rules | 1 |
61,395 | What are the enforcement mechanisms of the ECHR and possible consequences of ignoring the ruling? | <p>Citizens concerned about issues with the constitution of Bosnia & Herzegovina have won 5 cases at the European Court of Human Rights between December 2009 and December 2020 (see my website- <a href="https://input.sh/human-rights-vs-constitution-of-bosnia-herzegovina/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://input.sh/human-rights-vs-constitution-of-bosnia-herzegovina/</a>).</p>
<p>The basic issue is that the constitution defines three "constitutent people groups" (Bosniac, Serb, Croat) and only allows people that identify as members of one of them to run for the upper house of the parliament (House of Peoples) or the presidency. Five separate cases were won based on two articles of the Dayton agreement (AKA the constitution) that define those two roles.</p>
<p>Considering that:</p>
<ul>
<li>B&H is a ratified member of the Council of Europe,</li>
<li>That, according to Wikipedia, member states are obliged to execute the decisions,</li>
<li>It's been over a decade since the first verdict was reached (December 2009),</li>
<li>There's no real push for the constitution to be replaced or amended</li>
</ul>
<p>...are there any real consequences that might pressure the country into complying? Wikipedia does nothing to describe enforcement mechanisms of the ECHR nor possible consequences, and I don't know where to look. In other words, what might happen next?</p>
 | bosnia and herzegovina echr | 0 |
61,398 | How do President-elects and Vice-Presidents elects travel? | <p>Biden and Harris are travelling to Georgia tonight to campaign for both democratic candidates in the Georgia runoffs.</p>
<p>How do they travel to get there? Given that Trump and Pence are still the incumbent President and Vice President respectively, Air Force 1 and ‘the beast’ is reserved for them. So how does the new coming administration get there?</p>
<p>My more broad question that follows this is, when do US candidates/ incoming politicians/ politicians travel commercial and travel with Government allocates resources?</p>
 | united states president political transitions | 1 |
Subsets and Splits