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How to Understand Politics

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Politics is a broad, complicated subject. It involves issues like diplomacy, statesmanship, peace/war, government finance, safety regulations, law enforcement and assurance of your "natural rights" of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It also is a significant part of your daily life, since it dictates how you're allowed to live, so it's a good idea to understand it.


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    Ask someone that you trust about issues you do not understand. If there's something you just can't find out by research, ask someone about the issue and what the background is.
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    Learn about all the different economies as well as the pros/cons of each. The economy is a hot issue in many countries, and affects your life. Politicians all have their own ideas and solutions about the economy and the struggles their countries face with it.
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Community Q&A

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  • Are local governments just a waste of time?
    wikiHow Contributor
    Not at all! Local government can be extremely influential on day-to-day life. Depending on where you live, you may find local government has more of an impact on you than state or federal government.
  • Can I enter into Indian politics with a B. Tech degree?
    wikiHow Contributor
    You can enter Indian politics without any basic educational qualification. You do need to be an Indian citizen.
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  • Look up all branches of government.
  • Regularly try to expand your vocabulary.
  • Look up names of departments and their functionality.
  • When you see a name in political news, look them up to see who they are and what they're representing.
  • Look up foreign currency (money) exchange rate quote information in case you must travel to other countries or need to use another country's money for some reason (for relatives in another country, etc.).
  • Learn about your country's history. History will have had a huge impact on laws and changes experienced in your country. It will also give you a better idea as to what needs to be done to improve life of your country's citizens for the future.


  • Be careful of media "angles" that aim to make you think the way they want you to. Many sources of news are biased towards a certain view (such as liberal or conservative), so it's important to look for sources from ALL sides of an issue, not just one. When someone accuses another person for something, it's also fair to let all sides explain themselves before drawing your own opinions.

Article Info

Categories: Political Campaigning and Participation

In other languages:

Español: entender la política, Русский: научиться разбираться в вопросах политики, Italiano: Capire la Politica, Português: Entender Política, Deutsch: Politik verstehen

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