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Questions tagged [policy]

A policy is a deliberate system of principles to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes.

84 votes
9 answers
11k views

What is meant by the "left" and the "right"?

When discussing political issues and parties, I often hear mention of a party being "left", "centre-left", "right" or "extreme right". In broad terms, what do these designations mean?
Graham Wager's user avatar
  • 1,213
79 votes
8 answers
16k views

Why do US police use handcuffs in otherwise calm, non-violent circumstances?

When the Atlanta police recently discovered that a driver, who was otherwise calm and cooperative was "over the alcohol limit" after a long and largely fruitless conversation (during which ...
WS2's user avatar
  • 10.7k
74 votes
7 answers
19k views

What are Trump's incentives for withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement?

Donald Trump has been a pretty strong advocate for repealing and undoing rules & regulations aiming to cut climate change, however recently the New York Times and Axios have reported that Trump is ...
Downgoat's user avatar
  • 803
73 votes
7 answers
19k views

Is the proposal to create a US Space Force being taken seriously?

It seems like there have been a number of unusual ideas in recent American politics. And that's saying something because, as a foreigner looking in, it's never seemed normal. Is Space Force being ...
Coomie's user avatar
  • 1,707
59 votes
6 answers
11k views

Why do many countries ban the sale of one's own blood?

According to this article, (in Spanish) blood from people recovered from covid-19 is a millionaire's business, laboratories in the US were paying up to thousands of dollars for blood from people who ...
Pablo's user avatar
  • 2,429
53 votes
4 answers
10k views

Why did political parties form in the United States?

In George Washington's "Farewell Address", the first President specifically warns about the dangers of political parties. He admits that people tend to naturally align in groups, but also warns that ...
MissouriSpartan's user avatar
51 votes
13 answers
15k views

What are the downsides of being a debt-free country (no foreign national debt)?

I was only a child when the Romanian dictator, Ceaușescu announced that all of the country's foreign debt had been paid: Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu announced this week that his country, ...
Alexei's user avatar
  • 53.4k
42 votes
3 answers
10k views

Why did the World Bank set the global poverty line at $1.90?

In early 2019 Bill Gates tweeted an infographic during the 45 meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos that showed that the proportion of people living in poverty had decreased from 94% in 1820 to ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
41 votes
12 answers
7k views

What is a successful policy against lobbying in a democratic country?

The US government is drowning in lobbyist that undermine the democratic power of the people in favor of wealthy corporations/oligarchs. My question is: are there any significantly successful policies ...
chausies's user avatar
  • 1,208
40 votes
2 answers
3k views

Have any of the "We the People" petitions ever resulted in policy changes?

I was looking at the U.S. White House's "We the People" petition website they had set up shortly after Obama took office, and noticed that most of the petitions are in the ridiculous or at least not ...
aceinthehole's user avatar
38 votes
3 answers
8k views

What political and social factors underlie Sweden's controversial response to COVID-19?

Sweden has adopted a far less radical set of policies in reaction to COVID-19 than most other European states. Many other European states are in "lock-down", with severe restrictions on ...
Swedish Architect's user avatar
37 votes
1 answer
7k views

When did the US start separating illegal immigrants from their children and what is this policy called?

I am trying to understand the precise (objective) history of either the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) practice of separating children (minors) of ...
hotmeatballsoup's user avatar
36 votes
4 answers
11k views

What is the rationale behind delaying the imposition of more radical Covid-19 countermeasures?

On March 3rd, the UK government released a publication detailing its Coronavirus action plan, which contains the four-stage plan that will be implemented throughout the country, in all four devolved ...
CDJB's user avatar
  • 108k
34 votes
9 answers
17k views

What are possible explanations for why Democratic states appear to have higher homeless rates per capita than Republican states?

The principal argument I see regarding homelessness in blue areas is that cities draw a larger homeless population than rural areas which is objectively true. However, from the evidence I have found, ...
Grant Curell's user avatar
31 votes
4 answers
19k views

Who was the last US President to oversee a reduction in debt?

As of 2012, the United States currently has ~16 trillion in debt. The last five presidents have all added to the overall debt*. Who is the last US president to decrease the total amount of debt ...
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