Questions tagged [politics]

Use this tag for questions that regard statements made by politicians. Do not use [politician name] tags unless the claim is *about* that politician.

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the corporate, academic, and religious segments of society.

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Does torture work well as an interrogation technique?

Wikipedia's Effectiveness of torture for interrogation says, Torture has been used throughout history for the purpose of obtaining information in interrogation. Some arguments say that it is an effective way of making someone divulge vital…
David Thornley
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Does the President of the United States have the ability to deploy nuclear weapons at will?

I heard this claim back during the Bush years, and recently I've been hearing it again. For example: Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All - The New Yorker I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent…
Ten Bitcomb
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Are people of Nordic Nations "happier, healthier" with "a higher standard of living overall than Americans"?

Ernest W. Adams wrote in the answer to the question "Why are people so negative about Nordic nations, especially Sweden?": There are a lot of right wing Americans who have been preaching for the last 70 years that the welfare state can’t work, it's…
Sakib Arifin
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Do vote counts for Joe Biden in the 2020 election violate Benford's Law?

Benford's Law is a statistical rule that says that the distribution of digits in real-world numerical datasets tends to follow a specific pattern. It is often used to test whether an election is legitimate or phoney, by comparing the frequency of…
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On 9/11, was Building 7 destroyed in a controlled explosion?

There have been a lot of claims made about the circumstances surrounding the events of 9/11 and Building 7 in particular. The central claim regarding Building 7, that I have heard personally, is that Building 7 fell in such a perfect fluid motion…
Mark Rogers
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Did Republicans take 10 of 13 Congressional seats in the 2018 North Carolina general election with roughly the same number of votes as Democrats?

This image has been shared on social media Transcription: Gerrymandering in North Carolina 1,747,742 votes for Democrats = 3 Congressional seats 1,638,684 votes for Republicans = 10 Congressional seats Example sources: [1], [2] Are these…
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Was ISIS created by the USA?

I hear many folks talking about the founders of ISIS and they say that USA created it to make chaos in the Arabic countries. Mark Danner in an episode of Talking Heads by Vice News "In effect the United States created ISIS, nothing like it…
MedK
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Has one vote ever made a difference?

My friend told me that he doesn't bother voting any more in elections, because "it's not like one vote ever made a difference." I will vote when I can and I think it is important, and although I share his sentiment about politicians... it got me…
Thomas O
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Entire GOP voted against letting senators read the new tax bill?

Following the passing of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the U.S. Senate on December 2nd 2017, this photo has been making the rounds on social media (facebook in my case). The tweet by Jesse Lehrich claims literally all 52Rs voted against letting Senators…
KareemElashmawy
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Did close to 3,000 Puerto Ricans die in Hurricane Maria?

CNN reports: Earlier this month, [Puerto Rico]'s governor formally raised the death toll from Hurricane Maria to an estimated 2,975 from 64 following a study conducted by researchers at The George Washington University. It also reports that…
Keshav Srinivasan
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Are crime rates up by 10% in Germany?

On June 18th and 19th, 2018, the President of the United States, Donald Trump tweeted that the crime rate in Germany has increased: (1) Tweet from June 18th, 2018 (2) Tweet from June 19th, 2018 Has the crime rate in Germany increased by 10%…
hiergiltdiestfu
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Did Valerie Jarrett say she wanted "America to be a more Islamic country"?

This picture, being shared on Twitter, alleges that Valerie Jarrett, former Senior Advisor to the President, during the Obama administration, claimed to be of Iranian descent and of Islamic faith in her yearbook. Image reads Take a look at the…
Evan Carroll
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Did Donald Trump fire the entire pandemic response team in 2018?

This tweet claims Trump "fired the entire pandemic response team in 2018": Text: Just a reminder: it’s okay to blame the president for how bad things get with COVID-19 because he fired the entire pandemic response team in 2018. While another…
Say No To Censorship
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Was Morocco the first country to recognize USA?

Here in Morocco, when you talk about relations between Morocco and the USA, Moroccans tell you, proudly, that Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States of America, and that the Sultan made it possible to accredit a consul of USA…
Motaka
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Was there violence on both sides in Charlottesville?

Was violence perpetrated by factions on both the left and the right side of the political spectrum during this rally? A specific quote by US president Donald Trump is: TRUMP: The driver of the car is a disgrace to himself, his family and this…
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