The other day a few college - aged people came to my door (and everyone's in the nieghborhood) lobbying something political. I didnt talk to them but by dad said they made pretty good money doing that. Anyways, I am personally kind of obsessed with politics, and would be thrilled to have a job in the field of politics. My question is does anyone have suggestions on where to look or who to ask for a job? I am looking for a job that I can start right away, without any schooling etc. Something that doesnt take any special qualifications.
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posted by JokingClown
on Dec 21, 2005 -
19 answers
How does one go about having a city municipal code changed? My city council is the city’s legislative authority and sets the policies under which the city operates. I'm looking to convince our city government to change our beach curfew from 10:00pm to midnight.
I have never tried to petition the government for anything. So I have no idea where to begin. I'm looking for the basics here. How do I bring my case to the city council? What would the process be? What formalities/legalities are involved, etc? I will appreciate any insight into this.
I would also like any advice on how to research my case for the change. Any insight is great!
I look forward to your answers!
posted by ieatwords
on Dec 12, 2005 -
13 answers
Has the Bush administration been cutting or curtailing benefits to active duty soldiers and veterans, and if so, can you point me to non-opinion sources that would back up such an assertion?
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posted by stavrosthewonderchicken
on Nov 18, 2005 -
6 answers
With last nights government defeat in the House of Commons and the resultant hand-wringing on both sides of the 'civil-liberties vs security' debate, the quote that has been trotted out repeatedly is "Well if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear". Could anyone shed any light on the origin of this phrase?
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posted by mr_benn
on Nov 9, 2005 -
15 answers
British MP Oliver Letwin wants environmental political debate to include discussions of beauty and romance in order to “help bring the subject alive and encourage people to become engaged in the wider debate.”
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posted by viewofdelft
on Nov 9, 2005 -
1 answer
Is there someplace to find a easy to understand breakdown of the U.S. National Budget?
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posted by Botunda
on Nov 5, 2005 -
7 answers
What is the mechanism that allows the President to, say, pledge $50,000,000 for earthquake relief in Pakistan?
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posted by MrMoonPie
on Nov 2, 2005 -
7 answers
With the Dem's threatening to fillibuster Bush's new nomination for the Supreme Court, can Bush just wait until Christmas time when Congress takes a recess and install Alito with no confirmation vote?
I have heard of similar things as an option in past political situations, and I'm assuming that somewhere in our 200+ year history something like this has been done. Unfortunately, I never really paid attention to the actual workings of the whole thing.
What are the actual rules/laws as to what the President can do when Congress isn't in session. Specifically for the things Congress would 'normally' vote on or approve had they been in session.
posted by whoda
on Nov 1, 2005 -
20 answers
Besides Japan and Iraq, what other countries have constitutions that were drafted either by or under the direction or assistance of the U.S. (or allied occupation made up of at least the U.S.)?
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posted by sublivious
on Oct 30, 2005 -
13 answers
I plan on running for a city council seat in a college town of 81,000 people. The election isn't until Spring, 2007. What can I do now to increase my chances of getting elected?
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posted by viewofdelft
on Oct 17, 2005 -
17 answers
Inspired by a side conversation in
this thread, how would I, theoretically, go about conquering and founding my own country? What would be the consequences thereof?
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posted by Faint of Butt
on Oct 4, 2005 -
29 answers
The
FEC is extremely useful in figuring out who is giving money to politicians. Is there a similar database of which corporations are being awarded contracts from the government?
posted by phrontist
on Sep 25, 2005 -
1 answer
Today The Guardian published the group photograph of delegates to the World Summit at the UN. There is a key to who all these smiling faces are which is useful, except two gentlemen are listed simply as 'unidentified'. Would anybody like to take a guess as to who they are? [images inside]
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posted by feelinglistless
on Sep 16, 2005 -
7 answers
I'm trying to think of a famous quote. It says something like the best measure of government is how it treats its poor. I think it's famous, or maybe it's just a thought I've had so many times that it feels famous! No luck so far searching Google or the quote sites.
posted by abbyladybug
on Sep 5, 2005 -
16 answers
What happens to the mortgages on Israeli West Bank Settlers homes when the settlers are withdrawn?
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posted by Invoke
on Aug 19, 2005 -
4 answers
I'm over 30 and probably know as much or less about history, politics/ gov, and current events as my 7 year old niece. Now, I want to be aware and don't know where to begin. I've tried just "merging in" but the references, terms, and names are lost on me. I need a starting point that will give me a framework or bird's eye view to start from and build on.
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posted by anonymous
on Jul 24, 2005 -
27 answers
I'm looking for information about the legality (copyright etc) of republishing public government documents...
Specifically election results and voter registration data.
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posted by tozturk
on Jun 29, 2005 -
7 answers
I recently moved to the city of Cleveland, which in 2003 dismantled its curbside recycling pick-up program. I drop off my (paper, glass, plastic, aluminum) recycling at a drop-off center. In a discussion with neighbors, they were dubious that the city is actually recycling what I put in the special dumpsters, but rather just dumping it. What do you think? Am I wasting my time by taking my recyclables to the special location? There was special skepticism for paper/magazine recycling, which is a pain in the neck to haul.
posted by picklebird
on Jun 17, 2005 -
22 answers
How likely is it that someone would be given security clearance (confidential, secret, or top secret) if they experimented with various illegal drugs (including marijuana, acid, cocaine and crystal meth) during their college years (ending about 5-6 years ago) but who hasn't done anything since (and has no desire to anymore)?
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posted by freshgroundpepper
on Jun 14, 2005 -
23 answers
Curiosity struck and I'm looking for a year-by-year breakdown of the number of times the filibuster has been used. A chart with further breakdowns of senator, state, party, duration, cause, and whether the filibuster was ended via cloture would be even nicer.
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posted by rudyfink
on May 17, 2005 -
7 answers
What is the best non-cynical advice you have heard (or can offer) on how to excel within a government bureaucracy?
posted by profwhat
on Apr 12, 2005 -
29 answers
Ok, I'm terribly curious...I've seen the Matthew Lesko infomercials for years. Some of you have got to have picked them up. Are they worthwhile. It's not the cost, its the time investment that I'm talking about.
posted by filmgeek
on Mar 19, 2005 -
11 answers
A couple of years ago I told some friends that I thought that the major reasoning behind the State Quarters was to design a project that would cause money to be intentionally taken out of circulation by collectors.
I am terrible at math, but I figured that if only a million people collected all fifty of them, it's still a lot of money, and should have
some impact on inflation. Does it?
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posted by interrobang
on Feb 15, 2005 -
20 answers
Out of curiousity (I'm not trying to be political), has it been the standard MO of popularly elected dictators, or any dictator, to tout the freedom of their people? Was the subject of liberty just ignored by leaders of Germany, Italy, Spain, et. al?
posted by borkingchikapa
on Jan 21, 2005 -
13 answers
I heard recently on NPR a
story about the new Clinton Presidential Library and how all of the gifts of original artwork sent to the President were kept as it was illegal to throw or give away any of it. The story went on that all the artwork was at the library but that there was so much that only a slight minority of it would ever be displayed. My question is, does anyone know more about this law obligating the President to keep the drawing I send him/her? Would they have to keep it even if it stunk or was otherwise somehow unappealing? I imagine you know what I'm getting at with our friend W in office for another four years...
posted by pwb503
on Nov 24, 2004 -
6 answers
As I understand it, the US election is won by winning areas and then counting up how many wins each person got.
Give or take. It's not all that important to the question.
Does anyone know if/when the actual voter figures will be released? I'd love to compare this system to a true winner-takes-all system...
posted by twine42
on Nov 3, 2004 -
4 answers
What are the most valuable foreign language skills to possess in the next decade(s)? Arabic? Chineese? Spanish? Does it depend solely on your chosen field? My question comes from a government and law perspective, but I'd be interested in all opinions. [more inside]
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posted by trivirgata
on Sep 5, 2004 -
16 answers
USAGovtFilter: When any incumbent president runs for reelection and campaigns quite heavily, for months, how does all of the work of the executive branch get done?
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posted by sciurus
on Aug 17, 2004 -
8 answers
Are there any historical examples of the political "domino effect" actually happening? Has one country ever changed its form of government, only to have several neighbors follow suit without invasion or coercion? I'm interested in any continent, any time period.
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posted by junkbox
on Aug 4, 2004 -
12 answers
WhatAmIMissingFilter: I've been waiting for an optimum time to ask this on the main page in an appropriate thread, but the opportunity hasn't arisen. Thus: Exactly HOW is the government getting away with enforcing these so-called "free speech" zones? Allowing for
reasonable public safety measures, it's still clearly at odds with the constitution. (I'm sure places like Planned Parenthood would dearly "love" to relocate protesters to a deserted roped-off area 6 blocks away.) Is it just that no one has called them on it yet?
posted by RavinDave
on Jul 26, 2004 -
22 answers
On the radio yesterday there was talk of forming a Spy Czar to oversee the 15 different intelligence agencies. I can name maybe 7 different intelligence agencies. What are all 15?
posted by drezdn
on Jul 21, 2004 -
8 answers
So Lucent got fined yesterday, to the tune of mamny millions of dollars, byt the SEC for the criminal euphemism of
Account Irregularities.
Like other high profile SEC investigations, why do they always mention the fine, but never discuss where the funds go?
Are they used to offset the defrauded investor's losses? Or does the gov't turn the investor's loss into it's gain by keeping the fine for its own purposes?
posted by Fupped Duck
on May 18, 2004 -
3 answers
Can a free people in a democratic country that has grown to such an enormous power remain to its historically told ideals of basic human rights, government from and for the people? Could the desire for control of that power be great enough to collapse a free society? Is humankind enslaved to war?
posted by the fire you left me
on Apr 30, 2004 -
22 answers
Excuse my naiveté: is Bush vs. Kerry the first modern presidential contest between two members of the American equivalent of the aristocracy? Call them patricians, preppies, rich kids, "old money", members of the upper or property-owning class; whatever. What does this mean, if anything? It looks significant seen from old Europe. [
Given that Kerry is, like the Kennedys, a Catholic, I suppose WASPs no longer mean much in this respect.]
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Mar 2, 2004 -
23 answers
History question: January 21, 1977. "The afternoon of infamy" for people in the limousine business. After having just been inaugurated, Jimmy Carter decides to exit his limo and walk with his family (and a large crowd) down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. What has been the trend since?
posted by john
on Jan 3, 2004 -
6 answers
