Every five years Europe’s 490 million citizens select their members of the European parliament. Since 1979 MEPs have been elected directly by the people. Every citizen of a member country can vote, wherever they live. Even though it does not have the power that national parliaments have, the European Parliament influences the lives of Europe’s citizens. The European Parliament has 785 members from […]
The Supreme Court is the most powerful court in the United States. It was set up by the founding fathers of the United States in the third article of the Constitution. The court is made up of nine members, called justices. There is one chief justiceand eight associate justices. They are appointed by the president and can serveon the Supreme Court their whole lives. A justice can only be dismissed if […]
The United Nations is an international organisation of countries. It was created for many reasons: There should be peace and security in the world after the Second World War Countries should be friendly to each other Countries should help each other solve problems Human rights should be respected everywhere in the world. After the Second World War the allied countries got together to discuss in which ways […]
The Tea Party movement is a conservative interest group in America. It got its name from the Boston Tea Party of 1773, in which angry American colonistsdumped tons of tea into Boston’s harbour because they were mad at Britain for putting a tax on imported tea. The recent Tea Party movement began in 2009 with angry citizens protesting against Barack Obama’s government. Tea Party followers are against big government spending, high taxes, greedy banks that spend people’s money, […]
The national flag of the United States has thirteen red and white stripes and a bluerectangle with fifty stars in it in the top left corner. The stripes represent the 13 American colonies and the stars show the 50 American states. Until 1912 there had been no common design for the American flag. It has changed many times during its over two hundred year history. […]
Peacekeepers are groups of soldiers, officers or civilians that go to a conflict area and try to keep warring parties apart. They do many things, for example,monitor elections, organize meetings between enemy factions or protect human rights. UN peacekeepers are often called Blue Helmets because of their headgear. TheUnited Nations Security Council must approve of peacekeeping missions before soldiers are sent there. Sometimes the UN gives NATO or other military organizations permission to send peacekeepers to conflict areas. […]
Watergate was the biggest political scandal in American history. It was about illegalactivities that should help Richard Nixon become President a second time. The Watergate scandal forced Richard Nixon to resign in 1974. The whole scandal started in the summer of 1972, when five men broke into the Democratic National Party’s headquarters in the Watergate building complex in Washington. They wanted to steal documents and plant bugs in the […]