Wikipedia:Partisanship
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This is an essay. It is not a policy or guideline, it simply reflects some opinions of its authors. Please update the page as needed, or discuss it on the talk page. |
Wikipedia's coverage of political issues needs to adhere to NPOV in the face of partisanship.
- Partisanship is the tendency of supporters of political parties to subscribe to or at least support their party's views and policies in contrast to those of other parties. Extreme partisanship is sometimes referred to as partisan warfare (see Political party).
- Despite claiming nonpartisan voting, most members have consistent and identifiable voting patterns (see Political_party#Nonpartisan.2C_Single-party.2C_two-party.2C_and_multi-party_governments)
Claims by various governments, notably the United States, that its commissions or agencies are "nonpartisan" or "independent" should not be taken at face value. Rather, we should report that the founding department (Senate, House, or Executive Branch) asserted that the thing it created was intended a certain way.
Some agencies of the U.S. government, however, have long enjoyed a reputation of objectivity. The Congressional Budget Office is an example, agreed upon by both sides (Democrat and Republican) as not leaning in any particular political direction.
It is the most common thing for a partisan to identify a source which agrees with his party's position as objective, independent or nonpartisan - when eliciting public support. Not all sources this identified are actually neutral. Many political battles involve disputes over what sources are "neutral" and "objective".
