Politics in fiction

This is a list of fictional stories in which politics features as an important plot element. Passing mentions are omitted from this list.

Ignacy Krasicki

Benjamin Disraeli

Turgenev

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Henrik Ibsen

Henry Adams

Henry James

Bolesław Prus

Joseph Conrad

Władysław Reymont

Upton Sinclair

Martín Luis Guzmán

Aldous Huxley

Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz

George Orwell

Robert Penn Warren

Gore Vidal

Barbara Boxer

Written works

This literature-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• The Republic (ca. 360 BCE) by Plato

• Panchatantra (ca. 200 BCE) by Vishnu Sarma

• Utopia (1516) by Thomas More
• The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys (1578) by Jan Kochanowski

• Don Quixote (1605) by Miguel de Cervantes
• Simplicius Simplicissimus (1668) by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen
• The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) by John Bunyan

• Persian Letters (1721) by Montesquieu
• Gulliver's Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift
• Candide (1759) by Voltaire
• The History and Adventures of an Atom (1769) by Tobias Smollett
• Fables and Parables (1779) by Ignacy Krasicki
• The Return of the Deputy (1790) by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz
• The Partisan Leader (1836) by Nathaniel Beverley Tucker
• Barnaby Rudge (1841) by Charles Dickens
• The Betrothed (1842) by Alessandro Manzoni
• Coningsby (1844) by Benjamin Disraeli
• Sybil, or The Two Nations (1845) by Benjamin Disraeli
• Tancred (1847) by Benjamin Disraeli
• Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens
• Max Havelaar (1860) by Multatuli
• Fathers and Sons (1862) by Ivan Turgenev
• The Palliser novels (1864–1879) by Anthony Trollope
• War and Peace (1869) by Leo Tolstoy
• Demons, also known as The Possessed or The Devils (1872), by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope (1875)
• Honest John Vane (1875) by John William De Forest
• The Gilded Age (1876) by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner
• Democracy: An American Novel (1880) by Henry Adams
• An Enemy of the People (1882), play by Henrik Ibsen
• An American Politician (1884) by F. Marion Crawford
• The Princess Casamassima (1886) by Henry James
• The Bostonians (1886) by Henry James
• Noli Me Tangere (1887) by José Rizal
• Looking Backward (1888) by Edward Bellamy
• El filibusterismo (1891) by José Rizal
• Pharaoh (1895) by Bolesław Prus
• Heart of Darkness (1899) by Joseph Conrad

• The Riddle of the Sands (1903) by Erskine Childers
• Nostromo (1904) by Joseph Conrad
• The Czar's Spy (1905) by William Le Queux
• King Leopold's Soliloquy (1905) by Mark Twain
• The Jungle (1906) by Upton Sinclair
• The Secret Agent (1907) by Joseph Conrad
• The Iron Heel (1908) by Jack London
• Under Western Eyes (1911) by Joseph Conrad
• The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists (1914) by Robert Tressell
• The Underdogs (1915) by Mariano Azuela
• Herland (1915) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• We (1921) by Yevgeny Zamyatin
• Bunt (The Revolt) (1922) by Władysław Reymont
• The Trial (1925) by Franz Kafka
• The Castle (1926) by Franz Kafka
• The Shadow of the Caudillo (1929) by Martín Luis Guzmán
• Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley
• The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma (1932) by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz
• Stamboul Train (1932) by Graham Greene
• Black Mischief (1932) by Evelyn Waugh
• The Forbidden Territory (1933) by Dennis Wheatley
• Antoine Bloye (1933) by Paul Nizan
• Fontamara (1933) by Ignazio Silone
• The President (1933, published 1946) by Miguel Ángel Asturias
• Burmese Days (1934) by George Orwell
• It Can't Happen Here (1935) by Sinclair Lewis
• The Pretender (1936) by Lion Feuchtwanger
• Alamut (1938) by Vladimir Bartol
• The Gladiators (1939) by Arthur Koestler
• Darkness at Noon (1940) by Arthur Koestler
• Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (1945) by George Orwell
• A Bell for Adano (1945) by John Hersey
• "El Señor Presidente" (1946) by Miguel Ángel Asturias
• All the King's Men (1946) by Robert Penn Warren
• Lonely Crusade (1947) by Chester Himes
• Walden Two (1948) by B. F. Skinner
• Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) by George Orwell
• Dark Green, Bright Red (1950) by Gore Vidal
• The Outsider (1953) by Richard Wright
• The Quiet American (1955) by Graham Greene
• The Shark and the Sardines (1956) by Juan José Arévalo
• The Last Hurrah (1956) by Edwin O'Connor
• Atlas Shrugged (1957) by Ayn Rand
• The Short Reign of Pippin IV (1957) by John Steinbeck
• The Ugly American (1958) by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick
• Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe
• The Manchurian Candidate (1959) by Richard Condon
• Advise and Consent (1959) by Allen Drury
• The Best Man (1960) by Gore Vidal (play)
• Catch 22 (1961) by Joseph Heller
• The Golden Notebook (1962) by Doris Lessing
• Seven Days in May (1962) by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey
• The Man (1964) by Irving Wallace
• Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert
• The Squares of the City (1965) by John Brunner
• All in the Family (1966) by Edwin O'Connor
• A Man of the People, by Chinua Achebe (1966)
• The Comedians (1966) by Graham Greene
• The Late Bourgeois World (1966) by Nadine Gordimer
• Cancer Ward (1967) by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
• Washington, D.C. (1967) by Gore Vidal
• The Godfather, by Mario Puzo (1969)
• Being There, by Jerzy Kosiński (1971)
• The Lorax (1971) by Dr. Seuss
• Burr (1973) by Gore Vidal
• Reasons of State (1974) by Alejo Carpentier
• I, the Supreme (1974) by Augusto Roa Bastos
• The Chocolate War (1974) by Robert Cormier
• Remember Ruben (1974) by Mongo Beti
• The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Guerrillas (1975) by V. S. Naipaul
• The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975) by Edward Abbey
• Kiss of the Spider Woman (1976) by Manuel Puig
• 1876 (1976) by Gore Vidal
• A Flag For Sunrise, by Robert Stone (1977)
• The Shad Treatment, (1977) by Garrett Epps
• The Dead Zone (1979) by Stephen King
• An Enemy of the State, by F. Paul Wilson (1980)
• A Very British Coup, by Chris Mullin (1982)
• V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd (1982–88)
• The Day the Leader was Killed (1983) by Naguib Mahfouz
• The Floating Island (1983) by Garrett Epps
• The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta (1984) by Mario Vargas Llosa
• First Among Equals (1984) by Jeffrey Archer
• The Butter Battle Book (1984) by Dr. Seuss
• The Handmaid's Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood
• Anthills of the Savannah (1987) by Chinua Achebe
• Favorite Son, by Steve Sohmer, (1988)
• House of Cards, by Michael Dobbs (1989?)
• Redemption (1990) by Tariq Ali
• The Fourth K, by Mario Puzo (1990)
• Vineland (1990) by Thomas Pynchon
• Patriots, by Steve Sohmer (1991)
• To Play the King, by Michael Dobbs (1991)
• Fatherland, by Robert Harris (1992)
• The Final Cut, by Michael Dobbs (1992)
• American Hero, by Larry Beinhart (1994)
• Blindness (1995) by Jose Saramago
• Primary Colors (1996) by Joe Klein (as "Anonymous")
• Absolute Power, by David Baldacci (1996)
• Yo-Yo Boing!" by Giannina Braschi (1998)
• The Feast of the Goat (2000) by Mario Vargas Llosa
• Snow (2002) by Orhan Pamuk
• The Gospel According To Larry (2003) by Janet Tashjian
• The Successor (2003) by Ismail Kadare
• Seeing (2004) by José Saramago
• De president, by Khalid Boudou (2005)
• A Time to Run, by Barbara Boxer (2005)
• The Polity of Beasts (2007) by Renald Iacovelli
• The Writing on the Wall (2007) by Hannes Artens
• The Coup, by Jamie Malanowski (2007)
• The Ghost, by Robert Harris (2007)
• When the White House Was Ours, by Porter Shreve (2008)
• American Savior (2008) by Roland Merullo
• The Best Laid Plans (2008) by Terry Fallis
• United States of Banana (2011) by Giannina Braschi
• Faultline 49 (2012) by David Danson

Film

Mike Judge, director of Idiocracy (2006)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

• The Dark Horse (1932)
• Gabriel Over the White House (1933)
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
• The Great Dictator (1940)
• Citizen Kane (1941)
• The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
• State of the Union (1948)
• All the King's Men (1949)
• A Lion in the Streets (1953)
• The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma (Kariera Nikodema Dyzmy — 1956 Polish film, starring Adolf Dymsza, based on the novel of the same title by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz)
• Advise & Consent (1962)
• The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
• The Best Man (1964)
• Dr. Strangelove (1964)
• Point of Order (1964)
• Seven Days in May (1964)
• Battle of Algiers (1966)
• Pharaoh (1966 Polish feature film based on Bolesław Prus' novel, Pharaoh)
• Z (film) (1969)
• 1776 (1972)
• The Man (1972)
• The Godfather (1972)
• The Candidate (1972)
• The Godfather, Part II (1974)
• Being There (1979)
• Seeing Red (1983)
• Secret Honor (1984)
• Power (1986)
• JFK (1991)
• Bob Roberts (1992)
• The Distinguished Gentleman (1992)
• Running Mates (1992)
• Dave (1993)
• The War Room (1993)
• With Honors (1994)
• The American President (1995)
• Nixon (1995)
• Flirting With Power (1996)
• My Fellow Americans (1996)
• Murder at 1600 (1997)
• Wag the Dog (1997)
• The Peacemaker (1997)
• Absolute Power (1997, based on the 1996 novel by David Baldacci)
• Bulworth (1998)
• Primary Colors (1998)
• The Siege (1998)
• Three Kings (1999)
• Dick (1999)
• Thirteen Days (2000)
• The Contender (2000)
• Running Mates (2000)
• The Quiet American (2002)
• The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma (Kariera Nikodema Dyzmy — 2002 Polish film, starring Cezary Pazura, based on the novel of the same title by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz)
• Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003)
• The Manchurian Candidate (2004 remake of the 1962 film)
• V for Vendetta (2005)
• All the King's Men (2006)
• An Unreasonable Man (2006)
• Man of the Year (2006)
• The Lives of Others (2006)
• Idiocracy (2006)
• Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
• Dawn of the World (2008)
• Swing Vote (2008)
• Vantage Point (2008)
• In the Loop (2009)
• Raajneeti (2010)
• 2016: Obama's America (2012)
• The Ides of March (2011)
• The Dictator (2012)
• The Campaign (2012)
• Game Change (2012)
• Lincoln (2012)

Television

• Slattery's People (1964-65 American television series about local politics, starring Richard Crenna as a U.S. state legislator)
• The Prisoner (1967)
• The Adams Chronicles (1976 miniseries)
• Kariera Nikodema Dyzmy (The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma — 1980 Polish TV miniseries based on the novel by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz)
• Yes Minister (and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister), by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn (1980–88)
• Edge of Darkness (1985)
• The New Statesman (1987-94)
• A Very British Coup (1988)
• Tanner '88 (1988)
• House of Cards (1990)
• Babylon 5 (1993)
• A Third Choice (1996)
• Spin City (1996-2002)
• Nostromo (1997)
• The West Wing (1999–2006)
• Moncloa, ¿dígame? (2001) Sitcom about the Spanish President press office
• 24 (2001-10)
• The Wire (2002–08)
• The Project (2002)
• Absolute Power (2003, 2005)
• Yugo the Negotiator (2004; anime, on hostage-negotiation)
• Battlestar Galactica (2004)
• Commander-in-Chief (2005)
• The Thick of It, by Armando Iannucci (2005)
• Brotherhood (2006)
• Party Animals (BBC Two, 2007)
• John Adams (2008) (miniseries)
• Recount (2008)
• The Hollowmen (ABC1, 2008)
• Change (2008)
• Parks and Recreation (2009)
• Borgen (2010-2013)
• Boss (2011)
• Scandal (2012)
• Political Animals (2012)
• Veep, by Armando Ianucci (2012)
• House of Cards (US) (2012)
• The Best Laid Plans (2014)

Musicals

• Running for Office (1903)
• George Washington, Jr. (1906)
• Show Boat (1927)
• The Threepenny Opera (1928)
• Of Thee I Sing (1931)
• Miss Liberty (1949)
• South Pacific (1950)
• Call Me Madam (1950)
• The King and I (1952)
• The Pajama Game (1955)
• Candide (1957)
• West Side Story (1958)
• Fiorello! (1960)
• The Sound of Music (1960)
• Fiddler on the Roof (1965)
• Man of La Mancha (1966)
• Cabaret (1967)
• 1776 (1969)
• Hair (1969)
• Jesus Christ Superstar (1971)
• Shenandoah (1975)
• Chicago (1976)
• 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976)
• Evita (1980)
• Sarafina! (1988)
• The Who's Tommy (1993)
• Rent (1996)
• Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk (1996)
• Ragtime (1998)
• Parade (1998)
• Urinetown The Musical (2001)
• Wicked (2004)
• Assassins (2004)
• Caroline, or Change (2004)
• The Color Purple (2006)
• Grey Gardens (2007)
• The Scottsboro Boys (2010)

Comic strips

• Pogo
• Bloom County
• Doonesbury
• Opus
• Outland
• Pearls Before Swine

See also

• Editorial cartoon
• Political fiction
• Assassinations in fiction

External links

• Political Film Society