Politics and society in Esperanto: words for news and debate

Politics is politiko, a government is registaro, and to vote is voĉdoni. Most political words are international roots with an Esperanto ending, so parlamento, kandidato, demokratio and traktato look familiar. This page groups about 80 words by topic, then adds discussion phrases and word-building. The words are neutral labels; the page takes no side. Pronunciation guides split words into syllables, with the stressed syllable in capitals.

#State and power

Ŝtato is the political organisation and lando the territory; both are used for "country". Registaro is reg·ist·ar·o: reg- "govern", -ist- for a person, -ar- for a group. One member of a government is a registo (ReVo).

#Elections and parties

Elekti "to elect" takes a direct object, so it needs the accusative -n: Ni elektas la urbestron. After voĉdoni "to vote", a preposition says how: voĉdoni por la propono "for", voĉdoni kontraŭ la propono "against", voĉdoni pri la propono "on" (see prepositions). ReVo also has baloti "to vote by ballot", but says voĉdoni or elekti can always replace it.

#Rights, society and the economy

#News and debate

Novaĵo is built from nov- "new" and -aĵ- "a thing": a piece of news, usually plural novaĵoj. A newspaper is gazeto or ĵurnalo. Despite its look, ĵurnalo is a newspaper or news bulletin (ReVo), not a diary.

#International affairs

The United Nations is Unuiĝintaj Nacioj (UN), built from unuiĝi "to unite", the participle ending -int- and the plural -aj. ReVo notes that nacio normally means "a people"; the sense "state" appears in terms translated from English, like this one. The European Union is Eŭropa Unio (EU), defined in ReVo as an economic and political union of European states, founded in 1993. The Universal Esperanto Association has official relations with UNESCO and the UN's ECOSOC (see Esperanto organisations).

On sanctions, ReVo defines sankcio as official approval, marks its penalty sense as one to avoid, and gives sankciumo for a punishment that follows a political misdeed. Country names and nationalities (Francio, Usono, usonano) are on the countries and languages page.

#Phrases for a discussion

Konsenti is the plain word for "agree"; ReVo's own example is mi konsentas kun vi. After proponi, ke is followed by the -u form: Mi proponas, ke ni voĉdonu.

#Sentences from the news

Direct objects take -n: novan leĝon, prezidenton, traktaton. Month names take a capital letter, as in Novembro.

#Building more political words

Learn the endings and you can read many words you have not met. Politikisto is "politician", from politiko + -ist-; PMEG pairs -ist- words with -ism- words, as in ReVo's socialismo and socialisto. One root can name the system, the person and the quality: demokratio "democracy", demokrato "democrat", demokrata "democratic".

The pattern is the same as in other topics: see suffixes and prefixes.

#Where to read the news in Esperanto

Esperanto media are small, so treat them as reading practice for these words rather than as a daily world-news service.

• Monato – a monthly international news magazine from the publisher Flandra Esperanto-Ligo in Antwerp. ReVo quotes its articles in many entries, for example under konsenti.
• Libera Folio – an independent online bulletin on the Esperanto movement since 12 April 2003; we cite its reports on several pages.
• La Ondo de Esperanto – a magazine from the publisher Sezonoj in Kaliningrad.
• Esperanto – the monthly magazine of the Universal Esperanto Association; Kontakto – the magazine of its youth organisation TEJO.
• Muzaiko – an Esperanto internet radio station that began broadcasting on 1 July 2011.

More listening and reading is on the resources page.

#Common questions

#How do you say "government" in Esperanto?

Registaro. One member is a registo, the ministers are ministroj and the head is the ĉefministro "prime minister".

#How do you say "to vote" and "election" in Esperanto?

"To vote" is voĉdoni and "election" is elekto. You vote por (for), kontraŭ (against) or pri (on) something, and you elect a person with elekti: Ili elektis ŝin.

#How do you say "I agree" and "I disagree" in Esperanto?

Mi konsentas or Mi konsentas kun vi, and Mi ne konsentas or Mi malkonsentas. To give your view, say Laŭ mia opinio… "in my opinion" or Mi opinias, ke… "I think that…".

#Is it prezidanto or prezidento?

Both exist. ReVo defines prezidento as the president of a country, a special status of prezidanto, which is anyone who presides: prezidanto de la kunsido "chair of the meeting". ReVo also lists "head of a republic" as a meaning of prezidanto.

#What are the United Nations and the European Union called in Esperanto?

Unuiĝintaj Nacioj (UN) and Eŭropa Unio (EU). Both forms are listed in ReVo.

#Sources

• ReVo: registaro, registo, regi, ŝtato, ministro, prezidanto, prezidi, prezidento, parlamento, konstitucio, juĝejo, politiko
• ReVo: elekti, baloti, balotilo, balotejo, voĉo, voĉdono, kandidato, partio, plimulto, referendumo, voĉdonrajto
• ReVo: libereco, egaleco, demokratio, civitano, sindikato, dekstra, maldekstra, socialismo
• ReVo: novaĵo, gazeto, gazetaro, ĵurnalo, opinio, opinii, konsenti, interkonsento, proponi, kontraŭi
• ReVo: nacio, Unuiĝintaj Nacioj, unio, Eŭropa Unio, ambasado, traktato, sankcio, sankciumo, rifuĝinto
• PMEG: IST, ISM, AN, EJ, AR, EKS, MAL
• Vikipedio: Unuiĝintaj Nacioj, Eŭropa Unio, Libera Folio, La Ondo de Esperanto, Muzaiko; Monato (the magazine's website)