There is a question, albeit a poorly written one, that seeks to understand why Silvio Berlusconi is able to be "at the top of the food chain" in Italy. I can understand why people want to close it - it basically is a two sentence rant - but it does beg the larger question.
Are questions in the form "What contributes to the political power of X" on topic?
I would argue that well known political persons should be completely on target for this site. It is completely within bounds to ask, "Who supports President Obama," for example, because it gets to the nuts and bolts of politics.
On topic answers could appeal to:
Note that it is objectively answerable as well - President Obama gets a lot of support from the young, from minorities, and from urban areas. I might rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my toungue than vote for the guy, but I can still objectively answer it.
Note also, I'm not saying "Candidate X is a jerk." I'm asking who supports him.
And finally, when I asked the question about the divisiveness of abortion in countries outside the United States, I got a fabulously informative answer. Essentially, I'm asking for the ability to ask the same kinds of question about foreign leaders.
As such, I would argue that if better written, personalities are completely on topic.
Questions about politicians and politically relevant personalities should be perfectly on topic. The reason should be obvious, I hope!
However, any questions on this site should respect our FAQ and in particular:
To avoid asking subjective questions where …
- every answer is equally valid: “What’s your favorite ______?”
- your answer is provided along with the question, and you expect more answers: “I * use ______ for ______, what do you use?”
- there is no actual problem to be solved: “I’m curious if other people feel like I do.”
- we are being asked an open-ended, hypothetical question: “What if ______ happened?”
- it is a rant disguised as a question: “______ sucks, am I right?”
That question solicits opinions and it is possibly a list question, so it's not a very good question (but an on-topic one!)
"What contributes to the political power of X" is asking for opinions so should be off topic.
Good Questions - "what notable achievements did X accomplish during their term?" - "What was Candidate X's position on abortion?" - "Has X ever publicly address scandal y?"
"Who supports President Obama?" is not constructive on its own. If the question were asked in context of a constructive question I might reconsider but as a standalone there is nothing to be gained but discussion(which is not constructive).
