Why are some questions closed?

Question

Sometimes a question is closed by the experienced members of the community. What is the criteria that is used to close a question? But what if the user feels it is a good question? Is there a way in which the question can be reopened?

Answer 1

Yes, a question which is closed can be reopened. Just as with closing, this requires 5 votes by regular (>500 reputation) users or one vote by a moderator (user with a ♦ behind their username).

When a question you consider on-topic gets put on hold, I recommend to:

1. find out what's wrong with it by reading the comments on it (it is good etiquette, although not required, to leave a comment when you vote to put a question on hold explaining why you do this). When nobody left a comment, they usually feel that the description of the close reason explains the problem(s) well enough.
2. Edit the question to fix the problems.
3. Ask to get it reopened with a description of what you changed and how you think it makes the question on-topic. You can ask by:
   • Pinging the users who voted to close (write @username in a comment) explaining how you fixed their critique
   • Flagging the answer for moderator attention (note: As a moderator I am usually hesitant to reopen a question closed by the community, as that would overrule the community consensus. But I am more willing to do this when it was closed by a mod)
   • Post a question here on meta to ask for reopening it. This is what you should do if your explanation why it should be reopened doesn't fit into a 500 character comment. You can also do this if you would like to start a discussion about closing questions in general and use your question as an example.

Note that not every question is fixable without completely changing what it's actually about. Some questions simply don't belong here. When you realize that your question isn't a good fit for Politics.SE after all, it's usually best to just delete it.

Answer 2

A question can be closed for the following reasons

Reasons for all SE sites:

• Duplicate: Someone else already asked it.
• Off topic: It's not about politics.
• Unclear: We can't figure out what you're asking for.
• Too Broad: You're asking multiple questions, or your asking for general information about a large topic(Example: "Tell me something about the situation in the middle east")
• Opinion Based: you're asking us for our opinion

Custom Reasons for Politics.SE:

• Speculation: The answer to your question can't reasonably be expected to be known, even by an expert.

• Not a good faith question: You're trying to post a statement or make your own point rather than ask a question for learning purposes. It can still be closed for this if your post has a form of a question.

Once you get enough reputation, you'll be able to vote to close or reopen Questions.

If 5 people vote to close a question, or one moderator votes to close it, it gets closed.

If 5 people vote to reopen a question or one moderator votes to reopen it, it gets reopened.

Answer 3

Some good reading on the subject

• What is a "closed", “on hold”, or "duplicate" question?
• How do you reopen a closed question?

Generally speaking, questions have to be

• Answerable
• On-Topic
• Objective (i.e. not based solely on the opinions of answerers)