Astrology has found a new popularity with the arrival of Hinduism into the west. A newspaper without one's 'stars' is unusual nowadays. They said that John Major's chart showed good signs for him, but not for the opposition. Consulting one's stars is part of the Yogic system of belief. There are essentially two forms of it.
Natal astrology deals with individuals.
Mundane astrology deals with world events and history. Accepting astrology reinforces the belief in the law of karma, as your chart may have 'good' or 'bad' signs for you right now, and this may apply to a country also. Astrology was important in the ancient world, but Christianity dealt strongly with it, and for centuries it died down. It revived in Europe in the latter half of the nineteenth century with the rise of Theosophy, but it had remained popular in China, India and the Islamic world. It did not revive in the west until the twentieth century, but it has gained steadily in popularity ever since, with polls claiming that forty per cent of Americans now believe in it.