Editing Political platform

{{Short description|Formal set of principal goals supported by a political party or candidate}}
{{Other uses|Manifesto}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=June 2021}}
{{Party politics}}
A political '''party platform''' (American English), '''party program''', or '''party manifesto''' (preferential term in British and often Commonwealth English) is a formal set of principal goals which are supported by a [[political party]] or individual [[candidate]], to appeal to the general public, for the ultimate purpose of garnering the general public's support and votes about complicated topics or issues. A component of a political platform is often called a '''plank'''&nbsp;– the opinions and viewpoints about an individual topic, as held by a party, person, or organization. The word "plank" depicts a component of an overall political platform, as a metaphorical reference to a basic [[Stage (theatre)|stage]] made of boards or [[Plank (wood)|planks of wood]].  The metaphor can return to its literal origin when [[public speaking]] or [[debate]]s are actually held upon a physical platform.

In the United Kingdom and certain other countries, the party platform is referred to as the party's "[[manifesto]]"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Glossary: Manifesto |url=https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/manifesto/ |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=UK Parliament}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manifesto|title= Manifesto|publisher= Merriam Webster|access-date=2012-02-07}}</ref> or political programme. The manifesto contains election pledges, or election promises. Across the [[Western world]], political parties in power are highly likely to fulfill their election promises, research has found.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Thomson|first1=Robert|last2=Royed|first2=Terry|last3=Naurin|first3=Elin|last4=Artés|first4=Joaquín|last5=Costello|first5=Rory|last6=Ennser-Jedenastik|first6=Laurenz|last7=Ferguson|first7=Mark|last8=Kostadinova|first8=Petia|last9=Moury|first9=Catherine|date=2017-07-01|title=The Fulfillment of Parties' Election Pledges: A Comparative Study on the Impact of Power Sharing|journal=American Journal of Political Science|language=en|volume=61|issue=3|pages=527–542|doi=10.1111/ajps.12313|issn=1540-5907|url=https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/59403/1/Thomson_etal_AJPS_2016_The_fulfillment_of_parties_election_pledges.pdf|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Origins==
The first known use of the word ''platform'' was in 1535. The word ''platform'' comes from [[Middle French]] ''plate-forme'', literally meaning "flat form".<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/platform|title= Platform|publisher=Merriam Webster|access-date=2012-11-07}}</ref> The political meaning of the word to reflect "statement of party politics" is from 1803, probably originally an image of a literal platform on which politicians gather, stand, and make their appeals.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.etymonline.com/word/platform |title= Platform|publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=2022-07-15}}</ref>

==Fulfilling platforms==
[[File:Választási Manifesztum 2024.jpg|thumb|[[Fidesz]] party manifesto – Hungary, 2024]]
A 2017 study in the ''[[American Journal of Political Science]]'' that analyzed 12 countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States) found that political parties in government fulfill their [[election promise]]s to voters to a considerable extent.<ref name=":1" /> The study determined that:

<blockquote>Parties that hold executive office after elections generally fulfill substantial percentages, sometimes very high percentages, of their election pledges, whereas parties that do not hold executive office generally find that lower percentages of their pledges are fulfilled. The fulfillment of pledges by governing executive parties varies across governments in ways that reflect power-sharing arrangements. The main power-sharing arrangement that impacts pledge fulfillment distinguishes between single-party governments and coalitions, not between governments with and without legislative majorities. We found the highest percentages of pledge fulfillment for governing parties in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, and Canada, most of which governed in single-party executives. We found lower percentages for governing parties in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Bulgaria, Ireland, and Italy, most of which governed in coalitions. Pledge fulfillment by U.S. presidential parties lies at the higher end of coalition governments, which suggests that U.S. presidents are more constrained than governing parties in single-party parliamentary systems, but less constrained than most governing parties in multiparty coalitions.</blockquote>

Other research on the United States suggests that [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] [[Member of Congress|congresspeople]] voted in line with their respective party platforms 74 per cent and 89 per cent of the time, respectively.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2016/7/12/12060358/political-science-of-platforms|title=We asked 8 political scientists if party platforms matter. Here's what we learned.|last=Stein|first=Jeff|date=2016-07-12|website=Vox|access-date=2016-07-19}}</ref>

==Famous political platforms==
* [[The Ninety-Five Theses]] of [[Martin Luther]] in 1517, opposed practices of the [[Catholic Church]] at that time (both a religion and a political territory), and led to the establishment of [[Protestantism]]
* [[Thomas Paine]]'s pamphlet ''[[Common Sense (pamphlet)|Common Sense]]'' (1776) advocated [[American Revolution|freedom from the rule]] of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] for the [[Thirteen Colonies|American Colonists]] and proposed a constitution for the new [[United States]]
* [[The Federalist Papers|The Federalist]] under "Publius", the collective [[pseudonym]] of [[Alexander Hamilton]], [[James Madison]], and [[John Jay]]
* [[Tamworth Manifesto]] in 1834, a political manifesto issued by [[Robert Peel|Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet]], in a run-up to the [[1835 United Kingdom general election|British general election of 1835]] that laid down the principles upon which the modern [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] was founded from the old [[Tories (British political party)|Tory party]].
* [[Friedrich Engels]] and [[Karl Marx]]'s 1848 [[Communist Manifesto]], called for the abolition of [[private property]] and applied a [[Scientific socialism|scientific understanding]] to the development of society through [[socialism]] into a society without money-usage, social classes, or state coercion, which would be called "[[communism]]"
* The 1875 [[Gotha Program]] of the recently united [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]], subject to a famous [[Critique of the Gotha Programme|critique by Karl Marx]]
* [[Erfurt Program]] of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] in 1891
* [[Bolshevism]] of the [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party]] (1916)
* [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Franklin Roosevelt's]] 1932 [[New Deal]]
* The 1948 [[United States Democratic Party]]'s platform including [[civil rights]]
* [[John F. Kennedy]]'s 1960 [[New Frontier]]
* [[Lyndon Baines Johnson]]'s [[Great Society]], 1964
* The 1993 [[Liberal Party of Canada]] [[Canadian Liberal Red Book|Red Book]]
* The 1994 [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[United states congress|congressional]] [[Contract with America]]
* [[Mike Harris]]'s 1995 [[Common Sense Revolution]]
* [[100-Hour Plan]] of the [[United States Democratic Party]] in 2006
* [[Clause IV|Clause IV Socialism]], a focus of debate in the [[Labour Party (UK)|UK Labour Party]]
* [[The Heritage Foundation]] 2024 [[Project 2025]]

[[File:PamphletFrontPageProgressivePartyPlatform1912.jpg|thumb|150px|Example of a printed platform in [[pamphlet]] form the 1912 U.S. [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive Party]] platform]]

==See also==
* [[List of democracy and elections-related topics]]
* [[List of Conservative Party (UK) general election manifestos]]
* [[List of Labour Party (UK) general election manifestos]]
* [[List of Liberal Party and Liberal Democrats (UK) general election manifestos]]
* [[Mandate (politics)]]
* [[Party line (politics)]]
* [[Stump speech (politics)]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/platforms.php Platforms of U.S. political parties, 1840-present] from the American Presidency Project at the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=4Ig0AAAAIAAJ&dq=national+party+platforms+of+the+united+states+jmh+frederick&pg=PA1 National Party Platforms of the United States, Presidential Candidates, Electoral and Popular Votes 1896]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=MzwKAQAAMAAJ&dq=the+tribune+almanac+for+1896+political+platforms+of+states&pg=RA5-PA70 The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1895]
* [https://www.poltext.org/en/part-1-electronic-political-texts/electronic-manifestos-canada Electronic Manifestos Canada] – Manifestos of Canada's major political parties since 1949
* [https://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/19496 Suid-Afrikaanse algemene verkiesingsmanifeste, 1910-1981 = South African general election manifestos, 1910-1981 by Kleynhans, W. A.] Manifestos of various political parties in South Africa from 1910 to 1981 
* [https://polsys.sikt.no/parti Includes details of manifestoes of various political parties in Norway]
* [https://dnpprepo.ub.rug.nl/view/party/ Includes manifestoes of various political parties in the Netherlands]
* [https://snd.se/en/vivill?search=party%20programme Includes manifestoes of various political parties in Sweden]
* [https://www.fsd.tuni.fi/pohtiva/ohjelmalistat Includes manifestoes of various political parties in Finland]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=WpE3AAAAMAAJ&dq=the+tribune+almanac+for+1896&pg=PA70 The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1895]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Party platforms| ]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Political communication|Platform]]