# Political platform

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Formal set of principal goals supported by a political party or candidate

For other uses, see [Manifesto](/source/Manifesto).

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A political **party platform** (North 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](/source/Political_party) or individual [candidate](/source/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** – 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](/source/Stage_(theatre)) made of boards or [planks of wood](/source/Plank_(wood)). The metaphor can return to its literal origin when [public speaking](/source/Public_speaking) or [debates](/source/Debate) are actually held upon a physical platform.[*[original research?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research)*]

In the United Kingdom and certain other countries, the party platform is referred to as the party's "[manifesto](/source/Manifesto)"[1][2] or political programme. The manifesto contains election pledges, or election promises. Across the [Western world](/source/Western_world), political parties in power are highly likely to fulfill their election promises.[3]

## Origins

The first known use of the word *platform* was in 1535. The word *platform* comes from [Middle French](/source/Middle_French) *plate-forme*, literally meaning "flat form".[4] 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.[5]

## Fulfilling platforms

[Fidesz](/source/Fidesz) party manifesto – Hungary, 2024

A 2017 study in the *[American Journal of Political Science](/source/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 promises](/source/Election_promise) to voters to a considerable extent.[3] The study determined that:

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.

Other research on the United States suggests that [Democratic Party](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) and [Republican Party](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) [congresspeople](/source/Member_of_Congress) voted in line with their respective party platforms 74 per cent and 89 per cent of the time, respectively.[6]

## Famous political platforms

- [The Ninety-Five Theses](/source/The_Ninety-Five_Theses) of [Martin Luther](/source/Martin_Luther) in 1517, opposed practices of the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church) at that time (both a religion and a political territory), and led to the establishment of [Protestantism](/source/Protestantism)

- [Thomas Paine](/source/Thomas_Paine)'s pamphlet *[Common Sense](/source/Common_Sense_(pamphlet))* (1776) advocated [freedom from the rule](/source/American_Revolution) of [Great Britain](/source/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain) for the [American Colonists](/source/Thirteen_Colonies) and proposed a constitution for the new [United States](/source/United_States)

- [The Federalist](/source/The_Federalist_Papers) under "Publius", the collective [pseudonym](/source/Pseudonym) of [Alexander Hamilton](/source/Alexander_Hamilton), [James Madison](/source/James_Madison), and [John Jay](/source/John_Jay)

- [Tamworth Manifesto](/source/Tamworth_Manifesto) in 1834, a political manifesto issued by [Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet](/source/Robert_Peel), in a run-up to the [British general election of 1835](/source/1835_United_Kingdom_general_election) that laid down the principles upon which the modern [Conservative Party](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) was founded from the old [Tory party](/source/Tories_(British_political_party)).

- [Friedrich Engels](/source/Friedrich_Engels) and [Karl Marx](/source/Karl_Marx)'s 1848 [Communist Manifesto](/source/Communist_Manifesto), called for the abolition of [private property](/source/Private_property) and applied a [scientific understanding](/source/Scientific_socialism) to the development of society through [socialism](/source/Socialism) into a society without money-usage, social classes, or state coercion, which would be called "[communism](/source/Communism)"

- The 1875 [Gotha Program](/source/Gotha_Program) of the recently united [Social Democratic Party of Germany](/source/Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany), subject to a famous [critique by Karl Marx](/source/Critique_of_the_Gotha_Programme)

- [Erfurt Program](/source/Erfurt_Program) of the [Social Democratic Party of Germany](/source/Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany) in 1891

- [Bolshevism](/source/Bolshevism) of the [Russian Social Democratic Labour Party](/source/Russian_Social_Democratic_Labour_Party) (1916)

- [Franklin Roosevelt's](/source/Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt) 1932 [New Deal](/source/New_Deal)

- The 1948 [United States Democratic Party](/source/United_States_Democratic_Party)'s platform including [civil rights](/source/Civil_rights)

- [John F. Kennedy](/source/John_F._Kennedy)'s 1960 [New Frontier](/source/New_Frontier)

- [Lyndon Baines Johnson](/source/Lyndon_Baines_Johnson)'s [Great Society](/source/Great_Society), 1964

- The 1993 [Liberal Party of Canada](/source/Liberal_Party_of_Canada) [Red Book](/source/Canadian_Liberal_Red_Book)

- The 1994 [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) [congressional](/source/United_states_congress) [Contract with America](/source/Contract_with_America)

- [Mike Harris](/source/Mike_Harris)'s 1995 [Common Sense Revolution](/source/Common_Sense_Revolution)

- [100-Hour Plan](/source/100-Hour_Plan) of the [United States Democratic Party](/source/United_States_Democratic_Party) in 2006

- [Clause IV Socialism](/source/Clause_IV), a focus of debate in the [UK Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_(UK))

- [The Heritage Foundation](/source/The_Heritage_Foundation) 2024 [Project 2025](/source/Project_2025)

Example of a printed platform in [pamphlet](/source/Pamphlet) form the 1912 U.S. [Progressive Party](/source/Progressive_Party_(United_States%2C_1912)) platform

## See also

- [List of democracy and elections-related topics](/source/List_of_democracy_and_elections-related_topics)

- [List of Conservative Party (UK) general election manifestos](/source/List_of_Conservative_Party_(UK)_general_election_manifestos)

- [List of Labour Party (UK) general election manifestos](/source/List_of_Labour_Party_(UK)_general_election_manifestos)

- [List of Liberal Party and Liberal Democrats (UK) general election manifestos](/source/List_of_Liberal_Party_and_Liberal_Democrats_(UK)_general_election_manifestos)

- [Mandate (politics)](/source/Mandate_(politics))

- [Party line (politics)](/source/Party_line_(politics))

- [Stump speech (politics)](/source/Stump_speech_(politics))

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Glossary: Manifesto"](https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/manifesto/). *UK Parliament*. Retrieved 2022-07-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Manifesto"](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manifesto). Merriam Webster. Retrieved 2012-02-07.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_3-1) Thomson, Robert; Royed, Terry; Naurin, Elin; Artés, Joaquín; Costello, Rory; Ennser-Jedenastik, Laurenz; Ferguson, Mark; Kostadinova, Petia; Moury, Catherine (2017-07-01). ["The Fulfillment of Parties' Election Pledges: A Comparative Study on the Impact of Power Sharing"](https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/59403/1/Thomson_etal_AJPS_2016_The_fulfillment_of_parties_election_pledges.pdf) (PDF). *American Journal of Political Science*. **61** (3): 527–542. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/ajps.12313](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fajps.12313). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1540-5907](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1540-5907).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Platform"](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/platform). Merriam Webster. Retrieved 2012-11-07.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Platform"](https://www.etymonline.com/word/platform). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2022-07-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:0_6-0)** Stein, Jeff (2016-07-12). ["We asked 8 political scientists if party platforms matter. Here's what we learned"](https://www.vox.com/2016/7/12/12060358/political-science-of-platforms). *Vox*. Retrieved 2016-07-19.

## External links

- [Parties’ Social Group Appeals (PSoGA) Database](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123426101586) – Data covering 791 election manifestos from 139 political parties across Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

- [Platforms of U.S. political parties, 1840-present](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/platforms.php) from the American Presidency Project at the [University of California, Santa Barbara](/source/University_of_California%2C_Santa_Barbara)

- [National Party Platforms of the United States, Presidential Candidates, Electoral and Popular Votes 1896](https://books.google.com/books?id=4Ig0AAAAIAAJ&dq=national+party+platforms+of+the+united+states+jmh+frederick&pg=PA1)

- [The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1895](https://books.google.com/books?id=MzwKAQAAMAAJ&dq=the+tribune+almanac+for+1896+political+platforms+of+states&pg=RA5-PA70)

- [Electronic Manifestos Canada](https://www.poltext.org/en/part-1-electronic-political-texts/electronic-manifestos-canada) – Manifestos of Canada's major political parties since 1949

- [Suid-Afrikaanse algemene verkiesingsmanifeste, 1910-1981 = South African general election manifestos, 1910-1981 by Kleynhans, W. A.](https://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/19496) Manifestos of various political parties in South Africa from 1910 to 1981

- [Includes details of manifestoes of various political parties in Norway](https://polsys.sikt.no/parti)

- [Includes manifestoes of various political parties in the Netherlands](https://dnpprepo.ub.rug.nl/view/party/)

- [Includes manifestoes of various political parties in Sweden](https://snd.se/en/vivill?search=party%20programme)

- [Includes manifestoes of various political parties in Finland](https://www.fsd.tuni.fi/pohtiva/ohjelmalistat)

- [The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1895](https://books.google.com/books?id=WpE3AAAAMAAJ&dq=the+tribune+almanac+for+1896&pg=PA70)

Authority control databases GND

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Political platform](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_platform) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_platform?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.