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political party

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Association of like-minded people organized with the purpose of seeking and exercising political power. A party can be distinguished from an interest or pressure group , which seeks to influence governments rather than aspire to office, although some pressure groups, such as the Green movement, have over time transformed themselves into political parties. Politics, as an activity, has been practised for thousands of years, but political parties seem to have been largely a product of the 19th century, eventually epitomized by the major British parties, the Whigs and the Tories. Although the US constitution contains no reference to parties, the Republican and Democratic parties became essential elements of the political system, reflecting the country's history and social and economic structure. The one-party state, in which party and state institutions became enmeshed, was the distinguishing feature of the political system established in Russia by Lenin (and later Stalin) after World War…
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Full text Article Political Party Systems

From World of Sociology, Gale
Sen. Albert Gore at the 1992 convention of the...
Political party systems are those systems in which there is more than one political entity or party. Political parties are a crucial component of democratic and democratically-influenced political systems. They are organizations representing different groups of people in a society that facilitate…
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Full text Article party, political

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
organization whose aim is to gain control of the government apparatus, usually through the election of its candidates to public office. Political parties take many forms, but their main functions are similar: to supply personnel for government positions; to organize these personnel around the…
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Full text Article Political systems

From Geography of the World
Political systems
No two countries have identical political systems, as over the years each country has evolved a form that suits its history, culture, people and rulers. However, it is possible to group the political systems of the world into a few main categories. There can be variations within each category. Some…
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Full text Article political party

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Association of like-minded people organized with the purpose of seeking and exercising political power. A party can be distinguished from an interest or pressure group , which seeks to influence governments rather than aspire to office, although some pressure groups, such as the Green movement, have…
| 1,663 words
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Full text Article Political Party

From American Governance
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In American...
American politics has almost from its inception been marked by stable two-party competition. Earlier versions of political parties can be seen in the colonial and founding periods, but they did not acquire their modern form, legitimacy, and permanence until the 1830s. They reached the height of…
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Full text Article political party

From Collins Dictionary of Sociology
any association set up with the objective of gaining political power, usually but not always by electoral means. In contrast with PRESSURE GROUPS , which seek to influence political events by acting on governments and public opinion, parties can be distinguished as seeking to wield governmental…
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in Canada. 1 Former Canadian political party that merged with the Progressive party to form the Progressive Conservative party . 2 Officially the Conservative party of Canada , political party formed in 2003 by the merger of the Progressive Conservative party (PC) and the Canadian Alliance (CA). In…
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Full text Article political party

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Group of persons organized to acquire and exercise political power. Formal political parties originated in their modern form in Europe and the U.S. in the 19th century. Whereas mass-based parties appeal for support to the whole electorate, cadre parties aim at attracting only an active elite; most…
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British political party created in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal party with the Social Democratic party ; the party was initially called the Social and Liberal Democratic party. The Social Democratic party, which was formed in 1981 by politically centrist members of the Labour party , joined…
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in U.S. history, political party formed in 1944 in New York City by a group of anti-Communist trade unionists and liberals who withdrew from the American Labor party when that party became pro-Communist. Among those responsible for its creation was Reinhold Niebuhr . The original party platform…
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