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Select Citation Style Copy Citation Share to social media Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Below is the article summary. For the full article, see political party.political party, 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 parties have features of both types. All parties develop a political program that defines their ideology and sets out the agenda they would pursue should they win elective office or gain power through extraparliamentary means. Most countries have single-party, two-party, or multiparty systems (see party system). In the U.S., party candidates are usually selected through primary elections at the state level.
New Democratic Party (NDP), Canadian social democratic political party favouring a mixed public-private economy, broadened social benefits, and an internationalist foreign policy. The New Democratic Party (NDP) grew out of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), which was founded in 1933 as
Free Democratic Party (FDP), centrist German political party that advocates individualism, capitalism, and social reform. Although it has captured only a small percentage of the votes in national elections, its support has been pivotal for much of the post-World War II period in making or breaking
Canadian Alliance, former Canadian populist conservative political party, largely based in the western provinces. The Canadian Alliance traced its roots to the Reform Party, which formed in 1987 as a populist and conservative expression of western Canadian frustration with the governing Progressive
National Party (NP), South African political party, founded in 1914, which ruled the country from 1948 to 1994. Its following included most of the Dutch-descended Afrikaners and many English-speaking whites. The National Party was long dedicated to policies of apartheid and white supremacy, but by
