Party platform

A political party platform (US English), party program, or party manifesto (preferential term in British & often Commonwealth English) is a formal set of principal goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, in order 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 made of boards or planks of wood. The metaphor can return to its literal origin when public speaking or debates 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" or political programme. Across the Western world, political parties are highly likely to fulfill their election promises. The first known use of the word platform was in 1535. The word platform comes from Middle French plate-forme, literally meaning "flat form". 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. 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 promises to voters to a considerable extent. 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.