Meaning & use
political party
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Meanings
nouncountable
An organized group of people who share similar ideas about government and try to win elections and hold power.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a political party, two political parties, or the party she joined.
Patterns
- join a political party
- form a political party
- a political party wins/loses an election
- the leader of a political party
She joined a political party when she was a student and has campaigned for it ever since.
In most democracies, at least two political parties compete for seats in parliament.
The new political party promised lower taxes and better public transport.
nouncountable
The whole system of such groups in a country, especially when discussing how they compete for power.
Grammar: Often used in the plural to talk about the system as a whole: political parties in Britain.
Patterns
- political parties in a country
- fund political parties
- ban political parties
The law limits how much money political parties may spend on advertising.
Small political parties often struggle to get any media coverage.
Word forms
| plural | political parties |
|---|
Common combinations
- a political party in power
- The political party in power usually gets blamed for economic problems.
- a major political party
- Both major political parties support the new education plan.
- an opposition political party
- An opposition political party criticized the budget in parliament.
- a political party's manifesto
- Voters read the political party's manifesto before the election.
- to run for a political party
- He decided to run for a political party he had supported for years.
Synonyms and how they differ
- party
- Shorter and used when the context is already political; 'party' alone can also mean a social event, so 'political party' is clearer.
- movement
- A movement is looser and often not registered for elections; a political party is formal and contests elections.
- faction
- A faction is a group inside a larger party or organization, not a separate party competing in elections.
Word family
- politics noun
- the activity of governing a country or trying to gain power
- politician noun
- a person who works in politics, especially an elected one
- political adjective
- relating to government or public affairs
- partisan adjective
- strongly supporting one party or group
Commonly confused: political party or political action committee?
political party vs political action committee
In the US, a political action committee raises money to support candidates; it is not the same as a party, which runs candidates itself.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'political party' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A political party is an organized group competing in elections, so voting for one fits. Option 1 confuses it with a social party, option 2 gives an unrelated purpose, and option 3 treats it as a social event.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “political party”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.