Political Party:
A political organization that seeks to influence policy, typically by getting candidates and members to be elected for office
Party Systems:
Patterns of party politics characterised by the number of relevant parties in a country
Interest Groups:
Organizations that make demands in the political system on behalf of their constituents and members
Civil Society:
The set of organization in civic life outside the state through which citizens associate and articulate and advance their interests; includes civic associations, interest groups, and volunteer organizations
Interest aggregation:
The process by which political actors express their demands , needs, or wants in a political system, often through political parties and the party system
Elite parties:
Political parties in which membership and scope were largely restricted to a small number of political elites
Mass parties:
Parties consisting of large numbers of citizens as members and that undertake massive political mobilization
Catch-all parties:
Political parties that are flexible on their ideological positions and aim to attract support from a broad range of interest groups and voters
Dominant-party system:
Party system in which a country contains only one large political party that predominates politically, often controlling the legislative and executive branches of government
Single-party system:
An authoritarian system in which parties besides the single dominant party are banned or disallowed
Two-party system:
A political party system consisting of two significant parties that have a duopoly on opportunities to govern
Multiparty system:
A political party system consisting of more than two significant parties that have opportunities to govern
Fragmentation (of party system):
Contrasting with concentration, the extent to which political power and representation in a party system are characterised by relatively large numbers of relatively small parties