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
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
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