major parties
Dominant political organizations
The major parties are the dominant political parties in a system—in the United States, the Democrats and Republicans.
The term distinguishes them from third parties and independents who rarely win significant elections: Third-party candidates struggle to get media coverage compared to major party nominees.
What counts as major varies by country and era.
- duopolyTwo-seller market structure
- bipartisanInvolving both major parties
- electionsFormal choosing of officials
- general electionNationwide voting for office
- democratAdvocate for popular rule
red and blue · voting · voter registration · get out the vote · swing voters · swing states · constituency · candidates · electorate · campaigns · greens · political · conventions · incumbent · factionalism · midterms · nominees · caucus
- Political PartiesLabour, GOP, Democrats, Republicans, BNP
major partiesthird parties
Entities beyond original two
minor parties · independents · splinter parties · also-rans · micro-parties
major partiesindependent candidates
Office seekers without party membership
grassroots movements · write-in candidates · independents · lone wolves
party, major, majority, minimize, partisan, majors, minimization, majorette, majordomo