Single-issue politics
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Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea.
Political expression
One weakness of such an approach is that effective
Single-issue politics may express itself through the formation of a single-issue party, an approach that tends to be more successful in
Very visible as it was in
Groups and voters
Single-issue politics are a form of
The term single-issue voter has been used to describe people who may make voting decisions based on the candidates' stance on a single issue (e.g., support or opposition to abortion rights, or in support of gun rights or gun control). The existence of single-issue voters can give a distorted impression: a candidate's overall views may not enjoy the same support. For example, a person who votes for a socially liberal Republican candidate, based solely on their support of abortion, may not necessarily share the candidate's other views on social issues, such as gun rights or family values.
Single-issue parties
A single-issue party is a political party which focuses any campaign, efforts, or activism almost exclusively on only a single issue or a very narrow range of issues (e.g., such as a gun rights organization that might also support knife rights).
It is generally believed that single-issue parties are favored by voluntary voting systems, as they tend to attract very committed supporters who will always vote. Through systems like
In instant-runoff electoral systems which allow unsuccessful parties to designate where their votes are redistributed, single-issue parties may be formed as a way to funnel more votes to another candidate with quite different policies. For instance, in the 1999 New South Wales state election, candidate Malcolm Jones received just 0.2% of the primary vote, but achieved the quota of 4.5% required to win a Legislative Council seat after receiving preferences from a wide range of minor parties (including both the 'Gun Owners and Sporting Hunters Rights Party' and the 'Animal Liberation Party'); MLC Lee Rhiannon accused many of these parties of being nothing more than fronts.[1]
A similar type of political party has been plentiful in the Netherlands, where they are called testimonial parties. Testimonial parties are often concentrated around a specific set of principles or policies which they seek to promote without the compromises contingent on ordinary coalition politics. Examples of some successful testimonial parties are the Party for the Animals, the Reformed Political Party, or the former Pacifist Socialist Party.
Other single-issue parties focus on the interests of a specific target group, such as ethnic minorities, retirees, and students.
Europe
The most successful electorally British single-issue party is the pro-
Other single-issue parties in the UK are anti-
In 2019, an
In Norway, there is also a party called Patient Focus (Norway) as a support movement for an expansion of the Alta hospital in Finnmark.
United States
The Anti-Masonic Party opposed Freemasonry.
Rent is Too Damn High is focused on housing.
The Free-Soil Party opposed slavery.
Oceania
In Australia, a number of single-issue parties have been elected to federal and state parliaments such as the Animal Justice Party, Dignity for Disability, the Australian Reason Party, Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party.
See also
References
- ^ "Full Day Hansard Transcript (Legislative Council, 10 November 1999, Corrected Copy)".
- ^ "Anuluj Mandat - Anuluj-Mandat.pl tworzy program Partii Kierowców - nowego ugrupowania na polskiej scenie politycznej". anuluj-mandat.pl.
- ^ "Powstała Partia Kierowców. "Nie będziemy uprawiać polityki"". www.tvp.info. 2 April 2019.
- ^ "Powstała Partia Kierowców. Chcą wystartować w wyborach do PE". Onet Wiadomości. April 2, 2019.