It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Catch-all party. (Discuss)

In politics, the concept of a big tent is the position that a political party should seek to attract and welcome people with as many diverse viewpoints as possible. This concept is in contrast to the belief that a political party should promote only a specific ideology. Advocates of a big tent believe that people with a broad variety of political ideologies and viewpoints can still unite within a single political party to advance a shared core set of issues they agree on, even if they disagree on other issues. It is believed that in this way, the party can attract a large base of support at the polls. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A Catch-All party, also known as a Big Tent party, is a political party that does not require adherence to the espoused ideology as a criteria for membership. ... Look up Politics on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Politics (disambiguation) Democracy History of democracy List of democracy and elections-related topics List of years in politics List of politics by country articles Political corruption Political economy Political movement Political parties of the world Political party Political psychology Political sociology Political... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by...

In the United States, a very good example of this approach was seen with the New Deal coalition which formed in support of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies. This coalition brought together labor unions, southern Dixiecrats, progressives, and others in support of FDR's economic program, even though those groups had strong disagreements with each other on many other issues. The New Deal coalition was a diverse collection of groups of voters who supported the United States Democratic Party from 1932 until approximately 1964, and which made the Democratic Party the majority party during that time. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States (1933-1945), the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... The New Deal was President Franklin D. Roosevelts legislative agenda for rescuing the United States from the Great Depression. ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... The States Rights Democratic Party, usually known as the Dixiecrat Party, was a short-lived splinter group that broke from the Democratic Party in 1948. ... Progressivism or political progressivism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ...

In most western democracies, two or three major political parties will profess some sort of ideological leaning (for example, social democracy, Christian democracy, liberal democracy, conservative, labour) but in practice will follow a big tent approach. Political parties which allow only a narrow ideology, in general, do not perform well at the polls and remain minor parties. Canada provides two examples of how the adoption of a big tent approach has helped propel a formerly marginal party into broader electoral success, in the Green Party of Ontario and the (now-defunct) Social Credit Party of Canada. In the United States, the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party has had its only electoral success to date by allowing a popular figure who did not support the party's secessionist agenda to run for Governor of Alaska on their ballot line. Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... The name Labour Party or Labor Party is used by several political parties around the world. ... The Green Party of Ontario contests provincial elections in Ontario, Canada. ... The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative - populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform. ... Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or political entity. ... The Alaskan Independence Party is a right-wing political party in the U.S. state of Alaska. ... This is a list of the governors of the U.S. state of Alaska, of Alaska Territory and of the District of Alaska, and the military commanders of the District of Alaska. ...

In the United States, the big tent concept is practiced today (in reality if not in name) within the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Reform Party. This is in contrast to such political parties as the Libertarian Party, the Constitution Party, the Socialist Party, and various small Communist parties, which were formed to advance one single ideology and do not seek to attract members with a broad diversity of political beliefs. Historically in the United States, political parties adopting a big tent approach have performed well at the polls. Parties promoting only one narrow ideology have attracted marginal support at best, or have seen their issues adopted by one or both of the major parties in a big tent effort effectively co-opting the issues and putting an end to the minor party; this was the case with the Prohibition Party and the Populist Party. The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... The Reform Party of the United States of America (abbreviated Reform Party USA or RPUSA) is a political party in the United States, founded by Ross Perot in 1995 under the belief that Americans were disillusioned with the state of politics--as being corrupt and unable to deal with vital... The Libertarian Party is a United States political party created in 1971. ... The Constitution Party is a conservative third party in the United States, founded as the U.S. Taxpayers Party in 1992. ... The Socialist Party of America is a socialist political party in the United States. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with History of communism. ... The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States. ... The Populist Party was a short-lived political party in late 19th century in the United States. ...

It should be noted, however, that even the Democratic, Republican, and Reform parties have vocal factions within them who advocate that those parties take on a more ideologically rigid character. Specifically, there are factions in the Democratic Party who would like to make the party purely a left-wing or progressive party and exclude more conservative constituencies such as the Democratic Leadership Council, Blue Dog Democrats, and social conservatives. There are factions within the Republican Party who likewise seek to make the Republicans strictly an ideologically right-wing or conservative party, and expel those deemed by them to be Republicans In Name Only, socially too liberal, and those holding isolationist foreign policy views (and therefore opposed to the Bush foreign policy) such as libertarians and paleoconservatives. There are also those within each party who would like to make certain issues litmus tests for party members even though there is substantial disagreement on those issues within the parties themselves. Abortion and gun policy are two examples of these issues. In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... The Democratic Leadership Council is an influential non-profit organization that advocates centrist and neoliberal positions for the United States Democratic Party. ... Blue Dog Democrats are social and economic conservatives and moderates in the United States Democratic Party. ... Social conservatism is a belief in traditional morality and social mores and the desire to preserve these in present day society, often through civil law or regulation. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... RINO stands for Republican In Name Only, a disparaging term for a member of the United States Republican Party whose words and actions are thought to be too fiscally or socially liberal. ... Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism, an adherent of the ideology espousing individual liberty and private property, meaning varies country to country American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Modern liberalism, in the USA, describes a political ideology that favors government intervention to promote equality Political progressivism, a political... Isolationism is a diplomatic policy whereby a nation seeks to avoid alliances with other nations. ... This article deals with the libertarianism as defined in America and several other nations. ... The term paleoconservative (sometimes shortened to paleo or paleocon when the context is clear) refers to an American branch of conservative Old Right thought that is frequently at odds with the current of conservative thought as espoused by the Republican Party elite. ... The phrase Gun politics refers to the views of different people within a particular country as to what degree of control (increased gun rights vs. ...

The big tent approach argues against any sort of single-issue litmus tests or ideological rigidity, and advocates in favor of a Democratic Party with room for conservative as well as liberal Democrats, and a Republican Party with room for liberal as well as conservative Republicans.

See also: catch-all party A Catch-All party, also known as a Big Tent party, is a political party that does not require adherence to the espoused ideology as a criteria for membership. ...