In politics, an electorate is the group of people entitled to vote in an election. The term can refer to: Politics, sometimes defined as the art and science of government[1], is a process by which collective decisions are made within groups. ... Voting is a method of decision making wherein a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates. ... An election is a decision making process whereby people vote for preferred political candidates or parties to act as representatives in government. ...

• the totality of voters or electors (the electorate has the opportunity to express its will)
• the partisans of a particular individual, group or political party (Gospodin Putin played to the prejudices of his personal electorate)
• the collection of the voters enrolled in a geographically-defined area (the electorate of Finchley returned the Tory candidate again)
• less commonly, the geographically-defined area which returns (elects) a representative (the electorate of Finchley borders on the electorate of Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh, splitting the new housing estate of Royal Cupolas).

The term was also sometimes used to refer to the dominion of an Elector in the Holy Roman Empire, who was a prince or bishop able to participate in the selection of the Emperor. One particularly well known electorate of this type was the Electorate of Hanover. In this usage, the word refers to a realm controlled by a single elector, rather than a collective of multiple electors (as in the other usages given). Voting is a method of decision making wherein a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates. ... An elector can be: In the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, the collegiate of seven Electors (eight since 1648) (Kurfürsten) consisted of those lay or clerical princes who had the right to vote in the election of the king or Holy Roman Emperor; see prince-elector. ... In common speech, the word individual most often refers to a person, or, by analogy, to any specific object in a group of things. ... // INTRODUCTION In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection consisting of a number of humans or animals, who share certain aspects, interact with one another, accept rights and obligations as members of the group and share a common identity. ... A political party is an organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ... Look up roll in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ... The prince-electors or electoral princes of the Holy Roman Empire — German: Kurfürst (singular) Kurfürsten (plural) — were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Emperors of Germany. ... The Holy Roman Empire and from the 16th century on also The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ... Hanover (German: Hannover []), on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany. ...

Synonyms

When the term is used in the last, geographic, sense above, electorates are more commonly known as:

• ridings (Canada)
• divisions (Australia - official usage)
• seats (Australia, New Zealand - public usage)
• constituencies - (England)
• wards (usually for local government elections)
• districts

In the British Isles since Anglo-Saxon times, a riding is traditionally a sub-division (especially in three) of a county, in Australia analogous. ... The Australian House of Representatives is elected from 150 single-member districts called Divisions. ... A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... A ward is an electoral district used in local politics, most notably in England, Scotland, and Wales, as well as Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and many cities in the United States and the federal district of Washington, DC. Wards are usually named after neighbourhoods... Local government areas called districts are used, or have been used, in several countries. ...

See also

• This entry is related to, but not included in the Elections and Voting series. Other related articles can be found at the Politics Portal.
• Electoral system
• Suffrage