In politics, a mandate is the authority granted by an electorate to act as its representative. Elections are often said to give the newly elected government or elected official a mandate to implement certain policies. Also the period a government serves between elections is often referred to as a mandate and when the government seeks re-election it is said to be seeking a "new mandate". Politics is a process by which decisions are made within groups. ... In politics, authority (Latin auctoritas, used in Roman law as opposed to potestas and imperium) is often used interchangeably with the term power. However, their meanings differ. ... In politics, an electorate is the group of people entitled to vote in an election. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ...

This term is often confused with majority rule. Majoritarianism (often also called majority rule) is a political philosophy or agenda which asserts that a majority (sometimes categorized by religion, language or some other identifying factor) of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, and has the right to make decisions that affect the...