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Argues that platforms may still serve a vital democratic function beyond face value, then provides an initial definition of a platform as a set of statements and proposals, with historical context for how modern platforms developed.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/political-party-platforms-what-use-are-they-whats-the-worth-of-them-anyway/326189/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/political-party-platforms-what-use-are-they-whats-the-worth-of-them-anyway/326189.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Ophelia","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-27","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"Why do many people view party platforms with cynicism?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"Many voters are believed not to read platforms, and only controversial planks are treated as familiar. Common charges include promises that can’t be kept and language that hedges or dodges clear issues.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What criticisms are commonly made about party platforms?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Critics argue platforms are inconsistent, too long, boring, full of double talk, and they can omit crucial issues. 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\nBETTER INFORMED AMERICANS”  \nPublished by the  \nCENTER FOR INFORMATION ON AMERICA  \nWASHINGTON,CONNECTICUT  \nVolume VI,Number 2  \n# POLITICAL PARTY PLATFORMS:What Use Are They?\n\nParty platforms are one of the easiest things in politicsabout which to get cynical.  \n# What's the worth of them,anyway?\n\nIn the first place,it's a fairly safe bet that many votersdon't read them.  \nExcept for a few planks on controversial issues,like civilrights,a large number probably are unfamiliar with what'sin them.  \nThat could go also for quite a few of the delegates to theNational Conventions who shouted \"Aye!\"for the platform'sadoption.In the uproar,excitement,and confusion,whatchance was there for a careful reading?Delegates are inclinedto take most of the planks on faith because the ResolutionsCommittee has O.K.'d them.  \nThese are some of the charges one hears against platforms:  \nThey make promises which can't possibly be kept.  \nThey're inconsistent.Planks in various parts of theplatform contradict what other planks say  \nThey're too long.  \nThey're boring.  \nExcept for a very few planks,both major party platformsare so alike that it would be hard to tell them apart exceptfor the fact that one is written in the usual tone of the\"ins,\"defending the Administration's record,the otherin the tone of the \"outs,\"pitching into it.  \nThey hedge and weasel concerning issues which shouldbe faced clearly and boldly.  \nThey leave out some of the most crucial issues.  \nThey're full of double talk and skillful dodging.  \nFor such reasons we may feel that party platforms just aren'tworth taking seriously.A description of platforms and plat-form writing which appeared in a leading newspaper backin 1924 still seems to sum things up:\"Ordinarily the framingof a party platform is regarded as either a joke or a nuisance.As a rule it is a composite of conflicting views,artfully puttogether to deceive as many voters as possible.\"  \nBut we may be making a mistake if we dismiss platformsas inconsequential and serving little or no good purpose.  \nPerhaps we're missing a point.  \nIn our democratic process of self-government,platformsmay have a broader function and greater usefulness thanappears at first glance.  \nSince they deal with issues,they're themselves a vital issueworth looking into.  \nDrawings by Stuart Judd,Jr.  \n# BY WAY OF DEFINITION AND BACKGROUND\n\nA platform is a collection of statements as to political posi-tion and of proposals for political action.Each topic is aplank.The wording is apt to be general rather than specific.  \nPlatforms popped up early in our political history.But  \nit took fifty years or so before they began developing thelook which we're familiar with today.When Thomas Jeffersonran for the Presidency in 1800,the platform he stood on wasconfined to a short statement of his beliefs and principles,expressed in the form of a resolution passed by the caucusor gathering of his fellow party members in Congress thathad put him up for office.  \nAs our national life grew more complex,more and morematters of concern to this or that group of voters and to votersin general began demanding attention.  \nThe first party platform that's considerably like what we'reused to today was written by the Democratic NominatingConvention of 1840.It contains a statement of party principlesalong with brief descriptions of promised policies if the partyis returned to office by the voters.  \nParty platforms of this sort soon became standard equip-ment for campaigns and elections.  \nA look at the way our two-party system developed helpsexplain the whys and wherefores of the platforms of thepresent and their grab-bag,everything included nature.  \nAmerican parties in their growth haven't followed theEuropean pattern which President Washington dreaded whenin his Farewell Address he warned us against \"the banefuleffects of the spirit of party generally.”In Europe,partiestend to be ideological—that is,they back some specific the","cbCaigU7veHn3MgQ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigU7veHn3MgQ","pdf",404931,"English","# POLITICAL PARTY PLATFORMS: What Use Are They?\n## What's the worth of them, anyway?\n# BY WAY OF DEFINITION AND BACKGROUND","[{\"question\":\"Why do many people view party platforms with cynicism?\",\"answer\":\"Many voters are believed not to read platforms, and only controversial planks are treated as familiar. Common charges include promises that can’t be kept and language that hedges or dodges clear issues.\"},{\"question\":\"What criticisms are commonly made about party platforms?\",\"answer\":\"Critics argue platforms are inconsistent, too long, boring, full of double talk, and they can omit crucial issues. Major-party platforms are also described as so similar that they differ mainly by how they defend or attack the administration.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the document define a political party platform?\",\"answer\":\"A platform is defined as a collection of statements about political position and proposals for political action, where each topic is a plank and the wording is generally more general than specific.\"}]","POLITICAL PARTY PLATFORMS: What Use Are They? - What’s the worth of them, anyway? | PDF",1789972467]