Major party

A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. It should not be confused with majority party.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Major party: a political party having electoral strength sufficient to permit it to win control of a government usually with comparative regularity and when defeated to constitute the principal opposition to the party in power.

— Merriam-Webster Dictionary online

Major parties hold a significant percentage of the vote in elections and claim higher membership than minor parties. Typically, major parties have the most donors, best-organized support networks and excellent funding for elections. Their candidates for political positions are closely watched since they have the highest chance of being elected to office because of the high membership, recognition and donations that these parties are able to generate.

Two major parties can lead to a two-party system. If there is only one major party, then it is a dominant-party system. In a multi-party system, a major party is one that occasionally controls the presidency or premiership and is the most influential party in a coalition government.

List of major parties

Country	Centre-left/Left-wing major party	Centre-right/Right-wing major party	Other major party	Notes
Albania	Socialist Party of Albania	Democratic Party of Albania
Algeria	National Liberation Front	National Rally for Democracy
Andorra	Social Democratic Party	Democrats for Andorra
Australia	Australian Labor Party	Liberal Party of Australia
Austria	Social Democratic Party of Austria	Austrian People's Party	Freedom Party of Austria
Bangladesh	Bangladesh Awami League	Bangladesh Nationalist Party	Jatiya Party
Barbados	Barbados Labour Party	Democratic Labour Party
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Alliance of Independent Social Democrats	Party of Democratic Action
Brazil	Workers' Party	Brazilian Social Democracy Party	Brazilian Democratic Movement Party
Bulgaria	Bulgarian Socialist Party	Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria
Cape Verde	African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde	Movement for Democracy
Canada	New Democratic Party	Conservative Party of Canada	Liberal Party of Canada	The Liberal party was a major federal party until 2011, when it won the fewest seats in its history.
Costa Rica	Citizens' Action Party (PAC)	National Liberation Party (PLN)	Broad Front	PLN defines itself as "centrist" but is generally considered to be more right-wing than PAC.
Croatia	Social Democratic Party of Croatia	Croatian Democratic Union
Czech Republic	Czech Social Democratic Party	ANO 2011		The Civic Democratic Party was the dominant centre-right party until 2013.
Cyprus	Progressive Party of Working People	Democratic Rally
Denmark	Social Democrats	Venstre	Danish People's Party	The Danish People's Party is third largest, and is currently polling just behind the Social Democrats as second largest party.
El Salvador	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front	Nationalist Republican Alliance	Unity Movement
Estonia	Estonian Centre Party	Estonian Reform Party
European Union	Party of European Socialists	European People's Party
Finland	Social Democratic Party of Finland	National Coalition Party	Centre Party
France	Socialist Party	The Republicans
Georgia	Georgian Dream	United National Movement
Germany	Social Democratic Party of Germany	Christian Democratic Union
Greece	Coalition of the Radical Left	New Democracy		Until the 2012 legislative election, Pasok was the major party of the centre-left.
Hungary	Hungarian Socialist Party	Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union
Iceland	Social Democratic Alliance	Independence Party	Progressive Party
India	Indian National Congress	Bharatiya Janata Party	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Khazgam
Indonesia	Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle	Golkar Party	Gerindra Party and Democratic Party
Ireland	Labour Party	Fine Gael	Fianna Fáil	Fianna Fáil received the largest share of the vote in Ireland from 1932 to 2011, when it was returned in third place with just 17.4% of the vote.
Israel	Zionist Union	Likud
Italy	Democratic Party	Forza Italia	Five Star Movement	Until 1992 the major party was Christian Democracy, which had been in government for five decades; the second party was the Italian Communist Party.
Japan	Democratic Party	Liberal Democratic Party
Jamaica	People's National Party	Jamaica Labour Party
South Korea	Democratic United Party	Saenuri Party
Latvia	Social Democratic Party "Harmony"	Unity	Union of Greens and Farmers
Liechtenstein		Progressive Citizens' Party, Patriotic Union
Lithuania	Lithuanian Social Democratic Party	Homeland Union	Labour Party
Luxembourg	Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party	Christian Social People's Party	Democratic Party
Macedonia	Social Democratic Union of Macedonia	VMRO-DPMNE
Malta	Labour Party	Nationalist Party
Mexico	Party of the Democratic Revolution	National Action Party	Institutional Revolutionary Party
Montenegro	Democratic Party of Socialists	Democratic Front
Netherlands	Labour Party	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	Christian Democratic Appeal
New Zealand	Labour Party	National Party
Norway	Labour Party	Conservative Party	Progress Party
Peru	Peru Wins	Force 2011
Poland		Civic Platform	Law and Justice
Portugal	Socialist Party	Social Democratic Party
Republic of China (Taiwan)	Democratic Progressive Party	Kuomintang
Romania	Social Democratic Party	National Liberal Party
Russia		United Russia
Singapore	Workers' Party of Singapore	People's Action Party
Slovakia	Direction – Social Democracy	Christian Democratic Movement
Slovenia	Modern Centre Party	Slovenian Democratic Party
Spain	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party	People's Party
Sri-Lanka	United National Party	United People's Freedom Alliance	Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna & Tamil National Alliance
Sweden	Swedish Social Democratic Party	Moderate Party
Turkey	Republican People's Party	Justice and Development Party
United Kingdom	Labour Party	Conservative Party	UKIP	From the 17th through mid-19th century, the Whigs and the Tories were the major parties.
United Kingdom (Scotland)	Scottish National Party & Scottish Labour Party	Scottish Conservative Party	Scottish Liberal Democrats	Scotland has similar major parties to that of the United Kingdom, with the exception of having its own nationalist party which is also centre left.
United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)	Sinn Féin	Democratic Unionist Party	Social Democratic and Labour Party & Ulster Unionist Party	Despite being part of the UK, the main parties in Northern Ireland differ from those in Great Britain.
United Kingdom (Wales)	Welsh Labour & Plaid Cymru	Welsh Conservative Party	Welsh Liberal Democrats	Wales has similar major parties to that of the United Kingdom, with the exception of having its own nationalist party.
United States	Democratic Party	Republican Party		At various times during the 18th and 19th centuries, the Federalist Party, Democratic-Republican Party, and Whig Party were all major.
United States (Puerto Rico)	Alliance Party	New Progressive Party	Popular Democratic Party	Puerto Rico is the only territory within the jurisdiction of USA with different major parties from the rest of the USA.

See also

• Minor party