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Politics & Government vocabulary · Parties and Ideologies

Ruling party

Meaning in politics & government, with examples

nounCore term

In politics & government, ruling party means: The political party that is in power and forms the government, either alone or as the largest member of a coalition.

In Turkish: iktidar partisi, iktidardaki parti

How it is used

A common phrase in international news. Similar expressions are governing party and the party in power. Reports describe the ruling party winning or losing seats, holding a majority or facing internal divisions.

Example sentences

  1. The ruling party kept its majority but lost twelve seats.

  2. Several ruling party MPs voted against the bill.

Common collocations

  • ruling party MPs
  • ruling coalition
  • ruling party leader
  • governing party
  • oppositionThe parties in parliament that are not part of the government, especially the largest of them, whose role is to question the government and offer an alternative.
  • political partyAn organized group of people with similar political aims and ideas who try to win elections so that they can form a government or influence policy.
  • coalitionAn arrangement in which two or more political parties agree to work together, especially to form a government when no single party has a majority.
  • majorityThe larger part of a group, especially more than half of the seats in parliament or of the votes cast; also the number by which the winner is ahead of the others.

More terms: Parties and Ideologies

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