Mandate (politics)

In politics, a mandate is the authority granted by a constituency to act as its representative.

The concept of a government having a legitimate mandate to govern via the fair winning of a democratic election is a central idea of representative democracy. New governments who attempt to introduce policies that they did not make public during an election campaign are said to not have a legitimate mandate to implement such policies.

Elections, especially ones with a large margin of victory, are often said to give the newly elected government or elected official an implicit mandate to put into effect certain policies. Also, the period during which 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".

In some languages, a 'mandate' can mean a parliamentary seat won in an election rather than the electoral victory itself.

See also

• Referendum
• Election promise
• Government platform
• Party platform

Political philosophy:

• Consent of the governed
• Social contract

Further reading

• Presidential Mandates: How Elections Shape the National Agenda. Patricia Heidotting Conley. University of Chicago Press, 2001.

References

Citations

General information

• "Doctrine of Mandate". A dictionary of political phrases and allusions: with a short bibliography By Hugh Montgomery, Philip George Cambray.