Full slate

Any

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

faction Faction or factionalism may refer to: Politics * Political faction, a group of people with a common political purpose * Free and Independent Faction, a Romanian political party * Faction (''Planescape''), a political faction in the game ''Planes ...

that seeks to form a

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

or on a

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

or other responsible body typically must run a full

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

if only to demonstrate that they have the capacity to attract the talent to fill every position with some person, even if that person is not ideal for the job. Failure to do so is normally taken as a signal of a lack of

confidence Confidence is a state of being clear-headed either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Confidence comes from a Latin word 'fidere' which means "to trust"; therefore, having ...

in the leadership of the faction or party, since it should be possible in a well-run organization to find someone willing to at least run for a job they are not fit to perform, to show solidarity. Major political parties tend to be able to take a full slate for granted: all the positions they run for, they have some chance of winning, and the party is well-funded, and people can gain contacts and prestige from running for that party. It will likewise have even less of a problem filling its internal roles. While a minor political party may have little trouble filling its own officer positions or Shadow Cabinet, these deploying the little power it has, it will likely have much more trouble offering candidates for every legislative position in every

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

. The so-called "

parachute candidate A parachute candidate, or carpetbagger in the United States, is a pejorative term for an election candidate who does not live in, and has little connection to, the area they are running to represent. The allegation is thus that the candidate is b ...

s" who run for election in a district that is not their own home nor where they necessarily have close ties, are always a means to achieve a full slate or close to it. This demonstrates solidarity and allows people to vote for a party but is not typically understood as a serious offering for the person to take the job. It is considered to be a highly questionable practice by most who advocate

electoral reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of: * Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-ru ...

, in part to get rid of any necessity to engage in such tricks. In some

countries A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, so ...

, states,

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

s or

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

, running a full slate seems to be a pre-requisite for

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

coverage or participation in a televised leaders'

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

such as the

United States presidential election debates During presidential election campaigns in the United States, it has become customary for the candidates to engage in a debate. The topics discussed in the debate are often the most controversial issues of the time, and arguably elections hav ...

. In a

presidential system A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separati ...

like the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

there are other

nomination rules Nomination rules in elections regulate the conditions under which a candidate or political party is entitled to stand for election. The right to stand for election is sometimes called passive suffrage, as distinct from '' active suffrage'', which ...

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized b ...

and media access issues but being able to run in every U.S.

and "on the ballot" in every state, is certainly one of the signs of being a "major" party. Elections {{Election-stub