Full slate

Any

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

or faction that seeks to form a

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

in a

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 is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

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 ro ...

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 the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. * * * Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Sel ...

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 (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. The so-called " parachute candidates" 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 that alters how public desires, usually expressed by cast votes, produce election results. Description Reforms can include changes to: * Voting systems, such as adoption of proportional represen ...

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

countries A country is a distinct part of the Earth, world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, List of states with limited r ...

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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

s or

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

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

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

coverage or participation in a televised leaders'

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

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 one or more debates. The topics discussed in the debate are often the most controversial issues of the time, and arguably e ...

. In a

presidential system A presidential, strong-president, or single-executive system (sometimes also congressional system) is a form of government in which a head of government (usually titled " president") heads an executive branch that derives its authority and l ...

like the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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, right to be a candidate or passive suffrage is one part of free and fair elections ...

ballot access Ballot access is rules and procedures regulating the right to candidacy, the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots in elections in the United States. The jurisprudence o ...

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