Re: Political
platform, planks
Posted by ESC on February
12, 2002 In Reply to: Re: Planks posted
by Bruce Kahl on February 12, 2002
: : : In history class we
are studying the birth of the populist party and this incorporates the use of
the phrase "plank in the party platform." I am curious about the origin of the
phrase. Anyone who can shed some light on this is welcome to reply
: : The
Oxford English Dictionary gives this as one (figurative) meaning of "plank":
: : An item or article of a political or other program. Orig. and chiefly U.S.
: : [Quotations illustrating this use:] They kin' o' slipt the planks frum out
th' ole platform one by one. (1848)
: : Every subject of the platform is spoken
of as one of its planks; thus we read of 'the slavery plank', 'the tariff plank'.
(1856)
: : Another 'plank' is the restriction of Chinese immigration. (1884)
: This is the way I always thought of a political party's "Plank":
: A
"plank" is any ONE of the MANY stated principles or objectives comprising the
political platform of a party campaigning for election.
: The "platform" of
a political party consists of a SERIES of principles and policies adopted by a
political party or a candidate.
:
: A wooden plank is a long, flat piece
of timber, thicker than a board.
: A wooden platform is something to stand
on or to cling to for support and is comprised of a series of wooden planks nailed
or fastened together just like a political platform is unified on various issues
or "planks".
Note: In the first paragraph, the word "repair" means "go." As
in, "We repaired to the porch."
PLATFORM/PLANK - "Ideally, the standards to
which the wise and honest voters can repair; in practice, a list of principles
and positions designed to attract most and offend least, important mainly in the
work it gives a convention to do other than select a candidate.
Francis Bacon,
in 1623: 'The wisdom of a lawmaker consisteth not only in a platform of justice,
but in the application thereof.' In most early use in the U.S., the word related
to the principles of a church, taken from the French word for ground plan of a
building. Since the word also came to mean a raised area from which a person could
speak, its metaphoric use in politics married both senses. Like 'stump' and 'husting,'
a place to stand soon was allied to a place to take a stand.
As early as 1803,
the 'Massachusetts Spy' was writing about 'The Platform of Federalism,' but it
was William Lloyd Garrison in his antislavery 'Liberator' who would help popularize
the term; in 1844, the first national party platforms were adopted and by 1848
the word was a political standby.
The word 'plank' was a natural derivative:
in the 1848 'Bigelow Papers,' one line of doggerel read: 'They kin' o' slipt the
planks frum out th' old platform one by one/An' made it gradooally noo, 'fore
folks know'd wut wuz done.'
In current use, a party platform is taken with
great seriousness at a convention, since it enables many compromises to be made
and gives appointment plums to many factional leaders, but is soon forgotten in
the campaign. A frequent saying, of obscure origin, is that 'A platform is not
something to stand on, but something to run on' and is soon followed by 'A platform
is what you start by running on and end by running from."
From "Safire's New
Political Dictionary" by William Safire (Random House, New York, 1993). Page 579.
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