manifesto

In politics, the published prospectus of a party, setting out the policies that the party will pursue if elected to govern. When elected to power a party will often claim that the contents of its manifesto constitute a mandate to introduce legislation to bring these policies into effect. In an unprecedented move, the Labour Party in 1996 put its manifesto to a pre-election ballot of its membership.

In art, a manifesto is a document setting out the aims and aspirations of an artistic movement. For example, the Futurists and the surrealists published manifestos.