United States
In the United States, a "purple" state is one where popular support for the Republican Party (red) and Democratic Party (blue) is approximately equal; such states, in elections for the President of the United States, are termed "swing states" and are highly-targeted on account of the Electoral College system of electing the President.
Since the system of first-past-the-post voting generally ensures that either one party or the other has an absolute majority in a legislative chamber, coalitions between the two parties are naturally rather rare. However, a "purple" coalition between the Democrats and dissident Republicans has controlled the Alaska Senate since 2006.
Read more about this topic: Purple (government)
Famous quotes related to united states:
“In no other country in the world is the love of property keener or more alert than in the United States, and nowhere else does the majority display less inclination toward doctrines which in any way threaten the way property is owned.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)
“Why doesn’t the United States take over the monarchy and unite with England? England does have important assets. Naturally the longer you wait, the more they will dwindle. At least you could use it for a summer resort instead of Maine.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“I am a freeman, an American, a United States Senator, and a Democrat, in that order.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“It is said that the British Empire is very large and respectable, and that the United States are a first-rate power. We do not believe that a tide rises and falls behind every man which can float the British Empire like a chip, if he should ever harbor it in his mind.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The United States is not a nation to which peace is a necessity.”
—Grover Cleveland (1837–1908)