political platform’
The term 'platform' started showing up several centuries ago, depending on which country you're looking at. In America, party politics didn't really get into full swing until the early 19th-century, when political parties became more organized and widespread, operating on a national scale. As they had to appeal to a nationalized audience, it became necessary to produce a formal document that laid out the party's principles in a series of statements. A platform is made up of planks, another rather appropriate nickname, since each plank is a statement on the party's belief on a given position issue.