Mass politics is a political order resting on the emergence of mass political parties

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

.

The emergence of mass politics generally associated with the rise of mass society

Mass society

Mass society is a description associated with society in the modern, industrial era. "Guided by the structural-functional approach and drawing on the ideas of Tönnies, Durkheim, and Weber, understands modernity as the emergence of a mass society...

 coinciding with the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

 in the West around the time of President Andrew Jackson. However, because of the extent of popular participation in the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, it has been called the first mass political movement, which "other ideologies, ultimately more secular in tone" superseded.

Mass politics was essentially the inclusion of the masses in the political process. There was a major rise in this from 1880 to 1914. This was when the vote in Europe was expanded to all men and in some countries even some women were allowed to vote.