hustings
    n 1: the activities involved in political campaigning
         (especially speech making)

Hustings \Hus"tings\, n. pl. [OE. husting an assembly, coucil,
   AS. h?sting; of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. h?s?ing; h?s home +
   ?ing thing, assembly, meeting; akin to Dan. & Sw. ting, E.
   thing. See House, and Thing.]
   1. A court formerly held in several cities of England;
      specif., a court held in London, before the lord mayor,
      recorder, and sheriffs, to determine certain classes of
      suits for the recovery of lands within the city. In the
      progress of law reform this court has become unimportant.
      --Mozley & W.
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   2. Any one of the temporary courts held for the election of
      members of the British Parliament.
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   3. The platform on which candidates for Parliament formerly
      stood in addressing the electors. [Eng.]
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            When the rotten hustings shake
            In another month to his brazen lies.  --Tennyson.
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HUSTINGS, Engl. law. The name of a court held before the lord mayor and 
aldermen of London; it is the principal and supreme court of the city., See 
2 Inst. 327; St. Armand, Hist. Essay on the Legisl. Power of England, 75.