A political party is an organization of citizens formed to play an active role
in electing officials and shaping policies of our national, state and local
governments. During most of the time since our U.S. Constitution was ratified,
two parties have dominated the politics in our nation. During this century the
two dominant parties
are the
Democratic
and the
Republican. There is no law preventing the formation of other parties. Some additional
parties have been formed in the past, but have had short lives or have not had
great effect.
A political party usually takes a position on what policies our government
should follow and what laws should be passed or changed. The party's statement
of its position on such matters is called its
platform.
Both parties say, in effect, that their goal is to maintain a strong nation
which will meet the needs and provide a safe and happy future for our citizens,
but they disagree on how best to accomplish that purpose. Their differences
are usually referred to as
issues.
The Democrats are often considered to be
liberal,
believing that government should take an active role in solving social and
economic problems of the citizens. The Republicans are considered
conservative,
believing that the government should take such a role only to a quite limited
extent.
An important function of a political party is the selection of candidates to
run for office, especially the Presidential candidates. There are often
several who wish to run. The first test of popularity comes during the
primary elections. A Presidential candidate wants to win as many state primaries as possible.
These take place early in the year before the November election, held every
four years.
Later that summer the Republicans and Democrats hold separate nominating
conventions.
Delegates from all fifty states select a Presidential candidate from the
leaders in the primary races. These are colorful events with bands, speeches,
and noisemakers, followed by hundreds of balloons released from the ceiling
after the two lucky candidates have won the nomination.