The Constitution doesn’t mention political parties, but they have played an important role in American politics since the time of the Founding Fathers. In the United States, you do not have to join a political party to vote or to be a candidate for public office. There are two major political parties in the United States: the Democratic and the Republican Parties. Both parties have a wide variety of support among Americans and represent many different political views. Most voters choose a party that most closely represents their own values, concerns and political beliefs. However, not everyone agrees with everything his or her party stands for.
Many Americans do not belong to either of the two major parties. Some people belong to one of the hundreds of third parties in the United States, which vary in size and represent different political viewpoints. There are also Independent voters who are not linked to any party. Independent and third-party voters can vote in general elections, but in Pennsylvania cannot vote to nominate a party’s candidate or select the state’s delegates to the party’s national convention.
Caucus
In some states, voters choose their party’s candidate by attending a caucus. A caucus is a meeting between members of a political party where the candidates are discussed and voted on. Each caucus precinct (or local area where the caucus is held) is represented by a certain number of delegates, who are then pledged to support specific candidates based on the voting. Those delegates then represent their local precinct at county and then state conventions. From the state convention, delegates are then selected to represent the state at the national convention. Democrats and Republicans have separate caucuses. The main difference between a caucus and a primary is that a caucus involves face-to-face interaction between voters, where voters can try to persuade one another to vote for (or against) a certain candidate. In a primary, on the other hand, voters simply arrive at the polls, cast their votes in private and go home. As a result of this difference, caucuses tend to have smaller turnouts compared to primaries. Political campaigns must invest more time training local precinct leaders how to effectively persuade their fellow voters. Read about Primary Elections. National Conventions
National conventions are meetings held by political parties to announce the official party candidate for President of the United States and the party’s policy platform. Typically, the Presidential nominee will then announce a running mate. Issues and campaign strategies are also discussed during the conventions, which can last several days. The Presidential nominee is usually the candidate who won the support of the most convention delegates, based on voting in the state primary elections and caucuses. The Democratic National Convention will be held in Denver, Colorado on August 25-28, 2008. The Republican National Convention will be held in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 1-4, 2008. Read about the Presidential Election.