Political convention is a gathering at which major political parties in the United States formally nominate their candidates for president and vice president. At one time, the conventions actually selected, as well as formally nominated, the party’s candidates. Today, however, the presidential nominees of the major parties are normally determined before the convention takes place. Nonetheless, the conventions of the Democratic and Republican parties—the two major political parties—play an important role in the U.S. presidential election process. The conventions allow the party to unify around its nominees. Equally important, the conventions provide wide public exposure for the party’s candidates and goals. A successful convention can dramatically boost the public’s support for the party and its candidates.
The Democratic and Republican national conventions are four-day events that take place every four years. The two conventions are held at separate times during the summer of each presidential election year. They are typically held in separate cities, and in different cities from year to year.
Huge crowds gather at each convention. The people in attendance include thousands of party delegates, who nominate a candidate they hope can win the presidential election the following November. An even larger number of magazine, newspaper, radio, and television reporters come to the convention. They provide coverage of the gathering for millions of voters throughout the nation. Many other people attend conventions, including lobbyists (representatives of interest groups), people who contribute money to the party or its candidates, and alternate delegates.
The first national political conventions in the United States assembled in the early 1830’s. The presidential candidate was both selected and nominated at the convention until the mid-1900’s. Today, the candidate is normally selected before the convention in a series of state elections and other contests. These contests determine the number of supporters each candidate will have at the convention as delegates. The candidate with the most delegates is formally nominated at the convention. The delegates then nominate a vice presidential candidate, who normally has been hand-picked by the presidential candidate.
Other business is also handled at the convention. For example, the party adopts a platform—a statement of its goals and principles in the presidential campaign. The platform is designed to win votes for the presidential and vice presidential nominees, and for party candidates who are running for other political offices in the same election year.
Political conventions are lively events. Delegates support their choice for president and vice president by waving banners and cheering wildly. Parades, parties, and other celebrations promote the political party and its nominees. On the last day of the convention, the presidential nominee gives a speech that launches the party’s election campaign. The speech is broadcast on TV throughout the country.
Preconvention activities
The process of nominating a presidential candidate begins months before the convention. The most important step in the process is the selection of convention delegates. At the convention, each delegate votes for a presidential candidate. The candidate who gets a majority of the delegate votes wins the party’s nomination.
Delegate selection
takes place in elections and other state contests that occur during the late winter and spring of each presidential election year. Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories also send delegates to the conventions.
The national committee of each party decides how many delegates each state may send to the convention. The number is based on the party’s strength in the state in recent elections. Thousands of delegates attend each convention, but exact numbers vary from year to year.
The method of choosing people to run as delegate candidates is different in different states. In many states, these candidates are chosen by the state party organization, by the presidential campaign organizations, or by mass meetings of supporters of a presidential candidate.
There are two main methods of choosing which delegate candidates will attend the convention as delegates. They are (1) the primary election system and (2) the caucus-convention system. Some states allow each party to choose which of the two systems it will use.
Most states require both parties to use the primary election system. As a result, primary elections determine more than two-thirds of all convention delegates.
Some states hold a delegate primary, in which voters elect the delegates. In most delegate primaries, the names of the delegate candidate and the presidential candidate whom the delegate supports are printed together on the ballot. In this way, voters know which delegate candidate supports which presidential candidate.
Other states hold a candidate primary, in which only the names of the presidential candidates appear on the ballot. The number of votes each candidate receives in the primary determines the number of delegates he or she is allowed to send to the national convention.
The caucus-convention system was once the main method of selecting delegates to national conventions. Today, less than one-third of all delegates are chosen in this way. The caucus-convention process begins with local meetings called caucuses. At each meeting, delegates are chosen to attend a convention that covers a larger region, such as a county. This convention, in turn, selects delegates to a state convention, where the state’s national convention delegates are then chosen.
The caucus-convention process may begin with either of two types of caucuses—party caucuses or participatory caucuses. In a party caucus, the delegates sent to the regional convention are chosen by local party officials. In a participatory caucus, anyone who attends the caucus can take part in choosing the delegates.
Most states do not require individual delegates to vote for the candidates the delegates have pledged to support. But delegates rarely change their vote unless their candidate drops out of the race.
Certain primaries and caucuses are more influential than others in determining who the presidential nominee will be. The early contests provide the first indications of which candidates may have a chance to win the nomination. Candidates who do not win support in the early contests are unlikely to raise campaign funds, gather campaign workers, or attract media attention. These candidates often drop out of the presidential race early. The Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries are examples of important early delegate contests.
The large states account for the most delegate votes at each party’s convention. As a result, the candidates remaining after early contests try especially hard to win votes in big states, such as California and Texas.
Organizing the convention
is done by the party’s national committee. The committee chooses a permanent chairperson for the convention. It also designates a person to kick off the convention with a rousing speech called the keynote address. Members of Congress or other important party members usually are chosen for these positions. The committee also picks a convention site.
Much of the convention’s official business is carried out by special committees. Most of the committees consist of delegates and other party members, including some elected government officials.
The special committees meet in the months before the convention. One committee prepares a report that establishes procedures for the convention, and another makes sure the state delegate contests have conformed to party rules. Yet another committee drafts a party platform.
Convention activities
The main purpose of a national convention is to nominate candidates for president and vice president. But the convention also serves other purposes. Today, one of its most important functions is to present the party’s platform and candidates to the nation’s voters. To reach the voters, the party encourages television, newspaper, and other reporters to cover key events at the convention.
Introducing the campaign.
Much of a national convention of the Democratic or Republican parties is devoted to speeches. These speeches include the keynote address. This speech, made by an important party member, sets out themes for the presidential campaign. It is also intended to inspire party members for the hard work needed to win the November election.
The presidential candidates who will not receive the party’s nomination often deliver speeches. In most cases, they use their speeches to announce their support for the person who will become the nominee.
Also at the convention, the special convention committees present their reports for adoption by the convention delegates. Most reports are drafted before the convention and do not change once it begins. But some reports are adopted only after debate. General party reaction to the reports can influence the presidential race. For example, the report that presents the party’s platform must appeal to a wide range of voters—as well as to party members. Disagreement on the platform at the convention may reveal a lack of party unity and thus make the party and its nominees less attractive to the nation’s voters.
Making nominations.
The presidential nomination is one of the highlights of the convention. Delegates officially recommend the nomination of candidates in nominating speeches, in which the speaker praises the accomplishments of the candidate. Each speech may build to a climax that triggers a massive demonstration in the convention hall. Delegates and other supporters of the candidate parade, wave banners, throw confetti, and cheer.
The roll call begins after all nominating speeches have been made. In the roll call, each state and territory casts a ballot that indicates how many of its delegate votes it is awarding to each candidate. The candidate who gets a majority of the votes of all the delegates at the convention formally becomes the party’s nominee.
If no candidate receives a majority, more ballots would be cast until enough delegates switch their votes to give one candidate a majority. However, a second ballot has not been required at any Democratic or Republican national convention since the early 1950’s.
To nominate a candidate for vice president, the party uses the same procedure that it used for the presidential nomination. The likely nominee for president normally chooses the vice presidential nominee before the convention begins. The delegates then approve the choice at the convention.
The nominees for vice president and president make acceptance speeches near the end of the convention. These speeches are viewed on television by millions of people. The speeches outline the issues that will be emphasized during the campaign and are designed to win the confidence of voters. With their speeches, the nominees also try to rally the enthusiasm of party members who may have supported other candidates during the nominating campaign.
Other convention activities.
Numerous other activities also take place at a national convention. For example, state party leaders attend the convention to discuss issues affecting the party in their state. Also, many of the party’s candidates for election to Congress or to state or local offices campaign at the convention. Lobbyists attend the convention to try to influence delegates and party leaders or to use news coverage of the convention to further their causes.
Attracting publicity.
National news coverage of the presidential candidate and the party has become a major goal of the organizers of political conventions. Both major parties rely on newspaper articles, television stories, and other press coverage to generate public support for their nominees.
All national conventions of the Democratic and Republican parties have been televised since 1952. The parties often schedule convention events to occur at peak TV viewing hours.
Measuring convention success.
A convention’s success was once measured chiefly by how well the convention promoted party unity. The convention was judged successful if it ended with party members from the various states supporting a single presidential candidate.
Today, however, the success of a convention is more often measured in terms of how much the convention contributes to the public image of the nominee. The party compares opinion polls taken before and after the convention to determine how the convention has affected the nominee’s public approval rating. Because of media coverage of the convention, the nominee’s rating almost always rises. But the extent of this rise can vary a great deal from convention to convention. A large upward “bounce” is the sign of a successful convention.
The history of national conventions
The writers of the Constitution of the United States did not outline a procedure for nominating a president. Until the early 1830’s, a party’s supporters in Congress or in state legislatures usually nominated the party’s candidate for president.
The Anti-Masonic Party held the first national nominating convention in September 1831. The first convention that closely resembled today’s gatherings was that of the Democratic-Republican Party in 1832. Soon, the convention became the established procedure in the United States for nominating presidential candidates.
The changing role of conventions.
Until the mid-1950’s, almost all presidential nominees were not only formally nominated at the convention, but they also fought there for the support required to win the nomination. Usually, strong candidates assembled some support before the convention. Then, at the convention, they competed with one another to win a majority of the delegates’ votes. Party leaders often had significant influence in maneuvering the votes of the delegates. At many conventions, multiple ballots were needed to reach a majority. In 1924, the Democrats took 103 ballots to nominate John W. Davis—the largest number of ballots ever needed at a Democratic or Republican presidential convention.
By the mid-1950’s, however, delegate majorities had begun to form before the convention. The last time a major party had to go to a second ballot was in 1952, when the Democrats needed three ballots to nominate Adlai E. Stevenson.
Various factors contributed to this change. For example, the ability of party bosses to influence the nomination had diminished because of new laws on delegate selection in the early 1900’s. This legislation included several state laws that required the parties to select their convention delegates in primary elections.
As a result of these and other changes, candidates increasingly turned to campaigning among voters for support. The spread of TV after 1945 helped these candidates achieve national recognition and aided the formation of earlier and earlier nominating majorities.
Further reforms of the convention system
took place soon after the 1968 Democratic convention. Many people viewing the convention, in which Hubert H. Humphrey won the nomination, disliked the political maneuvering they saw on the convention floor. Consequently, the Democrats appointed a commission to reform their rules for selecting convention delegates.
One result of the reforms was greater representation of minority groups and women among the delegates. The reforms also resulted in many states adopting laws that required the use of primary elections by both Republicans and Democrats. Although primaries had appeared in the early 1900’s, they did not become the main method of delegate selection until after 1968.
Other types of conventions
State and local party conventions may be held to select party leaders, adopt local and state party platforms, or endorse nonpresidential candidates in primary elections. In addition, the constitutions of most states provide for a constitutional convention, often called a con-con. The purpose of such a convention is to rewrite or revise the state constitution. The people of the state elect the con-con delegates. In most states, the people must approve the new or revised constitution before it can take effect.
