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U.S.

NATIONAL CONVENTIONS
How They Work and Why They Matter

POLITICAL CONVENTIONS HAVE THREE OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS:


VICE PRESID

T OF T HE UN

EN

D S TAT E S

F THE P

HE

ITE

AL O

T OF T

I T E D S TAT E

SE

IDEN

UN

ES

1. Nominate a
president

2. Nominate a
vice president

3. Solidify the
party platform

HOW IS THE PLATFORM DECIDED?


Each party convenes a party platform committee to write and finalize the platform,
and then delegates vote on it at the convention.
Party platforms are both a list of priorities and an articulation of values. Some items,
like equal pay legislation and emergency economic measures in 2008, were passed
in the first 100 days of President Obamas first term. Others, like the closing of
Guantanamo Bay, have still yet to be accomplished.

WHEN DO THINGS HAPPEN AT THE CONVENTION?


THE FIRST 2 DAYS

NOMINATION

The first two days are spent on


party business, such as ratifying
the convention rules and procedures
and adopting the party platform.

Then there is the nomination of


the vice presidential and presidential
candidates. On the last day is the
presidential candidates nomination
acceptance speech.

DOES THE CONVENTION MATTER?


Political conventions have not always been around. The anti-masonic
party held the first convention in the U.S. in 1831, and the Republicans
and Democrats soon followed with their own conventions.
Convention delegates vote for the candidates nomination, but it is largely
ceremonial because a single ballot has been sufficient to confirm the
nominees since the 1970s. That has not always been the case. Lincoln won
on the 3rd ballot. Franklin Roosevelt did not win until the 4th ballot. And
John Davis was selected as the Democratic candidate in 1924 on the 103rd
ballot the longest-running convention in U.S history. It lasted 18 days.

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