National Party Conventions
Political Studies: Edexcel A Level, topic 16.1.3
National Party Conventions
The national party convention is where the party agrees on its policies and confirms the party’s candidate for the presidential and vice-presidential elections.
Party policies
- At the national party convention, the party agrees on a party platform of policies that its presidential candidate will campaign on and pursue if they are elected.
- The platform committee forms policies based on hearings with citizens around the country.
- The platform is presented to delegates at the party convention who will often agree to the policies in the platform.
Presidential candidate
- The presidential candidate is chosen by a roll-call vote where the delegates from each state announce the candidate they are voting for.
- This function has become less important because most delegates are committed to voting for a specific candidate based on the primary vote, rather than choosing for themselves who to support.
- This means that the primary vote, not the party convention, chooses the presidential candidate.
- Candidates must win a majority of delegate votes.
Vice-presidential candidate
- The national party convention used to choose the vice presidential candidate.
- In recent campaigns, the president has chosen their vice presidential candidate before the national party convention and so the convention confirms the president’s choice.
- Presidents will choose a vice president candidate who will appeal to voters for various reasons such as political experience, gender, race and age.
Informal Functions
National Party Conventions also have informal functions.
Voter's attention
- Candidates can gain the attention of voters at the party convention through their televised acceptance speech at the convention where candidates will address all voters for the first time.
- Bill Clinton’s approval ratings increased by 16 percentage points after his speech in 1992.
Party unity
- Parties use their conventions to appear united following the primary campaign.
- The defeated primary candidates can publicly support the successful candidate.
Exciting members and voters
- The candidates can enthuse the party’s core support, which encourages people to vote and campaign for them at the local level.
Test yourself on National Party Conventions
Which event plays a key role in selecting a presidential candidate in the United States?
What happens at national party conventions?
By how much did Bill Clinton's approval ratings increase after his speech in 1992?