1. Government
Chapter 9

2. Roles of Political Parties Today
Section 3

3. Key Terms
Nomination: A process by which political parties select and offer candidates for public office.
Direct Primary: An election in which voters choose candidates to represent each party in a general election.
Closed Primary: An election in only the declared members of a party are allowed to vote for that party’s nominees.
Open Primary: An election in which voters need not declare their party preference.

4. Key Terms cont.
Plurality: The most votes among all those running for a political office.
Runoff Primary: Second primary election between the two candidates who received the most votes in the first primary election.
Petition: A formal request for a govt. action; or a process by which candidates who are not affiliated with one of the two major parties can get on the ballot for the general election in most states.

5. Nominating Candidates
People who make up political parties play an important role in govt.
Keep people informed
Keep people interested
Keep an eye on opposition party
Link between branches of govt.
Political parties only organizations that select candidates for office
Nomination process

6. Primary Elections Parties nominate candidates through direct primaries
Two forms
Closed primary
Open primary

7. Closed Primaries Held in most states
Only party members can vote at Party’s primary

8. Open Primary
Held in few states
Choose a party when you vote

9. Plurality Some political offices have more than 1 vacancy
Each party can nominate more than 1 candidate
Most offices only have 1 winner
Candidate who receive plurality

10. Run-off Some states winner must have majority vote
More than half
If no candidate receives the majority:
Runoff primary
Winner becomes candidate

11. Unaffiliated Candidates
Candidates that do not belong to the major parties
In most states they can get on ballot by petition

12. Party Roles Campaigning for candidates Informing citizens
Helping manage govt.
Linking the different levels of govt.
Acting as a watchdog

13. Campaigning for Candidates
Party nominates its candidate
Party begins to campaign for them in the general election
Help candidates get ideas and views of public issues to voters
Make sure supporters are registered
Voters get to the polls

14. Informing Citizens Campaign informs citizens about public issues
Informational pamphlets
Speeches TV
Radio
Newspaper

15. Helping Manage Govt. First task after election
Parties hand out govt. jobs
Open, competitive examinations and merit
Most are civil service jobs
High ranking politicians use their power to appoint supporters to high-level jobs

16. Linking the Different Levels of Govt.
Party ties are important in helping levels of govt. and branches of govt. cooperate
Connections may make it easier to join forces on mutual problems

17. Acting as a Watchdog
Losing party watches the actions of the party in power
Mistakes
Misuse of power
Hope to attract voters for future elections
Competition between parties force parties to pay attention to the will of the people