Functions of Political Parties: Elections and Government

Political parties recruit and nominate candidates, combine interests, mobilize voters and organize officials after elections. For AP U.S. Government and Politics, distinguish those functions and the people performing them: party supporters, party organizations and party members in government. A shared label connects these roles without giving every participant the same authority.

How Parties Compete for Office and Combine Interests

Political parties seek to win public office under a shared label and use that victory to organize government. To do so, they recruit candidates, choose nominees, raise resources, mobilize voters, develop platforms, coordinate campaigns, and structure legislative leadership. Parties also aggregate interests: they combine demands about taxes, schools, security, health, and many other subjects into a coalition broad enough to compete for power.

Recruitment comes before nomination. Party leaders and activists identify people with experience, community ties, fundraising ability, or a compelling public profile and encourage them to run. Nomination then selects the party’s official candidate through a primary, caucus, convention, or another lawful procedure. Because American nominations are decentralized and candidate centered, party organizations influence the field but do not always control the winner.

Mobilization, Platforms and Voter Choice

Campaign mobilization converts preference into participation. Parties help with voter registration, provide information, contact supporters, coordinate volunteers and encourage turnout. Targeted contact matters because a favorable citizen who stays home contributes no vote. Platforms state the party’s general program and help candidates, activists, and voters understand its coalition. A platform is politically meaningful but is not an enforceable contract that every officeholder must follow line by line.

How Parties Organize Government

Parties simplify choice through labels and cues, then organize officials after the election. A familiar party label gives a voter a rough forecast of a candidate’s coalition and likely priorities when complete information is costly. An interest group may endorse and lobby, but its main goal is policy influence. A party nominates a broad slate, contests elections, and seeks control of government. Recruitment identifies who might run. Nomination chooses the party’s candidate. Mobilization brings supporters to the polls. Governing organization coordinates officials after victory.

Distinguish the Party’s Three Faces

OpenStax’s account of party organization distinguishes the party in the electorate, the formal organization and the party in government. A voter who identifies with a party illustrates the first; a county committee recruiting candidates illustrates the second; a senator working with fellow party members on legislative business illustrates the third. These describe roles, so a person may participate in more than one capacity.

For an institutional example, the Senate’s explanation of party conferences describes meetings in which senators elect floor leaders, discuss committee assignments and set legislative agendas. That is governing organization after an election. It differs from a local party’s campaign work and from a voter deciding which candidate to support.

Party identification also differs from formal voter-registration affiliation. USAGov’s explanation of party affiliation and voting notes that primary participation depends on state rules, while a general-election voter may choose a candidate from any party. A party cue can help structure a choice without legally requiring a voter to follow it. Identify the actor, action and institutional authority rather than treating the party as one person issuing every decision.

Identify the Party Role in Each Example

Place a voter who identifies with a party, a county party committee recruiting candidates and a senator coordinating that party’s legislative work in the party’s three faces. What different job does each perform, and how does that job connect to an election or governing function?

Video Lesson: Political Parties

CrashCourse gives a focused explanation of this topic in Political Parties: Crash Course Government and Politics #40.

If the player does not load, watch this lesson directly on YouTube.

To distinguish winning office from advocating a policy request, compare How Interest Groups Influence Public Policy.

Continue Studying Parties and Participation

For a broader map connecting functions of political parties to participation, parties, elections, interest groups, and media, use the AP U.S. Government and Politics learning hub.