Elements of Civil Government / A Text-Book for Use in Public Schools, High Schools and Normal Schools and a Manual of Reference for Teachers

by Alexander L. Peterman

The platform is an announcement of the policy to be pursued by the party if its candidates are elected, and is presumed to contain all the important principles upon which the voters of the party are agreed. Upon these principles the party claims the right to administer the public affairs of the country.

The platforms of State and local conventions are usually based upon the national platform of the same party, but also contain statements of principles upon local questions.

NOMINATIONS.--To nominate a candidate is to name him for office; that is, to place his name before the public. The person nominated is called the nominee, and all the nominees for a certain election constitute a ticket. A nomination usually secures to a candidate the general support of the party. Voters may vote for other persons than the nominees, but the great body of voters usually support the tickets of their respective parties. Nomination serves to prevent a great number of candidates, and thus simplifies the election.

PRIMARY ELECTIONS.--Candidates for township, county, and other offices are frequently chosen by means of primary elections.

A primary election is an election in which the members of a party choose their candidates for office. As a rule, none but the members of the party holding it can vote in a primary election. Many persons prefer the primary, to a convention, believing the former to be a fairer and more impartial method of ascertaining the choice of the party. The voting is usually by ballot.

In many States primary elections are under the control of the law, and are guarded by the same restrictions that pertain to other elections.

CAUCUSES.--A meeting composed of the members of a legislative body who are of the same party, and assembled for party purposes, is called a caucus. Ward conventions in cities are sometimes called by the same name.

The usual purpose of a caucus is to nominate candidates for offices within the gift of the legislative body, or to consider questions of legislation. A caucus elects a chairman and other officers, but rarely if ever adopts a platform of principles. The great political parties of the country have caucuses in each branch of Congress, and usually in the legislatures of the several States.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

1. Name the great parties that have existed in the United States.