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| A coalition of people who seek to control the machinery of government by winning elections. Not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, political parties make mass democracy possible by, among other functions, coordinating the group activities necessary to translate public preferences into public policy. |
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| A political system in which only two major parties compete for all of the elective offices. Third party candidates usually have few if any chances of winning elective office. |
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| Proportional Representation |
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| An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded to candidates or parties in proportion to the percentage of votes received. |
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| Slates of candidates that "fused" the nominees of minor and major parties. Fusion tickets, eventually banned by state legislators, allowed minor parties to boost their votes by nominating candidates also nominated by major parties. |
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| The practice of awarding jobs, grants, licenses, or other special favors in exchange for political support. |
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| A closed meeting of a political or legislative group to choose candidates for office or to decide issues of policy. |
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| National Party Conventions |
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| A gathering of delegates to select a party's presidential and vice-presidential ticket and to adopt its national platform. |
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| State or local party organizations based on patronage. They work to elect candidates to public offices that control government jobs and contracts, which, in turn, are used by party leaders to reward sub-leaders and activists who mobilize voters for the party on election day. |
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| A period of American history extending roughly from 1880 to 1920 and associated with the reform of government and electoral institutions in an attempt to reduce corruption and weaken parties. |
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| The act of voting for candidates from different parties for different offices-for example, voting for a Republican for president and a Democrat for Senator. |
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| A ballot prepared and distributed by government officials that place the names of all candidates on a single list and is filled out by voters in private. First adopted in the United States in 1888, the Australian ballot replaced oval voting and party-supplied ballots. |
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| An election held before the general election in which voters decide which of a party's candidates will be the party's nominee for the general election. |
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| An electorate alliance that was the basis of Democratic dominance from the 1930's to the early 1970's. The alliance consisted of Catholics, Jews, racial minorities, urban residents, organized labor, and white southerners. |
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| A delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is eligible to attend because he or she is an elected party official. The Democrats reserve a specific set of delegate slots for party officials. |
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| A term used to describe government when one political party controls the executive branch and the other controls one or both houses of the legislator. |
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