NATIONAL CONVENTION.—­A national convention is an important assemblage.  It contains many distinguished men, and exerts great influence on the history of the country.  A national convention usually consists of more than a thousand delegates.  In a Democratic convention, for instance, there are four delegates from each State, two from each congressional district, and a few from the Territories.

In the selection of delegates to the national convention, the State convention often selects four, representing the two United States senators, and the members of the convention from each congressional district select two, representing the lower house of Congress.  For each delegate the State convention also selects an alternate delegate, who attends the national convention in case the regular delegate can not be present.

The national convention is called to order by the chairman of the national committee.  It then elects a temporary chairman, and afterward a permanent president.  The convention appoints the national committee, calling upon the delegation from each State to name its member; adopts a declaration of principles, called a platform, for the approaching campaign; nominates candidates for President and Vice President, and performs various other work connected with the party organization.

PLATFORM.—­The declaration of party principles adopted and issued by a convention is called a platform, and each separate statement of a principle is popularly called a plank.

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.