American Government › Section I · Political parties › Topic I.3
The shape of modern parties
An American party is not one organisation with one membership list. It is three overlapping groups: the voters who identify with it, the activists and staff who run it, and the officials elected under its name. Each part wants slightly different things.
In this topic
- Three parties in one
- The party in the electorate
- Independents and leaners
- Worked example: reading party identification data
- The party organisation: local and state
- The national organisation
- Who picks the nominees?
- The party in government
- Worked example: one candidate, three parts
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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