 Other than a strong desire to express their opinions on issues facing the nation, politicians all tend to have one common trait. They want to see people of like minds and opinions making decisions throughout the government. Political parties help this happen. Democrats and Republicans each vie to get candidates elected that best fit their beliefs, principles, and policy agendas. All to influence policymaking and legislative actions at local, state, and national levels. A key party function is creating a home of sorts for diverse groups that share economic, social, and political concerns. By building consensus in policy, a party looks to secure as many votes as possible to sway an election in its favor. Political parties also work to help the electorate understand the issues and candidates positions on them. One way they do this is by nominating only one candidate per political office. This helps voters better understand candidates positions and philosophies, and it promotes party identification. Of course, narrowing the choice prevents splitting the party vote and weakening their position against other party's candidates. Once candidates are chosen, a third function of political parties comes to the forefront, generating excitement about an election, rallies, parades, conventions, and speeches, capture voter attention, and provide information about candidates' backgrounds and campaign platforms. Generating excitement also leads to generating money. Since campaigns are funded by unregulated soft money in the form of public and private donations, fundraisers are critical to a candidate's success. Media exposure plays a role as well. By working to shine the media spotlight on their candidate, a party can garner wider name recognition and spread its campaign message across the country. The ultimate goal of each political party is winning enough elections to control various government bodies. Since the majority of office holders are affiliated with a political party that played a role in their election, state and federal legislatures have become centered on the parties. This trend has led to partisanship. Partisans holders basing voting decisions strictly on party interests. Partisanship is our great curse. We too readily assume that everything has two sides, and that it is our duty to be on one or the other. James Harvey Robinson. Once a party has helped put a candidate in office, it uses its influence to hold that person accountable to platform and campaign promises. Often, a person's perceived success or failure in office is determined by how well he or she addressed the party's issues. Office holders from rival parties are also tracked, documenting what people in office have and have not accomplished, gives the party support for their positions, and ammunition against opponents in future elections. Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule, and both commonly succeed and are right. H. L. Mankin, 1956. Each political party is organized much like the federal government, with offices at the national, state and local levels. Each level also has a committee and a chairperson to oversee party activities. The national committee, which is headed by a national chairperson and consists of chairpersons and delegates from each state, guides the party between elections, and helps promote the party throughout the states. Within the national committee, a congressional campaign committee helps the party's maintain influence at the national level by working to re-elect incumbents, recruit new nominees, and by holding their elected nominees accountable to the party platform. Every four years, the national committee organizes a national convention, where party's candidates are formally nominated and its platform is outlined. We love the blather and boast, the charge and counter-charge of campaigning. Governing is a tougher deal. Hugh Sattie, 1984. Originally, the nomination process for candidates was played out at the party conventions. But with today's primary election system and the growth of private fundraising, conventions are now just an opportunity to formalize the nomination and hold a pep rally for the primary's winner. State committees do many of the same things as national committees, solidify the party, find new candidates for state office, and raise campaign funds. During election years, the state committees become very active, hosting fundraisers, raising awareness of key party issues, and helping organize primary elections. Between elections, the parties affect state and national legislatures by acting as special interest groups and lobbyists. On the local level, party committees work to increase voter registration, recruit new party members, and find local candidates. During the late 1800s and into the 1900s, this function took a dubious turn, as some state and local committees became political machines that used bribery and corruption to dominate government policies. Voters were promised jobs, money, and other benefits in return for joining and voting the straight party ticket in elections. The Democratic Party was once notorious for recruiting and controlling immigrants by helping them get established upon entering the country. The Democratic Party is the party that opens its arms. We open them to every nationality, every creed. We open them to the immigrants. The Democratic Party is the party of the people. Richard J. Daley. Within each political party, members assume four principal roles and degrees of participation. The majority of Americans are rank-and-file members. Party supporters whose main participation is voting. Party regulars take more active roles in politics by working at the polls, contributing money and voting along party lines, even compromising on important issues if it will help the party win an election. Party activists are even more deeply concerned about party functions. They typically get highly involved in election campaigns, donate funds, demand a voice in party agendas, and tend to have strong belief in their party's ideology. Party purists comprise the highest level of participation. They help form a party's core ideology and often put issues ahead of winning elections by withholding support from candidates who do not share their stance on issues. Although purists are usually very active, it's not uncommon for them to break away and form a third party if they feel their views are being neglected or ignored. Because the voting population is influenced by many different issues, political scientists have found it useful to study specific target groups. Their studies of the characteristics of the human population is called demography. This research helps determine what types of issues motivate various groups to become active in the voting process, and why some of the demographic groups are more likely to show up at the polls on election day. The demographic categories in which the population groups are most often broken out by are age, gender, race, education, and income level. These demographic groups often yield insight into voting patterns. For instance, demographic research shows that people under the age of 25 have a very low rate of voter turnout, possibly due to any of several factors. This age is highly mobile, so many are not registered to vote. Also many of them do not feel affected by voting or the elections, and do not feel a strong social obligation to voting. Let us never forget that government is ourselves, and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1938 A large percentage of the baby boomer generation, however, turns out at the polls. This age group came of age during periods of political and social unrest, which has instilled in them a strong sense that voting is their civic duty. Gender has also long been a factor in who turns out to vote. Historically, men have been the stronger participants. But because of the 19th amendment, and changes in women's roles in society, this trend has gradually changed. In the 2000 presidential elections, a slightly larger number of women voted than men. A person's race also seems to affect the likelihood of them voting. A larger percentage of white people vote than any other racial group. Statistics also show that African Americans are more likely to vote when there are issues on the political agenda they consider important to their daily lives. And even though the Hispanic American population has low voter turnout, a high percentage of Cuban Americans come to the polls to stand up for their preferences. In general, however, the newer immigrants are to the U.S., the less likely they are to vote. Another factor in whether a person is likely to vote is their education level. As you might expect, studies show that people who are highly educated are more likely to participate in politics as voters, candidates, political officials, and party workers. High school dropouts show one of the lowest voting rates. And going hand in hand with education is a person's socioeconomic status. People in upper income brackets are more active in politics and at the polls. And as you might expect, unionized blue collar workers participate in higher percentages than low paid or unemployed workers. So by analyzing the statistics provided by demographic research, political scientists are aided in forecasting which people will show up at the polls on election day. How likely is it that a person will vote in an election or participate in an election campaign or other political activities? Not likelihood is gauged by what is called voter intensity. And several factors affect the degree of this intensity. When people feel strongly about their role as a voter, when they have a personal stake and interest in the hot issues of the day, and when they feel connected to the political system, their voter intensity is high, and they're more likely to vote and take an interest in political activities. On the other hand, when people have the mindset that their vote won't make a difference, when they don't feel compelled to wait in line at the polls, and when they're generally disinterested in politics and have little or no knowledge of the issues or the candidates, voter intensity becomes low. The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all. John F. Kennedy, 1963. Voter intensity is directly related to political efficacy or people's understanding of and impact on politics. There are two kinds of political efficacy, internal and external. Internal efficacy refers to how well people understand the political system and whether they get involved in political activities or simply stand on the political sidelines. People who have a strong understanding of the issues and candidates have high internal efficacy and they are likely to vote and participate. External efficacy refers to whether people believe their efforts and ideas make a difference in policy decisions. If a person believes that their votes and political involvement will affect political policies, they have high external efficacy. Another factor that influences voter intensity is issue saliency. This term refers to whether people believe the issues on the political agenda matter in their everyday lives. Issues like raising or lowering taxes, abortion, and gay rights would typically be referred to as salient issues because they tend to peak voter interest and produce high voter turnout at the polls. Complex issues such as foreign policy and the national debt typically have very low saliency with voters because they are more difficult to understand. Consensus and polarization also affect voter intensity. When a large percentage of the nation is in consensus or agrees on political issues, many voters become apathetic and do not feel their vote or participation is needed. On the other hand, when the nation is polarized on an issue or is highly divided on a policy agenda or candidates, it is common for people to feel more convicted about politics. In a polarized time, it is more likely that people will want to add their vote and their efforts to campaigns to ensure their views are made policy.