Why are political parties important for an election?
955966
If there was no celebration party, why win an election to begin with?
384311
Neither, I'm an independent who votes for the man or woman running for office, regardless of party affiliation. I've found this takes a little more time and research divining the candidates real political stance, but usually it's time well worth it, because you really know who you're voting for, not just the party some candidates seem to hide behind.
819787
Your question is quite vague, not really sure how to answer it.  If you are curious about the role of parties in government and why they exist I suggest that you consider the works of James Madison.  The Federalist papers would be the best place to start, with #10 speaking directly to the issue of factions.  Hope that this helped.
740950
In the UK the leader of a politcal party is automatically that parties candidate for Prime Minister. \n\nIn the USA each party has to elect a candidate for each new presidential campaign. Senators, members of congress, 1 term presidents and governors are are elegible to put themselves forward for their parties nomination. Each party holds a series of primaries (state elections for party members) to reduce the number of candidates, culminating in a final vote at the parties convention in August. \n\nThe republican and democratic conventions are both used to announce that party presedential candidate, at the same time or soon after, the candidate will announce their vice presedential candidate (running mate) usually one of the losers from the primaries. \n\nAfter the conventions election campaign start in earnest. Candidates compete for votes which translate to seats in the Electoral College, The number of seats a state represents is proportional to its size and population. The winner is the candidate who gains the majority of seats in the college.
1015147
I am an American.  \n\nThe parties are designed to get votes for ambitious people to advance their careers.  To do this, they will change their platforms at the drop of a big donation and based on projected vote totals.  It is a shame that they pretend to be patriotic organizations, but because their intention is to control their message, they have the resources to shape public opinion.
832269
The Republican and Democratic parties are so big and their bases are so broad, that their are hardly any issues that they can all agree on.  Usually it is based on the views of specific candidates for those parties, for that you can go to their websites to see where they stand on issues.
938062
Education is an important factor in electing a party to form government.  Education does away the considerations other than the merit and past services of the person seeking election.\n\nFurther, I see brightness in Information Technology being introduced in governement records.  Once the records are computerised, taking a decision, which is clearly against the facts on record, will become difficult.  \n\nThirdly the population should have some sense of honesty in general.  If a politician is offered the bribe, how and from whom can he demand.
149873
Sallu, thanks for answering my question. Politics is very useful to people. The nation we live in exists because it is built around laws and values the people support. Without police I would be afraid to go outside without a gun. Think more theoretical. Why don't terrorists blow up every city here? I mean are frisked everytime you leave your house? No. Politics is the governing body that has developed public safety. It is supposed to be built by the people it governs. Arguments happen so people can learn to understand one another and learn. It is okay to debate. You don't have to always be right but take time to learn. \nIts not politics that destroys people, its the media projecting it. Whether you are democrat or republican, you must admit the media slanders whomever is in office. Clinton almost got impeached and the media was all over it. Cheeny with the gun accident, oh they are having a hayday. Just be patient, listen close, and VOTE!!!
663120
there are many factors used when voting or choosing a party to vote, the most important are:\na) your choices.\nb) their policies.\n\nIt's like a McDonalds Menu except its hard to find the meal without trans fat :-P (an honest politician).\n\nSo many things need to be fixed in a country or state, so there will always be a shopping list of needs, you want your represent to fulfil, before you vote for someone.\n\nTaxes, Health Care, The Environment and Employment seem to be the important ones. Soooo, most of the major parties aim to "buy" your vote through a tax cut you'll never be eligible to receive, then they'll offer you a free visit to see the doctor and then promise to improve recycling and after that they'll try and get you to work for the government.\n\nThe voters ideology for the mostpart is a common one, but minority group's ideology tend to be left behind because that's the flaw of democracy, even if the minority consists of a million people, the major parties tend to overlook you by honing in on the common things that voters need from their party. as a result, the minority group has to choose between a lesser of two evils in their minds, because in truth their ideology does not permit them to choose anyone, but they want to choose somebody.\n\nIf your options are limited, then your ideology is constrained and you have to make sacrifices to your ideology before being able to make a choice. This is when you choice ceases to be motivated by your ideology.\n\nThat being said, I think most voters do use an ideology and its co-incidental that they reflect what the major parties offer in terms of policies.\n\nMinorities tend to vote without ideology though. they tend to be disillusionned and just vote for the lesser of two evils. Then there are those who don't vote at all. At this point people realise that you have bad choices in politics and none of your choices really make a difference in anything.
7451
There isn't a standard litmus test for identifying your political party.  The most important element to understanding where your allegances should lie is to do an evaluation of yourself.\n\nWhat matters to you? - Name 5 things in your life that you hold very important to yourself.\n\nWhat threatens those things?\n\nWhat is important in your opinion?  Name 5 things you truly value.\n\nWhat threatens these things?\n\nOnce you've come up with this little chart, head on over to http://www.vote-smart.org.  This is a non-partisan (meaning non political-party dominated) site that is dedicated to providing informations on candidate platforms (set of beliefs regarding government) individually.\n\nTry not to vote for one particular party - they are merely a guideline for what you believe.  Conservative Democrats and Liberal Republicans do exist.  Trust yourself and vote for the candidate that best suits you.
738296
That's like asking "Why should I try to have a good life when I am only going to die anyway?"\nVoting is what makes any democratic country great. It gives you a chance, albeit a small one, to voice your opinion.\nFirst off, you can't just vote straight party lines. You have to do some hard work, research the candidates, not just watch their ads, and find out all you can about them and what they stand for. Then make an informed decision. If there is no one you believe should have the job, don't vote for that office, or vote for the one who comes closest to what you want. A lot of the smaller parties (libertarians, green party, etc...) have candidates that might come closer to what you are looking for, and if enough people vote for those parties (even though the odds of one of them ever winning are low) maybe one of the main parties will realize that there are a lot of people out there who want what you want, and will try to present their own candidates with those same views.
1121176
It has to do with many factors. Mainly the representative system. Since we have only a "winner takes all" Congress (meaning that only one person represents a district instead of a proportional representation system) a tow-party system tends to arise since only one can win the prize. For that reason parties tend to be center oriented, trying to attract the highest possible amount of voters. In a proportional representation system more parties would arise since the chance of getting a share of the prize is higher.\n\nOf course, while in theory American parties are center-oriented (and in practice they are), the fact that we have a low voter turnout, especially in mid-term elections can lead to a small share of the voting public to elect some wacko to the House of Representatives.\n\nAnother reason is that our institutions have been rigged by the historical two-party system and while we have many political parties in America we only have two national parties, and those parties have made it difficult for emerging political parties to become part of the game.
226193
Major political parties are businesses and deal with business issues.  You could work on staff with a political party.  Mayors of large cities are in charge of a large business operation and also deal with local and state businesses.  You could take a professional position in a city government, learn the "political ropes" and even run for mayor.  US Representatives and Senators come from a variety of backgrounds and deal constantly with business and ecoonomic issues.  I believe US Consulates deal with business issues involving US-foreign trade.  Good luck.
845466
you only do if you want to vote in that party's primary.  If you only vote in general elections, you don't need to
453597
It's the individuals qualifications, honesty, integrity, honor, and political beliefs that determine for whom I vote.  Gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity do not play a part in determining my vote.  It's the individual no matter what party he/she is affiliated with.
1063013
Two party systems are inherently more stable than those with more parties, because the way to get more votes is always to be more centrist.  The votes that are being fought over are those who agree with some of what one party says and some of the other.  \nMultiple party systems are more unstable, because the way to get votes is not to appeal to a majority but rather to appeal to a motivated minority.  If there were 10 parties, a party could win with only 15% of the vote--even if the other 85% totally disagree with that parties platform.  This leads to success for racist and nationalist parties, as well as other extreme parties that cater to only one interest.
130821
The best type of Government is a democracy without the party system....that is representatives vote on each issue independently keeping the interests of their repective constituencies in mind and without being held ransom to common party interests and ideology. This enables a healthy national debate on each issue separately so that views of all the people are taken into consideration before a decision is made.