United States presidential nominating convention
A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purpose of such a convention is to select the party's nominee for popular election as President, as well as to adopt a statement of party principles and goals known as the party platform and adopt the rules for the party's activities, including the presidential nominating process for the next election cycle.
The 1876 Democratic National Convention at the Merchants Exchange Building in St. Louis, Missouri. Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks were nominated for president and vice president respectively.
The 2008 Green Party National Convention held in Chicago. Various third parties also hold their own national conventions.
The Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans was the site of the 1988 Republican National Convention, which nominated George H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle for president and vice president. In recent decades, the two major parties have held their conventions at sports stadiums and arenas.
Roll call of states during the 2008 Democratic National Convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.
The terms party conference, political convention, and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membership. In most political parties, the party conference is the highest decision-making body of the organization, tasked with electing or nominating the party's leaders or leadership bodies, deciding party policy, and setting the party's platform and agendas.
The chairman's table at the Scottish Green Party's Autumn conference in November 2007. Note the agenda displayed on the screen behind.
Federal party diet (Bundesparteitag) 2015 of the German CDU, with Angela Merkel speaking.
Roll call of states during the 2008 Democratic National Convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.