Parties through the Primary system, nominate candidates for office. The organization of the party and the primary system opens it up for the public to choose candidates from their chosen party.  

Retrospective voting, or looking at the past, is a means by which voters analyze the performance of a candidate or party.

The largest advantage for incumbents seeking reelection is name recognition. Just like a brand name for a consumer product, having name recognition means voters already have some familiarization with the candidate.

Both the modern-day Democratic and Republican party would be considered to the right of most center-right parties in Europe, socially and politically. For instance, most European nations legalized gay-marriage up to ten years prior to America. Also, the tendency in Europe is to far more regulated and worker-friendly labor laws.

Although James Madison and Alexander Hamilton would declaim political factionalism together in The Federalist Papers, Hamilton would later found the Federalist party and Madison the Democratic-Republicans. These two parties would go on to be bitterly partisan before the Era of Good Feelings, in which the Federalist Party dissolved. Students should be able to recall the basic political positions of Hamilton and Madison, particularly which parties they formed.

"Party polarization" describes a situation in which the vast majority of Democrats and Republicans disagree with each other on a political issue and where each member votes along party lines. This often leads to congressional gridlock, and it is one of the reasons many Americans are disillusioned with the political process.

A divided government occurs in the United States when one party controls the Presidency and therefore the executive branch, and a different party controls Congress and therefore the legislative branch. Whenever this occurs, the president's term of office is usually marked by gridlock and political tension as each party tries to prevent the other party from fulfilling its agenda. It is usually considered an electoral indictment of the president if during his term the other party gains a majority in Congress because it suggests that the voting public is dissatisfied with the president’s work.

At the most basic, intrinsic level, all political parties have one single goal in mind: winning elections. Victory is crucial to a party’s survival– without a solid record of electoral success (on the local, state, and federal levels), a party is incapable of holding itself together and carrying out the functions which are necessary for its existence. By winning elections, a party is able to hold on to its voter base, as well as to recruit new members, and is also able to amass funds, power, and influence.

Ticket splitting occurs when a citizen votes for one party’s candidate to hold a certain office but then casts a vote for the opposing party to win another office. This method of voting divides government positions between each of the two major parties, undermining attempts at dominance by either side. In recent decades, ticket splitting has become increasingly popular among the public, as more and more people grow discontent with both Democrats and Republicans and so split their votes in hopes of creating an even system of control. The two big parties feel somewhat threatened by this practice because it prevents any one party from feeling reasonably assured of total victory, especially on the state level.

In reality, third parties are hardly ever successful in their bids to win election; the Democrats and the Republicans simply enjoy far too much entrenched support to be at all easily dislodged. Third parties, however, do not need to win to order to still play a decisive role in the political process. A good third party candidate is often able to steal voters away from one of the two main parties, which can have a great influence on the election’s final outcome. Third parties also provide arenas where voters can safely express their anger or concerns against their government and where discussion of controversial issues or groups can take place. These features are often attractive to individuals who have either never before voted or who had stopped voting for a period of time, drawing them into the political sphere.