1.

How would you define the term National Party Convention as

it relates to US politics?
The National Party Convention in US politics is a term given to the event where the
presidential candidates and their vice presidential candidates are formally announced, after a
presumptive nominee is chosen via the primaries and caucuses. The event runs from Monday
to Thursday in July and is attended by major party figures in the current and past political
landscapes (e.g. current House speakers and past Presidents). The convention of the party
who did not secure the presidency at the last election usually comes first, with the incumbent
president's party having theirs second. Nowadays, the convention is more of a formality. As
the candidates are usually announced days or even weeks before the convention, it is no
longer a reveal but rather a showcase of the candidate and their vice president what type of
politician they are and what policies they want to introduce. The convention can also be used
to promote party unity by getting leading political figures (often other people who ran for the
candidacy) to declare their support in speeches. Now, however, I believe it is more about
generating media interest, advertising to potential sponsors and boosting momentum as the
candidates approach the main campaign stage.

2. What are TWO differences, apart from location, between the

conventions held in 2016 and those held in 2012?
At the RNC, there was more controversy in 2016. As Trump rose to become the presumptive
nominee, a number of prominent Republicans announced they would not attend the
convention. Of the living former Republican nominees, only 1996 nominee Bob
Dole announced that he would attend the convention. Romney, McCain, George W.
Bush and George H. W. Bush all announced that they would skip the convention.
Also, in 2016, Trump won by a much finer margin than Romney. Trump received 1,725
delegates (69.78% of the total number) whereas, in 2012, Romney received 2,061 (90.16% of
the total number).
At the DNC in 2012, Obama and Biden were already in power, so the convention was even
more of a formality, as the Democrats had already had four years to gage the pairs policy
direction and sort out discrepancies in party unity.
At the 2016 DNC, a vote had been cast as a compromise between Sanders and Clintons
views on superdelegates (Clinton wanted to keep them and Sanders wanted to abolish them).
Superdelegates are unelected delegates who can vote for any candidate. Under the reform,
future Democratic conventions required two-thirds of superdelegates to be bound to the
results of state primaries and caucuses. The remaining one third (Democratic senators,
governors and representatives) would remain unbound and free to support the candidate of
their choice.

3. List the THREE formal functions of the National Nominating

Convention.

Choosing the partys presidential candidate

Choosing the partys vice-presidential

Deciding the party platform

4. Why have these THREE functions become LESS important

since the 1970s?
In the 1970s, most states decided their candidates in caucuses. However, these were not like
modern day caucuses and, instead of being open to the general public, party bosses would
hold a meeting and decide on their candidate there and then. Primaries were rarer, and some
who were chosen didnt participate in any primaries at all (e.g.
Because of this, the convention was the first time a party found out who was the candidate
the convention had real purpose because it was a reveal. This is why the first function is less
important; because we know who is the candidate weeks before. This year, Donald Trump
was revealed to be the presumptive nominee in May 2016, over two months before the
convention. Hillary became the presumptive nominee in June, over a month before.
The second feature is as void as the first, as VP candidates are often announced prior to the
convention as well, though it is known for a shorter amount of time (Pence and Kaine were
announced three days before their respective conventions). Even if the convention is the first
time people hear the VP candidate speak, they have still been selected before the convention
making it an unimportant function in todays convention.
The final feature is still quite important. This is where the party decide their party platform,
a bit like a British manifesto. Basic policy ideas are collected beforehand (in 2008, the
Democrats did this by holding meetings in each of the 50 states) and the draft is shown at the
convention. However, there is not much policy debate, because the media treats this as a
divide in the party. Therefore, this function is not as important as real issues tend to be
avoided and a platform can read as a stock list of Republican or Democrat policy promises.

5. A brokered convention is where there is doubt over who the

Presidential Nominee will be BEFORE the convention begins
when was the last brokered convention in US political history?
Adlai Stevenson (Democrat) and Dwight Eisenhower (Republican) were the most recent
brokered convention presidential nominees, of their respective parties, in 1952. Eisenhower
had 595 delegates out of 1206 in the first roll call, making it still hard to call as the
convention entered its second day.

6. List the THREE informal functions of the National Nominating

Convention.

Promoting party unity

Enthusing the party faithful
Enthusing the ordinary voters

7. Give TWO examples from the past of where restoring party

unity was important at the Convention. How important was
restoring party unity in 2016?
This was important in 2008, where Clinton (who was predicted to win the nomination) lost
out to Barack Obama. The 2008 DNC was very much about reconciliation within the
Democratic party, which worked well.
In 1992, party unity was attempted, but ultimately failed when George H.W. Bush refused to
bury the hatchet with primary rival Pat Buchanan. The pair continued to have disagreements
at the Republican convention, which did nothing to bring the party together and may have
been a contributing factor to his loss of that years election.
In 2016, there was a strong sense of party disunity from both the Republicans and the
Democrats. The Republicans, because they didnt like or trust Trump and the Democrats,
because Hillary had won over popular underdog Bernie Sanders. The DNC attempted to
improve party unity when Sanders endorsed Clinton, but this upset quite a lot of Bernie
supporters and sought to polarise the party further.
The RNC went unattended by all living Republican ex-presidents, so there was already a
sense of party disharmony. This worsened when Ted Cruz made a speech neither endorsing
nor opposing Trump leading Trump supporters to attack Cruz for being selfish after
Trump had won the nomination.

8. It is often said that the most important informal function of the

nominating conventions is to enthuse voters and give the
candidate a post-convention bounce. What is meant by the
term post-convention bounce? What have bounces in
Presidential races up to 2012 been like?
A post-convention bounce is a hike in approval ratings from the last pre-convention poll to
the first post-convention poll. The bounces (from 1972 to 2012) have been generally positive.
Every candidate who was in the White House at the time secured a + bounce (e.g. Jimmy
Carter received a +10 bounce in 1980, and Al Gore received a +8 bounce in 2000). This trend
is almost the same for the challenging candidate. However, in 2004 and 2012, there was no
bounce and the candidates (Kerry and Romney) received -1 percentage points. This does
show that your appearance and conduct at a convention can affect how people view you. In
2012, Romney was seen as lack-lustre in his acceptance speech and just generally throughout
the week. This was reflected in his post-convention poll.

9. What were the respective post-convention bounces for Trump

and Clinton in 2016?
From my research, I have found that Clintons forecast for post-convention bounce in 2016
was around +5, whereas Trumps was said to be approximately 3+. Pollsters had said it was
(despite previous trends) almost inevitable that the pair would receive a bounce, due to the
excitement the conventions inspire in some voters. As we now know, this did not affect the
overall result. Against polls like these, Trump was revealed to be the victor of the 2016
election. The bounce, perhaps, was not so important in this election.