ABSTRACT
Before discussing the history and activity of American parties, it might be a good idea to offer a definition of a political party. As one scholar famously defined the term, a political party is “a team seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election.”3 In other words, it is an organization that seeks to gain power by running candidates for office. A crucial element in the definition of a political party is that parties nominate candidates and provide a banner under which those candidates compete for office. This attribute clearly distinguishes a party from an interest group. Though interest groups may endorse and support candidates, candidates do not stand for them, and the organizations’ names do not appear on ballots.
