Elections & terms
national convention
A party's quadrennial meeting where delegates formally nominate its presidential ticket and adopt the platform.
In full
Conventions once chose nominees through genuine bargaining; since primaries became binding, they mostly ratify a result already known and serve as a televised launch of the general election campaign. They still do real work on the platform and on party rules, which govern the next nomination cycle.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.