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The terms party conference (
UK English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, ...
), political convention ( US and
Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the varieties of English native to Canada. According to the 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or 58.1% of the total population; the remainder spoke French ( ...
), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
. 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 definitions of all of these terms vary greatly, depending on the country and situation in which they are used. The term ''conference'' or '' caucus'' may also refer to the organization of all party members as a whole. The term ''political convention'' may also refer to international bilateral or multilateral meetings on state-level, like the convention of the
Anglo-Russian Entente The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 (russian: Англо-Русская Конвенция 1907 г., translit=Anglo-Russkaya Konventsiya 1907 g.), or Convention between the United Kingdom and Russia relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet (; ...
(1907).


Leadership roles

Within party conferences, there might be different offices or bodies fulfilling certain tasks, usually including: *''
Chairmanship The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
'' — Chosen from within the body's membership to preside over its business. *''
Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...
'' — Responsible for keeping minutes of the conference's proceedings. *''
Policy committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
s'' — Responsible for setting and maintaining review of current party policy, and preparing proposals for presentation to the full conference.


Party conferences around the world


Canada

In Canada, besides annual or biennial conventions, parties often hold special conventions to elect new leaders; often known as a ''
leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...
''. The new leader of a party is often seen as that party's de facto candidate for Prime Minister (as the party leader almost always goes on to serve as Prime Minister should their party get elected to a
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats ...
).


Communist states

* Communist parties convene a ''congress'' to elect a Central Committee, which in turn sets up a Politburo. * A Communist ''conference'' may also meet on occasion, to discuss a particular issue or plan an event, but would have no such official powers.


Ireland

All Irish parties have annual party conferences, called Ardfheis, at which party policy is decided by the membership and the party chairperson and executive board are elected.


United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom the political conferences (usually called ''party congress'', or ''party conference'') generally take place in three weeks of September and October of each year, whilst the House of Commons is in recess. The conferences of the three largest UK-wide parties, the Conservative Party Conference, the Labour Party Conference and the Liberal Democrat Conference, are held during this time.


United States

In the United States, a ''political convention'' usually refers to a
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 purpo ...
, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions in which candidates are nominated, delegates to larger regional or national conventions are elected and the party platform is adopted. Today, the two largest conventions on national level are the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention, usually held every four years to select their candidates for the offices of
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
and
vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
. They are attended by delegates, who are mostly elected in
primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...
. Between the national conventions, the ''national committee'' of each party (see DNC and RNC) leads the party administratively, while they are politically represented by their leaders in Senate and in the House, or (if applicable) by the president. However, some party charters also provide for ''party conferences'' to be held between two national conventions to deal with various matters. In fact, those and the national committees can be compared to regular party conventions in other countries. The first political convention held in America took place in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
in March 1766. The meeting was organized by the Sons of Liberty, who, in challenging incumbent governor Thomas Fitch, nominated
William Pitkin William Pitkin (April 30, 1694 – October 1, 1769) was a colonial governor of the Connecticut Colony. Biography Pitkin was born to a politically prominent family in Hartford (Now East Hartford) in 1694. He married Mary Woodbridge on May 7, 172 ...
for
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and Jonathan Trumbull for deputy governor. In the US, the term ''party conference'' is sometimes also used to refer to the equivalent of
parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliame ...
s in other countries (see also congressional caucus).


Germany

Other than in the United States, party conferences in Germany (both on state and federal level), called ("party diet"), will not only meet to nominate candidates for public elections, but also regularly (at least once a year) to adopt political resolutions, select party officials or to amend their statutes. Generally, the party organizations themselves and also their representatives (such as the chairperson, called party leader, and other board members) play a much more prominent role in German politics than they do for example in the US or UK, where the parties are mainly represented by their members and leaders in parliament or (if applicable) government.


See also

*
Political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
*
Lists of political parties Lists of political parties include: * List of agrarian parties * List of banned political parties * List of centrist political parties * List of communitarian political parties * List of fictional political parties * List of frivolous pol ...
* Party leader


References

{{Authority control * * Conventions (meetings)