Policy & Platforms

Introduction

In addition to choosing a nominee for president and vice president, parties adopt platforms during their national conventions.  Platforms are official reports outlining the parties’ positions on major issues affecting the country.  They capture the core beliefs of each party at that particular moment in time. The party platform is a key component of presidential campaigns because it limits a candidate’s ability to stray too far from the general viewpoint of the party.  Platforms enable voters to identify key differences between the two parties and make informed decisions about which candidate they will support in the general election.