An election is a scheduled, rule-bound way for a community to choose people to hold office or to decide a question directly.
Category: Political Processes
How Different Voting Systems Turn the Same Votes Into Different Winners
Two towns can cast exactly the same ballots and elect different people. The only difference is the counting rule.
What Is Political Campaigning, and How Does It Actually Work?
Political campaigning is the organized effort to win support from enough voters to win an election.
Understanding Political Parties: What They Do, How They Work, and Why Every Democracy Has Them
If you have ever wondered what political parties are and what they do, the short answer is that they are organizations built to win elections and then…
What Lobbying Actually Is, and How Every Side Uses It
Lobbying is one of the most talked-about and least understood parts of American politics.
How a Bill Becomes a Law in the United States, and Where Most Bills Quietly Stop
If you have ever wondered how a bill becomes a law, the short version is that it has to pass a series of separate approvals, and failing at any one of…
What Is Public Policy?
Public policy sounds like a technical term, but you meet it all day.
Understanding Referendums and Initiatives
Ballot questions can look confusing the first time you see one.
How Political Decisions Get Made, Following One Issue From Problem to Policy
Most people picture a political decision as a single moment: hands go up, a bill passes, the matter is settled.
An Overview of Coalitions and Alliances: How Political Groups Team Up to Get Things Done
Politics is full of groups that agree on some things and disagree on others, and many of them work together anyway.