How to Understand Why Delegates Matter

Presidential politics is an interesting game in the United States. We pride ourselves on our popularly-elected government. Many of us believe that our individual votes determine who will be President, but actually voters do not directly elect the President of the United States of America. In fact, we don’t even choose our presidential candidates directly. Instead, we vote for people who vote for people. Here's how you can understand this process better and become a better citizen.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Delegates matter because they are the individuals who actually select their party’s candidate at the Democratic and Republican national conventions. During primary elections and caucuses, voters send instructions to delegates, advising them which candidate to vote for in the nominating convention.

2. A single delegate matters because presidential candidates are selected by a simple majority--a candidate must have only one more vote than the opposing candidate to win the party’s nomination.

3. Delegates matter to political parties because the delegate system allows the party machinery to maintain control of the election process and assert a certain level of control over its outcome. Many experts agree that the parties are reluctant to leave the nomination of a Presidential candidate in the hands of amateurs.

4. Delegates matter to the candidates because they can be wooed and influenced beyond the confines of the voting booth.