Groups and Group Caucuses

Recent Democratic conventions have seen the emergence of active caucuses based on demographic groups. At the nominating conventions of 1972 and 1976 and at the charter conference in 1974, blacks, women, latinos, and youth formed caucuses. The Black and the Women's caucuses showed marked organizational development during this period. In 1972 they existed largely as forums to hear speeches by their own members and by presidential candidates. But by 1976 these two caucuses had established stable leadership structures and sophisticated communications networks. They still held large meetings for caucus members, whose votes ultimately sanctioned caucus actions. But their leaders also engaged in a series of concrete, specific negotiations with the presidential nominee. Organized groups at Republican conventions have received far less attention from scholars and the media than have their Democratic counterparts. But our research at the 1976 Republican convention provided us with an opportunity to begin to correct this imbalance. This article will examine a variety of groups at the convention-some composed of delegates, others composed of people trying to infltence the actions of delegates, still others composed of both delegates and nondelegates. Although these groups did not receive a great deal of publicity, and although they were not systematically consulted in the platform-writing process, a study

Caucus · Charter · Convention · Democracy · Media studies · Negotiation · Political science · Politics · Presidential system · Public relations · Publicity · Sociology · Law · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics

• Explaining Women's Rights Realignment

  Open Access•Christina Wolbrecht•Political Behavior•2002

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