By reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following:

8.1 Reflect on the obstacles that insurgent candidates face and the challenges that they present to their party establishments.
8.2 Identify the roles the political parties play in supporting and nominating candidates for office.
8.3 Understand the rules and institutions that structure national elections.
8.4 Describe the traditional and nontraditional forms of political participation in American representative democracy.