1. What demographic constituencies (body of voters) are represented by the mainstream American political parties? How have their geographic centers of strength shifted in the last half century? 2. What is the national party convention, and how much control does it exert over nominees and state and local party organizations? What are national party committees, and what do they do? In what ways have they become increasingly important? What are congressional campaign committees, and what do they do? How are they related to the national party convention and the national party convention? What do the connections between these national party bodies say about the organizational structure of the parties?