- Jacksonian Democrats
- The Democratic Party behind General Andrew Jackson ascended to national dominance beginning in 1828, marking the start of America's Second Party System. Competitive two-party politics dates from this period as well as development of the apparatus of modern mass-based political parties.
- non-partisan
- The dissociation of a political agent or activity from partisan politics. In reference to elections, non-partisan describes elected offices for which the use of party labels on the ballot or in campaigning is proscribed by law. Judicial or local elections are often nonpartisan. Voters must chose among candidates identified only by name without benefit of party labels.
- party convention
- A gathering of party activists and officials to write party rules, adopt the party platform, select delegates to the next round of conventions, and in some places, to nominate the party's candidates for office. Conventions are held at the precinct, county, state, and national levels.
- party identification
- A person's psychological attachment or habitual loyalty to a partisan reference group such as the Democratic or Republican party. For most people in the United States, this emotional bond rather than formal membership in a partisan organization is the primary link to organized politics.
- party platform
- A political party's statement of its general philosophy and its specific policy positions in a given election cycle.
- party system
- Historically enduring electoral arrangements in which two or more parties compete for the support of the electorate and control of government. In the competitive American two-party system in place since 1828, critical elections marking realignments of existing electoral arrangements signal a transition from one party system to another.
- political party
- A group organized to run candidates for public office under a common label. Victorious candidates are then expected to govern pursuing the policy objectives of the group.
- yellow dog Democrat
- Description of a die-hard partisan loyalist who would vote for anyone rather than vote for a Republican. Originally a term to describe the partisan loyalty of southern Democrats who would vote for a yellow dog if he ran on the Democratic ticket. It is now used to describe any staunch Democratic loyalist.