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A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be
elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...
to an
office An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific d ...
— in this case a
candidate selection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...
procedure occurs. * to receive membership in a
group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
" Nomination" is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office by a political party,''Judicial and Statutory Definitions of Words and Phrases,'' Volume 1, Edition 2, West Publishing Company, 1914
p. 588p. 618
/ref> or the bestowing of an honor or award. This person is called a "nominee", though nominee often is used interchangeably with "candidate". A presumptive nominee is a person or organization believes that the nomination is inevitable or likely. The act of being a candidate in a race for either a party nomination or for electoral office is called a "candidacy". Presumptive candidate may be used to describe someone who is predicted to be a formal candidate.


Etymology

''Candidate'' is a derivative of the Latin (‘shining white’). In Ancient Rome, people running for political office would usually wear togas chalked and bleached to be bright white at
speeches This list of speeches includes those that have gained notability in English or in English translation. The earliest listings may be approximate dates. Before the 1st century *c.570 BC : Gautama Buddha gives his first Dhammacakkappavattana ...
,
debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...
s, conventions, and other public functions.


Candidates for church membership

Individuals who wish to be received into the
membership Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the Catholic Church who have been
baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
in another
mainstream Christian The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
denomination are known as ''candidates'' and their reception into the Catholic Church is done through a profession of faith, followed by the reception of Holy Communion and Confirmation. In contrast, those persons who have never received the sacrament of baptism are canonically considered non-Christians and if they are preparing to become a member of the Catholic Church, they are known as catechumens.


Candidates in elections

In the context of elections for public office in a representational partisan democracy, a candidate who has been selected by a political party is normally said to be the nominee of that party. The party's selection (that is, the nomination) is typically accomplished either based on one or more primary elections according to the rules of the party and any applicable election
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...
s. Candidates are called "
incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...
s" if they are already serving in the office for which they are seeking re-election, or "challengers", if they are seeking to replace an incumbent. In the context of elections for public office in a direct democracy, a candidate can be nominated by any eligible person—and if parliamentary procedures are used, the nomination has to be seconded, i.e., receive agreement from a second person. In some non-partisan representative systems (e.g., administrative elections of the
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
), no nominations (or campaigning, electioneering, etc.) take place at all, with voters free to choose any person at the time of voting—with some possible exceptions such as through a minimum age requirement—in the jurisdiction. In such cases, it is not required (or even possible) that the members of the electorate be familiar with all of the eligible persons in their area, though such systems may involve indirect elections at larger geographic levels to ensure that some first-hand familiarity among potential electees can exist at these levels (i.e., among the elected delegates).


''Spitzenkandidat''

In
German politics Germany is a democratic and federal parliamentary republic, where federal legislative power is vested in the (the parliament of Germany) and the (the representative body of the , Germany's regional states). The federal system has, since ...
, the person at the head of an
electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...
is called the ''Spitzenkandidat'' ("lead candidate"). By convention, this means that this person (normally the party leader) will be elected to lead the government if their party wins the election. Various other countries with a parliamentary democracy have the same system. In 2014, the major groups represented in the European Parliament and the European Council agreed to apply this process to determine the next President of the European Commission, as a way of the Council "taking account of the results of the European Parliament election" as required by the Union treaties. This led to the appointment and confirmation of Jean-Claude Juncker.


Presumptive candidate

The term "presumptive candidate" or "prospective candidate" is sometimes used to describe a person who has not officially become a candidate but is considered very likely to in the future.


See also

*
Age of candidacy Age of candidacy is the minimum age at which a person can legally hold certain elected government offices. In many cases, it also determines the age at which a person may be eligible to stand for an election or be granted ballot access. The firs ...
*
Paper candidate In a representative democracy, a paper candidate (also known as a no-hope candidate) is a candidate who stands for a political party in an electoral division where the party in question enjoys only low levels of support. Although the candidate ...
*
Parachute candidate A parachute candidate, or carpetbagger in the United States, is a pejorative term for an election candidate who does not live in, and has little connection to, the area they are running to represent. The allegation is thus that the candidate is b ...
* Perennial candidate *
Star candidate A star candidate (french: candidat vedette) refers to a high-profile individual who has been recruited as a candidate by a political party. Star candidates have usually excelled in fields outside politics such as academia, business, entertainmen ...
*
Write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...


References

{{Authority control Elections