What are "political parties"?

Political parties are defined as organizations that seek to gain and maintain power within the government. They do this by presenting candidates for public office and promoting their policies and ideologies to the electorate. The primary goal of a political party is to influence the direction of government and public policy, and they often operate at local, state, and national levels to achieve these objectives.

While individual voters may share similar views, they do not constitute a political party. Agencies monitoring elections play a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the electoral process, but they are not political entities themselves. Additionally, groups opposing governmental policies can exist independently of formal political party structures and do not necessarily seek to attain government power. Thus, the proper characterization of political parties focuses on their organizational nature and their aspirations to influence governmental authority and decision-making.