Module 7:
Political Participation, Parties, and Elections

Module 7 explains how citizens influence government through participation, parties, elections, and electoral systems. It begins by defining political participation as the many ways ordinary people try to shape public life, from voting and joining parties to protesting and organizing. It then shows how political parties organize voters, candidates, and ideas into groups that compete for power and help structure political choice. The module also explains that elections are one of the main formal ways political power is chosen and leaders are held accountable.

The module then shows that elections do not stand alone, because electoral systems determine how votes are converted into seats and power. Different systems, such as plurality, majority, runoff, ranked-choice, and proportional representation, can produce very different outcomes from the same voters. Overall, the module argues that political participation is not just about casting a vote, but about the broader systems through which citizens, parties, and institutions shape representation, competition, legitimacy, and the distribution of political power.