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In early elections, members of the aristocracy were chosen to represent the citizens; other wealthy and important people had an opportunity of voting for them. Lesser classes of people had little influence over who ruled because they were considered unimportant to the political process and their issues were rarely addressed. Attitudes changed and electoral reform created a society were most men of a democratic country were able to vote. After some time, this led the inclusion of all men, and eventually, women as voters.
An election is like a huge competition to see who can gain enough votes to govern a country. Political parties and other candidates by publicising policies and debating important issues over the weeks before the election. This occurs through community meetings and printed material, such as posters and flyers. More recently, platforms such as television, radio and social media have been used to connect with the voting public.
Political parties are formed by people with the same ideology who believe they can run the country in the best way for all. Some parties have substantial memberships and larger number of candidates, while others are much smaller, with fewer members. Some candidates don't have a party membership for a variety of reasons, so they choose to stand as an independent in the area they live, relying on reputation and community actions.
Most democratic countries are divided into electorates. Political parties choose the candidates who will stand for election in each electorate; these are usually politically active and accredited people, with a party affiliation, living in the community. These candidates will campaign to be elected with the support of senior party members. They often go door-to-door to meet the citizens of the town or city, in an effort to get to know the important issues affecting the people.
If a party wins enough votes to lead parliament, the leader of a party is usually the person who becomes prime minister. This person chooses who, out of the other successful candidates, will be part of their cabinet, or ruling committee. Cabinet members are given portfolios, or responsibilities, such as health, forestry, education and housing. They are expected to perform their roles with integrity for the term of the parliament.
Once, election results used to take a long time to be confirmed. With modern technology, winners are now often revealed the same night as the election, or after a few days. Sometimes, the losing party's leader will make a concession speech, accepting defeat and handing over leadership of the country to the winning party. Once final counts and checks have been done, elected ministers return to parliament to begin their term in office.
