This unit is designed to help secondary social studies students learn about national political party conventions. It is arranged into 15 class sessions and contains two case studies. Each class session explores a political subject related to national conventions, such as the American party system, the primary process, elections, selection of delegates, compromises, candidate selection, delegate responsibility, and coalitions. Topics of the class sessions are identification of leadership potential, presidential ambition, the decision to become a candidate, political plotting, primaries, delegate and candidate characteristics, purposes and events of a national party convention, the decision-making process, convention activities, and colorful past conventions. The 15th class session directs the students to consolidate information from preceding sessions and write a 200 word statement discussing the pros or cons of the convention system. Each class session presents background information and suggests student activities such as art work, class discussions, oral reports, research reports, question answering, and readings. The case studies of the 1976 Democratic and Republican conventions emphasize the historical importance of each gathering and highlight unconventional aspects and personal maneuvering. A listing of presidential candidates from 1856-1968 and a glossary of terms are included in the document. (Author/DB)