Ways political parties compete for power

Before we know how political parties compete for power let us firstly take a glimpse at the definition of the word POLITICAL PARTY. 
The meaning of the word ” political party ” is ; Political parties are groups of people who have the same ideology, coming together for the purpose of seeking the mandate of the people to take control of the government machinery.
They serve as platform for political leaders to emerge. In any political system,political parties scramble to outsmart one another to take over the machinery of government. The ways through which they compete for power are as follows :
i. Manifesto : This is a formal statement expressing the aims and ideology of the political parties. Political parties design programes and ideology that forms their basis of operation.  The level at which these ideologies affect the lives and welfare of citizens will determine the level of support they get from them. The political parties then make sure that their ideologies are welfaristic and realistic to gain an upper hand in elections.
ii. Membership : Political parties all struggle to entice more people to their sides. This will increase the size of their membership, as a party with a large membership stands a greater chance of winning an election.  These facts propel them to jostle for bloated membership.
III. Campaigns : This is a series of planned activities that is intended or designed to achieve a peculiar political aim or result.  The strategy and method used to campaign goes along way in capturing the attention and interest of the citizens. Many people can be convinced by the mode of campaign of apolitical party.  In Nigerian Democratic system, the politicians in various parties use campaigns to compete with opposition parties.  A lot of money is usually involved in campaign in other to win the hearts of the citizens
Rallies : This refers to a large public meeting especially on that is held outdoors to support political ideas, etc. Rallies are used to arouse individual interest in political party.  Rallies are powerful instruments used to win the heart of the citizens towards a political party.
Quality of candidates : The quality of the candidates presented by political parties also matters in an election since people can only for a candidate that has the interest of the people at heart and has integrity and trust. Political parties present party candidates of proven integrity so as to stand a better chance in elections.
Logo : A logo is a symbol or design adopted by an organization to identify its products.  Political parties use logos to represent their parties, these logos attract the interest and attention of the citizens to a particular parties.  It helps in competing for power among political parties.  Examples of political party logos in Nigeria include the following : People Democratic Party ( PDP ) – Umbrella, Action Congress of Nigeria ( ACN ) – broom e.t.c take a look at the picture above you will different political logos in there.
Geographical spread : Political parties also jostle for government machinery among themselves by spreading their membership to all the strata of the society. A political party that is ethnic in nature may not get any vote outside it’s ethnic background, hence the need to have national outlook and spread to all parts of the country to stand a better chance of winning elections.
Slogan : This is a word or phrase used to express the aim of a political party. The slogan of a party is always positive I  nature which is intended to win the hearts of the citizen towards the party. The slogan of people’s Democratic Party ( PDP ) for example is ” Power “. While that of APC is “Change”.