Editing Candidate

{{Short description|Prospective recipient of an award or position}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Nominee|the financial term|Nominee account}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2012}}
A '''candidate''', or '''nominee''', is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a [[group (sociology)|group]] or [[election]] to an [[official|office]], in which case a [[Preselection|candidate selection]] occurs.

"[[Nomination]]" is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office by a political party,<ref name=Definition>''Judicial and Statutory Definitions of Words and Phrases,'' Volume 1, Edition 2, West Publishing Company, 1914, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NGU8AAAAIAAJ&dq=nominee+candidate+definitions+of+words&pg=PA558 p. 588] [https://books.google.com/books?id=MXE8AAAAIAAJ&dq=nominee+candidate+definitions&pg=PA618 p. 618]</ref> or the bestowing of an honor or award. This person is called a "nominee",<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nominee|title=Nominee|publisher=Merriam Webster|access-date=2012-11-07}}</ref> though "nominee" is often used interchangeably with "candidate". A presumptive nominee is a person or organization whose nomination is considered inevitable or highly likely. The phenomenon of being a candidate in a race for either a party nomination or for electoral office is called "candidacy".<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/candidacy?show=0&t=1342024814|title=Candidacy|publisher=Merriam Webster|access-date=2012-11-07}}</ref> The term "presumptive candidate" may be used to describe someone who is predicted to be a formal candidate.

==Etymology==
''Candidate'' is a derivative of the [[Latin]] {{wikt-lang|la|candidus}} (‘shining white’).<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/candidate|title=Candidate|publisher=Merriam Webster|access-date=2012-11-07}}</ref> In [[ancient Rome]], [[Political institutions of ancient Rome|men seeking political office]] would usually wear the ''toga candida'', a [[toga]] chalked and bleached to be bright white at [[public speaking|speeches]], [[debate]]s, [[Political convention|conventions]], and other public [[ceremony|functions]].<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.etymonline.com/word/candidate#etymonline_v_657|title=Candidate (n.)|publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=December 14, 2023}}</ref>

==Candidates in elections==
{{Political campaigning}}
[[File:John Turmel at Toronto-Danforth 2012 By-Election Meeting.jpg|thumb|[[John Turmel]] according to the [[Guinness World Records]] holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost, having contested 112 elections and lost 111]]
{{See also|Nomination rules|Age of candidacy}}
In the context of elections for [[public office]] in a representational partisan democracy, a candidate who has been selected by a [[political party]] is normally said to be the nominee of that party.  The party's selection (that is, the nomination) is typically accomplished either based on one or more [[Partisan primary|primary election]]s according to the rules of the party and any applicable election [[law]]s.<ref name=Definition/>

Candidates are called "[[incumbent]]s" if they are already serving in the office for which they are seeking re-election, or "challengers", if they are seeking to replace an incumbent.

In the context of elections for public office in a [[direct democracy]], a candidate can be nominated by any eligible person—and if parliamentary procedures are used, the nomination has to be seconded, i.e., receive agreement from a second person.

===''Spitzenkandidat''===
{{See also|Spitzenkandidat}}
In [[German politics]], the person at the head of an [[electoral list]] is called the ''Spitzenkandidat'' ("lead candidate"). By convention, this means that this person (normally the [[party leader]]) will be elected to lead the government if their party wins the election. Various other countries with a parliamentary democracy have the same system.

In 2014, the major groups represented in the [[European Parliament]] and the [[European Council]] agreed to apply this process to determine the next [[President of the European Commission]], as a way of the Council "taking account of the results of the European Parliament election" as required by the Union treaties. This led to the appointment and confirmation of [[Jean-Claude Juncker]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Commission's Spitzenkandidat process at risk|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/spitzenkandidat-jean-claude-juncker-race-with-no-rules-eu-leaders-brace-for-clash-over-2019-elections/|access-date=14 February 2018|work=POLITICO|date=1 February 2018}}</ref>

In {{Ill|German federal elections|lt=German federal elections|de|Bundestagswahl}}, parties nominate a "[[Chancellor candidate]]".

==In the Roman Catholic Church==
Individuals who wish to be received into the [[Church membership|membership]] of the [[Catholic Church]] who have been [[baptism|baptized]] in another [[mainstream Christian]] denomination are known as ''candidates''; their reception into the Catholic Church is done through a [[Profession of faith (Christianity)|profession of faith]], followed by the reception of [[Holy Communion]] and [[Confirmation]]. In contrast, those persons who have never received the sacrament of baptism are, as a matter of Catholic [[canon law]], considered non-Christians and if they are preparing to become a member of the Catholic Church (through the church process called the [[Order of Christian Initiation of Adults|Christian Initiation of Adults]], they are known as [[catechumen]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/who-we-teach/christian-initiation-of-adults|title=Christian Initiation of Adults|publisher=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|access-date=December 14, 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
{{wiktionary|candidate}}
{{wiktionary|nominate}}
* [[Non-human electoral candidate]]
* [[Paper candidate]]
* [[Parachute candidate]]
* [[Perennial candidate]]
* [[Star candidate]]
* [[Write-in candidate]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Suffrage}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Elections]]