convention

1. US Politics an assembly of delegates of one party to select candidates for office

2. Diplomacy an international agreement second only to a treaty in formality

3. Bridge a bid or play not to be taken at its face value, which one's partner can interpret according to a prearranged bidding system

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

convention

any existing regularized social practice or accepted rule or usage. For the most part in sociology, the term is not used in a sense that departs greatly from everyday usage.
in politics specifically, an established precedent in, or expectation of, procedures in political office, e.g. that the prime minister can call an election. Such expectations or conventions are not promulgated as written laws or formally stated rules, and thus are sometimes a matter of interpretation or dispute.
in the US, the political assemblies convened’ to select presidential candidates.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The first is, that the convention must have enjoyed, in a very singular degree, an exemption from the pestilential influence of party animosities the disease most incident to deliberative bodies, and most apt to contaminate their proceedings.

View in context

alternatives: ratification by state legislatures or state conventions.

It is certainly true that limited conventions allow a national

The constitutionality of a limited convention: an originalist analysis

Wesseh, and Lofa County Senator Steve Zargo vow to work with their colleagues at the Liberian Senate to enact the Geneva Conventions or GC 70 Domestication Convention into law before or upon their return from break.

Speaking on behalf of the legislature Monday, August 13, at Commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Geneva Conventions organized by the Liberian National Red Cross Society (LNRCS), the Liberian IHL Committee (LIHLC) and the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) with support of the International Committee of the Red Cross Liberia Office, Senator Wesseh said he and Senator Zargo will spend more time to ensuring smooth passage of the domestication convention bill that is expected to be submitted to the legislature.

Senate to domesticate Geneva Conventions

Published on Wednesday, 02 April 2014 15:12 PNN/Ramallah The Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Malki, on behalf of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, handed international specialized entities, documents of the "official" adhesion of the State of Palestine to international conventions and treaties.

Documents of Palestine's adhesion to International Conventions delivered by Al-Malki

-- As the 2012 presidential conventions get underway in Tampa, Fla., a Gallup analysis of 15 elections from 1952 to 2008 shows that in all but three instances -- 1988, 1992, and 2004 -- the candidate leading in the Gallup poll conducted just prior to the first convention (the "pre-convention poll") has won the November election.

Since 1952, Pre-Convention Leader Has Won 12 of 15 Elections; Close races, like the current one, have higher likelihood of a "shake-up"

The norms that govern an international trade contract can be found in: a) international conventions applicable to the specific type of contract; b) in the absence of an international convention or for aspect which are not regulated, by an applicable convention or if the specific convention is eliminated through the will of the parties, by national law designated by the parties or by the conflictual norm; c) in the same circumstances as those already presented, by international commercial usage (in order to cover the deficiencies in international conventions or applicable national laws).

The relations between international conventions on international trade contracts

While family entertainment has been lacking in the downtown area for many years, our former Convention Center used to provide plenty.

Has the time come for a new convention center?