The third department of the government is the JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
or the judiciary. Its members are, in Virginia, chosen by the
legislature. Their duty is to administer the laws, that is to
inquire into every case in which a person is accused of breaking
the laws, and if a person is found to be guilty, to sentence him
to the punishment which the law prescribes for the crime or
offence he has committed.

In this book full particulars and explanations are given as to the
formation of those three departments of government, the many
duties assigned to each, and how those duties are performed.

In republics government is usually carried on according to the
wishes of the majority of the people. This is what is called
MAJORITY RULE. At elections to form the legislative or executive
department, different persons or candidates are proposed for each
office, and the candidate who gets a majority of the votes is
elected. A candidate is a person who is proposed for election to
some office.

Candidates for public offices are proposed or nominated at what
are called CONVENTIONS. A convention is a meeting of electors, or
voters, held for the purpose of agreeing upon or choosing persons
to be candidates for office. Conventions are called together and
conducted by organizations known as PARTIES or POLITICAL PARTIES.
There are usually at least two political parties in every country
in which there is constitutional government. Each of the parties
nominates candidates at every election, and tries in every
legitimate way to persuade the people to vote for its candidates.