A Republican National Convention primer: What you need to know

The modern-day U.S.national partyconvention has been a coronation of sorts, with verylittle surpriseas to who will be the presidential candidate followingthe roll call vote ofdelegates.

But there'sbeen a rare dramatictwist to the proceedingsforthis year'sRepublican National Convention, which starts Monday in Cleveland, as an active contingent ofthe party has been trying tothwart the nomination ofthepresumptive nominee, Donald Trump.

Yet stopping Trumpseems more and more unlikely, especially after the anti-Trump forceslost some key votesat a meeting of the Republican convention'srules committee, amendments that would have given them a fighting, yet still slim,chance.

For political observers, the movement to dump Trumphas provided a tease of unpredictabilityfor an event that is a largelyscripted affair over four days.

• Any boost from Donald Trump's VP pick Mike Pence could be short-lived
• 'It's over, folks': How the plot to dump Trump may have died in Cleveland

The conventionbrings together delegates from across the country to vote on the party platform, hammer out party rulesand officially choose theparty's presidentialcandidate. Butit's also the one time the party comes together as an organization to unify before heading into thegeneral November election campaign

The convention"has been a way for the party to unify itself and present the image it wants to the American public," said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Elections Research Center.

The speeches

That image, he said, consists of prime time speeches that have become the hallmark of the convention and have been honed and devised in ways to be appealing to both the people in thehall and the general public,

Dozens of speakers, including seniorpoliticians, with a mix ofcelebrities, will take to the podium throughoutthe convention. But the big names will beslotted forprimetime, when the television networks will air theirspeeches to a wide audience.

For the Republican convention,former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, current Speaker Paul Ryan, Texas SenatorTed Cruzand New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will all likely get good prime time spots.

The candidate's spouse traditionally speaks, and Melania Trump has been confirmed as a speaker. And Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, recently chosen as Trump'svice-presidential candidate, will also make prime time.

• #NeverTrump conservatives think the unthinkable: Supporting Hillary Clinton

The current president often takes the stage of the partyconvention, althoughGeorge W. Bush, with historicallylow approval ratings, was a no-show at the 2012 Republican conventionand insteaddelivered a taped address.

Former presidents as well are given a plum spot, such as Bill Clinton in 2012. So are top celebrities who can forget actorClint Eastwood's famous or infamouschair speech at the Republican 2012 convention.

There's often a keynote addressfrom an up-and-comer in the party, someone who has been deemed a potentialpresidentialcandidate in the next election or two elections down the road think then-Senator Barack Obama at the 2004 Democratic convention.

"So there's a lot oftesting goingon of trying out candidates," said Burden.

Speeches may get the media attention, but delegates are also conducting party business during the convention. The Republican convention will officially begin late Monday afternoon, andfour reports fromfour different committees the platform, rules, credentials and permanent organization committees will bebroughtto the convention floor to be voted on and ratified by the2,472delegates.

The platform

The party platform outlines the principles of the party. Thoughit's not abinding documenton the candidate, it's taken quite seriously by some of the delegatesand the wording is often the result of weeks of workparsing overphrases.

The presumed nominee usuallytakes control of that process and tries to shape theplatform to reflect the message he or shewants tooffer in the generalelection.But Burden says Trump has taken ahands-off approach, and with the exception of insisting onlanguage about a wall built along the Mexican border, he has given the delegates free rein to shape the document.

Roll call and the rules

The roll call is the official voteto choose the nominee. The conventionchair willgothrough each state delegation, alphabetically.

Eachdelegation chair, followinga preamble praising his or her particular state, will announce the number of delegates being pledged to the particular candidatedelegates the candidate won during the primary and caucus process.

The delegates are tallied andif a candidate receives the magic number 1,237 in Trump's case that person becomes the nominee.

Over the past couple of days, the rules committee has been considering amendments, not only to the rules thatgovern the process of the convention itself, but the nominationprocess and those that govern the organization of the party in general.

Normally, this process would hold little interest forthe mediaor the general public. Thisyear, the rules committeehas taken on greater significance, with attempts by the anti-Trump movement to amend the rules or add clauses that would unbind the delegates. That would mean delegates would be free to vote for whomever they choose, not be tied to the primary and caucus resultsand be able to choose anycandidate they like.

Thehope of the anti-Trumpersis that if the delegates were free to choose, Trumpmaynot receive the number of delegates heneeds to officially win the nominationand that would force another vote, where anothercandidate could emerge to challenge him.

So far, however, the rules committee has thwarted those attempts, voted down thoseamendments and made it all the more likely that Trump will be the nominee.