A national convention aims to offer a space for a political party to unify — to hone its message, set aside internal divisions and move forward toward a shared adversary. As Republicans sweep up confetti and try to forget the Ted Cruz-Donald Trump flame war, Democrats pack their bags for Philadelphia, hoping to unite their own badly split party.

It's easy to say the divisions that surface in a major election year are somehow worse than the one before, anger and divisiveness compounding but with little change. The political rhetoric stays the same, year after year: "... We are going to fix the system."

During her week in Cleveland, photographer Gabriella Demczuk explored the ways that people are embracing and challenging the Republican Party's mission in this election — both from inside and outside the party. Here is a selection of what she saw.

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