In a representative democracy, the term paper candidate is often given to a candidate who stands for a political party in an electoral division where the party in question enjoys little or no support. Although the candidate himself has little chance of winning, a major party will normally make every reasonable effort to ensure it is on the ballot paper in every constituency.

The term paper candidate is most likely going to be applied if the candidate in question is party worker from another campaign or the central office, especially if he or she has few connections to the constituency and spends little or no time there.

An alternate scenario would be where the party is not seriously contesting the election but must run candidates so it can either get registered or stay registered for some other purpose. An example of this scenario in action is found in Saskatchewan, where the "dormant" Progressive Conservatives continue to run at least 10 candidates in the province's general elections to keep its registration with the Chief Electoral Officer (and to avoid losing control of what is believed to be a substantial amount of money).

An extreme version of a paper candidate, is a "Name on Ballot" or NoB (pronounced knob). Many NoB's will only put up campaign signs, and some even do not do that. In most provinces, the only requirement is that the candidate show up at the returning officer's headquarters for a few moments to take an oath. In many smaller parties, such as the Island New Democrats, a majority of the party's candidates in any given election are NoB's. The term is often worn as a badge of pride in one's loyalty to the party. Island New Democrat, Dr.Bob Perry, who has been a NoB many times in the past, often calls himself "Dr.NoB" at election time.