5.1- the electoral system

Question 1

How many more votes did trump get compared to hilary clinton in the E.C vote?

Answer 1

77

Question 2

How much funding did Joe Biden raise in 2020

Answer 2

$1.69 billion

Question 3

What is the president’s re-election rate compared to the Senate and the House, and why might this be

Answer 3

70% (president)
80% (senate)
90% (house)
representatives only need to look after the needs of their state; they can pork barrel

Question 4

What did the spending total in the 2020 election

Answer 4

$14.4 billion

Question 5

How often are senators voted on?

Answer 5

• 1/3 of senators are up for election every 2 years
• senators serve 6-year terms

Question 6

why might it be argued that the 6-year term of senators is good for democracy?

Answer 6

• independence from public opinion, allows them to act more as delegates
• may be less responsive to lobbyists as they have less of a need to fundraise for re-election constantly
• can focus more on long term structural issues rather than policies that will win votes

Question 7

why might it be argued that the 6-year term of senators is bad for democracy?

Answer 7

• insufficient accountability to the people- may become disconnected from constituent concerns

Question 8

Why might it be argued that the 2-year term of members of the HOR is good for democracy?

Answer 8

• frequent accountability
• more responsive to constituent needs

Question 9

Why might it be argued that the 2-year term of members of the HOR is bad for democracy?

Answer 9

• short-term focus, implementation of policies that will win short-term popularity rather than solve long-term issues
• increased influence of campaign finance and wealth donours

Question 10

how much of the popular vote did obama get in 2012 and how many electoral college seats?

Answer 10

51% of the vote, around 62% of the E.C seats

Question 11

What was the turnout for the Iowa caucus in 2024?

Answer 11

15%

Question 12

How many people does one electoral college vote represent in Wyoming vs in california?

Answer 12

• 1 electoral college vote in Wyoming represents around 190,000 people
• 1 electoral college vote in california represents around 680,000 people

Question 13

how many states use a winner-takes-all method?

Answer 13

48 states

Question 14

what are 3 examples of swing states in the 2020 election?

Answer 14

Arizona, Georgia and Michigan all won by less than 3%

Question 15

In 2016, what % of campaign events occurred in the 12 swing states?

Answer 15

94%
- in 2020 this was 96%

Question 16

In how many of the last 40 elections has the candidate won with more than 50% of the popular vote?

Answer 16

27

Question 17

How does the ‘big tent’ ideology leave little room for small parties?

Answer 17

• parties very significantly across states, some democrats hold traditionally republican ideology
• the two main parties encompass most of the left and right
• some say there are in fact 100 different parties

Question 18

Give an example of when a minority candidate gained concentrated support and was able to win a high number of E.C. votes.

Answer 18

• George Wallace (American Independence Party)
• won 46 electoral college votes in 1968
• focused all his campaigning in the south and was, therefore, able to gain concentrated support

Question 19

Give an example of a candidate who won a high % of the popular vote but got no E.C. seats.

Answer 19

• Ross Perot: reform party
• In 1992 he won 19% of the vote

Question 20

What are the arguments that the E.C. system is undemocratic?

Answer 20

• overrepresents small states
• leads to too much focus on swing states
• underrepresented minority candidates
• high levels of wasted votes due to winner-takes-all
• unbound electors
• reinforces the two-party system
• candidate can win without a majority of the popular vote
• the E.C. vote takes precedence over the popular vote

Question 21

What are the arguments that the E.C. system is democratic?

Answer 21

• protects small states- a popular vote would concentrate campaigning in densley populated areas
• provides governments with strong mandates
• prevents extremist parties

Question 22

what are the benifits of the primary system?

Answer 22

• allows smaller candidates to increase popularity e.g obama
• encorages early participation
• maximises voter choice: they can choose from many candidates from the same party

Question 23

what are the cons of the primary system?

Answer 23

• disproportionately benifits individuals with large ammounts of funding
• closed primarys mean that independent voters loose out on participation