5.1- the electoral system Flashcards
How many more votes did trump get compared to hilary clinton in the E.C vote?
77
How much funding did Joe Biden raise in 2020
$1.69 billion
What is the president’s re-election rate compared to the Senate and the House, and why might this be
70% (president)
80% (senate)
90% (house)
representatives only need to look after the needs of their state; they can pork barrel
What did the spending total in the 2020 election
$14.4 billion
How often are senators voted on?
- 1/3 of senators are up for election every 2 years
- senators serve 6-year terms
why might it be argued that the 6-year term of senators is good for democracy?
- 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
why might it be argued that the 6-year term of senators is bad for democracy?
- insufficient accountability to the people- may become disconnected from constituent concerns
Why might it be argued that the 2-year term of members of the HOR is good for democracy?
- frequent accountability
- more responsive to constituent needs
Why might it be argued that the 2-year term of members of the HOR is bad for democracy?
- 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
how much of the popular vote did obama get in 2012 and how many electoral college seats?
51% of the vote, around 62% of the E.C seats
What was the turnout for the Iowa caucus in 2024?
15%
How many people does one electoral college vote represent in Wyoming vs in california?
- 1 electoral college vote in Wyoming represents around 190,000 people
- 1 electoral college vote in california represents around 680,000 people
how many states use a winner-takes-all method?
48 states
what are 3 examples of swing states in the 2020 election?
Arizona, Georgia and Michigan all won by less than 3%
In 2016, what % of campaign events occurred in the 12 swing states?
94%
- in 2020 this was 96%
In how many of the last 40 elections has the candidate won with more than 50% of the popular vote?
27
How does the ‘big tent’ ideology leave little room for small parties?
- 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
Give an example of when a minority candidate gained concentrated support and was able to win a high number of E.C. votes.
- 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
Give an example of a candidate who won a high % of the popular vote but got no E.C. seats.
- Ross Perot: reform party
- In 1992 he won 19% of the vote
What are the arguments that the E.C. system is undemocratic?
- 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
What are the arguments that the E.C. system is democratic?
- protects small states- a popular vote would concentrate campaigning in densley populated areas
- provides governments with strong mandates
- prevents extremist parties
what are the benifits of the primary system?
- 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
what are the cons of the primary system?
- disproportionately benifits individuals with large ammounts of funding
- closed primarys mean that independent voters loose out on participation
