5.1- the electoral system Flashcards

1
Q

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

A

77

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2
Q

How much funding did Joe Biden raise in 2020

A

$1.69 billion

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3
Q

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

A

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

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4
Q

What did the spending total in the 2020 election

A

$14.4 billion

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5
Q

How often are senators voted on?

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

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

A
  • 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
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7
Q

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

A
  • insufficient accountability to the people- may become disconnected from constituent concerns
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8
Q

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

A
  • frequent accountability
  • more responsive to constituent needs
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9
Q

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

A
  • 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
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10
Q

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

A

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

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11
Q

What was the turnout for the Iowa caucus in 2024?

A

15%

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12
Q

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

A
  • 1 electoral college vote in Wyoming represents around 190,000 people
  • 1 electoral college vote in california represents around 680,000 people
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13
Q

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

A

48 states

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14
Q

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

A

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

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15
Q

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

A

94%
- in 2020 this was 96%

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16
Q

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

A

27

17
Q

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

A
  • 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
18
Q

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

A
  • 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
19
Q

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

A
  • Ross Perot: reform party
  • In 1992 he won 19% of the vote
20
Q

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

A
  • 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
21
Q

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

A
  • protects small states- a popular vote would concentrate campaigning in densley populated areas
  • provides governments with strong mandates
  • prevents extremist parties
22
Q

what are the benifits of the primary system?

A
  • 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
23
Q

what are the cons of the primary system?

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