Campaigns and Elections

Question 1

FEC & Supreme Court

Answer 1

Supreme Court decisions have voided sections of the campaign finance law, and businesses and organizations may now run campaign ads and support candidates for offices

Question 2

The Federal Election Commission (FEC)

Answer 2

created to try to control federal campaign donations and create transparency in campaign finance

Question 3

Citizens United v. FEC

Answer 3

led to the removal of spending limits on corporations
- ruling allowed corporations to place unlimited money into super PACS, or Independent Expenditure-Only Committees

Question 4

Campaign Contributions

Answer 4

• individuals and organizations still have contribution limits
• SUPER PACS can raise unlimited funds if they do not coordinate with candidates campaigns

Question 5

Election Cycle: Nomination

Answer 5

parties determine who the party nominee will be
- state political parties choose primaries or caucuses to determine nomination
- primaries are the most common method
- delegates from primaries/caucuses will go to state or national conventions to vote on the behalf of state/local voters

Question 6

2020 Presidential Election FINANCES

Answer 6

For the 2020 presidential election cycle, PACs raised approximately $2.7 billion
- In the first presidential election after Citizens United, outside spending was over 3x greater than in the previous presidential cycle

Question 7

Closed Primary

Answer 7

only members of the political party selecting nominees may vote
- EX: Independent cannot vote in Republican Closed Primary

Question 8

Open Primary

Answer 8

allows all voters to vote
- EX: Independent can vote in Republican Open Primary

Question 9

Top-Two Primary

Answer 9

pits all candidates against each other, regardless of party affiliation
- two candidates with the most votes becomes the final candidates for the general election

Question 10

Caucuses

Answer 10

few caucuses are used for presidential, state, and local level nominations
- meeting of party members in which nominees are selected informally
- less expensive than primaries
- local party members get to pick the delegates who represent them at national convention
- 2-3 hours long, voter turnout for a caucus is 20% lower than for primaries

Question 11

Primary Campaigns

Answer 11

multiple candidates compete for each party’s nominations
- campaign ads rarely mention political parties and focus on positions or name recognition

Question 12

General Election Campaigns

Answer 12

focus on getting party members to the polls
- shadow campaigns & Super PACs can use negative ads to influence voters
- campaign ads reach for independent voters
- some ads focus on issue and policy positions or party loyalism

Question 13

Competitive Seat

Answer 13

describes a race where a challenger runs against the incumbent

Question 14

Incumbent

Answer 14

individual that already holds that office

Question 15

Open Seats

Answer 15

one whose incumbent is not running for reelection

Question 16

Incumbent Advantages

Answer 16

• already known
• constituents are already comfortable with them and their policies
• already have money (war chests)
• visibility / franking privileges
• branding
• gerrymandering

Question 17

War Chests

Answer 17

campaign accounts registered with the FEC where they keep donations to use if they intend to run for office

Question 18

Franking Privileges

Answer 18

allows incumbents a limited amount of free mail to communicate with the voters in their district

Question 19

Political Strategy: Religion

Answer 19

• RALPH REED: Created the Christian Coalition (score card, Mobilize the Churches)
• Obergefell v. Hodges
• raising cultural issues to religious conservatives in the South brought a new fanbase for the Republicans

Question 20

Political Strategy: Racial Tension

Answer 20

• Changing of the GA flag to avoid past racial tensions to appeal to African Americans
• African Americans and White South
• “Are you a Yankee supporter?”

Question 21

Political Strategy: Immigration

Answer 21

• “Illegal immigrants are taking our jobs”
• using fear

Question 22

Political Strategy: Keeping “soccer moms”

Answer 22

• How do we keep the suburban white woman while a majority of them are pro-choice?
• How do we support pro-business republicans?

Question 23

Marketing

Answer 23

1. Yard Sign (name and color - BRANDING)
2. Mailing (gives key info and images)
3. Website
4. Social Media
5. Door Knocking

Question 24

Is running a campaign more expensive in the urban or rural areas?

Answer 24

RURAL = MORE $$$
- door-knocking is less common and you rely on media more (billboards, cable TV)

Question 25

Political Action Committee (PAC)

Answer 25

political committee organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates

Question 26

Super PAC

Answer 26

“independent expenditure-only political action committees”
- may raise UNLIMITED amounts of money to spend on ads advocating for political candidates
- big difference between PAC and SUPER PAC is that SUPER PACs can raise UNLIMITED money

Question 27

Packing (Gerrymandering)

Answer 27

concentrating many voters of one type (or minority) into a single electoral district to reduce their influence in other districts
- reduces their influence elsewhere

Question 28

Dilution (Gerrymandering)

Answer 28

manipulating electoral district boundaries to dilute the voting power of a particular demographic group
- spreading the target group across multiple districts to minimize their vote
- makes it less likely for them to elect candidates of their choice

Question 29

Gerrymandering

Answer 29

redrawing electoral district boundaries to skew electoral outcomes in favor of one party of group
- gain electoral advantage by ensuring that a party has more reps by reducing competition from other groups

Question 30

Barriers to Youth Voting

Answer 30

1. young people are mobile
2. voting culture
3. cutbacks in civil education
4. lack of outreach from political parties

Question 31

Plurality (Types of Voting)

Answer 31

• first-past-post
• candidate who receive the most votes wins
• candidate does not need majority of the votes to win

Question 32

Majority (Types of Voting)

Answer 32

candidate receives more than 50% of the votes to win
- if no candidate gets this, runoffs can be used to faceoff the top two candidates

Question 33

Rank Choice Voting

Answer 33

system where voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than selecting just one
- if no candidate wins the majority, runoff is held between the two candidates with the highest votes

Question 34

County Unit System

Answer 34

• allocated electoral votes for statewide offices based on the state’s counties, rather than population
• caused African Americans in GA to have less influence on voting
• system was declared unconstitutional, so GA now uses runoffs if officials do not win majority

Question 35

Electoral College

Answer 35

• each states electoral reps are the number of HOR seats + 2 (two seats in the Senate)
• during the presidential election, voters vote for a electoral representative who will then place the electoral votes for the candidate who won the popular vote

Question 36

Nebraska & Maine

Answer 36

split the electoral college vote to be proportional to the popular vote from the state - makes it so winner takes all is not always the case
- proportional representation rather than winner-takes-all
- congressional district method