Chapter 8 Flashcards
what are the 3 phases of presidential elections?
- money phase: candidates fundraise and put forth info
- winning the nomination: caucuses, and primaries
- dancing to the middle: candidate tries to attract moderate voters
what are the two biggest parts of winning the nomination?
Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries
what is Super Tuesday?
the date on the presidential primary calendar when multiple states hold primaries ad caucuses
how is the Vice President chosen?
to balance out the ticket
what is the Time, Place, and Manner clause?
the constitutional clause that delegates control of elections to the state governments
what are the 5 parts to the presidential election prediction model?
- the economy
- whether the country is at war or peace
- presidential approval
- fatigue with party in power
- trouble dealing with the difficulty of the electoral college
what is the median voter theorem?
states that candidates should aim for middle ground stances to attract the most voters
what is the best way to win an election?
make a story out of it, with a villain, hero, threat, victims, and a resolution
what is the problem with globalization?
it always has winners and losers
who are the losers of globalization?
the working, middle class Americans
what stems from the winners of globalization?
increased standard of living, which increases living/socioeconomic inequality, which leads to retribalization as people get mad, which leads to identity politics/politics of dignity
what is traditional political cleavage?
economic equality limited government
what are the alternative political cleavages that Trump tapped into to win in 2016?
marginalized interest traditional national identity
(race, ethnicity, religion)
groups
melting pot America first
how did voting work in the very beginning?
paper ballots, distributed by party leaders that were often colored to show who you voted for, printed in newspapers, and even voted out loud in Kentucky
what was the problem with the early voting system?
Election Day intimidation ran rampant
how are voting barriers cyclical?
systematically bias electoral outcomes allow incumbents to lock in advantages created by their initial use of power
how did southern states shield themselves from voting reform?
by capitalizing on their influence in congress and the national democratic party
what are some modern day barriers to voting?
registration requirements, purging voter rolls, offering fewer voting stations in certain neighborhoods, etc.
what did political machines do?
removed some of the barriers to voting
what is transactional politics?
the every day give and take of bargaining and compromise, essential to govern
how do political machines work?
through campaign rallies focused on target audiences made up of fixed social/religious categories, resulting in a greater emphasis on mobilization than persuasion
do political machines use any idealogical polarization?
no, they just focus on turning out the vote
what led to the decline of political machines?
the adoption of the secret ballot
what was a drawback of the secret ballot?
it forced individuals to have a slight education to vote, which ended up being a form of voter suppression
what was the drawback of political machines?
created fraudulent and corrupt behaviors through political patronage
what is political patronage?
distribution of state resources to ordinary citizens in exchange for their political support (ex. government jobs, private goods)
what is the plurality rule?
the candidate with the most votes wins, not stated in Constitution, you don’t have to win 51%, just more than everyone else
what does plurality rule inevitably lead to?
a 2 party system, as people try to make their vote count and basically vote for who they hate the least
what are the 2 main ways that voting is at the core of the US?
symbolically: elections are a ritual expression of legitimate democratic political authority
substantively: elections can transform society, change public policy and national life
what are the 2 results of plurality rule?
- smaller parties tend to earn fewer seats than their vote share warrants
- larger parties tend to earn more seats than their vote share warrants
what is plurality rule also called?
winner take all system
what is proportional representation?
seats are distributed proportionally to the votes each party receives
what is mixed election rule?
combine plurality and majority rule to elect some members of the national legislature with a plurality rule to elect the remainder
what is a political action committee? PAC
an organization of at least 50 people, affiliated with an interest group, that is permitted to make contributions to candidates for federal office
what are Super PAC’s?
organizations that raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to promote a candidate or publicize a cause. however, they may not directly contribute to a candidate or coordinate with a campaign
what is bundling?
a form of fundraising in which an individual persuades others to donate large amounts that are then delivered together to a candidate or campaign
what are the 527 groups?
organizations that raise and spend unlimited amounts of money for “issue advocacy” but are forbidden to coordinate their efforts with any candidate or campaign
what is a caucus?
a local meeting of voters to select candidates to represent a political party in a general election or to choose delegates who select candidates at a convention
what is a closed primary?
a vote cast by party members to select candidates to represent the party in the general election
what is an open primary?
a vote cast by any eligible voter to select candidates to represent the party in the general election
what is winner-take-all?
the candidate winning a simple majority or plurality receives all electoral votes, also called “first past the post”
what is proportional representation?
the allocation of votes or delegates on the basis of the percentage of the vote received, opposite of winner-take-all
what is electoral bounce?
the spike in the polls that follows an event such as the party’s national convention
what are the age, citizenship, and residence requirements to run for congress?
House: at least 25 years old, US citizen for at least 7 years
Senate: at least 30 years old, US citizen for at least 9 years
Both: must live in the state, but not necessarily the House district where they are seeking election
what is the incumbency advantage?
the tendency for members of congress to win reelection in overwhelming numbers
what are Midterm Elections?
national elections held between presidential elections, involving all seats in the House, 1/3 of the Senate, 36 governors, and more
what is Midterm loss?
when the party of the president loses seats in congress during the midterms, has occurred in almost all midterm elections
what is reapportionment?
reorganization of the boundaries of the House districts following the US census, constitutionally required every 10 years, lines are redrawn to ensure that each House member represents roughly the same number of constituents
what is Gerrymandering?
redrawing an election district in a way that gives an advantage to one party
what is a safe district?
a district consisting of voters who have historically voted for one party over another by a large majority
what is a call list?
a long list of potential donors who candidates must phone
what is an open seat?
a seat in congress without an incumbent running for reelection
what are candidate-centered elections?
a system in which individual candidates decide to run, raise their own money, and design their own strategy- as opposed to party systems, in which political parties play these roles
what is name recognition?
an advantage possessed by a well-known political figure, a political celebrity
what is negative campaigning?
running for office by attacking the opponent, an unpopular, but effective tactic
what are the 4 steps of successfully running for congress?
- raise sufficient funds, and raise more
- organize a talented team
- develop a strategy that plays to your strengths
- hone your message
what are first term congress members called, and when does their reelection campaign begin?
freshman, and immediately
