Chapter Seven: Elections and Campaigns

Question 1

Purpose of campaigns

Answer 1

where candidates launch their efforts to convince voters to support them

Question 2

Functions of elections

Answer 2

choose political leaders from competitive field of candidates, political participation, replace leaders without overthrowing to make them accountable, legitimize positions of power in political system because people accept elections as a fair method for selecting political leaders

Question 3

Date of elections

Answer 3

Tuesday after the first Monday in November every even numbered year

Question 4

Party control over elections

Answer 4

has been weakened after the adoption of the national convention and the decrease in straight tickets

Question 5

Plurality

Answer 5

largest number of votes - not necessarily a majority

Question 6

Single-member districts

Answer 6

the election in that district determines one representative

Question 7

Winner-takes-all

Answer 7

candidate with most votes wins - requires a plurality, not a majority - ensures two party system because parties try to assemble a large coalition of voters that leads to at least a plurality - contrasts to proportional representation

Question 8

Proportional representation

Answer 8

legislative seats are given to parties in proportion to the number of votes they receive in the election - encourages multi-party systems because a party can always get some representatives elected to legislature - contrasts to winner-take-all

Question 9

Primary elections

Answer 9

selects a party’s candidates for elective offices

Question 10

Closed primary

Answer 10

a voter must declare in advance his or her party membership to participate in that party’s primary - most states have these

Question 11

Open primaries

Answer 11

a voter can decide when he or she enters the voting booth which party’s primary to participate in - a few states have these

Question 12

Blanket primaries

Answer 12

AKA free-love primaries - voter marks a ballot that lists candidates for all parties - can select a Republican for one office and a Democrat for another - 3 states - Louisiana, Washington, Alaska

Question 13

Caucus as a primary

Answer 13

local party members meet and agree on the candidate they will support - local caucuses pass decisions on to regional caucuses, who vote on candidates and pass that to the state caucus who makes the final decision - Iowa

Question 14

Coattail effect

Answer 14

Presidential popularity affects congressional elections e.g. Bush’s coattail effect in 2004 = major Republican gains in House and Senate

Question 15

Differences between Presidential and Congressional elections

Answer 15

Congressional - regional Presidential - national, Presidential = more competitive, fewer people vote in congressional, coattail effect, Congressmen can communicate more directly with constituents, Congressmen can deny responsibility for problems even if incumbent

Question 16

Frontloading

Answer 16

tendency for earlier primaries to be more important than later ones

Question 17

The Reform Act of 1974

Answer 17

• six person Federal Election Commission was formed to oversee election contributions and expenditures and to investigate and prosecute violators
• All contributions over $100 must be disclosed, no cash contributions over $100 are allowed
• No foreign contributions allowed
• individual contributions limited to $1,000 per candidate, $20,000 to national party committee, and $5,000 to a PAC
• A corporation or other association can establish a PAC, but must register 6 months in advance, have at least 50 contributors, and give to at least 5 candidates
• PAC contributions limited to $5,000 per candidate and $15,000 to a national party
• federal matching funds are provided for major candidates in primaries, and all campaigns costs of major candidates in the general election were to be paid by the government

Question 18

1976 amendments

Answer 18

allowed corporations, labor unions, and special interest groups to set up political actions committees (PACs)

Question 19

Buckley v. Valeo

Answer 19

SCOTUS ruled that limiting the amount that a candidate could spend on his or her own campaign was constitutional - the candidate, no less than any other person, has a First Amendment right to engage in the discussion of public issues and vigorously and tirelessly to advocate his own election

Question 20

Soft money

Answer 20

funds not specified for candidates campaigns, but given to political parties for party building activities - major theme of John McCain’s 2000 POTUS campaign - said that it made its way into campaigns anyway

Question 21

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

Answer 21

banned soft money to national parties and placed curbs on the use of campaign ads by outside interest groups - limit of $1000 per candidate contribution was raised to $2000 and maximum that an individual can give to all federal candidates was raised from $25000 to $95000 over a 2 year election cycle - didn’t ban contributions to state and local parties but limited soft money t0 $10,000 per year per candidate

Question 22

Debate over local control of the voting process

Answer 22

2000 election Bush vs. Gore - Florida’s hanging chads started the debate - some said nationally regulated so that all voters use same voting mechanism everywhere, while some say federal government should give funds to poor districts to improve voting mechanism conditions and quality

Question 23

527s of 2004 election

Answer 23

after 2002 restrictions on campaign contributions, independent but heavily partisan groups gathered millions of dollars in campaign contributions for both Republicans and Democrats - legality questioned because they were tax-exempt and tapped a long list of wealthy partisans for money

Question 24

Critical realigning election

Answer 24

marks significant change in the way that large groups of citizens votes, shifting their political allegiance from one party to the other

Question 25

Election of 1860

Answer 25

Whig party collapsed and the Republicans under Lincoln came to power - country realigned by region - North and South - critical realigning election

Question 26

Election of 1896

Answer 26

Economic issue - farmers hit hard by series of depressions and demanded reforms - Dems nominate William Jennings Bryan, champion of farmers, alienating eastern laborers, creating East/West split - critical realigning election

Question 27

Election of 1932

Answer 27

Issue = Great Depression - New Deal coalition where farmers, urban workers, northern blacks, southern whites, and Jewish voters supported Democrats - Dems became dominant - critical realigning election