Component 3- US Democracy and Participation Flashcards
What is a primary?
First stage of voting where candidates from the same party compete in a public vote Candidates compete in each state to win delegates
Open primary states
Allow any voter to participate in either party’s primary (Texas)
Closed primary states
Only allow registered supporters of a party to vote at their primary (Florida)
Semi-closed primary states
Only vote for a party if you’re a registered supporter or an independent (New Hampshire)
Caucus states
Hold public meetings/debates before voting by raising hands or standing; lower turnout rate and attracts radicals (Iowa)
Advantages of the primary/caucus process
-Voter choice and democracy
-Competing ideologies
-Electability / proven candidates
-Tests ability to overcome issues and raise funds
-Raises key issues
-Competition tests different policies / political education / ‘ideas factory’
-Acts as media coverage for candidates
Disadvantages of the primary/caucus process
-Timing: early states voting can influence late states
-Internal divides in parties
-Reduce popularity of winning candidates / negative campaigning within party
-Specific procedures: different rules for different states
What are invisible primaries
The period before actual primaries where candidates attempt to gather support and funds; many drop out (Sanders’ invisible primary performance in 2015 helped him to gain funding and support, allowing him to run a fairly close primary race against Clinton
The official role of national party conventions
-Select the presidential / vice presidential candidates for the party
-Delegates debate and vote to determine the policy of the party
Superficial role of national party conventions
-To act as publicity for the candidate: speeches by other politicians and endorsements by celebrities (Trump – 34.9m / Clinton – 33.7m)
-To reunite the party after the divisive primary process; losing candidates often give speeches
-To rally party activists
Advantages of the electoral college
-Respects the tradition of federalism / protects smaller states:
Eg. California has 63x the population of Wyoming but only 18x the ECV
-Produces a clear winner= more legitimate president and absolute majority
-Protects low turnout areas
Disadvantages of the electoral college
-Loser can win eg. Clinton received 3 million votes more than Trump
-Small states are over-represented eg. California has 63x the population of Wyoming but only 18x the ECV
-Swing states are over-represented eg. Obama spent $40 million on Pennsylvania but only $25,000 on Illinois even though they have the same number of electors
-Faithless electors: eg. 2016 election – 10 voted for different candidates
What are invisible primaries
Period before actual primaries where candidates attempt to gather support and funds; many drop out (Sanders’ invisible primary performance in 2015 helped him to gain funding and support, allowing him to run a fairly close primary race against Clinton
What is the spoiler effect?
When a third-party candidate helps prevent one of the main party candidates from winning (eg. 2000 – Nader got 97,000 votes that would have been likely to go to Gore rather than Bush)
In what ways do third parties influence?
They influence the policy of the 2 parties: The last third-party candidate to receive significant votes was Perot in 1992/1996 and his popular economic and balanced budget policies were embraced by Clinton
Use primaries to gain prominence within a party – Trump is arguably an example of an independent candidate that has won – ran under the Republican banner even though the Republican establishment opposed his bid
Spoiler effect – when a third-party candidate helps prevent one of the main party candidates from winning (eg. 2000 – Nader got 97,000 votes that would have been likely to go to Gore rather than Bush)
