Democracy And Participation Flashcards
What is the electoral college
A body of people who cast votes on behalf of their states to formally elect the president and vice president of the US
What is the presidential nomination process to be the party’s nomination
- invisible primary, 18-24 months before.
- early state primaries and caucuses, 9 months before
- ‘super Tuesday’, 8 months before
- late state primaries and caucuses, 5-7 months before
- national party conventions, 4 months before
What’s the presidential nomination process for nominations competing against each other
(Eg: Biden v trump)
- election campaign, including presidential debates, 1-3 months before
- election day, in November
- electoral college ballots cast 1 month after election day
- inauguration, in January, 2 months after election day
What are primaries
- intraparty ballot to nominate candidate for a party
- secret ballot
- often conducted on wide state basis
- used by 46 states
What are Caucasus
- intraparty town hall meeting to nominate candidates for party
- voting often takes place in public
- often conducted in small local areas within a state
- used by 4 statss
What is an invisible primary
- period between which potential candidates compete with each other to be nominated for president
- candidates try to gain name recognition, and raise money
Eg: Bernie sanders in 2019, entered 19th feb, withdrew 8th April 2020
What was the invisible primary like for the republicans in 2023
- 9 other candidates to trump, lost to Biden, impeached and criminal enquiries all factors
- main competition: Ron Desantis and Nikki Halley
What are primaries and caucuses
- presidential primaries are state based elections held between feb and June of election year
- ordinary voters have chance to say who they want to be their candidate, can also choose delegates to go to national party conventions in the summer
- only 4 states do caucuses
Why May people prefer primaries
- prevents party bosses choosing candidates, up until 1968, narrow clique chose candidates
Eg: 2016 trump won 14 million votes, winning him nomination - system allows people outside party establishment to win the nomination
What are the arguments against primaries
- Republicans voters tend to be more conservative then average voter, vice versus with dems, Eg: May explain trump win over Ted Cruz and Obama over Hillary Clinton in 2008
- primaries take a long time, voters may become deenfranchised and it becomes expensive
- lack of participation, evident in 2024 turnout
- overrepresentation In some states, eg Iowa and New Hampshire, candidate who wins one usually a front runner.
- money dominates, Hillary Clinton spent 256 million, and still lost🤣🤣🤣
What was the primaries turn out in the 2024 election
Dems 6%
Repubs 11%
How much money did trump raise for the 2024 primaries
79.6 million
What are national party conventions
- dems and repubs formally nominate their presidential candidate and affirm their party platform for the coming election
Why was the Trump V Biden debate on 27th June important
- primaries done, too close to call in polls who was ahead
- Bidens disastrous performance led to him withdrawing a month later
Post televised polls: July 4th Biden 39.7, trump 42.1%
What is the primary function of conventions
- officially nominate candidate
- secure publicity and media attention
- present a united party image, Niki Halley, trumps competition for nomination supported him
How does the electoral college work
- each state has 3 ECVs
- before election day, each party select people who cast the ECVs in each state
- off the 538 ECVs, 270 is needed to win the electoral college, trump won 312 to best Harris
Why does the US use a 2 party system
- use of winner takes it all
-nature of the USA, federal nature and guarantee of a states right to run its own elections - .party ideology: both parties are broad, difficult for a third party to carve out distinct policy areas
- electoral rules: serve to exclude third parties who struggle to achieve popularity needed in polls
What are the 3 ways you can contribute money to a party/independdent
PACs - 5000 dollars per campaign, can donate directly to a campaign
527s - unlimited, cannot call for the election or defeat of a candidate
Super PACs - unlimited, can call for the election or defeat of a candidate but cannot coordinate with those campaigns
What is soft money
Money donated to a party rather than a candidate and used for ‘party building activities, rather then endorsement for a candidate directly
What is hard money
Donations directly to an electoral campaign and subject to strict limits
What reasons suggest the presidential election process is effective
- lengthy process, ensures candidates are resilient and can withstand demands of being president
- Electoral college gives a clear winner able to govern effectively despite split of US political opinion
- It can still work even if a president doesn’t win the popular vote eg: trump, Bush
- televised debat and national party conventions shows president has good public speaking skills
What suggests the presidential election process is not effective
- electoral college is out of step with popular sovereignty, needs reform
- primaries calendar disenfranchises some states, over represents others, uneven form of federalism
- amount of money required to become president makes process inherently elitist
- lengthy process creates political apathy, which can lower turnout, undermine legitimacy of an election
What is the ideology of the democrats
- liberal, believe in progressive rights, some form of gov intervention in social and economic policy
What’s general principles of democrats
- liberty, equality for all, strong enough to defend national while seeking peace, gov intervention to ensure equality for all
What are some general policy beliefs of the democrats
- women’s right to choose abortion
- same-sex marriage
- social welfare (healthcare)
- reform of immigration
- gun control
What is the ideology of the republicans
- conservative, believe in individual rights and limited role for gov in economy and social policy, larger role in homeland security
What are general ideological principles of the Republican Party
- American exceptioonalism (freedom)
- rights of an individual
- originality interpretation of constitution
- seperation of powers, limited government, federalism
What are some key policy beliefs of the republicans
- opposed to same-sex marriage and funding for abortion
- stricter immigration policy
- pro-business policy, pro guns
- smaller gov allowing greater rights of individual states
- pro death penalty
What are the democrats stance on economic issues
- cut taxes for working families, fight poverty
- make wealthy and big corporations pay there fair share
What are the republicans stance on the economy
- Keep US dollar as world reserve currency
- end inflation make American affordable again
- large tax cuts for workers, no tax on tips
What are the democrats stance on social welfare issues
- tackle climate crisis
- protects communities, tackling scourge of gun violenvce
- secure border and fix broken immigration policy
What are the republicans stance on social welfare issues
- stop illegal immigration, lock up violent offenders
- fight and protect social security and Medicare including no changes to retirement age
What importance do constituents have to parties in congress
- members of congress must be mindful of views of constituents if they want to be re-elected
What importance do congressional caucuses have to parties in congress
- groups of congress share specific common interest and come together when voting on an issue
Eg: congressional black caucus, women’s caucus
What importance do interest groups have to parties in congress
- interest groups are important in funding both parties and individual candidates
What are factions in a party
Groups within a political party that share an ideological agreement which might be different from other groups within the Sam’s party
What is a Liberal/progressive Democrat
- those more on the left of the party, more comfortable with government intervention
Eg: Bernie sanders, Elizabeth Warren
What is a conservative democrat
- on the very right of the party, but very uncommon to have this.
- socially and morally conservative but share agreement on fiscal and economic policy
Eg: Joe Manchin
What is a moderate democrat
- sit in the centre of the party, likely to hold liberal values but also willing to compromise on some of the specifics.
Eg: Feinstein (senator from cali) opposes death penalty and supports healthcare however doesn’t support government takeover of healthcare
What is a moderate Republican
- tend to favour more conservative fiscal policy, look for lower taxes and more business friendly policies.
Eg: Susan Collins (Maine) introduced a bill to codify in the law the right to an abortion
What are fiscal conservatives
- keen focus on size and cost of the government, want to cut it down to reduce taxes and allow greater economic freedom for businesses
What are social conservatives
- keen focus on social and moral policy issues. Take a conservative view on social matters, support death penalty, pro-life, social welfare.
Eg: 2022z, republicans as well as Joe manchin voted to block codification of abortion rights in America
