Elections Flashcards
What is a presidentital election
Fixed election which elect the president every 4 years
What is a Congressional election
Directly elect members of both chambers of Congress (every 2 yrs; whole of House and third of Senate)
What is opposite to UK ‘snap elections’
Constitutional Rigidity - all US elections timings are set out in the Constitution
Give an example of the idea of a ‘Permanent Campaign’
Trump rally day after he gets inaugurated
Give 4 differences between English electoral requirements and US
1) Elections every 5 years
2) People vote for the party rather than the elected candidate (e.g. Conservative party membership vote for rishi Sunal or Liz truss)
3) Can serve more than two terms
4) No primaries
What is the invisible Primary?
The time period between when the candidates declare an intention to run for the presidency and the first contests of the primary season
Why is the invisible primary termed ‘invisible’
Invisible because much of what occurs cannot be seen (largely untrue now as tv debates now central)
Most important 3 things for the candidate to gain during the Invisible Primaries
Name Recognition
- raise Money
- arrange state-based Organisation
3 things candidates can do to win the Invisible Primary
1) Visit Key States (e.g. Iowa and New Hampshire)
2) Get a Mention in the Media
- ‘washington post’
- Trump used twitter a lot - appealed to younger voters
- In-depth interview
3) Money Raising
- Al Gore scared off challengers for the 2000 Democratic nomination because of huge amounts of money raised
What is ‘Super Tuesday’
A Tuesday in Feb when a number of states arrange their primaries together has come to be known.
In 2008 Super Tuesday was in early Feb and was the biggest ever:
- 22 Democrat and 21 Republican contests being held.
In 2012 Super Tuesday was on March 6th and only involved 10 states
What is a Primary?
A primary election is to choose a party’s candidate for an elective office, in this case the presidency
What is a Caucus
A caucus is a meeting for the selection of a party’s candidate for president. In 2012 12 states held caucuses.
3 unique features of a Primary
Primaries are run by the state and local gov’t
The primary process involves choosing the party’s presidential nominee. It does this by accumulating delegates that will meet at the party’s NNC
Most states have a binding primary – they are legally bound to vote for a particular candidate
3 Unique features of a Caucus
Caucuses are run by political parties
getting rarer:
In 2008, 14 states held democratic caucuses and 10 held Republican caucuses
By 2020, only 3 states held democratic caucuses - hard to organise and not very effective
good way to engage in politics and can be quite fun
What is a Delegate
Delegates are usually people who are prominent in the party in that state. They go forward to a state convention and eventually the national party convention.
What is Front-Loading
This is the phenomenon by which an increasing number of states schedule their presidential primaries or caucuses earlier in the cycle
Done to Increase Importance of their State
1 Advantage of Front-Loading
Less chance of a longer campaign which could potentially damage own party - compare to Truss/Sunak fight for PM
1 Disadvantage of Front-Loading
Because the nomination is decided so early, there is little opportunity for any reassessment of a candidate’s potential weaknesses - can lead to ‘buyer’s remorse’
Where ar emost electoral decisions decided?
At state -level
What is the national nominating convention?
The occasion when the successful candidate is formally endorsed as their party’s candidate for the forthcoming presidential election
One example of how Republicans have tried to reduce the vote of African-Americans
- Wisnconsin, presidential election during Covid
Milwaukee officials opened just five polling places for the entire city. One study said that difficult access and long lines reduced turnout by more than 8% — and more than 10% for Black voters.
Why can there be some exceptions to the majoritarian rule of elections?
Because there are no federal requirements for the electoral system (excl Electoral college)
Explain California’s ‘Non-partisan blanket primary law’
- Means that the top two candidates regardless of party are selected in a state primary
- A consequence of tis is that the heavily democratic state meant that two Democrats came top in the blanket primary held in June 2018
- Which mean the November Senate election was between two Democrats, no Republican was on the ballot
3 strengths of US electoral system
1) The Electoral college again reinforces the federal nature and ensures smaller states are not overlooked in election campaigns
2) A huge number of elections and elected offices offer many opportunities for political participation
3)An almost entirely majoritarian electoral system usually ensures clear results and single-party control of legislative chambers
3 weaknesses of the US electoral system
1) Electoral distortion via electoral college which can considerably exaggerate the powrr of smaller states
2)plenty of scope for electoral manipulation (gerrymandering and voter ID laws) in individual states. A fully national electoral system could work far better
3)The two parties often control one chamber each of Congress or a state legislatre, making deadlock more common
What is usually seen as critical in the midterm?
the economic situation
What had Trump never done before, showing that money and fame are important in the US elections
Trump had never previously held elected office
One example of Trump Slogan that became personal to the publc?
“Make America Great Again”
Give one example of a party specifially targeting a voting group?
Trump gets Mike Pence as his running mate to get the vote of evangelical Christians
Give 3 crucial swing states
Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania
In what state was the most money spent in the 2016 election campaign
Florida
How much did Trump spend in Florida in the 2016 election
Just under $35m
How much did Hilary Cinton spend in Florida the 2016 election?
$93.7m
what percentage of campaign events were held in just 6 mjaor swing states in 2016 ?
68.4% - 273/399
what percentage of campaign events were held in just 6 mjaor swing states in 2016 ?
68.4% - 273/399
What was the total price tag for the 2020 election?
$14b
How much did Bernie Saunders make in donations in Feb 2020 alone?
$46m
came from 2.2m Americans; not just the rich)
Trump lost control of the house in the 2018 midterms, what was it now harder to do?
Pass legislation
What were nicknames used by Trump at toher Republican candidiates during the 2016 primaries?
“Cry-baby Rubio” - “Lyin Ted”
Shows aminosity created during Primaries
What are closed Primaries?
Voters only allowed in party’s primary if already registered to a particularly party - (Oregon and New York)
What are open primaries?
All registered voters can vote in any party’s primary, but only in that one primary (Georgia)
An endorsement from who helped Biden’s fortunes massively?
African-American Congressman Jim Clyburn - the most powerful Democrat in the state
3 reasons that suggests NNC still important
1) Promotes Party Unity
- Wounds from Primary must b healed
- 1992 - Bush v Buchanan - ‘Culture Wars’ speech by Bush heals rift publicsally
2) Riling up Party Faithful
- get supporters on side before election
- Clint Eastwood’s apperance in Rep convention 2012 - Ted Kennedy’s at Dem nnc 2008
3) Riling up Oridanry Voters
- ‘Bounce’ = increase of support - post convention
- Avg bounce = 5% – Obama at 4%, McCain at 6%
- Romeny got no bounce but stll recovered
3 advantages of a primary
1) Present a large choice of candidates. In the Republican Primary in 2016, 16 candidates ran.
2) Primaries give people outside of politics a chance to run for election, for example, Donald Trump in 2016, who ran without any previous political experience
3) While the process is long and difficult, it is arguably necessary for electing such an important role
3 disadvantages of a primary
E+A 3 ways in whih the process for selecting presidential candidates is open to criticism
1) Suitable candidates can be put off from running as the process is long and expensive. Hillary Clinton raised $275m in the 2016 Democratic primary (many candidates simply do not have access to this level of funding)
2) Primaries can often become a personal battle rather than about a candidate’s policies and suitability for president. In the 2016 primaries, Donald Trump made personal attacks towards fellow candidate Jeb Bush, calling him “an embarrassment to his family”
3) Voter turnout is often low, particularly when a president is running for re-election as only one party has a serious primary contest. In 2012, when Obama was running, turnout was only 14.5%.
What are ‘faithless electors’
a member of the electoral college who does not vote for the candidate for whom they had pledged to vote.
- ‘swing voters’ ‘split-ticket’
