Elections Flashcards
Incumbent Advantage
Two Facts:
- Representatives who run for reelection win approximately 90% of the time
- While incumbent Senators have a tremendous electoral advantage, House incumbents have an even greater advantage
Gerrymandering
Partisan redrawing of congressional district borders
Nominations
First phase in the election cycle in which parties choose their candidates for general elections
General Elections
Second phase of the election cycle in which voters decide who will hold elective office
Closed Primary
Voting is restricted to registered members of a political party (Most Common Type)
Open Primary
Voters may vote only in one party’s primary, but they can choose which party they will cast their vote in (Critics believe that this allows opponents to sabotage the other party’s chances of winning by voting for the candidate that is least likely to win)
Blanket Primary
Voters may vote for one candidate per office for either party (Only used in Washington and Alaska)
Plurality
Greatest amount of votes that is under 50%
Runoff Primary
Some states require a minimum percentage for a candidate to win and if no candidate receives that percentage, then another primary is held between the top two candidates (Occur most often when challengers vie for an open office and if they are not well known)
State Caucuses and Conventions
Allow states to choose delegates for the presidential convention
Super-Delegates
The automatic granting of delegate status to elected party leaders (Used by the Democratic Party)
McGovern-Fraser Commission
Delegates are represented by population for each state, promoting diversity in the delegate pool (Used by the Republican Party)
Presidential Elections
Elections in which the President is being chosen
Midterm Elections
Other elections that occur between presidential elections (Voting for Congress and other offices)
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
Used outsider status in their presidential campaigns, which can be beneficial because people are less likely to vote for Senators, who have more federal experience (which is used against them)
Dwight Eisenhower
Was a presidential candidate who had a vast amount of military experience and won the presidency
Federal Matching Funds
Funds that double all donations that are $250 or less by matching the prices donated (Primary candidates can apply for these if they can receive 10% of votes in an election)
Limits On How Much Individuals Can Donate
Total Amount (Every 2 Years): $117,000
- To a Candidate: $2,500
- To a National Party: $30,800
- To A Political Committee: $5,000
Limits On How Much PACs Can Donate
Total Amount (Every 2 Years): None
- To a Candidate: $5,000
- To a National Party: $15,000
- To a Political Committee: $5,000
Limits On How Much Non-PACs Can Donate
Total Amount (Every 2 Years): None
- To a Candidate: $2,500
- To a National Party: $30,800
- To a Political Committee: $5,000
Super Tuesday
Some states have been pushing back primaries to early March
Front-Loading
The states’ hopes in having a greater influence on which candidates will win nomination by pushing the primaries forward (Increases pressure on candidates to succeed in winning the nomination)
Brokered Conventions
When no candidate has been pledged to by a majority of delegates, the convention itself will decide who the candidate will be
Unify the Party
The main purpose of national conventions before presidential campaigning begins (Primaries tear the party apart, because candidates attack one another in order to gain the nomination)
Post-Convention Bump
The rise in the public approval of a candidate after a national convention
Electoral College
Have the final decision on who the President will be (A means of insulating the government from the uneducated public and also the reason why a minority president-elect (President-Elect who does not have the most votes) can win)
Winner-Take-All System
Each state is given a set number of elector’s for the electoral college and whichever presidential candidate can win the Presidential Election in each state will take all of the elector’s votes
News Media
Provides voters with daily campaign information (Focus mainly on the candidates’ standing within the national polls)
Campaign Advertisements
Provide a more controlled look at candidates (Candidates can build up a positive view themselves or a negative view of their opponents; negative views are becoming more and more common)
Voter Turnout
Percentage of the population that actually votes in the elections (Less than 40% of Americans participate)
Split-Ticket Voting
Voting for one presidential candidate of one party and legislators of another
