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Politics- US Government And Politics > Elections > Flashcards

Elections Flashcards

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1
Q

what is the 7 stages of the presidential election process

A 
1st- invisible primaries 
2nd- primaries and caucuses
3rd- choosing VP candidates
4th- national party conventions
5th- general election campaigns 
6th- election day 
7th- electoral colleague voting
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2
Q

constitutional what requirements are there to run to be the president

A
  • have to be American
  • have to be older then 35
  • if you have already don’t two terms you cant do anymore
  • lived in America for 14 years
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3
Q

what additional requirements are suggested to be a presidential candidate

A
  • link with a party
  • preferable political experience- senator/ governor/ VP
  • wealth/ fund raising support
  • married/ family
  • background
  • good speaker
  • policies
  • personal characteristics
  • media skills
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4
Q

what is an invisible primary

A

the period between candidates declaring an intention to run for the presidency and the first primaries and caucuses

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5
Q

what is the big mo

A

its what candidates seek to gain within the invisible primaries to gain popularity and media attention, also know as big momentum

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6
Q

what different techniques do candidates use in the invisible primaries to gain big mo

A
  • candidate announcements, can be done up to 10 months before the primaries and caucuses
  • televised TV debates
  • fundraising
  • front- running, the gaining of media attention and looking the most likely to win the Iowa Caucus
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7
Q

what is a presidential primary

A

a state-based series election to choose a party’s candidate for the presidency. it shows support for candidates among ordinary voters.

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8
Q

what is a presidential caucuses

A

a state-based series of meetings to choose a party’s candidates for the presidency. they attract unrepresentative and low turnouts.

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9
Q

what is a closed primary

A

a primary in which only registered party members can vote for there party

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10
Q

what is an open primary

A

a primary in which any registered voter can vote in either party’s primary

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11
Q

proportional primaries

A

a primary in which delegates are awarded to the candidates in proportional to the vote they get.

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12
Q

winner-take-all primaries

A

a primary permitted only by the republicans, in which whoever gets the most votes wins all that states delegates

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13
Q

what are the two first primaries and caucuses and when

A
  • Iowa (Caucuses), around early February

- New Hampshire (Primaries), mid February

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14
Q

why are the 2 early primaries important

A

for big mo, its crucial to influence the people of these two states as the results of them detrained what the rest of the states think.

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15
Q

what is the average turnout in primaries

A

20-30%

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16
Q

why are turnouts so low

A
  • demographics
  • types of primaries
  • the competitiveness of the race
  • whether nominees have been decided yet
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17
Q

what weaknesses are there in the nominating process

A
  • widespread voting apathy and boredom
  • voters are underrepresented of the voting-age population
  • process is far too long
  • process is very expensive
  • process is to dominated by the media
  • primaries can develop into bitter personal battles
  • lack of press review
  • super-delegates
18
Q

what are the advantages of the primaries?

A
  • increased participation
  • increased choice of candidates
  • process opened up to outsiders
  • a gruelling race for a gruelling job
19
Q

what are the disadvantages of the primaries

A
  • leads to widespread voting boredom
  • voters are underrepresented
  • process is too long and too expensive
  • can develop personal bitter battles
  • lack of ‘peer review’
  • role of super delegates
20
Q

what is a national party convention

A

the meeting held every four years by each of the two major parties to select presidential and vice presidential candidates and agree the party platform.

21
Q

what are the 3 formal functions of a party convention

A
  • choosing the party’s presidential candidate
  • choosing the party’s VP candidate
  • deciding the party platform
22
Q

what are the 4 informal functions

A
  • promoting the party unity
  • enthusing the party faithful
  • enthusing the ordinary voters
  • post-convention ‘bounce’
23
Q

why are national party conventions still important

A
  • the only time the party meets together
  • promoting party unity
  • enthusing party members and activists
  • introducing the presidential and VP candidates
  • presidential candidates acceptance speech
  • leading to a bounce of confidence
  • convention is the start of the campaign for many voters
  • many voters make their decision on the party convention
24
Q

why are national party convention not important anymore

A
  • the presidential candidate is already likely to be chosen during the primaries
  • VP also are chosen before the convention
  • party platforms are agreed before
  • reduction in being televised
  • its more a party then a series convention
25
Q

how are presidential candidates funded during the general elections campaign

A
  • hard money
  • soft money
  • dark money (PACs and super PACs)
26
Q

what is hard money

A

money given straight to the candidates

27
Q

what is soft money

A

money given to the party

28
Q

what is dark money

A

money given to PACs (political action committees)

29
Q

what are PACs (political action committees)

A

a political committee that raises limited amounts of money and spends these contributions for the express purpose of electing or defeating candidates

30
Q

why are PACs used

A

Due to acts (FEC act of 1974 and BI-partisan campaign reform act of 2002) limiting the use of soft and hard money candidates have used PACs as a means to indirectly and legal defeat opponents.

31
Q

what are super PACs

A

a political committee that makes independent expenditures, but does not make contribution to candidates.

32
Q

what 3 things are money spent on

A
  • organisations
  • campaigning
  • media
33
Q

what are the 3 types of TV debates

A
  • Podium
  • Town hall
  • roundtable
34
Q

what is the October surprise

A

an event occurring late in the presidential campaign to disadvantages of one candidate, leaving the candidate with little time or no time to recover before election day.

35
Q

how do you become president

A

win more the 270 electoral colleges (there are 538 in total)

36
Q

what are electoral colleges

A

the institution established by the founding fathers to indirectly elect the president and VP. The electors cast their ballot in their state capitals.

37
Q

how do electoral colleges work

A
  • each state has a set number of ECVs, bigger the state population the more you get.
  • the number of ECVs is decided by how many HOR (districts) you have plus 2 (senators).
  • each state can choose what type of voting they use
  • Maine and Nebraska use proportional representation
38
Q

what happens if the ECVs are tied

A

HOR chooses the president and Senate chooses the VP

39
Q

what are the weaknesses of EC

A
  • small states are over-representative
  • winner-takes-all/ electoral college system distorts the result
  • unfair to national third parties
  • ‘rouge’ election
  • president and VP of different parties is possible
40
Q

what are the advantages of EC

A
  • it preserves the voice of the small-populated states

- it tends to promote a two-horse race

Politics- US Government And Politics (5 decks)

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