Issues in Elections Flashcards
TV debates
Televised presidential debates take place between the Republican and Democratic presidential candidate. Debates are important because they give candidates the chance to address many voters directly and have a large audience. 84 million people watched the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Importance of debates
Debates rarely change the election outcome and are often about style over substance.
Candidates therefore also and go door to door to meet voters and gain their support.
Campaign finance
Candidates use financial donations to fund their campaigns. This involves spending money on travel, accommodation and venues across America. Candidates spend money on polling so they know where to campaign most. Money is also spent on media coverage including tv and social media advertising.
Campaign team
Candidates need money to pay their campaign team. The campaign team then spends money on field offices whose staff interact with voters at the grassroots level.
1974 reforms
The 1974 Federal Election Campaign Act limited contributions that could be made by businesses and individuals but had a number of problems. ‘Soft money’ was donated to parties rather than candidates to get round finance campaign limits. The Federal Election Commission had little power to enforce punishments against candidates who broke the rules.
2002 reforms
The 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, called the McCain-Feingold reforms, introduced campaign finance limits. The reforms banned party committees from raising ‘soft money’. The reforms required candidates to verbally endorse all advertising and stopped corporations advertising for candidates up to 60 days before the election. The reforms banned donations from foreign nationals.
2010 reforms
The 2010 Citizens United v Federal Election Commission (FEC) Supreme Court case gave businesses the right to the unlimited financing of presidential campaigns.
PACs and Super PACs
Political action committees (PACs) are organisations that spend limited money on supporting a candidate’s election or defeating a candidate they oppose. Super Political action committees (PACs) are organisations that spend unlimited money on supporting or opposing a candidate but do not directly fund the candidate.
