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Us democracy and participation ( elections) Flashcards

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1
Q

when do US presidencial election occure

A
  • they have fixed term elections every 4 years as set out by the us consitution
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2
Q

what are the consitutional requiremenstof the US president

A
  • They must be a naturally born US citozen
  • over the age of 35
  • have lived in the country 14 years
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3
Q

list the stages of a president being elested

A
  • the invisable primary
  • primaries and caucuses
  • national party convetion
  • election campeign
  • election day
  • electoral collage voting
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4
Q

what are teh extra consitutional requiremenst of POTUS + exmamples

7

A
  • political expirenec
    1. biden was the president pro tempore of the senate and head of the foreign reations commitee for 12 years
    2. however trump had no political expirenece
  • party endorcement
    1. pat bunchen 2000 showed that inderpendents do not have a chance at presidency even if they are widly popular as didnt win a single electoral collage seat
    2. however less/unpopular candiates in a party can still become the top runner. e.g trump and omama over clinton in 2008
  • personal charateritics (white men with charisma and integrity )
    1. kendy famously karsmatic and loved by woemn
    2. however trump despite a plethora of assult and harrasment claims agasinst him from women
  • fund raisign abillities ( has to fund primary themself)
    1. obama raised 32.5 million vs clintons 27 million in the invisable priamry helping him win (aril to june )
    2. however the mega wealthy can frun this tehmself ( e.g. trump)
  • organsiation abillity
    1. obama targetted iowa a the first primary and spent over 200 and ….. days 75? in iwoa before the primary
    2. trumps campeign was choas
  • sound and relevant polcies
    1. obama on the afordable ealth care act
    2. trump on the wall
  • public speaking skills
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5
Q

when is the invisable primary

A
  • from the point the fist candiate anounces their running to the first primary
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6
Q

whats are the three key componets of the invisable primary in who will win the firs primarys and caucuses + example of their importance

A
  • telivised debates
    1. rick perry “oops moment” 2011 - forgot the agencies of government
  • participate in events
  • start fundraising
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7
Q

How does a candidate officially win thair party nomination

A
  • they need to reach a threshhold for the number of deligates voting for them at the national party convestion 50%
  • pleadged deligates are assigned via primaries and caucuses between feb anf june
  • there are also supper deligates of important party membours
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8
Q

when did primaries and causses beocme standardprcatice

A
  • 1968
  • before it was part officials that would act as deligates for each state
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9
Q

what are the differnt types of primaries

A
  • open primares - anyone can vote
  • close primaries - only allow registated democrats and republicans to vote
  • semiclosed- alwow voters regitared as inderpendent to vote
  • porortional vs winner takes all - all democratic primaries are proportional but some repub;ican are winner takes all
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10
Q

how many democratic and republican caucuses are there left + two exampels

A
  • 4 democrat e.g iowa and nevada
  • 10 republican
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11
Q

whats the primary factor that desides the winning candiate of a party in parimaries

A
  • incumbancy
  • then who wins the early primaries and caucuses - as it effects all the other causes
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12
Q

whats front loading

A

when usually smaller states scedual their primaries eariler in the year to have more of an effect on the end result

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13
Q

whats a countre to front loading

A
  • Super Tusday in late fed early march
    1. 16 states hold their primaries on the same day
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14
Q

what are the first two primaries and caucuses in february

A
  • iowa - caucus
  • new hampshire- primary
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15
Q

what does winning one of the first two primaries do + examples

A
  • boost media coverage
  • boost fundrasing
    1. after obama won iowa he raised an etra 50 million ( $24 million in campaign contributions in the days imedtly after)
  • boost opinion polls
    1. obama gained 27 points after winning iowa helpong him overtake clinton
    2. when trump won newhampshire he became front runner
  • all this kinda desides how the rest of the primaries and caucuses will play out
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16
Q

whats the one cause primaries and cacuses dont have much influnece

A
  • if there is an incumbant president - may wont eevn hold primaries as its almost agrentied that they will win and most the time they will have no serrious oposition and it weekens the president
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17
Q

list what factors effect turn out in primaries

A
  • demographic
  • timing of primatry
  • type ( primary or caucus)
  • compettivemness of race
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18
Q

how does demographis effect turn out in praimaries

A
  • older, more educated and pollitically active ideological membours of the public are more likly to vote
    1. in the 2012 in the tenese primary 1/2 of republicans has a collage degree 1/4 earned over 100,000 and 44% described themself as “very conservative” and 3/4 were over 45
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19
Q

how does the timing of a primary and caucus affect its turnout

A
  • earlier in the year hold more wight as effect pinion polls and funding were as later in the year the candidate may already have the threshold of deligates needed to win
    1. 2016 democratic turnout of newhampshire was 53% ( feb) vs louisanan 17% (june)
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20
Q

how does the competiveness of a race affect turnout for primarie and caucuses

A
  • peple care to turnout if they think their vote will be influencial
    missouri democratic race 2012 of encombant presidnt turn out was 7% and most states didnt even hold primaries
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21
Q

how does the type of election ( primary or caucus) affect turnout for primarie and caucuses

A
  • 2020 floridas closed primary had turn out of 28% vs hawaii’s open of 40%
  • caucuses usully have lower turn out, wyoming 3.2 %
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22
Q

list the strengths and weeknesses of the primaries and caucuses system

A
  • alot of voter choise - failer of producting an effective nomenee
  • democratic - low turn out
  • frotn loading = distroportionate influence to early small states- gives an opertunity to grass roots candidate
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23
Q

what are the strengths and weekeness of the primaries and causus system + examples

A
  • wide voter choise
    1. 2016 = 22 candidates to choes from 5 democrats and 17 republicans
    1. presidencies becomes open to outsiders and underdogs like obama were as if it were deside by delagtes we would have has hillary as she secured alsomost all the party official votes of super deligates
  • failer of producting an effective nomenee
    1. 2016 clinton and trump were the least liked candodate sin US history and in 2020 34%… of peopel said they voted for biden simply besuse they didnt want trump

2

  • democrtic
    1. inspires people to get involvd in democarcy ( newhampshire turn outnis 53% for democrats and mena the
  • candidta has a madate to run
  • low turn out
    1. turn out is low, especially in later primaries and caucuses like wyoming caucus 3.2 %
    2. however depends on type of primary/ caucus, wyoming is a closed causus ( only party members can attend + can take a whole evning) vs hawi wich is an open primary so anyone can vote which is qickwho registers = 40% TO

3

  • frotn loading = distroportionate influence to early small states
  • issue as it undemines the democrtic madate of candiates to run for smaller states have more influence as lareg numbes of candiates may have already lost or dropped out before the later states get their vote. therefore may already be a candidate who has recahed the dropp quota of deligate votes they needto win before later states have a vote.
  • this also reduces voter choise
    1. for example Puerto Rico’s primary was initially scheduled for March , but it was delayed until July.
    By that point, former Vice President Joe Biden had already secured enough delegates to become the presumptive Democratic nominee.
  • gives an opertunity to grass roots candidate
    1. gave pertunity for Obama to emerge who was one of the most popular cnadisates in recent electoral us history.
    2. after obama won iowa he raised an etra 50 million ( $24 million in campaign contributions in the days imedtly after) and gained 27 points allowing him to overtage hillary in te polls.
  • this could occure as Iowa is a rellivly small low populated state. thereofor in the invisbale primary obama coudl spend the almost half year he did going aroud iowa gaining support alloing him to emerge victorious as an undof
  • this was significant as hillory was widly diliked and seen as one of the politicla elite of washington
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24
Q

example that early primaries doent matter

A
  • in 2020 biden came 4th in iowa
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25
Q

list teh ways that the national part convestion is important

A

formal
* selcting VP nomenee
1. happens long before in reallity
* selcting prcidencial nomenee
1. usully desided long before as u can tell from primary results
* Deciding th party platform ( maifesto)

informal
* party unity and enthsing voters and activists

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26
Q

how many more votes did hillary get than donneld

A
  • 3 million
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27
Q

how is a presiden officilly voted in

A
  • the electoral collage
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28
Q

who was the republican candiate who had the “oops moment at the 2011 telivised debate and what was it ?

A

rick perry forgot one of the agencies of governement

29
Q

lisy the simillarities and differnces between US and uk campeign finace

A
  • monetoring bodies
  • limits
  • state funding
30
Q

explain how campein finace in terms of monetoring bodies differs in the us and the uk

A

simillar
* Both the Uk and the \US have monetoring bobies oversee election donations and expenditure
1. e.g, The electoral commission (EC) in the Uk set up in 2000
2. The Federal electoral commision (FEC) in the US set up in 1974
differnt
* Uk parties have to register with and are required to stricktly adhear to the EC rules
* where as in the US you only have to follow FEC guidlines if applying for federal funding (matching funding)
1. STRUCTUAL - this is becuse of citozens united vs FEC 2010 witch was a supream court ruling witcb esentully aloowed for unlimmited fundign due to the freedom of speach clasue in the 1st amendment to the us consitution, in the uk we do not have a codified consitution and thus such stringent rights protection
2. Obama was the first to opt out in 2008
* SO WHAT- this esentully mans that electoral spenign in the us is hypotheiclly unlimmited. this has been demonstighted as sice obmaa breaking the convention of macthign funding in 2008 campeign funfing has incresed from 4.1 billion to 10.9 billion in 2020 making it all impossible for third parties to break through

31
Q

what is matching funding

A

the money a presidential candidate is given by federal government to match the money they have raised personally however they must stay bellow the FEC limmit

32
Q

how much has campeign funding incresed 2008-2020

A

sice 2008 campeign funfing has incresed from 4.1 billion to 10.9 billion in 2020

33
Q

whats are teh two main intentions of invisbale primaries

A
  • Fundraising
  • gainign popularity and name recognition
34
Q

evaluate the differnt factors that effet the results of primaries

A
  • opionion polls
    1. peopel ar more likly to vote for a candidat if tehy have a chance at winning. this is reflectyed in the opion polls
    1. hillary clinton was almost 20 point ahead of bernie sanders ebfore iowa in 2016 helping securing her the win
  • fundraing
    1. obama raised $778 million in the whole primaries vs hillary who arned $229 million
  • media coverage
  • policy
    1. trump advocated for building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and implementing stricter immigration policies helped him win smaller rural states early on
  • encumbancy
    1. omama 2012 only two democrtic primaries were evn held
  • turn out demogrpahic
  • super deligates
    1. hillary 2008 but did help her in 2016
  • early wisn
    1. obama iowa trump new hampshire bothe being underdogs
    2. however biden lost the first few including coming 4th in iowa
  • telivised debates
    1. rick perry “oops moment” 2011 - forgot the agencies of government end of his primary and carea
35
Q

whats the role of the national party convetion in presidnecial elctions

A
  • formally nominate the party’s candidate for the presidency.
    1. Delegates from each state gather to cast their votes and determine the party’s nominee + super deligates
  • boost Platform- raise issues and being attention to the candite
    1. trump on wall and He vowed to promote policies that would revitalize industries, bring back manufacturing jobs moblising support
  • Fundraising and Campaign Support: The convention provides an opportunity for fundraising efforts
    1. Obamas campaign earned an extra $66 million dirrectly after in the next few days
36
Q

evaluate the elctoral collage system

A
  • upholds federalism and reduces popularism
  • framers intent to be this way. They hopes by giveign the stes gretater equllity it would create gretaer unity of the states. states utomaticlly get 3 votes 1 for each congess man they are gareteeded.
  • wyomic pop of half a million has 3 vs california almost 40 million has 55
  • false madate and favour republican candiates
  • as small states get dispropoerionate influence it means a prsident can achive office with a minority of teh popular vote tehrifor giving them a false democrtic madate to govern.
  • this is especially a poblem as rural small states tend to be conservtive, giving them disproportional influence as a party.
    1. hillary wond over 3 million more votes than trump in 2016 yet he won the prsidency

2

prevents tyrany of the majority/ of lareg states- single point
* if u got rid of the federal nature of the elctoral colalge system u would have diproportionate influence of major states liek new york and california who are demort states. this woudl ensure a demorat almsot always in office. Furthermore, the smaller interest would never get adressed as candidates would only pander to states where a large portion of the electorate were foccused. Furthermore, on a federla levl the smll staes wouldnt have much of a say at all resulting in tyrany of the majority

3

2 party system and reduced voter choise -single point
* The Electoral College system contributes to a two-party system in the United States due to its winner-takes-all nature in most states. In each state, the candidate who wins the popular vote typically receives all of the state’s electoral votes.
1. no inderpendent has ever won an elctoral collage vote
* However: not all states work via a winner takes all system
1. Maine and Nebraska ( but only 2 )

4

  • Prevents election fraud:
  • The Electoral College helps mitigate the risk of widespread election fraud impacting the overall outcome. Instead of a single national popular vote, it relies on individual state elections, making it more challenging for fraudulent activities to affect the final result.
  • rouge voters
  • a delgate from each state cast the vote and there is noting in the consitution and some state laws that they have to make their dession in abiding by the result of their disctrict
    1. One example occurred in 2016 during the presidential election. Several electors pledged to vote for their respective party’s nominee, but instead, they cast their electoral votes for someone else. This included a few Democratic electors who were expected to vote for Hillary Clinton but instead voted for other candidates. However, their defections did not impact the overall outcome of the election - thus not significnat
  • laws agist also reducing significnace - this icludes california wahsing ton and collorado

5

regional system - huge vote inequllity
* if you live in battle states your vote is woth alot more than if you live in safe state where it may count for nothing. this can also reduce turn out and with it the legitmaccy of the result.
1.2000 battle groud state florida 537 voters and with it teh election vs claiformia which is a democrt safe seat.

37
Q

what do ameicans call swing states

A

battle ground states

38
Q

whats an issue wih the regional system of the elctoral collage/

A

huge vote inequllity
* if you live in battle states your vote is woth alot more than if you live in safe state where it may count for nothing
1.2000 battle groud state florida 537 voters and with it teh election vs claiformia which is a democrt safe seat.

39
Q

what has be the TO in uS elctions since 2000

A

2000: 54%
2004: 60%
2008: 62% of eligible voters turned out.
2012: 59% ( good as seen as done deal with encumbancy)
2016: 60% - antipathy
2020: 67%

( over all on rise expet 2016 and 2012)

40
Q

what steh most significnt factor in desiding a presidncial elction and why

A

incumbancy

  • Name recognition
  • can point to previous achivemnts
    1. obama AHA
  • fundraing networds
    1. fine e.g.
  • Party support: (arent torn apart by other candidates aposing them in parimaries
  • capeign and elctorla expirence
  • more Media coverage as they are president
41
Q

giev exples of 2 succesful and a failed encumbacy

A
  • bush junior 2004
  • Obama 2012
  • however trump 2016
42
Q

list the differnt ways a presidentcial capeign can be finaces

A
  • Public/state funding
  • Self-funding
  • (soft money finacing)
  • dark money
  • hard money finacing
43
Q

what is soft vs hard money

A
  • Hard Money: Hard money refers to political contributions that are made directly to a candidate’s campaign committee or a political action committee (PAC)
  • Soft money Soft money cannot be used to support candidate campaigns it is intended for ‘part building activerties’. before the Mcain-feingold act 2002 this was unregulate however since it has prohibited parties using it for federal elections. although super PAC have eneged witch prevent this being an issue.
44
Q

what is dark money

A

. It typically involves funds spent by organizations or individuals through channels that do not require public disclosure of the donors’ identities.

45
Q

what are teh differnt souces of party funding

A
  • Individual or bussines Donations: Parties receive contributions from individuals who support their political agenda. These can include small-dollar donations from grassroots supporters as well as large contributions from wealthy individuals. - hard or soft money
  • PAC’s
  • super PAC’s
  • (no party mebership fees)
46
Q

what is matching funding

A
  • a public/ state sunding mechanism where state funds are provided in a way that matches private donations received by the candidate or party. For example, if a candidate receives a $100 donation from an individual, the government may provide an additional $100 in matching funds. This effectively doubles the value of each eligible donation and encourages candidates to seek support from a broad base of small donors.
  • howver to be eligable a candidate has to meet certian requiremets:
    1. cant accept donations over a certain amount
    1. Qualification Threshold: Candidates must demonstrate broad-based public support by raising a minimum amount of funds from individual contributors in at least 20 different states. The specific threshold amount is determined by the FEC.
    2. Acceptance of Spending Limits
47
Q

when was teh last tiem matching funding was used in uS preidencial elctiosn

A
  • 2008 John McCain
48
Q

what is FEC

A

FEC stands for the Federal Election Commission. It is an independent regulatory agency in the United States responsible for enforcing and administering campaign finance laws.

49
Q

how much was all teh campein money of teh 2020 elction worth

A
  • almsot 14 bill and over 6 billion in presidencial
  • this was a more than doubling of spending form 2016
50
Q

give exples of how US campeign spenign has gone up recently

A
  • more than doublign from 2016-2020 ( almost 14 bill in total and more than 6 bill in just presidencial)
  • from 2008-2016 between 2-4 billion was spent ( just in preidencial) (actully in this case it decresed in both 2012 and 2016)
  • however comined with congressional funding the total spenifn went up eahc year reaching above 6 bill in 2012 and 16)
51
Q

who tends to spend more in elctions GOP or DP + e.g.

A
  • DP
  • in 2020 biden spent alomst 200 mill more in hard money
52
Q

How is money spent in US elections/ what is teh role of campein funds?

A
  • campeigning
  • polling
  • organisation
  • advertising
53
Q

what are super PAC’s

A

Super PACs cannot directly coordinate with candidates or political parties. They must operate independently, making their own spending decisions without direct input from candidates or parties.

54
Q

what are PAC’s

A

Political Action Committees (PACs) are primarily used to raise and distribute funds to support or oppose candidates in federal elections.

55
Q

when did discolosure and hard money limits come in for the first time

A
  • Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) in 1971. FECA introduced various regulations on campaign financing, including contribution limits and disclosure requirements
56
Q

when did FEC come in

A
  • The Federal Election Commission (FEC) was established in 1975 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)
57
Q

what were the amendments to Federal Election Campaign Act in 1974

A

caps on:
* Contributions to candidates by Political Action Committees (PACS)
* Total campaign expenditures
* ** Spending by independent groups that were clearly identified to a candidate**
* The act also introduced Matching Funds, whereby candidates could claim state funding equal to private funding if they abided by these rules.

however : The Court found that expenditures are a form of political speech that is protected by the First Amendment. - Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

58
Q

explain the bipartizan campeig reform act 2002 ( the McCain Feingold act)

A
  • banned on contributions from foreign nationals
  • The act banned issue ads that named a candidate within 30 days of a primary, or 60 days of a general election. It also revised the campaign limits.
    It also introduced the “Stand by your Ad” provision, which meant candidates had to declare that they approved of the messages that were being published.
    Restrictions on soft money for ‘voter registration and party-building activities’ being used in elections.
    restrictions on unions and corporations from directly funding advertisements.
59
Q

what was th significance of citozens united vs FEC

A
  • Free Speech: corporations were free under the first amendment to donate money without restrictions to campeigns. This lead to the creation of Super PACs which can spend as much as tehy want in premoting a candidate as long as ethy dont cordinate with them
60
Q

what was the signifcance of FEC v Wisconsin Right to Life

A

FEC v Wisconsin Right to Life Inc. (2007) Supreme Court ruled that the ban on mentioning a candidate was unconstitutional

61
Q

what are the hard money spending limits

A
  • $2700 per election to a federal canidate
  • $5000 per year to a Political Action Committee (PAC)
  • $10,000 per year to a state or local party
  • $33,400 per year to a National Party
62
Q

how much have super PAC’s raised in 2020

A
  • just over 2,000 super PACs have raised $2,500,000,000 in the 2019-2020 cycle.
63
Q

whats the limit of a PAC doation to a campain

A

5,000

64
Q

give an exple of an expenisve an significant campeigning event

A

“Biden-Harris Get Out the Vote Rally” held on October 29, 2020, in Tampa, Florida. huge and had all covid social disyanceing mesure meaning an extra large space was hired and extra costs liek masks

65
Q

give an exapel of a democrat poll

A
  • 2023 National Democratic Party Survey
    ask questions like what is your biggest policy consern so they can cmperign around such issues
66
Q

give an exaple of any PAC and how much they spent dueing an elction

A
  • AMERICA FIRST ACTION - for biden
  • 133 million
67
Q

give an expel of an add run by AMERICA FIRST ACTION

A

America’s Future

68
Q

what was the turn out difference florida vs hawii ( battle groud vs democrt safe state )

A
  • hawii - 58%
  • florida - 77%

Davis US politics (4 decks)

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