US Democracy and Participation - Topic 5.1 Flashcards
The electoral systems in the US
What does the timeline of the presidential election process look like?
- 18-24 months before Election day - The invisible primary begins
- 9 months before Election day - Early state primaries and caucuses
- 8 months before Election day - ‘Super Tuesday’
- 5-7 months before Election day - Late state primaries and caucuses
- 4 months before Election day - National Party Conventions
- 1-3 months before Election day - The election campaign, including presidential debates
- First Tuesday after first Monday in November - Election Day
- 1 month after Election day - Electoral College ballots cast
- 2 months after Election day - Inauguration of a new president
What are the differences between primaries and caucuses?
Primaries are an intraparty ballot to nominate the candidate for a party. They’re secret ballot, often conducted on a state-wide basis. They’re used by 46 states.
Caucuses are an intraparty town hall meeting to nominate the candidate for a party. Voting often takes place in public and are often conducted in small local areas within a state. 4 states use caucuses.
What is the point of having invisible primaries?
It’s the period of time during which potential candidates for a party compete with each other to attract attention, money and endorsements for their campaign, the competition being intraparty.
Candidates have to use the invisible primaries to attract public attention. This means gaining ‘name recongition’, being a candidate whose name is recognised by voters as a viable candidate. The success of this is often judged by the polls, and a lack of good polling can lead to a candidate withdrawing.
How can invisble primaries be used to obtain funds?
Invisible primaries can also be used for candidates to raise money. This might be donations directly from the voters themselves, which candidates call targeting the ‘grassroots’. Increasingly, PACs and Super-PACs are donating more than voters.
Political Action Committees can donate directly to the candidate but of a max of $5,000. Super-PACs can spend unlimited amounts of money for or against candidates, but they cannot coordinate directly with the candidate while doing so.
Campaign finance in presidential elections have risen dramatically over recent elections. The 2020 Election cost nearly $6bn overall.
What are the differences between open, semi-closed and closed primaries?
And caucuses
Open primaries allow all voters in a state to take party, no matter what party they belong to. Voters can only take part in one primary.
Semi-closed primaries are a hybrid. Registered party members are allowed to take part only in their party’s primary. Unregistered voters, however, can choose which to participate in.
Closed primaries allow only voters who are registered in a party to take part.
When do primaries and caucuses happen?
Typically between February and June of the election year. New Hampshire’s primary and Iowa’s caucus are first to happen - a process known as ‘frontloading’. The process of frontloading has led to the creation of ‘Super Tuesday’.
States with earlier primaries can be more influential. By the time California voted in the 2016 Republican primary, all candidates except for Trump had suspended ther campaigns.
What is the point of having National Party Conventions?
They formally nominate the presidential and vice-presidential candidate for their party and hold discussions on the party policy for the coming election.
After the disastrous 1968 DNC, the Democrats established a new system with greater importance, emphasis and openess placed on the primaries and caucuses, which previously had been of little significance.
In 2016, it took just 6 minutes to agree on the Republican Party platform despite concerns about Trump’s rhetoric.
What is the purpose of the Electoral College?
States are to appoint electors who would vote for the president on behlaf of that state. Together, these electors form the Electoral College and the president would be whoever gained a majority of their votes. However, the Constitution left Congress and the states to decide how these elections would work in practice.
How does the Electoral College work?
Each state is alocated a number of ECVs. The number for each state would be the same as the number of people representing that state in Congress. This meant that every state had a minimum of three ECVs (one house rep and two senators).
Before Election Day, each party selects people who cast the ECVs in each state. These are often faithful party activists for who this is a reward. Following Election Day, the state declare which presidential candidate will be allocated its ECVs. The electors cast their votes in the state capital on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. 33 states require their delegates to cast their vote for the candidate who won, 17 don’t. Delegates who don’t vote as their state did are called faithless electors.
To win the Electoral College, a candidate need a majority of the ECVs. With 538 ECVs available, a candidate needs 270 to win.
What breeds the two-party system in the US?
- The use of FPTP - Disadvantages third parties
- The nature of the US - The federal nature of the US and the guarantee a state’s right to run its own elections, make every election a small, single-seat election
- Party ideology - Both of the main parties have a broad ideology and it’s difficult for a third party to carve out any distinct policy area
- Expensive campaign finances - US elections have become so expensive that the only parties able to really compete are those with money
- The electoral rules - The rules of the presidential debate serve to exclude third parties who struggle to achieve popularity needed in the polls
What are the most common methods of raising campaign money today?
- PACs - Can raise a $5,000 donation per campaign - Can donate directly to a campaign
- 527s - Unlimited amounts - Cannot call for the election or defeat of a candidate
- Super-PACs - Unlimited amounts - Can call for the election or defeat of a candidate but cannot coordinate with those campaigns
What is the difficulty in achieving campaign finance reform?
Where legislators have created legislation, groups have simply found ways to work around this. PACs, 527s and Super-PACs all demonstrate a willingness for groups to get their vote heard through money in elections one way or another.
There’s a lack of consensus about what campaign finance reform would look like. Without bipartisan agreement, the chance of making effective legislation is highly unlikely
