US elections

Question 1

Invisible primary

Answer 1

Time between a candidate formally announcing that they are running and the first official primary or caucus.

Question 2

What happened to republican candidates in the invisible primary in 2016

Answer 2

5 out of 17 candidates withdrew during invisible primary - lack of funding or lack of good polling.

Question 3

What tactic did trump use to attack candidates during invisible primary

Answer 3

Twitter

Question 4

How many republican primary debates where there in 2016

Answer 4

12

Question 5

What does the invisible primary give candidates the time to do

Answer 5

raise the huge funds required for a successful campaign

Question 6

Political Action Committees (PACs) are …

Answer 6

Groups which raise money to support a candidate - can donate a maximum of $5,000 to as many campaigns as they like

Question 7

What is a Super-PAC

Answer 7

A group which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to either oppose or support a candidate, they can not directly fund a campaign

Question 8

What is an open primary

Answer 8

Allow voters to vote in either parties primary whether they are a registered member or not - they can not vote in both primaries.

Question 9

Closed Primaries

Answer 9

only voters who are members of the registered party can vote in the primary for the party they are a member of - no one else

Question 10

Semi-closed primary

Answer 10

Registered voters can only vote in their party’s primary or caucus
Unregistered can choose which primary to vote in

Question 11

What is a caucus

Answer 11

• An intra party town-hall-style meeting - used by 14 states

Question 12

What three ways can primaries be calculated

Answer 12

Proportionally
Winner Takes all
Proportional unless a threshold is reached

Question 13

What is frontloading

Answer 13

States want their primary to be earlier because it is therefore more important in deciding who the candidate will be, if it is late on the candidate may already be decided.

Question 14

Give an example showing why frontloading is important

Answer 14

By the time California voted in the 2016 Republican primary, all candidates except Trump had withdrawn.

Question 15

What is done at a national convention

Answer 15

Formally nominate Presidential and Vice-presidential candidate
Party platform - party policy

Question 16

Battle ground state

Answer 16

A state where the winner is uncertain and therefore the candidates will focus much of their campaign in these states.

Question 17

Bellwether state

Answer 17

a state which has historically tended to vote for the winning presidential candidate.

Question 18

what statistic shows that only a few bellwether states tend to decide the election

Answer 18

In 2016 94% of events by either Trump, Pence Clinton or Kaine took place in just 12 states.

Question 19

what percentage of the vote does a candidate need to be included in presidential televised debates

Answer 19

15% - so its usually just two candidates

Question 20

How much influence do televised debates usually have on the final result of an election

Answer 20

not really a decider - Hillary Clinton appeared to have won each debate according to the polling but lost the election.

Question 21

How many elections are there on election day

Answer 21

Election day is 50 separate state-wide elections, all run with different rules and processes.

Question 22

How many states use the Winner takes all system on election day

Answer 22

all but two

Question 23

What does the control states have over the election have on election results

Answer 23

can be controversial - Butterfly ballots’ - supreme court decided election on 2000

Question 24

What is a faithless elector

Answer 24

elector who votes differently to how their state voted

Question 25

give an example where faithless electors were seen

Answer 25

In 2016 there were 10 faithless electors.

Question 26

What is one downside to the ECV system and give an example

Answer 26

ECV do not show this huge difference in popular vote. Clinton won California by over 4 million votes.

Question 27

What does ECV ensure

Answer 27

ensures that small states remain represented - sometimes even over represented compared to states with a highly concentrated amount of the population.

Question 28

Does the US have a two party system and why

Answer 28

Yes - the use of the Winner-takes-all system significantly disadvantages third parties.

Question 29

How are third parties not represented within states

Answer 29

Because there is effectively a separate election within each state - it is even harder for a third party to be represented.

Question 30

How do the two largest parties policy prevent smaller parties from emerging

Answer 30

The two largest parties have such a breadth of policy that smaller parties’ policies are usually already covered by the two largest parties in some way.

Question 31

How does funding effect small parties

Answer 31

small parties can not raise enough money

Question 32

how do televised debates prevent smaller parties from gaining votes

Answer 32

15% poll rule

Question 33

2010 - Citizens United Vs FEC

Answer 33

Effectively determines that money is free speech - gives rise to the creation of Super-PACs

Question 34

2014 - McCutcheon Vs FEC

Answer 34

individuals no longer limited to donating to one candidate - they can donate 5k to as many as they would like

Question 35

soft money

Answer 35

Money donated to a party, rather than a candidate - subject to few limits

Question 36

hard money

Answer 36

donated directly to a campaign

Question 37

The election system in the US is unlikely to be reformed unless it is through supreme court cases why?

Answer 37

This is because the two largest parties support the two party system and therefore there is little reason for them to desire change.