U.S. Elections

Question 1

First true head-to-head Presidential Election in the U.S.

Answer 1

1796 (Adams vs Jefferson) Washington was the consensus candidate the first two elections.

Question 2

Jefferson’s Political Party

Answer 2

Democratic-Republicans

Question 3

What was considered taboo in the first few Presidential elections?

Answer 3

Direct campaigning and appeals for votes.

Question 4

If direct campaigning was taboo, how did people run for office?

Answer 4

Surrogates campaigned for them.

Question 5

How did campaigning evolve?

Answer 5

From surrogates, to front-porch campaigning (people & press went to candidate) at the beginning of the 19th Century to direct campaigning in the 20th Century.

Question 6

Whistle Stop Campaign

Answer 6

Touring the country by train and giving speeches from the rear platform.

Question 7

How did television change campaigning.

Answer 7

Required candidates to carefully craft public images and take advantage of media exposure.

Question 8

Do televised debates tend to change opinions?

Answer 8

No, they tend to reinforce existing ones.

Question 9

Electorate

Answer 9

Citizens eligible to vote.

Question 10

Mandate

Answer 10

A command, indicated by the popular vote, for an elected official to carry out a particular policy or platform.

Question 11

Primary Election

Answer 11

Election in which voters decide which candidates in a party will represent the party in the general election.

Question 12

Open Primary

Answer 12

Primary election in which anyone can vote.

Question 13

Closed Primary

Answer 13

Primary election in which only registered party members can vote.

Question 14

When are Presidential elections?

Answer 14

Every 4 years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

Question 15

How often are elections held, generally, around the country?

Answer 15

Every year for a variety of elected positions.

Question 16

Benefits of elections

Answer 16

enables citizens to influence their government, confers legitimacy on the government, provides a peaceful means for removing government officials, provides a choice of direction on issues.

Question 17

Does the Constitution give most administrative power over elections to the States or the Federal Government.

Answer 17

States

Question 18

Aside from electing people, what can states do with elections?

Answer 18

Make policty, remove office holders before the next election,

Question 19

Crossover Voting

Answer 19

Participation in an opposing party’s primary.

Question 20

Runoff primary

Answer 20

A second primary required in some states if no one receives 50% of the vote in the first primary.

Question 21

General Election

Answer 21

election in which all voters decide who will represent them.

Question 22

Initiative

Answer 22

An election that allows citizens to propose legislation or state constitutional amendments by submitting them for popular vote.

Question 23

Referendum

Answer 23

An election in which a state legislature submits proposed legislation or state constitutional amendments to the voters for approval.

Question 24

Ballot Measures

Answer 24

Process in which voters enact public policy (initiative and referendum)

Question 25

Does the federal government use ballot measures?

Answer 25

No

Question 26

Downside of referendums

Answer 26

Dominated by law firms who draft it, management firms to guarantee ballot access, influence of wording (yes or no can bring about a policy change), and complexity of an issue.

Question 27

Advantages of referendums

Answer 27

champion issues resisted by state legislatures and heightens public interest in elections.

Question 28

Recall

Answer 28

an election that can remove an elected official prior to the next scheduled election.

Question 29

Different state methods for choosing electors to each party’s national convention for Presidential Elections

Answer 29

1) winner take all primary (candidate who wins most votes in the state primary wins all of its delegates - Democrats don’t use it, Republicans do)
2) Proportional primary (candidate who gets a minimum threshold also receives delegates in proportion to their vote tally)
3) Caucus (oldest, party-oriented method – multi-hour meeting of party members)

Question 30

Trend in nominating methods

Answer 30

In 1968 only 17 states held primaries. In 2016, 38 states held primaries.

Question 31

Objective of Presidential Campaign

Answer 31

Win the majority of the Electoral College

Question 32

Elector

Answer 32

Member of the Electoral College

Question 33

Number of electors in Electoral College

Answer 33

538 (535 members of Congress plus 3 for the District of Columbia)

Question 34

Number needed for majority in Electoral College

Answer 34

270

Question 35

How does reapportionment affect the Electoral College

Answer 35

Each state gets a number of electors equal to its representatives and senators. But the census every ten years reassigns the number of representatives based on population changes.

Question 36

Origin of Electoral College

Answer 36

Compromise by the founding fathers between those who wanted to choose a President by Congress and those who wanted to choose by popular vote.

Question 37

Intent of Electoral College

Answer 37

1) work without political parties, 2) cover both nominating and electing phases of an election, and 3) produce a nonpartisan president.

Question 38

Initial Problem with Electoral college

Answer 38

No way to distinguish between votes for Vice President and President. Election of 1800 ended in a tie between Jefferson and his vice presidential nominee Burr. Constitution says Congress then decides. But Federalists controlled the House.

Question 39

How did Election of 1800 impact Presidential Elections

Answer 39

12th Amendment (separate votes for President and Vice President)

Question 40

Process if no one gets a majority in Electoral College

Answer 40

House votes for President by state delegation. Senate votes for vice president by individual vote.

Question 41

How many times has the winner of electoral college received fewer votes than their opponent?

Answer 41

Five

Question 42

Incumbancy

Answer 42

Already holding office.

Question 43

Percent of incumbents who win re-election

Answer 43

85% and above

Question 44

Congress has historically been very unpopular, so why do incumbents get re-elected so easily?

Answer 44

staff support, visibility, scare-off effect.

Question 45

Staff support

Answer 45

Each representative is allowed to hire 18 permanent staff and 4 nonpermanent staff for Washington and district offices.

Question 46

Typical reasons incumbents lose

Answer 46

Redistricting, scandal, Presidential coat-tails, and mid-term elections.

Question 47

Presidential Coattails

Answer 47

When a successful Presidential candidate carries into office congressional candidates of the same party in the year of their election.

Question 48

Mid-term election

Answer 48

Election that takes place in the middle of a Presidential term.

Question 49

How often are Representatives elected.

Answer 49

Every 2 years.

Question 50

How often are senators elected.

Answer 50

Every 6 years (1/3 at a time)

Question 51

Campaign Manager

Answer 51

Individual who travels with the candidate and coordinates the campaign.

Question 52

Finance Chair

Answer 52

The individual who coordinates the financial business of the campaign.

Question 53

Communications Director

Answer 53

Person who develops the overall media strategy.

Question 54

Press Secretary

Answer 54

Person charged with communicating with journalists on a daily basis.

Question 55

Campaign Consultant

Answer 55

private-sector professional who sells services and technology to a candidate.

Question 56

Pollster

Answer 56

Someone who conducts polls on behalf of a candidate.

Question 57

Voter canvass

Answer 57

Process by which campaigns reach individual voters, usually by going door-to-door or by telephone.

Question 58

GOTV

Answer 58

Get Out the Vote (push to get voters to go to the polls)