US Elections

Question 1

What is an Open Primary?

Answer 1

Allow all voters in state to participate, but only 1 primary (so only vote for 1 party)

• Means a Democrat could vote in Republican Primary if supported the candidate, but then not Democrat

Question 2

What is a Closed Primary?

Answer 2

Only voters registered with party can vote (either primary or caucus)

Question 3

What are the differences in Delegate allocation?

Answer 3

Proportionality - all D prs/cau (some R), delegates in proportion to vote received

Winner-takes-all - Some R prs/cau - candidate biggest vote = all

Proportional unless threshold reached - distributed proportionality unless threshold = given all

Question 4

What are the advantages of the Primary/Caucus System?
(+ Examples)
(Essay Arguments)

4 points

• participation
• outsiders
• demanding job
• key issues

Answer 4

^ Participation - before reform only 11%, 2016 - 61 million (almost 30%) voted

Open to outsiders - ^ choice, those like Obama (2008) & Trump (2016) able to compete despite little coverage or experience - 1968 only 5 candidates, 2016 = 22

Gruelling Race - demanding test for demanding job e.g. 2008 stated that Obama = stronger candidate after gruelling battle with Clinton

Raises Key Issues - due to choice, far more ideas - more opportunities to support candidate you agree than lesser of evils e.g. Andrew Yang 2020, policy of universal basic income $1000 a month for all or Trump’s ‘wall’ policy towards illegal immigration

Question 5

What are the disadvantages of the Primary/Caucus System?
(+Examples)
(Essay Arguments)

4 points

• apathy
• expensive
• unrepresentative
• super-delegates

Answer 5

Widespread voter apathy - turnout in primaries varies immensely, especially when it has an incumbent e.g. Bush 2004 - 17.2%, even no incumbent in 2000 - 19%

Process very expensive - must start campaigns early to raise large amounts - campaigns therefore result in being longer + more expensive e.g. by end of June 2016, Clinton raised $275mn, Sanders $235mn while R Trump + Cruz raised over $90mn at this time

Voters unrepresentative of voting age pop. - primary voters tend to be older, better educated, wealthier & more ideological than voting pop. E.g. 2012, Ron Paul - libertarian Rep. (ideological) won 10% vote in 40 pr/cau, with average in cau of 21%, Pr average 12% - showed unrepresentative nature is magnified in cau states

Super-delegates (appointed as uncommitted to DNP convention) - significant in role nomination of Obama, when neither him nor Clinton had majority, so Obama won Super to gain candidacy
+ controversy 2016, despite Sanders win Primary, delegates casted votes for Clinton - radical D claim it was rigged against the radical sanders

Question 6

Give 4 Areas of Importance in Elections.

Essay Arguments

Answer 6

Invisible Primary

Selection of a VP

Incumbancy in Elections

Debates

Question 7

What is the Invisible Primary and why is it important?
(Definition)
(Essay Arguments)

Answer 7

Unofficial beginning, mainly competition between candidates (intraparty) - significant part of election e.g. 2016, with 5/17 candidates for R withdrawing within Invisible due to lack of public support in polls e.g. Lindsay Graham

Question 8

What are candidates looking for during the Invisible Primary?
(Essay Arguments)

3 points

Answer 8

1) Public attention (‘name recognition’) - when voters recognise the name of a candidate such as Trump or Obama, more likely to succeed - success of name recognition reflects in polls, e.g. Andrew Yang who did not have such in 2020 forced to withdraw. + raise profile via drawing media attention, as Trump benefited from around $2 billion worth of ‘free’ media attention both during and after the Invisible.
2) TV debates provide platform to gain recognition - e.g. Trump’s controversial views on wall policy for immigration - also difficult to have debates, while they are common e.g. R held 20 debates in 2012, cannot always have all candidates e.g. 1st R debate Aug 2016 had 10 candidates
3) Attract finance e.g. donations or voters = ‘grass roots’ + PACs & Super-PACs - allow direct donation up to $5,000 to candidate, Super = unlimited (cannot coordinate with candidate) - to survive a long campaign, the invisible important to gain finance e.g. R Candidate Rick Perry withdrew due to lacking financial support 2016

Question 9

What are the constitutional requirements to be President?

Answer 9

1) Natural-born US citizen
2) At least 35 yrs old
3) Residency Qualification of 14 yrs

Question 10

What extra-constitutional requirements (i.e. qualities) should a candidate possess if they wish to become President?
(Essay Arguments)

5 points

Answer 10

Political Experience (conventional wisdom) - e.g. 11/22 declared candidates for R & P 2016 = state governors, 8/22 in Senate - Trump 1st elected Pres without experience in either military or politics + 19 nominated as Pres. candidates 1968-2016, 10 served Senate, 6 been state governors, 6 VPs, 2020 Joe Biden = VP for Obama

Major Party Endorsement - need nomination, as shown by failure of third party candidates/independents like Gary Johnson 2016 to succeed

Oratorical Skills + Telegenic - media age, ability to speak well + look good on TV e.g. Obama mastered such which = 2 terms

Ability to raise large sums - crucial due to expensive campaigns, only billionaire candidates e.g. Ross Perot (1992) can finance own campaign, others must raise it before Pri/Cau - according to Open Secrets site, Clinton raised $700mn in her unsuccessful White House bid 2016

Sound + Relevant Policies - voters still aware of whose policies are best for them - for example Trump, while practicality and detail of policies = thin, idea of anti-immigration + law and order, with emphasis on ‘make America great again’ = relevant to many groups

Question 11

What Strategies do Presidential candidates use for selecting a VP?
(Essay Argument)
3 points

Answer 11

1) Balancing the ticket - balancing aspects of the president e.g. region, political experience, age, ideology, race, religion
E.g. Obama 2008 select Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, he was 65 to Obama’s 47 - served senate for 36 yrs to Obama’s 4 = brought expertise such as foreign policy, having served as chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee

2) Potential in Government - how they can serve govt well e.g. Bush 2000 selected Dick Cheney, seeing Bush had no Washington experience in comparison - so useful to have someone with federal govt experience (served Sec. of Defence to Bush’s father) + Trump’s selection of Governor of Indiana + former congressman Mike Pence 2016 for experience
3) Unifying the Party (Rare) - Reagan united supporters of him + his rival George H.W. Bush 1980 despite being rivals on Principle - unlikely in modern day, with those like Trump and Cruz doing so would be problematic due to common practice of personal insults = divide govt

Question 12

What are the To-Do’s of Presidential Debates?

Essay Arguments

Answer 12

Be charismatic - body language (style over substance)

Good sound bites (most Americans see only sound bites, not full debate) e.g. 2012 Obama accused Romney in final debate of favouring the ‘foreign policy of the 1980s, social policy of the 1950s, and the economic policy of the 1920s’

Address the people directly

Able to take and inflict personal attacks and exposures of lies

Question 13

What are the Don’ts of Presidential Debates?

Essay Arguments

Answer 13

Verbal gaffes - e.g. 1976 Pres. Ford stated Poland was not under USSR control, 2020 - mention gaffe of Trump or Biden in debates depending on who loses - however 2016 Trump’s ‘not respecting result’ not = failure

Not appear disengaged

Not be cold, or lack empathy

Do not focus on controversies, not allow it to be a constant defence of ones own actions

Question 14

What are the Formal Roles of the Party Convention?

Answer 14

Selecting Party candidates for presidency: formally acknowledges party’s nominee for Pres. VP - though delegates mostly bound by party rule as to whom they must vote
- simply need majority of delegate votes to approve

Adopting Party Platform & Policies: theoretically - convention allow amendments to the party platform (US party manifesto) - however simply rubber stamp for platform, as the policies mostly created by ‘platform committees’ days before convention, in collaboration with presumptive nominee (e.g. 2020 Biden by August)

The platform then simply agreed at convention in a vote.
E.g. 2020 D platform July Draft stated in line 38 that the Democrats support improving healthcare through a public option

Question 15

What are the Informal Roles of the Party Convention?

Answer 15

Selling the Candidate: due to being multi-million-dollar event with significant media coverage - allow candidate to gain significant coverage, especially of their acceptance speech

E.g. Obama’s 2007 speech = 39mn TV views + 2004, allowed him to make his mark for future campaigns

Party Unity:
While invisible pri + pri = where candidates tear into one another which exposes division within party, convention allows repair of such.

E.g. 2020, despite Kamala Harris criticising Biden for supporting racist policies such as busing, allowed an amendment of issues + unity through the convention. Or Clinton in 2008 whose speech stated she was now ‘a proud supporter of Barack Obama’

Question 16

What are the Strengths of the Electoral College?

Essay Arguments

Answer 16

Preserves voice of small-pop states:
Would have less say (states like Wyoming & Alaska who in 2016 had 3 ECVs) as candidates focus primarily on large states like California (Who currently have 55 ECVs).

Promotes two-horse race:
As president is head of state + chief executive – need to be symbol of national unity – winner tends to receive over 50% popular vote – however only 3/7 last elections, president won with more than 50% popular vote.

Guards against tyranny of the majority:
Founding Fathers – not convinced of wisdom of popular sovereignty, therefore disperses power away from public.

No consensus on what to replace it with:
Slight reforms suggested, e.g. Proportional allocation of ECVs right up to abolition & replacing with national popular vote. Problematic due to difficulty of passing constitutional amendment generally.

Produces a clear winner:
Given use of FPTP for US elections, resulting 2-party system means winner has clear ECVs majority & therefore strong mandate to govern.

Question 17

What are the Weaknesses of the Electoral College?

Essay Arguments

Answer 17

Small states over-represented:
2016, California had 55 ECVs representing 39.2 million, Wyoming had 3 ECVs representing just over ½ million = California receive 1 ECV for every 713,000, Wyoming for every 195,000. - lack of rep = ^ apathy

Winner-take-all system distorts result:
1996, Clinton won with 49% pop. Vote but 70% ECVs – 2000 & 2016, candidate who won popular lost ECV e.g. 2016 Clinton beat Trump 48.2% to 46.1%. But Trump won ECVs, (Almost 3 million vote difference = scandalous?) – 70 ECVs behind Trump.

Unfair to national 3rd parties:
2000, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader – 3 million votes but not ECVs – 1968, American Independent Party candidate George Wallace – 13.5% of pop. – only as support concentrated in Deep South, 5 states with 45 ECVs – unlikely to have nationwide support.

‘Rogue’ Electors:
Not all states require Electors to cast ballots for state-wide popular vote winner – 2016, multiple of these, 5 Clinton electors & 2 Trump electors not vote for designated candidate – votes going to other candidates, which led to the ECV 304-227 instead of 306-232.

President & Vice-Pres of different parties:
Originally, such issues over party did not cause issue – however it is now problematic. In 2000, was certainly possible the House of Reps could have chosen Rep. George W. Bush as president & Senate chosen Democrat Joseph Lieberman as vice (not happen).

Question 18

How are ECVs allocated to states?

Answer 18

Num. of Senators (Always 2) + Num. of Representatives currently in the house e.g. California has 2 Sen + 53 Reps = 55 ECVs

This is why population (census) is so important

Question 19

What are the Strengths/Weaknesses of Reforming the EC with Direct Election?
(Essay Arguments)

Answer 19

Direct Election: Result of 2/5 elections seeing candidate with no pop. vote – calls for direct, The Washington Post commissioned national poll in 2007, 72% supported popular vote election, 23% opposed
However – with a multiplicity of candidates, a winning candidate unlikely to have over 50% of vote, more likely less than 40% + would require amendment to constitution – with equally represented small & large states, unlikely to pass as smaller states would not support = difficult to gain 2/3 supermajority

Question 20

What are the Strengths/Weaknesses of a proportional system reform to the EC?
(Essay Argument)

Answer 20

Proportional System:
Proportional to popular vote in that state – render Electors unnecessary – fairer to national 3rd parties
However – encourage electorate to vote for 3rd parties = unlikely to have candidate with majority of the popular vote – would have to be brought to Congress or separate elections to be held between top candidates = inconvenient, expensive, and likely disengage electorate after a while

Question 21

What are the strengths/weaknesses of the Congressional District System reform for EC?
(Essay Argument)

Answer 21

Most widely advocated reform - 48 states to follow system used in Maine + Nebraska - 1 ECV for each Congressional district (where House Reps are elected) - 2016 Maine splits its 4 ECVs, Clinton got 3 for winning state wide vote (48%), Trump gained 1 via presidential vote in 2nd Congressional district 52%

However - still disproportionate, e.g. if use 2012, Mitt Romney would win election despite losing to Obama by 5m votes - Obama won fewer districts with huge margins, Romney won with small margins e.g. Pennsylvania - Obama won state wide 52% to 46%, Romney won 13 districts to Obama’s 5

Question 22

What are the advantages of Incumbents when running for re-election?

Answer 22

Overall - success, 5/7 elections = success of incumbent

1) Less likely to have stronger candidates get involved when there is an incumbent president
2) Not face primary challenge – creates a stronger party as not disunited fighting each other, many states do not even hold primaries due to such regard – 2012 Virginia, South Carolina, Florida & NY among states that dispensed with a Democratic presidential primary – usually re-nominated without much opposition (Reagan 1984, Clinton 1996, Bush 2004 & Obama 2012) – 92% primary vote
3) Dominates media, as their policies still affect what happens – can be used to their benefit, e.g. 2012 in final weeks, Hurricane Sandy hit east coast – he acted ‘presidentially’, touring the areas & talking to those affected, yet Mitt Romney instead came after scrutiny as one of his policies as to close FEMA

Question 23

What are the limits/problems associated with being a sitting President?
(Essay Arguments)

3 points

Answer 23

1) Judged by their failures – e.g. Obama with failing to pass significant healthcare legislation despite not being his fault, or Carter when in the final year of his presidency, 52 Americans were held hostage in Iran = foreign policy debacle – weakness of Economy under Bush Snr. during 1992 election (+ emphasised by extensive media coverage)
2) If faced with strong opposition within party, shows less united party and therefore lacking govt, e.g. Obama was embarrassed when initially failing to gain 60% vote in states like Oklahoma & West Virginia, as his opponent Keith Judd won more than 40% despite serving a prison sentence for extortion – or in 1992, when Pat Buchanan opposed Bush in Rep. primaries, gaining 37% in New Hampshire = embarrassment
3) Held to a higher standard, this caused issues for Obama during TV debates, when he seemed disengaged compared to his Republican counterpart Romney.

Question 24

Direct Democracy - What are Propositions/Initiatives?

Answer 24

1) Propositions/Initiatives:
Allow citizens to bypass state legislature by placing proposed laws & even amendments on the ballot e.g. 2016 Marijuana Legalisation – Approved by California, Main, Massachusetts, Nevada. Defeated – Arizona
Only 24/50 states have such, 2 types of proposition:
- Direct – proposals that qualify go onto the ballot directly
- Indirect – given to state legislature to make decision, sometimes straight to ballot even if legislature rejects, or they can add an alternative option onto the ballot
Rules: proposal must be – filed with designated state official
- Reviewed for conformance with state legal requirements
- Given formal title & brief summary for inclusion on ballot
- Circulated to gain required num. of signatures from voters
- Submitted to state officials for verification of signatures
Num. signatures required varies – Alaska = 10% votes cast in last election, California = 5% in last governor election if state law, 10% if seeking to amend constitution – then either sent to ballot or state legislature – need a majority vote – around a ½ of all initiatives approved by voters

Question 25

Direct Democracy: What are Referendums?

Essay Arguments

Answer 25

Referendums:
Available in all 50 states – can veto a bill passed by state legislature (similar to propositions) – however only occurs after state legislature acts.
Uses vary, some states must have ref. for changing constitution, other for changes in state tax – 2012 = 115 ref. put on ballot by state legislatures
24 states go further & have provision called ‘popular referendum’ – states such as Alaska, Colorado, if state legislature passes a law voters not want to approve, may gather signatures to demand a referendum – usually a 90-day period after law passed in which petitioning must take place – once verified it will appear on ballot for popular vote – law does not take effect at that time – if rejected it is made null & void

Question 26

Direct Democracy: How are recall elections used in the US, how might they be problematic?
(Essay Arguments)

Answer 26

Recall elections:
State ability to remove elected official from office – seen as direct form of impeachment – ordinary voters can do so, 19/50 states have means of doing this - been 3 recall elections for state governors, most recent being Rep Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker June 2012, beat his opponent 53% - 46%, recall triggered due to attempted changes to state employee pension schemes & limiting of collective bargaining rights of trade unions within state
Clearly shows a form of democratic accountability, making officials directly accountable throughout their office, both after elections and before – some critics say it is dangerous, as many voters may indulge in ‘buyer’s regret’ when they are dissatisfied in short-term – instead many say that as long as they have not broken the law, people should accept the choice they made & wait until next election
Since 2012, been numerous attempts to recall governors in Kansas, Oregon, Arizona & etc – none

Question 27

What are 527s?

Answer 27

Able to raise unlimited amounts, but cannot call for election or defeat of candidate

Question 28

What are Super-PACs?

Answer 28

Able to raise unlimited amounts, can all for election/defeat of candidate, but cannot coordinate with those campaigns

Question 29

What is the difference between ‘hard & soft money’?

Answer 29

Hard - direct donations to campaigns, subject to strict limits

Soft - money donated to party, rather than candidate, used for ‘party-building activities’ rather than endorsement or a candidate directly. Subjected to fewer limits

Question 30

What were the results of Citizens United v FEC (2010)?

Answer 30

Determined that money was free speech - therefore campaign limits placed on organisations = unconstitutional

Led to creation of Super-PACs

Question 31

What were the results of McCutcheon v FEC (2014)?

Answer 31

Rules which aggregate cap placed on indvs limits num. of candidates they can donate to within election cycle = unconstitutional

Question 32

What were the limits introduced by the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (2002)?

Answer 32

• Bans soft money donations to national parties
• Raises indv. contribution limits to $2,000 (or ‘hard money’) per candidate per election

Stand By Your Ad (SBYA) - requires candidates to endorse campaign adverts to discourage attack adverts or controversial claims

Corporations + Labour Unions banned from funding issue advertisement