Elections Flashcards
(46 cards)
What is a presidentital election
Fixed election which elect the president every 4 years
What is a Congressional election
Directly elect members of both chambers of Congress (every 2 yrs; whole of House and third of Senate)
What is opposite to UK ‘snap elections’
Constitutional Rigidity - all US elections timings are set out in the Constitution
Give an example of the idea of a ‘Permanent Campaign’
Trump rally day after he gets inaugurated
Give 4 differences between English electoral requirements and US
1) Elections every 5 years
2) People vote for the party rather than the elected candidate (e.g. Conservative party membership vote for rishi Sunal or Liz truss)
3) Can serve more than two terms
4) No primaries
What is the invisible Primary?
The time period between when the candidates declare an intention to run for the presidency and the first contests of the primary season
Why is the invisible primary termed ‘invisible’
Invisible because much of what occurs cannot be seen (largely untrue now as tv debates now central)
Most important 3 things for the candidate to gain during the Invisible Primaries
Name Recognition
- raise Money
- arrange state-based Organisation
3 things candidates can do to win the Invisible Primary
1) Visit Key States (e.g. Iowa and New Hampshire)
2) Get a Mention in the Media
- ‘washington post’
- Trump used twitter a lot - appealed to younger voters
- In-depth interview
3) Money Raising
- Al Gore scared off challengers for the 2000 Democratic nomination because of huge amounts of money raised
What is ‘Super Tuesday’
A Tuesday in Feb when a number of states arrange their primaries together has come to be known.
In 2008 Super Tuesday was in early Feb and was the biggest ever:
- 22 Democrat and 21 Republican contests being held.
In 2012 Super Tuesday was on March 6th and only involved 10 states
What is a Primary?
A primary election is to choose a party’s candidate for an elective office, in this case the presidency
What is a Caucus
A caucus is a meeting for the selection of a party’s candidate for president. In 2012 12 states held caucuses.
3 unique features of a Primary
Primaries are run by the state and local gov’t
The primary process involves choosing the party’s presidential nominee. It does this by accumulating delegates that will meet at the party’s NNC
Most states have a binding primary – they are legally bound to vote for a particular candidate
3 Unique features of a Caucus
Caucuses are run by political parties
getting rarer:
In 2008, 14 states held democratic caucuses and 10 held Republican caucuses
By 2020, only 3 states held democratic caucuses - hard to organise and not very effective
good way to engage in politics and can be quite fun
What is a Delegate
Delegates are usually people who are prominent in the party in that state. They go forward to a state convention and eventually the national party convention.
What is Front-Loading
This is the phenomenon by which an increasing number of states schedule their presidential primaries or caucuses earlier in the cycle
Done to Increase Importance of their State
1 Advantage of Front-Loading
Less chance of a longer campaign which could potentially damage own party - compare to Truss/Sunak fight for PM
1 Disadvantage of Front-Loading
Because the nomination is decided so early, there is little opportunity for any reassessment of a candidate’s potential weaknesses - can lead to ‘buyer’s remorse’
Where ar emost electoral decisions decided?
At state -level
What is the national nominating convention?
The occasion when the successful candidate is formally endorsed as their party’s candidate for the forthcoming presidential election
One example of how Republicans have tried to reduce the vote of African-Americans
- Wisnconsin, presidential election during Covid
Milwaukee officials opened just five polling places for the entire city. One study said that difficult access and long lines reduced turnout by more than 8% — and more than 10% for Black voters.
Why can there be some exceptions to the majoritarian rule of elections?
Because there are no federal requirements for the electoral system (excl Electoral college)
Explain California’s ‘Non-partisan blanket primary law’
- Means that the top two candidates regardless of party are selected in a state primary
- A consequence of tis is that the heavily democratic state meant that two Democrats came top in the blanket primary held in June 2018
- Which mean the November Senate election was between two Democrats, no Republican was on the ballot
3 strengths of US electoral system
1) The Electoral college again reinforces the federal nature and ensures smaller states are not overlooked in election campaigns
2) A huge number of elections and elected offices offer many opportunities for political participation
3)An almost entirely majoritarian electoral system usually ensures clear results and single-party control of legislative chambers
