electoral process and direct democracy Flashcards
(68 cards)
1
Q
national nominating convention
A
- large rally that begins the election campaign
- party nominee confirmed
2
Q
voter profiles
A
- how people decide to vote due to external and socialisation behaviours
3
Q
popular vote
A
- qualified voters vote to result in a majority vote share nationally
4
Q
split ticket voting
A
- voters vote for candidates from different political parties
5
Q
abstention
A
- declining to vote against a motion, usually a protest vote
6
Q
incumbency
A
- time a position is held by one individual, increases chances of re-election
7
Q
invisible primaries
A
- lead up to 1st primary in january
- increases name recognition, raises money
- relying on individual financing until endorsement by republican/democrat
- candidacy announced
8
Q
1st caucus
A
iowa
9
Q
example of importance of money in primaries
A
- biggest fundraiser = ben carson
- eventual nominee = donald trump
10
Q
caucuses
A
- political meeting of party members
- outdated
- votes cast for candidates
WASP dominated - low turnouts
11
Q
wasp meaning
A
w hite
a nglo
s axon
p rotestant
12
Q
how do primary elections run
A
- elections ran by state and local government to select candidates for presidential election
- funded and ran by state, under state law
- select candidate, but vote on behalf of delegates
13
Q
how are caucuses different to primaries
A
- caucuses held in churches, libraries or schools
- votes cast for candidates, delegates selected to represent voters at country conventions or district or state
14
Q
how do republican caucuses work
A
- votes cast and reported to media
- can then leave or stay for further conventions
15
Q
how do democrat caucuses work
A
- vote by gathering in specific areas of the room
- those with less than 15% are eliminated
- eventually tallied proportionally to represent at county convention
16
Q
open primaries
A
- any registered voter can participate
17
Q
closed primaries
A
- any registered party member can vote
18
Q
modified primaries
A
- registered party members and registered ‘independents’ can vote
19
Q
what is crashing/crossover voting?
example too
A
- supporters of one party vote in rival parties primary or caucus to support a controversial candidate that is easier to defeat
- 2008 hilary clinton saw lots of republican support
20
Q
how do democrats award delegates
A
- proportionally
- delegates to candidates who receive 15% or more of vote in primary or caucus
- chosen upon state wide vote or result in each congressional district
21
Q
how do republicans award delegates
A
- proportional/winner takes all hybrid
- those held before 15 march distribute proportionally
- however state republican parties are free to have own threshold
22
Q
when is the presidential election always held?
A
1st tuesday in november
23
Q
official qualifications needed to run for president
A
- natural born citizen
- 35 years old
- inhabitant of US for at least 14 years
24
Q
unofficial qualifications
A
- political experience (obama = senator)
- republican/democrat endorsement
- male white and married?
- money/fundraising skills
- national organisation
- policies/platform
- charisma and media savvy
25
primaries
- state based election to choose a pastries candidate for the presidency
- chooses delegates to vote for supposed candidate at national party convention
26
super tuesday
- tuesday in early march when a number of states coincide their presidential primaries
27
front loading
- increasing number of states schedule primaries or caucuses earlier in the cycle, in attempt to increase importance of their state
28
super delegates
example
- those appointed automatically as uncommitted delegates to the democratic national party convention
- by virtue of being an elected politician or party official
- e.g. 2008, obama nor clinton had majority in caucuses
29
national nominating conventions
- august to september
- presidential and vice-presidential candidate announced (already known)
- party platform announced (already known)
- venue politically chosen
30
how many electoral college votes are needed to win
270
31
examples of electoral college failing
- 2000 saw popular vote winner (gore) loose election
- 2016 saw popular vote winner (clinton) loose election
32
what is the indirect vote
- american vote is indirect out of a fear of populism
- citizen - vote - electors - vote - president
33
how many representatives are there in the house?
435
34
how many senators are there
100
35
how many washington DC votes are there
3
(23rd amendment)
36
how many electoral college votes are there all together?
538
37
what happens when there is no majority?
house = elects president. 1 vote for each state. 26/50 votes needed
senate = elects vice president. 1 vote for each senator. 51/100 votes needed
38
39
mid-terms
- elections that occur every 2 years into a presidential term of office
40
proportion of senate that is elected every 2 years
one third of
41
state with largest amount of electoral college votes
california
42
minimum number of electoral college votes for a single state
3
43
constant campaigning
describes impact of frequent elections
44
attack ads
tv adverts that set out to damage the character and record of one’s opponents in election campaigns
45
1st primary
new hampshire
46
6 reasons against the electoral college
1. weak mandate (disproportionate result)
2. unpredictable result (misfires)
3. small state over representation
4. unequal attention and turnout (focus on swing states)
5. wasted votes
6. tactical voting
47
4 reasons for the electoral college
1. strong mandate (large victories allow for legitimacy)
2. decisive result (misfires have occured twice)
3. protection of smaller states
4. diverse issues (swing states are a microcosm, forcing candidates to address a wide range of issues)
48
mark hanna money quote
‘two important things in politics: the first thing is money and I can’t remember what the second one is’
49
how much was spent on the 2020 election?
$14bn
50
PACs
- raises limited amounts of money and spends these contributions for the express purpose of electing or defeating candidates
51
super PACs
- spend unlimited amounts, but cannot donate directly to candidates or parties
- aka independent expenditures
52
issues of PACs
- 1970 watergate scandal and nixon
53
watergate
- 1972 nixon formed own re-election committee
- raised vast sums of money, far more than democratic contender George McGovern
54
solutions to PAC issues
- FEC (federal election commission)
- matching funds
- supreme court legislation
55
reforms to PACs
- federal election campaign act 1974
- soft money 1979
- mccain-feingold act 2002
56
citizen united v federal election commission 2010 ruling
- corporations have 1st amendment rights to free speech (aka throwing money at things as participation and free speech)
57
example of how money can be unimportant in election campaigning
- michael bloomberg spent over $1bn on campaign ads and staffing for 2020 primaries
58
state referendums
- vote on bill or state constitutional amendment that has already been passed by the state legislature
- originate from state government, some require a referendum to make constitutional amendments
59
3 reasons state referendums happen
1. legislature decided to put a measure or policy to public vote
2. legislature required by law to address public vote
3. people have a right to force a referendum on a law passed by legislature (petition referendum) available in 23 states
60
legislature referendum
which states use what
- state legislature puts bills/amendments up for a vote
- used in 23 states for statutes
- 49 states for amendments
61
popular/veto referendum
- happens in 25 states
- voters collect signatures within a certain timeframe, to trigger a vote on passed bill
62
63
how many constitutional amendments have there been in california
480+
- shows to be more democratic/modern
- has a lower threshold for amendments
64
recall elections
- happen in 19 states
- allows citizens to remove an elected official before the end of their term
- normally due to corruption or negligence
- collection of signatures to call an early election
65
example of a successful recall election
- gray davis in 2003
- state governor for california
- energy crisis led to blackouts, did not handle well and therefore blamed
66
initiatives/propositions
- citizens collect a requires number of signatures to trigger a vote on a new bill, or an amendment to the state constitution
67
direct initiative
- referred directly to the people after the required signatures have been collected
68
indirect initiative
- bill is first sent to state legislature, which can decide to pass the bill without a vote
