Participation, Campaigns & Elections

Question 1

Reapportionment

Answer 1

Process of congressional seats being redistributed among the states every 10 years following the census

Question 2

Who votes? How do we know?

Answer 2

We know who votes based upon various exit tickets and statistical analysis that news sources conduct after a certain election. More older people vote as compared to younger people, and more wealthy people vote as opposed to poor.

Question 3

Types of elections

Answer 3

Primary election: Elections to select a party’s candidate for the general election
General election: Where nation selects officeholders from either party. Held on the first Tuesday after first Monday in November

Question 4

Who is in charge of elections?

Answer 4

Administrators at the state and local level are responsible for running elections, from maintaining voter registration records to counting ballots, causing variation in voting practices from state to state

Question 5

How and why do states redistrict?

Answer 5

States redistrict as a result of the most recent census based on population, however, redistricting is largely political and often uses gerrymandering (strategy of drawing legislative districts to favor a political party)

Question 6

Presidential vs congressional elections

Answer 6

-Presidential elections occur every four years
-Congressional elections occur every two years

-Midterms: congressional elections that don’t coincide with presidential elections

Question 7

Closed vs open primaries

Answer 7

Closed: Election where voters select candidates but only of the party in which they are enrolled
Open: Election in which the voter can wait until the day of primary to choose which party to enroll in to select candidates for the general election

Question 8

Front-loading

Answer 8

Moving up the presidential primaries by states to provide those states greater influence of the selection of the candidates

Question 9

Delegate vs super-delegate

Answer 9

Delegate: Representative to national party conventions who votes according to preferences of voters in caucus and primary elections

Super-delegate: Unelected party member free to support any candidate for pres. election at party’s national convention. Only allowed to vote if no candidate has majority first-round

Question 10

Party platform

Answer 10

Party document, written at national convention containing party philosophy, principles and stances on issues

Question 11

How is the electoral college flawed?

Answer 11

Overrepresent small population states and biased against large-population states

Question 12

Campaign

Answer 12

Effort by political candidates and their supporters to win backing of donors, political activists, and voters in their quest for political office

Question 13

How do campaigns obtain ample fundraising?

Answer 13

1. PACs
2. SuperPACs
3. Dark money groups or 501 committees
4. 527 committees

Question 14

Grassroots campaign

Answer 14

Political campaigns that operate at the local level, often using face to face communication to generate interest and momentum by citizens

-Organizationally driven, labor intensive

Question 15

Mass media campaigns

Answer 15

Statewide, presidential, media and money intensive

Question 16

Difference between negative and positive ads

Answer 16

Negative addresses policy differences, positive showcases personal characteristics

Question 17

How do voters decide?

Answer 17

1. Partisan loyalty
2. Issues and policy preferences
3. Candidate characteristics