US Elections and Referendums Flashcards

Question

25. Explain and analyse three advantages of direct democracy in the U.S.

Answer 1

P - It improves the accountability of state-level officials between elections, especially where promises have been broken or their actions have produced strong opposition – Recall elections. P - It increases opportunities for political participation. It also provides additional opportunities for pressure groups to get involved in decision-making, e.g. the NRA publicly backed a 2014 measure in Alabama to strengthen Second Amendment rights. It also allows variation in laws which – Referendums P - Direct democracy is popular in the USA. There was a total of 120 measures on ballots in 2020 including 13 in California alone. It can cover issues where parties and individual candidates have not made a prior promise – Ballot initiatives

Answer 2

P - The USA only has direct democracy at state level. There is no constitutional provision for national referendums or for the recall of federal judges such as those in the Supreme Court, nor of the president and members of Congress. P - Most ballot measures are therefore the product not so much of ordinary citizens but of interest groups. It takes money and organisation to collect the thousands of signatures often required to get an initiative on the ballot. Many groups employ professional petition consultants to collect signatures. In 2020, the total raised on campaigning over direct democracy measures was close to a staggering $1.2 billion. P - Ordinary voters may not always fully understand complex laws. They may also vote for unsustainable measures such as cutting state taxes while increasing spending on public services, which can lead to huge budget deficits.

Answer 3

P - It reflects preferences for personalities over parties in some cases. E - Democrat Collin Peterson who was re-elected in 2016 despite his district backing Trump by a margin of over 30% in 2016. Peterson was the most conservative Democrat in the House and one of only two to vote against Trump’s impeachment — the other Democrat subsequently defected to the Republicans. Second, he was a long-serving incumbent of 30-plus years. In America, the Party Platform is less binding on candidates than with UK manifestos, and that candidates can distances themselves from their party, basing their campaign around their own policies and views. P – In the 70s and 80s Republican Presidents were preferred for a tougher foreign policy, while Dems were preferred in congress for their approach to social welfare. P - Cognitive Madisonianism: E - This is a reference to James Madison, one of the founding fathers, who was in favour of a clear separation of powers and separate branches of government. They suggest that on election days, voters are purposely splitting their ticket as they feel divided government is more effective, and the greater the separation of power, the stronger the checks and balances will be. Many critics argue that this theory is unrealistic as it is not likely that voters go to elections with this as their main aim.

Answer 4

P – Polarisation of US parties E - Ever widening divide between Democrats and Republicans on fundamental political values P - Americans are more consistently liberal or conservative in their views than in the past E – In 1996, 25% Congressional districts split their ticket for the President and the House. 2016 was the first time in modern US history that every Senate race corresponded with how that state voted in that year’s presidential election. P – Decline in moderate candidates E – Decline in blue dog coalition candidates who might have gained votes among moderate Republicans

Answer 5

P - Some states do not make postal voting easy and require an excuse for an absentee or early voting ballot E - States that make a lot of use of alternative voting methods not surprisingly have the highest turnouts. In 2020, around 68% of ballots were cast early or by post. P - Some states have introduced tougher voter ID laws to discourage what they term voter fraud. Others, such as Georgia, have pursued an active campaign of purging voter rolls. E - For example, more than 1.4 million voter registrations were cancelled in Georgia between 2012 and 2018. While some of those removed from the rolls had moved or died, others were removed for simply not voting in several election cycles. Democrats tend to oppose such measures, arguing that this disproportionately affects groups least likely to vote for Republicans, including African-Americans and younger voters P - There is a lack of viable choice in a political system dominated by just two parties. E - The USA almost exclusively uses a majoritarian electoral system. This discriminates against third-party and independent candidates.

Answer 6

P - Terms of office E - Both countries set limited terms for elected offices, for example 6 years for a senator and a maximum of 5 years for an MP. In the USA, term lengths for Congress and president are set down in constitutional stone but if the UK wants to amend the maximum length of an MP’s term, it simply requires an Act of Parliament. There is also no overall term limit on the UK prime minister, unlike the two full terms imposed on the US president by the Twenty-Second Amendment. So, while no US president has served more than 8 years since 1945, two UK prime ministers, Blair and Thatcher, served 10 or more continuous years in office. P - Elections and elected posts E - There are a lot more elections and elected posts in the USA than in the UK. Also, while both countries elect national legislatures and local councils, the list of elected offices and ballot initiatives is far longer in the USA. First Primaries/caucuses are universal in the USA but are non-existent in the UK. Some UK cities such as London and Manchester have adopted directly elected mayors, and elected police and crime commissioners however the array of local elected officials in the USA is truly vast: mayors, school board officials, agricultural commissioners, sheriffs and even state level judges make up just part of that list. There are also regular state-level elections for governor and the state legislature. The advent of devolution to parts of the UK since 1997 has, however, created a little more parity in this area. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Westminster elections are no longer the only elections of importance. P - Electoral systems E – There is a high degree of similarity. Both countries mostly use FPTP system for their legislatures. Yet while that is true for the Commons and Congress (aside from Maine’s ranked choice voting system), there is more variety in the UK. Regional assemblies and devolved bodies use (AMS) and single transferable vote (STV). Hence, coalition or minority governments are the norm in the devolved assemblies. This is not something apparent at any level of government in the USA.

Answer 7

Rational Theory focuses on the actions and behaviours of groups and individuals . P – Policies to attract natural supporters E – Conservatives often focus on pension schemes in order to please their often older demographic. Similarly, the Republicans’ economic policies include cutting taxes on big businesses as their voter base contains business owners. P – Focus on swing seats E – In the USA, most campaign money is spent on seats that are not truly Republican or Democratic. For example, the South is solidly Republican so the Democrats would spend more money on seats they have a chance of winning such as North Carolina. Similarly, in the UK, the Labour party in 2024 campaigned in seats in the Midlands historically called the “red wall” and controlled by Labour but which had “turned blue” and been taken by the Conservatives in 2019. P – Increasing use of social media E – Especially true for the more liberal left-wing parties who often appeal to younger voters. Corbyn 3X as many Facebook followers as May. In the USA. Democrats have poured nearly twice as much cash into political ads this cycle ($325 million) compared to Republicans ($181 million), according to the latest projections from AdImpact. C – In the UK news outlets must remain impartial whilst in the US they do not.

Answer 8

P – Personalities in elections E – Stronger emphasis on individuals and personality in the US whilst a focus on parties still exists in the UK. However, it is growing more presidential with big personality figures like Boris Johnson. P – Candidate selection. E – In the USA, primaries and Caucuses are used to select a candidate. In the UK, party members vote on a party leader. The US allows for more political participation. P – Voting behaviour E – Similar in that demographics such as age plays an important factor. For example, youth strongly favour liberal/progressive party. In 2024, only 8% 18-24 year olds voted Conservative. In the 2020 presidential election 36% of 18–29-year-olds votedfor Trump.

Answer 9

P - Campaign expenditure caps E- In the UK, there are tight limits on campaign expenditure. In the run-up to elections, national parties are capped at a maximum spend of £30,000 per candidate standing. This effectively caps the legally allowed total at just over £19 million. is. The names of all donors giving over £7,500 must be made public in the interests of transparency. The Electoral Commission issues fines for breaking these rules, including the failure to produce accurate quarterly donations reports. In February 2020, Plaid Cymru was fined over £29,000 for this breach in the rules. there are rules that limit direct donations to parties and candidates (hard money) but few if any effective ones to restrict indirect or independent expenditure (soft money). Nor is there any limit on how much an individual candidate can spend of their own personal wealth (self-funding) P - State funding of campaigns E - In the UK, far more is done by the government nationally. For example, voter registration and ID laws are undertaken centrally by the government whereas in the US this is down to states. Further, candidates in UK elections are legally entitled to free postage of one piece of election literature, at a cost to British taxpayers of £42 million. No equivalents exists in the USA and No major party presidential candidate has accepted matching funding since 2008. P - The legal framework for what spending is allowed varies between the two countries for the media E - In the UK, under the terms of the Communications Act 2003, television airtime cannot be purchased for political ads. Instead, major parties are allocated free slots for party election broadcasts. No such restrictions exist in the USA, and candidates, parties and Super PACs pile in to buy up airtime — one estimate calculated $10.8 billion was spent on such ads in the 2020 election.

Answer 10

P – Wealthy donors E – Elon Musk pledged to donate $45 million a month to a Republican Super PAC in the 2024 election. The opportunities are more restricted in the UK, but there remain many wealthy individual donors such as banker Lubov Chernukhin, who in 2014 paid £160,000 to play tennis with Johnson and Cameron. P – Pressure groups E - Political election funding by pressure groups is a form of free speech and enables a pluralist political debate. In 2018, the League of Conservative voters spent $85 million on electoral campaigning In the 2016 election season the NRA $52.5 million on electoral campaigning. Much of this funded television and radio adverts. P - Electoral battlegrounds Lastly, in both countries, spending is disproportionately but rationally focused on electoral battlegrounds, where national campaigns are won or lost. E - Clinton spent $93 million in Florida but only $6 million on the safe seat of Colorado. f digital ads has made it easier for UK parties to spend money on nationally funded but hyper-local ads through buying in data, especially on demographics, to target individual voters more effectively

Answer 11

P - US politics is heavily influenced by First Amendment notions of individual rights and freedoms. This extends to the freedom to make political donations, which certainly since the Citizens United case has been viewed as a legitimate extension of political expression. There has long been a tradition of political donations, particularly by many trade unions to the Labour Party but also by private individuals to the Conservatives, and during the Blair years at least to Labour as well. Yet, there is a greater willingness to accept some state involvement in regulating campaign funding, even if wholesale reforms to party funding, including greater state funding of parties, remain stalled. P - Yet the UK’s political culture is certainly not immune from controversy. ‘Cash for honours’ has been an allegation levelled at both Labour and Conservative leaders. In the USA, there is perhaps less squeamishness on such matters. The ‘spoils systems’ enables presidents, for example, to dole out ambassadorships to generous campaign donors. It is estimated that roughly 30% of diplomatic postings abroad go to political appointees over career Foreign Service diplomats. P - Perhaps the biggest historic and cultural difference is that of scale: US elections consume billions of dollars, with the total bill for 2020 around $14 billion. By contrast, the 2019 UK general election saw the parties raise and spend a total of around £30.7 million

US Elections and Referendums Flashcards

(35 cards)