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Elections in the United States
Quiz Define political socialization Describe the role of education in political
participation Define political party What is the number one influence on people’s
political ideology? What is the importance of third parties? List 2 reasons for low voter turnout/participation. Name the three types of polls.
Purpose of Elections Founders called it Popular Sovereignty
Political Power is derived from the consent of the governed
Elections fill public offices and staff the government
Elections also hold the Government accountable to the public
Types of Elections Presidential Elections (General)
Primaries Congressional Elections Mid-term Elections
“Referendum on the President”
State and Local Imitative, Referendum, and Recall
Presidential Elections Primary Elections
Voters decide which of the Candidates within a party will represent the party’s ticket in the General Elections
Types of Primaries
Closed Only a registered party member is allowed to vote (FLA,
LA, NY, CA) Open
Any member of the Electorate can vote in either primary (GA, AL, TX, VA)
Crossover voting does occur frequently in Open Primaries There is little evidence to support “raiding” of primaries
Runoff Second Primary election between the top 2 vote getters
LA is a little strange
Primaries Scheduling
Critics argue unfair scheduling of Primaries affects their outcomes Take New Hampshire. Who really cares what the
think? But because they are the first primary in our nation some say they get way too much media coverage and affect the opinions of the electorate in more populous states that hold their primaries later
Leads to Front Loading Front Loading- the tendency of states to chose
an early date on the primary calendar Parties have finally said enough is enough and
have taken delegates out of states who continue to move up their primaries Ex. Michigan
Super Tuesday- In 1988 14 southern states began Super Tuesday to maximize the South’s influence on Presidential Politics
Differences in Primaries Republican
Winner Take All Primaries Democratic
Proportional Primaries
Super Delegates Voters entitled to become delegates to their party’s
nominating convention by virtue of their position in the Government or Party Hierarchy Ensures Party Control for Democrats
Can break a tie Are not pledged to a certain candidate
Party Conventions- Once a Delegate is Chosen…
All the States report the number of delegates voting for a candidate
All the candidates give a brief speech supporting the Nominee
The Party’s nominee gives a speech about how he/she will change the world
News Coverage is extensive which leads to the Convention Bounce
Then the race for the president begins (we will do that Thursday)
Incumbents When incumbents lose it is generally due to:
Redistricting Gerrymandering-attempts to establish a political advantage
for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries to create partisan advantaged district
Scandals Presidential Coattails
Mid Term Elections Off Year elections- In-between presidential
elections Less Participation than a Presidential Election
The president’s party normally loses seats during this election Midterm Elections serve as a REFERENDUM on the
President 2006 Mid Term election Republicans lost 30 seats in
the house and 6 in the Senate giving the Democrats control in Congress
General Election vs. Mid Term Election
38.6% of the electorate voted in the 2006 mid term election
56.8% Turnout for the 2008 election Why is voter turnout higher for the general
election than the midterm elections? Media Coverage (Greater Interest) More Money Spent on Presidential Elections Higher Visibility Perception of Greater Importance of Presidential
Elections Mobilization
Congressional Elections vs. Presidential ElectionsCoattail effect - Presidential popularity effecting
congressional elections in midterm years Congress communicates with their
constituents more directly, often personally, while President relies on media
Congress reps can deny responsibility and blame problems on other reps or President
Initiative, Referendum, Recall Initiative- An election that allows citizens to propose
legislation and submit it to the state electorate for popular vote
Referendum- An election whereby the state legislature submits proposed legislation Good Things- This provides for more Direct Democracy Bad Things- in 1990 California had to provide a 2
volume book explaining all the initiatives on the ballot
Recall Or Deelection
Voters can vote to remove an incumbent from office prior to the next scheduled election
Example?
Quiz A _______ primary is a primary where only
registered members of a party can vote. List 2 purposes of Elections Describe the concept of front loading What is the purpose of a Super delegate?
Electing the President The President is not elected by a Direct Vote
Congress is a direct election The Gubernatorial election is a direct election. The President is elected by the Electoral College
The Electoral College Like most things at Constitution the Electoral
College is a compromise Direct Popular vote and Congress choosing the
President Electors were meant to be men of character with a
solid knowledge of national politics
What is the Electoral College?
It is the constitutional system used to elect the Chief Executive.
Established by Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment (1804).
Each state is assigned a specific number of electors.
When you vote for President, you are actually voting for the group of electors from your state.
When you cast your vote, you are actually voting for the ELECTORS from your state.
The candidate that gets the most votes in your state, gets those electors.
WINNER TAKE ALL SYSTEM!!!!!
If you win a plurality of the votes, you get EVERY VOTE!!!!
TO WIN THE WHITE HOUSE YOU MUST WIN A MAJORITY OF ELECTORAL VOTES
So:
There are 538 Electoral Votes on the map
To win:
538/2=269
A majority is
50% + 1
So to be President you need
270 Electoral Votes
The candidate that wins the popular vote in that state gets all that state’s electoral votes (except for Maine and Nebraska).
To Find the Number of Electoral Votes for a state
Number of Representatives in the House
+
Number of Senators (Always 2)
Total Number of Electors
.
While the state electors are "pledged" to vote for the candidate of the party that chose them, nothing in the Constitution requires them to do so. In rare instances, an elector will defect and not vote for his or her party's candidate.
Such "faithless" electors rarely change the outcome of the election and laws of some states prohibit electors from casting them.
.
Do the electors have to vote for the candidate from their party?
NONO
What procedure is followed for the electors to vote? Answer:
Electors meet in their state capitals on the Monday
following the second Wednesday in December to cast their votes.
The electoral votes are then sealed and transmitted to the President of the Senate (same as the VP).
In 2008, this would be Dick Cheney
When do we finally have an official winner? Answer:
On January 6th, the President of the Senate announces
the winner before both houses of Congress.
Why do we have the Electoral College?
Concerns of Founders
President would use military to overpower states
Would use office to hold power through force and corruption
Protection against the “ignorant masses”
Areas of small population would be ignored
Results
Large states have more say, but small states are guaranteed at least 3 electoral votes