Week 5
Understand how third-party candidates were important political actors in the presidential elections of 1968
-Alabama Governor George Wallace, widely known for his quote, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever," ran for president with the American Independent Party because his pro‐ segregation policies had been rejected by the mainstream of the Democratic Party. -Wallace received more than nine million votes, and he ended up winning five southern states. (He remains the only third‐party candidate since 1948 to win a state).
Understand how independent candidates were important political actors in the presidential elections of 1992
-Bill Clinton won the 1996 and 1992 elections with less than fifty percent of the vote. In these elections, the Texas businessman Ross Perot ran successful campaigns (first as an Independent then as the candidate of the Reform Party which he helped to create), garnering 18.9 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively. -Although many Republicans believed that the Perot acted as a spoiler who helped to elect and re‐elect the Democrat Bill Clinton, some studies suggest that Perot may have drew equally from Republican and Democrat voters
explain some proposals to reform the electoral college
-Eliminate it all together Runoff election or congressional vote needed if no candidate reaches 40% -Winner of each congressional district receives its electoral vote; winner of the most districts gets state's two "senatorial" votes (Maine & Nebraska) -lDistribute electoral votes proportionally by percentage of popular vote
Explain the pros of the Electoral College.
-For the most part the EC system works. More-often-than-not candidates who win the popular vote also win a majority of the electoral votes. So, we really don't have a problem large enough to warrant a major change in our system for electing presidents -The EC serves American democracy. It fosters a two-party system and it thwarts the rise of small splinter parties which have (sometimes) plagued some of the European democracies -The EC system promotes a true national election. Because of the EC, smaller states receive attention from presidential candidates. If the outcome of an election was determined solely by the nationwide popular vote, almost all campaigning would occur in states with large populations (such as NY and CA). Citizens of small states - and also citizens of less populated regions of large states (such as rural areas in America) - would feel largely ignored -recount would be a nightmare
Understand how third-party candidates were important political actors in the presidential elections of 1856.
-In this election cycle, the nativist Know Nothing Party (known formally as the American Party) competed to replace the moribund Whig Party as the primary opposition to the Democrats. -know nothing party: navtivists (opposed immigration) who supported immigration restrictions to protect jobs and culture of native born americans
Understand how independent candidates were important political actors in the presidential elections of 1980
-John B. Anderson started the year as a Republican candidate who had represented an Illinois district in Congress for 20 years. After Ronald Reagan gained the upper hand in the nomination, Anderson left the party to run as an independent to uphold his tradition as a "Rockefeller Republican." -Interestingly, he won 6.6% of the popular vote ‐ more than six times the total for the Libertarian Party ticket that included David Koch, one of the two Koch brothers who have played a major role in Republican politics in recent years. Although many Republicans believed that the Perot acted as a spoiler who helped to elect and re‐elect the Democrat Bill Clinton, some studies suggest that Perot may have drew equally from Republican and Democrat voters. -Reagan won more than 50% nationally, but only 26 states were won with more than half the votes.
Understand how third-party candidates were important political actors in the presidential elections of 1948
-Strom Thurmond was nominated as the presidential candidate of the States' Rights Democratic Party,or the 'Dixiecrats' -However, Thurmond was defeated by the incumbent, Democratic President Harry S. Truman, who earned people's votes for his policies favoring the end of racial discrimination in U.S. Army, elimination of state poll taxes, and support for Federal anti‐lynching laws, as well as the creation of a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission
Explain how the Electoral College is constituted and how it functions. Today how many Electoral votes are needed to win the election? What happens if no candidate for president receives a majority of the electoral votes? What happens if no candidate for vice president receives a majority of electoral votes?
-The Electoral College does not conform to the widely accepted principle of "one person, one vote." Because electoral votes are allocated to each state based on the size of its congressional delegation in the Senate and the House combined, the votes of residents of small states carry more weight, per capita, than do the votes of large‐state residents. -270 votes
Understand how third-party candidates were important political actors in the presidential elections of 1860
-debate over slavery -democrats split over slavery issues -northern democrats nominated douglas, southern democrats nominated breckinridge -republicans proposed diverse platform and nominated lincoln -constitutional union party formed from elements of american and whig parties and nominated bell -lincoln won
Explain the cons to the electoral college
-undemocratic -A candidate can win the popular vote (by a large margin) and still lose the presidential election -A candidate can be elected president with less than a majority of the popular vote. -The system is biased in favor of the small states. And, as such it operates contrary to principle of "equal voting rights" for all American citizens. -Because of the "winner-takes-all" (or "first past the post") system for presidential elections in almost all states, a candidate who loses the popular vote in a state by a very small margin receives zero Electoral votes from that state. -Too much emphasis on a limited number of "swing" states. Too many other states are largely ignored -If no one candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College, the race is decided by the House of Representatives with voting by state regardless of the size of the state
Free Soil Party
A political party dedicated to stopping the expansion of slavery -whigs chose zachary taylor to run for president, who was a hero in war with mexico -whig party in the north was split between conscience whig & cotton whig -conscience: northern whigs who opposed slavery -cotton whig: northern whig who supported slavery
what's a spoiler candidate?
A spoiler candidate's presence in the election draws votes from a major candidate thereby causing a strong opponent of both win. The minor party candidate causing this effect is referred to as a spoiler.
Name the important third-party candidates in the 2016 presidential election and name their party affiliations.
Gary Johnson: libertarian Jill Stein: Green Party
Remember what happens if no one candidate for president receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College. The election is decided by the House of Representative with each state receiving a single vote. (This is formally known as a CONTINGENT ELECTION for president). This happened twice - in 1800 with the contingent election of Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr and also in 1824 with the contingent election of John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson and William Crawford.
Likewise, remember what happens if no one candidate for vice president receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College. A CONTINGENT ELECTION is conducted in the Senate with each U.S. senator casting a single vote. This happened only once - in 1836 with Richard Mentor Johnson (who was Martin van Buren's running mate). Why was Richard Mentor Johnson a controversial choice for vice president?
congressional district method
Maine and Nebraska -only two in the union that diverge from the traditional winner‐take‐all method of electoral vote allocation
Explain how third party "spoilers" affected the outcome of presidential elections in 1844
Polk benefited from a split in the Whig Party in some of the Northern states between so‐called "Cotton Whigs" and "Conscience Whigs". While Polk ended up winning the election, Clay and Birney did split votes. Most notably, in New York Birney received 15,812 votes - mostly from conscience Whigs who otherwise were most likely to vote for the Whig candidate Clay. Consequently, Polk beat Clay in New York - albeit by a margin of only 5,106 votes. By winning the popular vote in New York state, Polk received all of NY's Electoral votes which were just enough for him to win the nationwide election.
Explain how third party "spoilers" affected the outcome of presidential elections in 1912
Republican Theodore Roosevelt had served as president from September 1901 to March 1909. William Howard Taft had won the 1908 Republican presidential nomination - and was thereupon elected POTUS - with Roosevelt's support. However, Roosevelt was displeased with Taft's actions as president; and he challenged Taft for the GOP nomination in 1912. After being denied the Republican nomination in an era before presidential primaries, Roosevelt rallied his progressive supporters and launched a third‐party bid. Roosevelt's Progressive Party, nicknamed the "Bull Moose Party," lost the election but marked the most successful third‐party bid in history, winning 27.4 percent of the popular vote (and 88 Electoral votes). In contrast, the incumbent president Taft did not perform as well, winning 23.7 percent of the popular vote (and only 8 electoral votes). The Socialist Party also had a successful race this year, as Socialist nominee 1924 - Robert La Follette, Progressive Party (13 ECV, 16.6% votes) Eugene V. Debs secured 6 percent of the popular vote
Explain how third party "spoilers" affected the outcome of presidential elections in 2000
The 2000 U.S. Presidential election is often cited as an example of the spoiler effect. In that election, Al Gore, the Democratic candidate, received more popular votes than George W. Bush, the Republican candidate, but lost in the Electoral College. In the state of Florida, the final certified vote count showed Bush with just 537 more votes than Gore. Because Bush defeated Gore in Florida - where the leftist Green Party candidate, Ralph Nader, received 97,488 votes - Bush narrowly won a majority of Electoral College votes, thereby winning the election.
What is an "unfaithful" Elector? Understand that states may ban unfaithful Electors.
There's no constitutional provision or federal law that requires electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their states. Some states, however, require electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote
Name some candidates who lost the popular vote but still managed to win a majority of the Electoral College votes, thereby winning the presidential election.
john quincy adams rutherford b hayes GW BUsh Trump benjamin harrison
Explain how third party "spoilers" affected the outcome of presidential elections in 1848
zachary taylor vs. cass Consequently, the Free Soil candidates took enough votes away from the Democratic candidate in New York (in a close election) to ensure victory for the Whig candidate Taylor in the NYS popular vote. And winning all the Electoral College votes in New York enabled Zachary Taylor to be elected POTUS.
