Chapter 9: Elections

Caucuses

Causes are where party members meet to cast their vote for their candidate to represent their party.

Challenger

Challengers are candidates who are running for the office seat they do not currently hold.

The 2010 midterm election

- Deep division between the Democrats on health care - Republicans became successful in obtaining votes from democrats - Democratic incumbents in republican states had vulnerable seats

The 2014 midterm election

- Democrats lost 19 congressional seats because they were holding weak and vulnerable seats in republican dominated states.

The 2012 Presidential and congressional elections and results

- economy was the central issue because unemployment was high but people did not blame the weak economy fully on Obama because he inherited a week economy from the previous presidential administration - international conflicts was not a central issue because Obama was successful in foreign politcy and the issues surrounding middle east

Closed Primaries

Closed primaries requires formal membership to a party. People have to vote for the party ballot they are registered for.

6 Voting cues

1. Incumbency This cue is when voters vote for the incumbent candidate. 2. Partisanship This cue is when voters look at the candidate's party and vote for that candidate because they share the same party. This is party ID in effect. 3. Retrospective voting This cue is when voters look at the voting history of the incumbent and judge the incumbent on their history and whether or not they did they job successfully. 4. for/against the party in power This cue is when voters are not satisfied with the status quo of the government due to the current party in power's actions in government so they vote for the opposing candidate as a protest vote. This causes wave elections and a shift in the party in power. 5. Personal vote This cue is when voters vote for candidates that has directly impacted their lives. For example, people are more likely to vote for Obama if they benefited from the Affordable Care Act. 6. Personal characteristics This cue is when voters vote for candidates that 'look like them' meaning they like to vote for candidates that share the same race, gender, class, religion, or social beliefs.

2 ways fundraising specifically help incumbents...

1. It deters and scares challengers from running because incumbents are obtaining the resources for a strong campaign. 2. Incumbents are obtaining the money and resources to build a competitive campaign incase the challenger does propose a threat to the incumbent's seat.

2 types of states candidates focus on...

1. swing states Candidates focus on swing states because those are harder to predict which party that state tends to vote for. Candidates tend to not focus on states that already have a long trend of voting for their party because it is almost guaranteed they will win that state. However, swing states are harder to predict, therefore candidates focus their energy in swing states to prevent the other candidate from obtaining those electoral votes. Florida is a swing state. 2. high population states The electoral college favors large states because electoral votes are based off of the number of house of reps and senators in each state. Therefore, candidates try to win states with large population because they have the most electoral college votes up for grabs. A candidate only needs the majority electoral college vote to win the general election.

Open Seat

An open seat is when the incumbent is not running for reelection making the position open for challengers. Open seats are to candidates who are running for that spot's advantage because they do not have to go against an incumbent. Open seats are vulnerable and has more media coverage. (state the advantages of an incumbent)

Majority Voting

Candidates must win the majority vote (>50%) in order to win the election. If there is not a majority vote, a run-off election will be hosted in which voters will have to vote again for the top two candidates who had the most votes.

Internet and social media effects

Candidates use social media and internet to run their campaign because information can be assessable to voters and the cost of maintaining a social media campaign is very low.

Coattails

Coattail is when an elected official rides the coattail of the president meaning that the elected official rallies support and approval of the president to win the president's favor and to show constituents that that elected official contributed to the success of the president. Usually when presidential approval ratings are low, elected officials tend to separate themselves from the president to avoid getting the same disapproval as the president.

Electoral Vote

Electoral vote is the number of votes obtained by the electoral college. Presidents does not need to win the popular vote to become president, they just need to win the electoral vote.

Positive and negative ads

Evidence that attack ads often do not help the candidates who run them because attack ads can drive away supporters and depress voter turnout. People who are exposed to campaign ads can help educate voters and make people more interested in politics.

Front loading

Front loading is when states move their primaries earlier in the season in attempt to receive more media coverage. A problem that this can cause is that it forces candidates to start their campaign earlier and earlier, requiring them to obtain more time and money in order to fund the campaign for a longer period of time.

GOTV / ground game

GOTV means get out to vote. It is a mobilization effort to get people registered and show up to the polls. Many people are registered voters but do not show up to the polls. The vote turnouts are very low in this nation. That is why many candidates stress on the importance for their constituents to register and vote especially to vote for that candidate.

Hard money

Hard money are contributions to the campaign that is directly used for the candidate to help elect or defeat them. PACs are hard money.

Winner-take-all

In some states, this is used by the republican party to distribute delegates. "Winner-take-all" means that candidates who receive the most votes will get all the delegates the states have up for grabs.

Incumbent

Incumbents are candidates who are running for the office seat that they currently hold. Incumbents hold a lot of advantages to their reelection and also a lot of scrutiny and accountability.

Proportional Allocation

Proportional allocation is how democrats use to distribute the delegates during the primaries. How many votes each candidates receive is evenly distributed to how many delegates each state has up for grabs.

Nationalized Elections (wave elections)

Nationalized elections are elections where one party loses seats in congress and the opposing party gains seats in congress. Voters typically use cues like anti-party-in-power because they are voting against the current party in power as a protest to the disapproval to the status-quo.

Normal Elections

Normal elections are elections when there is little shift and realignment in congress. Voters usually use cues that focus on candidates themselves like incumbency, partisanship, personal connection, and personal characteristics, retrospective evaluations.

Push polling

Push polling are polls conducted intended to sway a bias opinion on the poll taker. Usually the language of the poll is not neutral.

Open Primaries

Open primaries are primaries that does not require formal membership to a particular party. People can vote for whatever party ballot they choose so.

Paradox of voting

P*B-C>0 People vote even when voting is costly and their individual vote does not significantly impact elections. P*B+D>C P is the probability of the vote mattering B is the benefits of voting D is the duty to vote C is the cost of voting D is the reason why people vote despite the cost of voting because they have a civiv duty on our democracy to vote and therefore they show up to the polls. Usually P*B is lower than C.

POTUS use federal bureaucracy to their advantage?

POTUS can use the federal bureaucracy to their advantage by appointing officials that shares the same agenda and beliefs as the president to ensure that bureaucracy is running the way the POTUS wants.

Party Committees

Party committees help raise money for candidates though it's only a fraction of all the candidates has on average.

Plurality Voting

Plurality voting means that candidates do not have to have the majority vote (>50%) to win the election. They just need to have the most votes out of the pool of candidates.

PACs

Political Action Committees are limited in how much money it can hold but the money can be given to fund a campaign and support a candidate.

Popular Vote

Popular vote is the number of votes casted by the population for each candidate.

Primaries

Primaries are the first part of a two-part election. Primaries exists to elect candidates to represent the party for the general election. People voting in primaries are not directly voting for their candidate but voting for the delegates to represent their candidates in the national convention. Delegates and distributed by the states and and state population.

Regional primaries

Regional primaries are primaries within a region that is held on the same day. For example, the midwestern states usually hold primaries on the same Tuesday.

Retail politics

Retail politics is when a candidate tries to appeal to a specific audience. They use direct methods to sway voters to vote like doing campus tours and talking to college students or meeting their constituents directly. Mostly district candidates like congressional candidates practice retail politics because they have to appeal to a specific region and that region usually has a common ideology within that region that the candidate has to appeal to.

Single-member districts

Single-member districts is voting for the candidates that represent their district and region.

Soft money

Soft money are contributions used to mobilize voters or promote a specific policy and it can be through the use of 527 organizations as long as it's not tied to supporting or opposing a candidate.

Split tickets

Split ticket is when voters cast votes for candidates in different parties on the ballot.

Straight tickets

Straight ticket is when voters cast votes for candidates all in the same party on the ballot.

Super Delegates

Super delegates are practice in the democratic party. These are delegates who hold office and government positions that are automatically registered as delegates. They are not subjected to the same rules and regulations as a regular delegate. They don't choose which candidate to give their vote to until the national convention comes around.

Electoral College

The electoral college is how the president gets elected in the general election. The number of electoral college vote is based on the number of senates and house representatives in each state. The electoral college vote is winner-takes-all so which ever candidate wins the most votes in that state takes all of the electoral college vote.

National Convention

The national convention is held every four years by both major parties. It attracts a lot of media attention because it is broadcasted live by major news networks and many well known people and celebrities are invited to give speeches at the convention. The convention is also where the winning party nominee present their pick for vice president. It is also where delegates cast their formal vote for their candidate. During the convention, the party release their party platform that is written every four years stating the positions and promises that the party represents.

The order primaries take place affect campaigns?

The order primaries take place affect campaign strategies. Most candidates focus much of their time and resources on Iowa and New Hampshire because those are the first two primaries to be held. The early primaries usually have more media coverage and public speculation because candidates who win the early primaries are more likely to win future primaries.

The Permanent campaign

The permanent campaign is a phrase used when incumbents is up for reelection and they attempt to win their seat again. Congressional positions are not subjected to term limits, therefore they can stay in office and the same position for as long as they can win reelection.

Presidential campaigns have different financing rules?

The presidential campaigns can receive campaign money from the government if they choose to do so, but if they accept it they are strictly limited in how much money they can receive from other outside sources. That is why in the 2012 elections, Mitt Romney and President Obama refused campaign money from the government and rather raise money themselves.

Election cycle

The two year period between general elections.

Voter ID laws

Voter ID laws are proposed by majority republicans to combat voter fraud. Voter ID laws require voters to present a valid ID in order to vote. However, there is no evidence of prevalent voter fraud in the United States. Democrats argue that voter ID laws are more political than it is for public good. They argue that voter ID laws disproportionally attack people of color, low income, and democrats because those are the people who do not have an ID and obtaining an ID is difficult.

Issue voters

Voters who are follows politics actively and has their own positions and policy preference to help them decide their vote.

Wholesale politics

Wholesale politics is when a candidate tries to appeal to the over all audience. They use indirect methods to sway voters to vote for them like campaign ads and showing up on tv. Mostly presidential candidates practice wholesale politics because they have to appeal to the general population that is diverse in options and beliefs rather than campaigning for a district.