Federal Govt Chapter 10
In states such as Michigan and Iowa, party caucuses ___________ many of the delegates who will actually attend the national convention. In most of the remaining states, primary elections _______________ a state's delegation will vote. Delegate votes won in primary elections are apportioned to candidates on the basis of ______________________.
choose; determine how; proportional representation
When many counties moved to introduce _______________, critics warned that they might be vulnerable to unauthorized use or "hacking."
computerized voting systems
"Packing"
concentrating the members of a party in as few districts as possible, so that state lawmakers can try to ensure that their opponents will elect as few representatives as possible.
in 2000 in Florida's Palm Beach County, some voters were confused by the _______________, which made it difficult to match candidates and votes.
"butterfly ballot"
Today, the presidential nomination has become ____________ with states vying with one another to increase their political influence by holding their nominating processes earlier in the calendar year in order to receive more attention from candidates and the media.
"front-loaded,"
Among the more famous "dark horse" nominees were
James Polk in 1844 and Warren Harding in 1920.
The primaries and caucuses traditionally begin in _____________ of a presidential election year and end six months later, in ______.
January; June
In some countries, a candidate must receive an absolute majority _________________ of all the votes cast in the relevant district in order to win the election.
(50 percent plus 1)
Residents of battleground states get smothered with attention from the
candidates and media, as presidential candidates vie for that state's electoral college votes.
The boundaries for congressional and state legislative districts are usually redrawn every ___ years in response to population changes, as determined by the _______________.
10; U.S. Census
The president of the United States is the winner of the electoral college—the first to earn _____ of the college's _____ votes—rather than the winner of the national popular vote
270; 538
A candidate who received ___ percent of the vote in the California Democratic primary would receive roughly ___ percent of the state's delegate votes at the party's national convention.
30; 30
_________________ elections that do not coincide with a presidential election are sometimes called ________________.
Congressional; midterm elections
Battleground, or swing, states are those in which
Democrats and Republicans are roughly even in the population.
Primary elections are races where Democrats compete against _____________ and Republicans against _______________ (except in states that have "top two primaries").
Democrats; Republicans
For more than 50 years after America's founding, presidential nominations were controlled by each party's congressional caucus—all the party's members in the
House and the Senate.
Split-ticket vote
If a voter supports candidates from more than one party in the same election
The most famous caucuses are those in ______, the first state to select presidential candidates in the calendar year.
Iowa
The ________________ primary is the second election in the presidential nomination process
New Hampshire
Open primary
a primary election in which the voter can wait until the day of the primary to choose which party to enroll in to select candidates for the general election
____________ specify who may vote, how they vote, and where they vote.
State laws
Closed primary
a primary election in which voters can participate in the nomination of candidates, but only of the party in which they are enrolled for a period of time prior to primary day
Even though the party convention no longer controls presidential nominations, it still has a number of important tasks:
The adoption of party rules concerning such matters as convention delegate selection and future presidential primary elections, and the drafting of a party platform.
Runoff election
a "second round" election in which voters choose between the top two candidates from the first round
Majority-minority districts
a gerrymandered voting district that improves the chances of minority candidates by making selected minority groups the majority within the district
Often deadlocks developed among the most powerful party factions, and state leaders would be forced to compromise, sometimes choosing
a little-known candidate.
Proportional representation
a multiple-member district system that allows each political party representation in proportion to its percentage of the total vote
Caucuses
a normally closed political party business meeting of citizens or lawmakers to select candidates, elect officers, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters
Party platform
a party document, written at a national convention, that contains party philosophy, principles, and policy positions
General election
a regularly scheduled election involving most districts in the nation or state, in which voters select officeholders; in the United States, general elections for national office and most state and local offices are held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November in even-numbered years (every four years for presidential elections); after the primary
Delegate
a representative who votes according to the preferences of his constituency
The electoral college system and the winner-take-all rule have a profound effect on how presidential candidates campaign, effectively forcing candidates to spend their resources on
a small number of competitive battleground states.
Between the 1830s and World War II, national convention delegates were generally selected by
a state's party leaders.
Majority system
a type of electoral system in which, to win a seat in the parliament or other representative body, a candidate must receive a majority of all the votes cast in the relevant district; used in primary elections by a few southern states.
Plurality system
a type of electoral system in which, to win a seat in the parliament or other representative body, a candidate need only receive the most votes in the election, not necessarily a majority of votes cast; used in most elections in the United States.
In other nations, as in the United States, candidates for office need not win an ________________ of the votes cast to win an election. Instead, victory is awarded to the candidate who receives the __________, regardless of the actual _____________ this represents.
absolute majority; most votes; percentage
With only two exceptions, each state awards _____ of its electors to the candidate who receives the most votes in the state.
all
Once the nominations have been settled and most other party business has been resolved, the presidential and vice-presidential nominees deliver acceptance speeches. These speeches are opportunities for the nominees to
begin their formal general election campaigns on a positive note, and they are usually meticulously crafted to make as positive an impression on the electorate as possible.
Electoral rules affect how and where candidates
campaign, which means some groups of potential voters receive much more attention from candidates than others.
Midterm elections
congressional elections that do not coincide with a presidential election; also called off-year elections; Localities and states can choose when to hold their elections.
During the 1980s the Supreme Court also declared that legislative districts should, insofar as possible, be
contiguous, compact, and consistent with existing political subdivisions.
In the American federal system, the responsibility for running elections is _______________, resting largely with state and county governments.
decentralized
Gerrymandering was named for a nineteenth-century Massachusetts governor, Elbridge Gerry, who was alleged to have
designed a district in the shape of a salamander to promote his party's interests.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, many states adopted ___________________________ to choose presidential candidates, in which average citizens would have a voice in picking presidents.
direct primary elections
"Cracking"
dispersing the members of a particular group across two or more districts, so that state legislators can dilute that group's voting power and prevent it from electing a representative in any district.
The presidential election differs from other elections in another important way as well: the voters _________________ elect the president. The assumption underlying such a process was that ___________________ were not qualified to choose their leaders and could not be trusted to do so directly.
do not directly; ordinary citizens
It is not winning the Iowa caucuses that matters, but
doing better than expected by the media.
The convention was composed of delegates from __________. The size of a state's delegation depended on the state's ____________, and each delegate was allowed _____ vote for the purpose of nominating the party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
each state; population; one
Beginning with the 1993 case of Shaw v. Reno, the Court has generally rejected
efforts to create such majority-minority districts; asserted that districting based exclusively on racial criteria is unlawful.
Primary elections
elections held to select a party's candidate for the general election; like a prelim in a sporting event.
One of the most important "rules of the game" in U.S. elections is the
electoral college.
National presidential elections take place every ______ years, on the _______ Tuesday in November; congressional elections are held every ____ years, also on the _______ Tuesday in November.
four; first; two; first
With the rise of the Internet, media coverage of early nominating events is even greater, and may
further increase the importance of states holding early primaries and caucuses.
Political offices, such as members of the House of Representatives and many state legislatures, are elected from _________________ whose boundaries are drawn by the states.
geographic legislative districts
Both the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary are characterized by ________________, where presidential candidates spend a great deal of time in the state to meet with voters face-to-face.
grassroots politics
The new ballot was
identical and included the names of all candidates for office.
"Top two primaries"
in which candidates from all parties run against one another and the top two face each other in the general election (i.e. California and Washington State)
Gerrymandering is the reason why most members of Congress are elected in
landslide elections, and why 98 percent of incumbents are re-elected.
In the 1963 case of Gray v. Sanders, and in the 1964 cases of Wesberry v. Sanders and Reynolds v. Sims, the Supreme Court held that
legislative districts within a state must include roughly equal populations, so as to accord with the principle of "one person, one vote."
The ___________ of Americans live in states that are _________ for either the Democratic or Republican presidential candidate. Without electoral competition in safe states, the needs and concerns of the residents may well be ____________.
majority; "safe"; ignored
To win, a presidential candidate must receive a __________ of the votes in the ___________________, which are awarded to states based on the _____ of their congressional delegation (senators plus representatives).
majority; electoral college; size
Early voting states, such as Iowa and New Hampshire, are important because they can help candidates secure
media attention, campaign contributions, and increased standing in the polls, or what is called "momentum."
Research has shown that citizens residing in battleground states are
more interested in politics, more knowledgeable, and more likely to vote, even among the poorest residents who tend to have the lowest levels of participation in politics.
Although the party's nominees for the president and the vice president are "officially" announced at the party conventions, they are actually selected
much earlier through caucuses and primary elections.
Election rules are _____ neutral.
not
Most states hold primary elections, but about ___________ use caucuses instead.
one-third
The primary system was introduced at the turn of the twentieth century by reformers who hoped to weaken the power of
party leaders by taking candidate nominations out of their hands.
In most countries, nominations are controlled by _____________, as they once were in the United States.
party officials
Campaigns are the mechanism through which candidates for political office attempt to
persuade individuals to vote for them on Election Day.
The electoral college and most elections in the United States are governed by
plurality, or winner-take-all, rules
Today, convention delegates are generally _______________ with strong positions on social and political issues.
political activists
Grassroots politics
political campaigns that operate at a local level, often using face-to-face communication to generate interest and momentum by citizens
Before the 1890s, voters cast ballots according to
political parties; Each party printed its own ballots, listed only its own candidates for each office, and employed party workers to distribute the ballots at the polls.
The principle behind gerrymandering is simple: different _____________ of voters in districts can produce different ___________ results.
populations; electoral
Before the general election, the presidential process starts with
primary elections and caucuses; tend to be highly contested, with high levels of campaign spending and mobilization (get-out-the-vote) drives.
America is one of few nations in the world to hold
primary elections.
While ____________ elections are also used to select candidates in congressional and other types of elections, the _______________ delegate system for nominating candidates is unique to presidential elections.
primary; national convention
Most European nations and advanced democracies employ a third type of electoral system, called ______________________.
proportional representation
The Democratic Party requires that state presidential primaries allocate delegates on the basis of ____________________; Democratic candidates win delegates in rough proportion to their percentage of the primary vote.
proportional representation
Usually the delegates were ____________________________________ from all regions of the state, representing most major party factions.
public officials, political activists, and party notables
Over time, reformers came to view the convention as a symbol of
rule by party elites.
Majority systems usually include a provision for a _____________ between the two top candidates, because if the initial race draws several candidates, there is little chance that any one will receive a majority.
runoff election
Straight-ticket vote
selecting candidates from the same political party for all offices on the ballot
Electors in the electoral college are allocated to each state on the basis of the
size of the state's congressional delegation.
Voters within each state are choosing among _______________ selected by each state's party and pledged, if elected, to support that party's presidential candidate. These are indirect elections.
slates of electors
The electoral college system protects the interests of ________________ states, as the advantages in representation that ________ states have in the U.S. Senate are carried over to the presidential election process.
small-population; small
Elections are administered by _______, _________, and ____ election boards that are responsible for establishing and staffing polling places and verifying the eligibility of individuals who come to vote.
state; county; city
Like those in games or sports, election rules shape
strategy.
The advent of a new, neutral ballot at the turn of the twentieth century brought a significant change to electoral procedure. The new ballot (called _______________________) was prepared and administered by the ___________ rather than the _____________.
the Australian ballot or long-form ballot; government; political parties
Gerrymandering
the apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group, political party, or incumbents over challengers; created many safe districts in Congress, where incumbents rarely face a serious challenger, even though there are elections every two years in the House.
National popular vote
the candidate who receives the most votes from citizens at the ballot box
Because all candidates for the same office now appeared on the same ballot, voters were no longer forced to choose straight-ticket voting, giving rise to
the phenomenon of split-ticket voting in American elections, where voters may vote for a Democrat for Senate and a Republican for governor.
While many of the rules related to presidential elections and congressional elections are the same, presidential elections have special features:
the president is technically elected by the electoral college, not by popular vote and presidential candidates from the two major parties are officially nominated at the parties' national conventions, following state primary elections and caucuses to select delegates to the conventions.
Electoral college
the presidential electors from each state who meet after the general election to cast ballots for president and vice president
Redistricting
the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives. This happens every 10 years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges in existing districts
Although Americans do not often vote directly on policy, they exert tremendous influence over political outcomes through
the regular selection of their leaders.
Most Americans have the opportunity to vote in ____________ elections each year.
three or four
The Republican Party does not require proportional representation.
true
"King Caucus"
what critics referred the old process of selecting the presidential nominations by each party's congressional caucus as; did not fairly represent the views of party members throughout the nation, and was replaced by the system of national conventions.
In indirect elections, voters would choose members of an intermediate body, and then those members
would select public officials.
