Chapter 10: Elections in America

Recall

A procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.

Help Americans Vote Act 2003

Requiring the state to use computerized voter registration databases

Congressional Elections

-Every 2 years -First Tuesday after the first Monday in November -Do not coincide with pres. elections, midterm elections

National Presidential Elections

-Every 4 years -First Tuesday after the first Monday in November

Fundraising

-Fueled by enormous amounts of money -More money needed for competitive elections -appealing to both small and large donors -House of Rep = $31-94 million in 2018 -Incumbents= out raise their opponents

2016 Presidential Results

-Trump won -Republicans retained control of both houses of Congress -Swept southern state/midwest -Won florida/ohio/Michigan/Wisconsin/Pennsylvania -4th time in u.s history that candidate won majority in electoral college but did not win popular vote

Runoff Elections

A "second round" election in which voters choose between the top two candidates from the first round

Grassroots Campaign

A campaign that focuses on local or person-to-person activities -knock on doors -organize rallies

Political Action Committee (PAC)

A committee set up by a corporation, labor union, or interest group that raises and spends campaign money from voluntary donations

Wedge Issues

A controversial issue that one party uses to split the voters in the other party -George W. Bush is successfully at micro targeting

Party Convention

A gathering of delegates who nominate a party's presidential candidate

Proportional Representation

A multiple-member district system that allows each political party representation in proportion to its percentage of the total vote -Benefits smaller groups and third parties

Ballot Measures

A piece of proposed legislation to be approved or rejected by eligible voters

Party Platform

A political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years. The platform is drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whose members are chosen in rough proportion to each candidate's strength. It is the best formal statement of a party's beliefs.

Open Primaries

Allow all registered voters, including independents, to choose which primary they will participate in

Campaign

An effort by political candidates and their supporters to win the backing of donors, political activists, and voters in their quest for political office

Plurality System

An electoral system in which the winner is the person who gets the most votes, even if he or she does not receive a majority; used in almost all American elections

Town Hall Meeting

An informal public meeting in which candidates meet with ordinary citizens. Allows candidates to deliver messages without the presence of journalists or commentators -Popular in the 1990s

527 Committees (Super PACS)

Can raise and spend unlimited amounts as long as their efforts are not coordinated with those of any candidates campaign

Campaign Spending

Candidate may raise ever-increasing amounts of money from private individuals, corporations, and interest groups -Corruption?

Incumbents

Candidates running for re-election to positions that they already hold

Localities and States

Choose when to hold their election

Packing

Concentrating partisan voters in a single district in order to maximize the number of representatives that can be elected by the opposition in other districts

Midterm Election

Congressional election that takes place halfway through the president's term in office

Free Media

Coverage of a candidate's campaign by the news media

Grassroots and Mass Media Campaigns

Essentially two types of general election campaigns in the Unites States today: ___ ___ ___ ___

Cacuses

Give party leaders and activists a larger role in selecting candidates for public office -Voter turnout = low -Occur January of presidential election year and en in June with state elections roughly every two weeks

Buckly vs. Valeo

Government can put money limit on campaign donations without limiting freedom of speech

Electoral College

Group of electors who formally select the president and Vice President of the United States

1960 Kennedy-Nixon Clash

Highlighted the growing power and influence of TV, candidates agreed to 4 televised debates, debate boiled down to how candidates look and spoke rather than what they said, Kennedy looked healthy and was tanned while Nixon was pale and exhausted after a knee surgery

Big Data

Huge and complex data sets generated by today's sophisticated information generation, collection, storage, and analysis technologies -Used by Obama in 2008, first time big data was used to win presidential election

Democrats

In 2018 ____ won control of the House since 2010

Speechnow.org v. FEC

Individual contributions to advocacy groups may not be limited (Super PAC contributions $$$$) -Cannot contribute directly to their campaign

Referendum

Legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate -Referendum votes are required for changes to state constitutions

Soft Money

Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.

Superdelegates

Party elites who are not bound to voting results in their state primaries and can vote as they wish

Straight-Ticket Vote

Selecting candidates from the same political party for all offices on the ballot

Retail Politics

Presidential candidates spend great deal of time in the state to meet with voters fact to face

Partisan Gerrymandering

Process by which districts are drawn to maximize the number of House seats a political party can win

Gerrymandering

Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power -Elbridge Gerry, odd salamander, promote his party interest

Ballot Initiative

Proposed law or policy change that is placed on the ballot by citizens or interest groups for a popular vote

Delegates

Representatives; members of Congress who cast votes based on the wishes of their constituents

Cracking

Spreading voters of one type over many districts where they will comprise minorities that are unable to influence elections

Gill vs. Whitford

Supreme Court case involving the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering

Baker vs. Carr

The Supreme Court ruling that all state districts must be equal in population., required that voting district needed to be reapportioned.

Redistricting

The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.

Majority System

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 to win(50% +1) -usually includes runoff election

Prospective Voting

Voting based on the imagined future performance of a candidate

Retrospective Voting

Voting based on the past performance of a candidate -economic voting -more important than prospective voting

Split-Ticket Voting

Voting for candidates of different parties for different offices at the same election

General Election

Winners of primary elections face one another as their parties nominees in _____ _____ - Winner of g.e. is elected to office for specified term

Elections

___ are the most important way that Americans participate in politics

Paid Media

a category of promotional tactic based on the traditional advertising model, whereby a brand pays for media space -TV -Radio -15/30/60 second spot

Majority-Minority Districts

an electoral district, such as a United States congressional district, in which the majority of the constituents in the district are racial or ethnic minorities -Shaw vs Reno

King Caucus

an informal meeting held in the nineteenth century, sometimes called a congressional caucus, made up of legislators in the Congress who met to decide on presidential nominees for their respective parties

Primary Elections

elections held to select a party's candidate for the general election -Used in races for office at the national, state, and often local levels -Select best candidate to represent the political party in general elections - Dem vs Dem and Repu vs Repu -Introduced to weaken the power of party leaders

501(c)(4) Committees

nonprofit and tax-exempt groups that can educate voters about issues and are not required to release the names of their contributors -"Dark Money"

Closed Primaries

only registered members of the party can vote in ____ _____ to select that party's candidates

Negative Ads

political campaign advertising, usually on television, in which candidates criticize the opponents rather than emphasizing their own platforms -John Geer found it benefits voters more -More memorable

National Popular Vote plan

proposal for electing the President whereby each State's election laws would provide for all of the State's electoral votes to be awarded to the winner of the national popular vote and enter into an interstate compact agreeing to elect the President by national popular vote