Elections

Now Chapter 9

Civic Engagement

• Direct forms of political participation voting, volunteering on a campaign, and running for office.

• Some social scientist believe that social capital is in decline.

• Others say that it is on the rise: such as political parties recruiting candidates, fundraisers and rallies.

• GOTV: get out the vote

Elections in the US

• Every state holds at least two types: Primary and General

• The primary election comes first to determine the party’s nominees. There is heated competition in presidential and gubernatorial.

• In the general election that determines which candidates win the offices being sought.

• Person with the most votes wins the general election

• The competitiveness is determined on if there is an incumbent or not and the level of office.

Nominations and Primary Elections

• In the primary voters choose which nominee the political parties should run in the general election.

• This can vary from state to state.• In some states only registered party members

can vote in primary and in other states any registered voter can vote in any primary.

• In the Presidential primary voters don’t actually vote for the candidate they want but for which candidates will go to the convention an vote for the parties nominee

• This system is different from the earlier when party leaders only voted for the candidate.

Nominations and Primary Elections

• Reforms were made after the Chicago riots of 1968 at the Democratic Convention. These reforms were upheld by both parties which allowed voters to have more influence.

• Voters could now select their delegates through primary elections or caucuses.

• These reforms also ensured the selection of a more representative body of delegates.

• When a delegate is elected they make a pledge to vote for a specific candidate.

Types of Primary Elections

• Open primary election any registered voter can vote and both parties ballots are available in the voting booth, and voters select one on which to register their preferences.

• Closed primary election a type of primary in which voting in the party’s primary is limited to members of that party. Voters must declare party affiliation before primary.

Presidential Primaries

• Historically states that held their Presidential primary earlier in the year had a greater say in determining the nominee than did states with later primaries.

• Candidates usually drop out because lack of support or not enough money.

• Super Tuesday: The Tuesday in early March on which most primary elections were held.

• Super- Duper Tuesday in occurred in the South in 2008. States started to have their primaries earlier which pushed the importance of the primaries even more.

General Elections

• In general election, voters decide who should hold office from among the candidates determined in the primary election.

• Most elections occur on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. But since the states run the elections all the other elections could be on different days.

General Elections• In general elections for congress most states have

a winner take all system. Thus the candidate who receives the most votes wins it all. Thus members of the House and Senate can be elected with less than a majority vote in their district.

• Some states have a runoff election: if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, several of the top vote-getters (top two) run another election.

• Instant runoff election: a computerized voting machine simulates the elimination of last place vote getters. The computer continues to do this until one candidate receives more than 50% of the votes.

Referendum, Initiative, and Recall

• Referendum: an election in which voters in a state can for or against a measure proposed by state legislature.

• Initiative: a citizen- sponsored proposal that can result in a new or amend legislation or a state constitutional amendment.

• Proposition: a proposed measure placed on the ballot in an initiative election.

• Recall: a special election in which voters can remove officeholders before their term is over.

The Act of Voting

• Voting registration varies from state to state.

• Australian Ballot: a secret ballot prepared by the government, distributed to all eligible voters and when the balloting is completed it is counted by the government officials in an unbiased fashion, without corruption or regard to individual preferences.

• The U.S. Constitution guarantees the states the right to hold elections. Thus there are different methods on how to vote. Also the states are required to pay for all elections.

The 2000 Election• Gore vs. Bush• Enormous controversy erupted in Florida.• Florida uses a punch card system by poking through a

Chad.• All the cards are read by a computer and those that are

not have to be hand counted.• The argument was “voter intent”• There were hanging Chads and pregnant Chads• The issue end up in the Supreme Court and the court

halted the counting.• Thus the ruling gave George W. Bush a victory in

Florida and the 25 electoral votes.• The reform that came about was that all states had to

move to electronic voting and with no punch cards by 2005.

Types of Ballots

• Party Column Ballot: a ballot that organizes the candidates by political party

• These ballots increase voters to vote party line.• Increases coat tailing which is lower office

candidates getting in because of popularity of top ticket nominees

• Office block ballot: arranges all of the candidates for a particular office under the name of that office.

• This allows more split ticket voting to occur. Both major political parties hate this ballot.

Why Ballot Design Matters

• 2000 election provides a prime reason.

• Florida’s Palm Beach County using butterfly ballot. It was very confusing.

• Pg 325

Voting By Mail• This is a long standing tradition.• Absentee voting: casting a ballot in advance by mail in

situations where illness, travel, or other circumstances prevent voters from voting in their precinct.

• Requirements vary form state to state.• Oregon did state wide mail voting and it worked 66%

of people voted and it saved 1 million dollars. In the 2004 Presidential election they did it and 85% of people voted.

• Negatives of this type of voting are people vote before all candidates have their final say, its not private anymore and fraud can occur.

Running For Office

• Sense of civic responsibility

• Sense of party loyalty

• Personal goals

• Increasing Status and Name Recognition

Formal Eligibility Requirements

• Article II, Section 1 defines the formal requirements for the presidency:

• A native natural-born citizen of the United States

• at least 35 years old

• a resident of the United States for at least 14 years

• The same requirements apply to the vice president. But can not be from the same state as the President.

Formal Eligibility Requirements

• For the House:• at least 25 years old• citizen of the U.S. for at least 7 years• legal resident of the state that elects them

• For the Senate• At least 30 years old• Citizens of the U.S. for at least 9 years• Legal resident of the state that elects them

• For State positions it is left up to the State Constitutions

Informal Eligibility Requirements

• Local levels: It is ok if someone from the community ran such as a mechanic but would not likely meet the informal requirements to be President.

• The higher you move up the political ladder the more informal requirements are needed. College degrees, professional careers, and great communication skills are needed.

• Other factors are religion and personal background.

The Professionalism of Political Campaigns

• Campaign consultants: paid professionals who specialize in the overall management of political campaigns or an aspect of campaigns.

• They mainly focus on fundraising and advertisement.• Consultants give advice on issues and strategies on

how to win the campaign. Ex: James Carville and Paul Begala work for the Democratic presidential and senatorial candidates.

• Campaign Manager: a professional whose duties comprise a variety of strategic and managerial tasks.

The Professionalism of Political Campaigns

• Among the managerial tasks for a Campaign manager comes campaign strategies: a blueprint for the campaign including the budget and fund raising plan, advertising, and staffing plan.

• Fundraising consultant works with the candidates to identify likely contributors to the campaign and arrange events and meetings with donors.

• Media consultant: a professional who brings the campaign message to voters by creating handouts and all forms of media ads.

Media and New Technology• TV• Internet• Blogs• Radio• Podcasts• Newspaper• Magazines• Word of mouth

• Personality vs. PolicyBecause the candidates policies are covered over and

over again most news stations now show their personality as well on TV.

Regulating Federal Campaign Contributions

• Money is needed to run a campaign• Federal Regulations require any group that contributes to a

campaign to register as a PAC.• PAC’s have been around for awhile but it is just recently they

have been having a great impact on campaigns.• The regulation of the system has been very difficult because

reform has to come from congress and these people used the system to get elected.

• An early attempt to regulate the system occurred under Warren Harding and the Tea Pot Dome Scandal.

• Thus the Federal Corrupt Practice Act of 1925 was created. This acted limited campaign contributions and required public disclosure of all campaign expenditures

Regulating Federal Campaign Contributions cont…

• The Political Activities Act of 1939 aka The Hatch Act tried to eliminate corruption as well.

• It banned partisan political activates by all federal employees except the President, VP, and Senate confirmed political appointees.

• Limited contributions to $5,000 from individuals to groups.• Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act.• Title III: stated a person who received money in order to

influence congressional legislation has to register as an lobbyist.

• Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) overhaul nations campaign finance system

• This placed limitations on campaign expenditures and contributions, and tax right off for presidential candidates.

• Buckly vs. Valeo

Regulatory Loopholes

• Independent Expenditures: outlays by PAC’s and others, typically for advertising for or against a candidate but uncoordinated with a candidates campaign

• Soft Money: which is donations to a political party that are not limited. Thus people max out on individual candidates and then contribute more to the actual party.

• These loophole was found in the FECA 1974.

The Growth of PAC’s

• The Buckley act lifted the ban on PAC’s being made by businesses.

• The amount of PAC’s doubled after this was passed.

• They were mainly formed by defense contractors, agricultural producers and government employee unions.

Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002

• The passing of this act came from the fall of ENRON. ENRON donated 4 million to state and federal parties.

• It was named after the two sponsors of the bill, McCain- Feingold act. This acted banned almost all soft money contributions. PAC’s can donate up to 5,000 to state, county, or local parties.

• Senator Mitch McConnell filed a suit against the act. McConnell v. the Federal Election Commission.

• He stated it violated his first amendment rights.• The Supreme Court upheld the act • Then in 2007 the court did a 180 and put a ban on

issue based ads. Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life.

Regulatory Loop hole:527s

• 527: a tax- exempt group that raises money for political activates, much like those allowed under the soft money loophole.

• Political ads were ran against both of the 2007 Presidential candidates. Many people viewed these ads as a way to get around the soft money bans

• In 2008 527’s spent 200 million on Federal election.

Party Conventions and General Election Campaign

• Primary elections are held and in late August the Conventions are held and the candidates are selected.

• After this the presidential candidate chooses a running mate.

• If the other party has an incumbent that can run for re-election they usually do.

Electoral College

• Each state has a number of electoral votes.• The overall total votes is 538, this is based off of

the 435 Reps, 100 Senators, 3 electors from the District of Columbia.

• You need 270 votes to win • On the Monday following the Second Tuesday of

November the electors in each state meet to cast their votes.

• The results are then tallied and read in congress• The winner takes the oath of office on Jan. 20th

Voter Participation

• Education is the primary predictor of voting• 8th grade only 29% voted• ¾ of voters were college graduates• Pg 337 graph• The age factor• 18-29 year olds are less likely to vote than

middle age people.• This election in 2008 had 53% turn out of people

18-29

Race and Voting Participation

• For decades after the voting rights of 1965 African Americans lagged behind non Hispanic whites

• Today the voting is almost equal• See chart on pg 339• Income- a Reliable Predictor of voting• In recent years people with low levels of income voted

50-60% range and high incomes 85%• Reason for this is the lower incomes believe the higher

incomes will listen to them.• Also lower income don’t have leisure time to learn about

the issues or candidates.

Party Competitiveness and Voters

• The tighter the race, the more people come out and vote.

• The tighter the race the more media coverage.

• Turnout rate- the proportion of eligible voters who actually voted.

How voters decide

• Prospective voting: a method of evaluating candidates in which voters focus on candidates positions on issues important to them and vote for the candidate who best represents their views.

• Retrospective voting: a method of evaluation candidates in which voters evaluate an incumbent and decide to support him or not.

Major Factors

• Party affiliation

• Issues or policy

• Incumbency: the situation of already holding office that is up for reelection

Why People Don’t Vote

• Lack of Efficacy

• Voter Fatigue

• Negative campaigns

• The structure of Elections

• Rational Abstention Thesis