8Campaigns and Elections Democracy in Action

Elections: The Rules of the Game

Regularly Scheduled Elections Fixed, Staggered, and Sometimes Limited Terms Term Limits Winner Take All The Electoral College

8.1

Regularly Scheduled Elections

Elections held at fixed intervals Party in power cannot change date

Congressional elections held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered year Presidential elections every four years

8.1

Fixed, Staggered, and Sometimes Limited Terms

Fixed Terms of Office U.S. Representative = 2 years U.S. Senator = 6 years President = 4 years

Staggered Terms of Office All House members run every two years Only 1/3 of Senate also run every two years

8.1

Term Limits

President limited to two terms Twenty-Second Amendment

Efforts to limit terms of state legislators State-level limits largely adopted in 1990s

Proposals for federal office limits defeated by Congress and Supreme Court

8.1

Winner Take All 8.1

Plurality of votes wins Majority is not required Favors moderates

Single-member districts Usually only one winner per office In combination with winner-take-all system, virtually guarantees two-party system

Proportional representation

The Electoral College 8.1

Electoral system Number of electors same as number of representatives

and senators Electors vote for candidate who wins state Candidate with majority of electoral votes wins If no majority, House of Reps. chooses

Electoral College influences politics Candidates must win in most populous states 2000 Election – Al Gore

TABLE 8.1: 2004, 2008, and 2012 battleground states

8.1

Counting Votes

Different types of ballots Subject to miscounts

8.2

Counting Votes

Absentee ballots and mail voting Importance of poll workers Determining who can vote

8.2

Running for Congress

The House of Representatives Most House races are not competitive Partisan gerrymandering

8.3

FIGURE 8.1: Safe and competitive House seats, 2000–2010

8.3

Running for Congress

The Senate Better financed than House races Midterm elections

8.3

FIGURE 8.2: Seats gained or lost by the president’s party in midterm elections, 1974–2010

8.3

The House of Representatives

Mounting a primary campaign Fundraising Personal organization Media visibility

Campaigning for the general election More voters than primary Partisanship is more important

Name recognition for incumbents and funding

8.3

The Senate

Higher profile Six-year terms

Higher cost of Senate campaigns Interest groups often commit more money to

competitive races in smaller states

8.3

Figure 8.3: Rising campaign costs in congressional general elections

8.3

The Senate

Incumbency advantage Not as great as U.S. House

8.3

Running for President

Stage 1: The Nomination Stage 2: The National Party Convention Stage 3: The General Election

8.4

Stage 1: The Nomination

Presidential primaries Delegates and superdelegates Various types of primaries “Front loading”

8.4

Stage 1: The Nomination

Caucuses and conventions Delegates selected by party members

Strategies Appeal to partisanship in primaries Appeal to moderates in general elections

8.4

Stage 2: The National Party Convention

The party platform Defines the direction a party wants to take on policy

The vice presidential nominee Choice attracts wide media attention

The value of conventions Nomination by petition

Must meet each state’s ballot access requirements

8.4

Stage 3: The General Election

Presidential debates “Joint appearance” instead of true debate

Television and radio advertising More aggressive in battleground states Target ads to specific audiences

8.4

Stage 3: The General Election

The Outcome State of the economy probably most deciding factor of

who wins

8.4

Money in U.S. Elections

Efforts at Reform Continuing Problems with Campaign

Finance

8.5

Efforts at Reform

The Federal Election Campaign Act Followed by creation of the Federal Election

Commission

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) Soft money Contribution limits and disclosure Independent expenditures

8.5

FIGURE 8.4: Presidential primary cumulative receipts, 2011–2012 (millions of dollars)

8.5

FIGURE 8.5: Super PACs and million dollar donors

8.5

Continuing Problems with Campaign Finance

Costly campaigns only for the wealthy Incumbents have the advantage PAC money goes to incumbents

8.5

TABLE 8.2: Average campaign expenditures of candidates for House of Representatives, 1988–2010 general election

8.5

FIGURE 8.6: How PACs and others allocated campaign contributions to House candidates, 2009–2010

8.5

Continuing Problems with Campaign Finance

Candidates’ personal wealth Growth in individual contributions and

use of the Internet to fund campaigns

8.5

Improving Elections

Reforming Campaign Finance Reforming the Nominating Process Reforming the Electoral College The Importance of Elections

8.6

8.6Reforming Campaign Finance

Regulation of presidential campaign contributions

More aggressive reform than BCRA Reform of the FEC

Reasons for reform Disproportionate influence of the early primary states

8.6Reforming the Nominating Process

FIGURE 8.7: Voter turnout in the 2008 presidential primaries

8.6

Reasons for reform Strong ideological bias of primary voters Difficulty in producing a clear winner Proportional voting Role of superdelegates

8.6Reforming the Nominating Process

Direct popular election of president Most frequently proposed reform Would give every voter equal weight

Opposition to reform Would undermine federalism Encourage unrestrained majority rule Would hurt most competitive states

8.6Reforming the Electoral College

8.6The Importance of Elections

Elections are complex The rules of the game affect how it is played Rules can be changed

Elections are central to democracy Outcome must have legitimacy

Elections have undergone structural and institutional improvements

Participation still most important aspect