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Chapter 10

Campaigns and Elections

Campaigns and Elections

Elections in America: Elections and Democracy

Elections and democracy

• Elections provide a peaceful means to change the government

• There are tens of thousands of elected official in the United States– Elections are held at the local, state, and national levels

• Elections help hold elected officials accountable to the public– Accountability is critical in democracy

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Elections in America: An Overview

Overview of U.S. elections

• Elections in the United States occur on fixed dates– Presidential elections: happen once every four years on the first

Tuesday in November (following the first Monday)– Congressional elections: held every two years on the first Tuesday

in November (following the first Monday)– Midterm elections: congressional elections that do not coincide with

a presidential election

Elections in America: Administration

Election administration

• State and local governments are primarily responsible for running elections– Establishing and staffing poll places– Processing mail-in ballots– Verifying and determining voter eligibility– Determining how and where people vote

Elections in America: Types of Elections

Types of elections

• Primary election: an election held to select a party’s candidate for the general election– Closed primary: a primary election in which only voters of the party

in which they are enrolled can participate– Open primary: a primary election in which all registered voters,

including independents, can participate

• General election: follows the primary elections and determines who is ultimately elected to office

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Elections in America: Different Democratic Methods

Different democracies use different methods to determine election winners

• Majority system: the winner must receive an absolute majority of all votes cast (50 percent plus 1)– Majority systems include a provision for a runoff election

• a runoff election is a “second-round” election between the top two candidates from the first round

• Plurality system: the winner is the candidate who earns the most votes (but not necessarily a majority)– Used in most elections in the United States

Elections in America: Different Democratic Methods, Part 2

Third type of electoral system

• Proportional representation: competing political parties win legislative seats in proportion to the vote won by party– Example: A party that won 30 percent of the vote in the election

would earn roughly 30 percent of seats in the legislature – Used in most European nation and advanced democracies– Proportional representation gives a voice to smaller parties in

government

Elections in America

Ballots

• Before 1890, ballots were provided by the political parties– Each party printed its own ballot

• party ballots only listed the names of the party’s own candidates

• this encouraged “straight-ticket voting” (selecting candidates from the same party for all offices on the ballot)

• By the start of the 1900s, ballots were prepared by the government– Adoption of the Australian (long-form) ballot, which included the

names of all candidates from all parties on the ballot

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Elections in America: Ballots

Ballots vary in the United States from county to county

• Variations of ballots include– Paper ballots– Mechanical voting machines– Computerized systems

• Controversy in 2000 election led to some reform– Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA): Pushed for nationwide

improvements in voting systems

Legislative Elections and Electoral Districts

Legislative districts

• Boundaries are sometimes drawn by states– Districts are drawn every 10 years– The process of redrawing districts is known as redistricting

• The geographic shape of district boundaries may change due to several factors– Population shifts and changes (as determined by the U.S. census)– Partisanship

Legislative Elections and Electoral Districts: Key Court Cases

Important court decisions

• Baker v. Carr (1962): the Supreme Court ruled that the federal courts can intervene in the drawing of legislative districts

• Later court decisions ruled that districts for Congress and state legislature must be roughly equal in population– Districts must adhere to the principle of “one person, one vote”

• The U.S. House district population is roughly 700,000

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Legislative Elections and Electoral Districts: Redistricting

Politics of redistricting

• Drawing of legislative districts is political• The party that controls the process wants a partisan

advantage– Gerrymandering: strategy of drawing legislative districts to favor a

political party• Term comes from nineteenth-century Massachusetts governor

Elbridge Gerry, who allegedly drew a district in the shape of a salamander

Electoral Districts

Legislative Elections and Electoral Districts: Gerrymandering

Strategies behind gerrymandering• Dispersing voters of one party into two or more districts

dilutes that party’s power• Concentrating voters of one party into as few districts as

possible ensures it cannot win outside those districts• Gerrymandering often results in “safe” districts where

there is little two-party competition– It also can result in the creation of “majority-minority” districts, in

which racial or ethic minorities constitute a majority in the district

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Presidential Elections: The Nominations

The first stage of the process in a presidential election is the nomination phase

• Nomination involves primary elections and caucuses– A caucus is a meeting of voters to choose the party’s candidate

• One-third of states use a caucus rather than a primary election• The most famous is the Iowa caucus (first on the calendar)

– The New Hampshire primary follows the Iowa caucus– In both Iowa and New Hampshire there is a heavy emphasis on

grassroots politics (face-to-face communication)

Presidential Elections: Party Conventions

Party convention

• In the nation’s first 50 years, there were no party conventions– Presidential nominations were done by congressional caucuses

• known as the “King Caucus”

• Party conventions ultimately replaced the King Caucus– State party leaders picked delegates from the 1830s to the mid-

1900s– Primaries and caucuses now select delegates– Delegates draft the party platform and formally nominate the

party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates

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Presidential Elections

Becoming president• Voters technically select “electors” in the general election

– They are not voting directly for candidates; instead, the voters select the candidate who goes to the electoral college

• The electors chosen for the electoral college select the president– The state party of the winning candidate typically chooses the

electors– The number of electors in each state equals the size of that state’s

congressional delegation (House members plus two Senators)– There are 538 electors in all; the winning candidate needs 270

votes

The Electoral College: Butterfly Ballots

Direct Democracy Elections

Twenty-four states have an initiative process

• Ballot initiative– Proposed law or policy change that is placed on the ballot by

citizens or interest groups for a popular vote

• Referendum– Law proposed by a legislature that is referred to the public for a

vote of approval or rejection

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Direct Democracy Elections: Recall Elections

Eighteen states have recall elections• A recall election allows voters to remove state officials from

office before their term expires– A recall election is held when a minimum threshold of voters sign a

petition calling for one• in California, the threshold is 12 percent • California removed its governor, Gray Davis, in 2003 via a recall

election• in 2012, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker faced a recall election

but won and remained in office

Election Campaigns

Campaigning for office

• A campaign is an effort to win the backing of– Donors– Activists– Voters

• Incumbents (candidate who already hold office) have advantages– Already well known– Little difficulty attracting supporters and donors

Election Campaigns: The Necessary Steps

Steps in campaigning

• Candidates start a campaign and begin to raise money by– Forming an exploratory committee– Filing papers announcing the candidacy

• Campaigns are about how politicians run for office– Strategies depend on the office, party, and candidate, as well as

contemporary issues, the electorate, technology

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Campaign Organization Chart

Election Campaigns: Advisers

Campaign organization

• Advisers– Assist with professional strategic decisions about organization, ads,

budgeting, and executing the campaign– Top advisers include the campaign manager, media consultants,

pollsters, and financial and press relations experts

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Election Campaigns: Fund-Raisers

Campaign organization

• Fund-raisers– Identify donors and find allies for indirect spending– Try to appeal to both large and small donors– Some candidates spend more time soliciting donations than

engaging in any other campaign activity

Election Campaigns: Polling

Campaign organization

• Pollsters– They test ad messages; find out what voters think of their

candidate and the opponents (strengths and weaknesses)– Nearly all campaigns make extensive use of polling– Polls help campaigns craft strategy

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Election Campaigns: Strategy

Two important campaigns within the campaign

• Grassroots campaign– People intensive: requires volunteers to knock on doors, hand out

leaflets, and organize rallies– Very important for local and congressional candidates

• Mass media campaign– Money intensive: relies on TV, radio, and newspaper– Very important for statewide and presidential candidates

Election Campaigns: Media

Media exposure is critical to a campaign

• Candidates buy ads; television ads are the primary vehicle– Television ads consist of 15-, 30-, and 60-second spots– Outside groups and parties buy “independent” ads

• Candidates also try to generate free media coverage– Appear on talk shows for interviews– Electronic tall hall meeting: candidates talk with citizens– Use of digital media

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Election Campaigns: Debates

Debates• An opportunity to see candidates outside the “campaign

bubble”– Involve direct face-to-face exchanges with the opponent rather

than stage-managed public appearances

• Usually involve civilized disagreement– The Republican primary debates of 2016 were uncharacteristically

harsh

• Can be important in very competitive elections– Some argue that TV debates helped Kennedy win over Nixon in

1960

Election Campaigns: Micro-Targeting

Micro-Targeting

• Different voters care about different issues– Micro-targeting designs campaign ads and messages for specific

demographic groups of voters

• Used since the 2000 election– Began with the George W. Bush campaigns in 2000 and 2004– Grew more sophisticated with the Obama campaign

• used unprecedented survey work with statistical algorithms

Money and Politics

The United States is different from other democracies in the world, many of which finance elections through public money

• Court rulings allow unlimited spending– Buckley v. Valeo (1976): introduced the concept that money is

“speech”• allowed unlimited independent PAC expenditures and unlimited

spending by candidates on their own campaign

– Citizens United v. FEC (2010): ruling that independent spending by corporations and unions is protected by the First Amendment

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Sources of Campaign Funds

Campaigns have at least six sources of funds

1. Individual donors2. Political action committees (PACs)3. 527, 501(c), and Super PAC committees4. Political parties5. Public money6. The candidates themselves

Sources of Campaign Funds: Individual Donors

Individual Donors

• Contributions are limited to– $2,700 per candidate per election– $5,000 per federal PAC per calendar year– $30,400 per national party committee per calendar year– $10,000 to state and local committees per calendar year

Sources of Campaign Funds: PACs

Political action committees (PACs)

• Established by corporations, labor unions, interest groups, or other advocacy groups

– Their purpose is to channel contributions from their members to political campaigns

• Contributions from PACs to candidates are limited• There are no limits on independent expenditures

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Sources of Campaign Funds: 527 and 501c(4) Groups

527 and 501c(4) groups

• 527 groups engage in issue advocacy– No limits on donations to them

• 501c(4) groups may not spend more than half of revenue for political purposes

– There are no limits on donations to 501c(4) groups– There are no disclosure requirement of donors to 501(c)(4) groups

Sources of Campaign Funds: Super PACs

Super PACs

• Engage by making independent expenditures only (no contributions to candidates)

– There are no limits on donations to, or spending by, Super PACs– Super PACs are required to disclose donors’ names

How Voters Decide

Three major factors influence voters’ decisions at the polls

1. Partisan loyalty– Most likely to assert itself in less visible races

2. Issues and policy preferences– Some voters cast their ballot for candidate whose positions on issues

of importance they believe to be closest to their own

3. Candidate characteristics– A candidate’s race, ethnicity, religion, gender, geographic

background, or social background may be a factor

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How Voters Decide: Partisanship

Consumer Confidence and Presidential Elections

Profile of Campaign Donors

Donors

• Education level, income, age, and interest– Americans with some college education or a college degree are much

more likely to make a political contribution – Americans with less disposable income contribute less of their

financial resources– Americans over age 50 contribute much more than those under 50– Americans who claim to have an interest in politics are more likely to

donate

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Public Opinion Poll: Q1

Do you think voters make decisions based on the influence of campaign ads?

a) Yes, campaign ads influence voter decisions.b) No, people already know whom they prefer before

seeing the ads.

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Public Opinion Poll: Q2

The redistricting process is controversial and is conducted differently in each state. Who should draw district lines?

a) state legislaturesb) nonpartisan state demographers, using only

population data and mapsc) a bipartisan committee of elected officials and public

interest groupsd) an appointed, bipartisan panel of state judges

Public Opinion Poll: Q3

Should the Democratic and Republican parties have a national primary to select their party’s presidential nominees instead of a state-by-state system?

a) Yes, one national primary would be better.b) No, a state-by-state system is best.

Public Opinion Poll: Q4

Should there be limits on the amount of money candidates can spend on campaigns?

a) yesb) no

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Public Opinion Poll: Q5

Should we get rid of the electoral college or change the way that it operates (using the Maine and Nebraska models)?

a) end the electoral college and elect presidents by popular vote

b) change to a system like the one Nebraska or Maine has implemented

c) keep the current system in place.

Additional Information

Following this slide, you will find additional images, figures, and tables from the textbook.

Election Day

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Table 10.1: The 2016 Primaries and Caucuses Calendar

Presidential Candidates: Ted Cruz

Electoral College versus Popular Vote

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Sources of Campaign Funds: Limit on Campaign Donations

Average House and Senate Campaign Expenditures, 1980-2014

Electing the President: Steps in the Process

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Distribution of Electoral Votes, 2016

America Side by Side: Campaign Laws in Comparison

Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidate Nominations

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Campaign Advertisements

Campaign Advisers

John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon: The First Televised

Presidential Debate

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Campaign Staff

The DNC E-mail Leak

Campaign Promises

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Personal Attacks, Scandal, and Campaign Strategy

The White Working Class Vote