Longman PoliticalScienceInteractive Magleby & Light Government by the People Chapter 9 Campaigns and Elections Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Elections: The Rules of the Game Elections are held at fixed intervals that cannot be changed by the party in power Terms are fixed and, for some offices, staggered Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Twenty-second Amendment Term Limits Twenty-second Amendment No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term. Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Effects of a Winner-Takes-All, Single-Member District System Wasted-vote syndrome Reinforcement of moderate and centrist candidates Difficult for minor parties to get elected Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Proportional Representation An election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote Benefits: More accurately reveals the division of voter preferences Gives those who do not vote with the plurality some influence as a result of their vote Problems: May make it harder to have a clear winner Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

The Electoral College Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

The Electoral College Why it exists: How it works: The framers did not trust the choice of president to a direct vote of the people How it works: Each state legislature is free to determine how to select its electors Each party nominates a slate of electors, usually longtime party workers In 48 states, candidates who win a plurality of the popular vote secure all of that state’s electoral votes In NB and ME, electoral votes are allocated to the winner of each congressional district plus two electoral votes for the winner of the state as a whole Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

The Electoral College If no candidate gets a majority of the electoral votes, the House chooses among the top three candidates Occurred in 1800 and 1824 Makes it possible for a presidential candidate to win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote Occurred in 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000 Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Battleground States Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Running for Congress Partisan gerrymandering Safe seats Coattail effect Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Safe and Competitive House Seats, 2000-2008 Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Seats Lost by the President’s Party in Midterm Elections Incumbents have a strong advantage when seeking reelection Name recognition Campaign contributions Resources of office Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

The House of Representatives Mounting a primary campaign Raising money Building a personal organization Campaigning for the general election Candidate appeal National tide Name recognition Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

U.S. House Incumbents Reelected 1960-2008 Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

The Senate Costs more than House races, but cost varies by state More likely than House seats to be seriously contested Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Rising Campaign Costs in Congressional General Elections Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Running For President Stage 1: The Nomination Campaigning begins well before any declaration of candidacy, as candidates try to: Line up supporters to win caucuses or primaries in key states Raise money for their nomination effort Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Running For President Stage 1: The Nomination Primaries Beauty contest Actual voting Systems Proportional representation Winner takes all Delegate selection without a commitment to a candidate Delegate selection and separate presidential poll Caucuses and conventions Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

The Presidential Campaign: Typical Campaign Organization Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Campaign Strategies Selecting a theme Negative Campaigning Using focus groups and polling News management Paid advertising Seeking free airtime Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Running For President Stage 2: The National Party Convention A national meeting of delegates elected in primaries, caucuses, or state conventions who assemble once every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president, ratify the party platform, elect officers, and adopt rules Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

The Vice Presidential Nominee Presidential candidates usually submit their choice for vice president in the run-up to the party’s national convention Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Running For President Stage 3: The General Election - Debates - TV and Radio Advertising Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Money in U.S. Elections Watergate The 1972 Watergate scandal led to the discovery that large amounts of money from corporations and individuals were “laundered” in secret bank accounts outside the country and used by Nixon’s campaign for political and campaign uses Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Efforts at Reform Three strategies used to prevent abuse in political contributions Imposing limitations on giving, receiving, and spending political money Disclosure laws Governmental subsidies Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

The Federal Election Campaign Act Serious campaign finance reform began in the 1970s with the Federal Election Campaign Act (1971) Buckley v. Valeo (1976) challenged the constitutionality of campaign finance limits Now, politicians must get small amounts of money from many sources, with an exception for “soft” money Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002) Largely banned party soft money Restored prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes Narrowed the definition of issue advocacy Senators John McCain (R-Ariz) and Russell Feingold (D-Wisc), sponsors of the BCRA Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Soft Money Until 1998, more important in presidential contests than in congressional contests Between 1998 and 2002, soft money contributions more than doubled Soft money enabled large donors to be major players in campaign finance Banned by BCRA Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Issue Advocacy Advertising Promoting/attacking candidates without explicitly saying “vote for” or “vote against” Surged in 1996 In recent elections, issue advocacy groups have sometimes spent more than the candidates did themselves Often more negative than the ads run by candidates Only partially addressed by BCRA Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Section 527 and 501(c) Organizations 527s: May advertise for or against candidates 501(c): Include nonprofits whose purpose is not political America Coming Together Media Fund Swift Boat Veterans Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Independent Expenditures Buckley v. Valeo (1976): Individuals/groups have “First Amendment” right to spend as much money as they wish Restrictions: Must be truly independent of the candidate May not use corporate or union money Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Continuing Problems with Campaign Finance Rising costs of campaigns Declining competition Increasing dependence on PACs and wealthy donors Candidates’ personal wealth Growth in individual contributions and use of the Internet to fund campaigns Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Reforming the Nominating Process Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Possible Reforms National presidential primary Regional primaries Expand use of caucuses Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Reforming the Electoral College Should we use a direct popular election instead of the electoral college? Pros Cons Give every voter the same weight in presidential balloting Winners would have greater legitimacy Plan would undermine federalism Unrestrained majority rule Populous states would lose influence Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman