Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Prentice Hall PoliticalScienceInteractive Magleby et al. Government by the People Chapter 9 Campaigns and Elections
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall 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 2006 Prentice Hall Term Limits 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. 22nd Amendment
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Winner Takes All Effects of a winner-takes-all system Wasted-vote syndrome Reinforcement of moderate and centrist candidates Difficult for minor parties to get elected
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall The Electoral College
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall US House Incumbents Reelected
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall 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 2006 Prentice Hall The Senate Because a Senate seat is so coveted, competition is fierce and a race costs millions of dollars
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Running For President Stage1: 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 Presidential primaries –Beauty contest –Actual voting
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall The Presidential Campaign: Typical Campaign Organization
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Selecting a theme Negative Campaigning Using focus groups and polling News management Paid advertising Seeking free airtime Campaign Strategies
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Running For President Stage 2: The National Party Convention 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 2006 Prentice Hall The Vice-Presidential Nominee Presidential candidates usually submit their choice for vice president in the run- up to the party’s national convention
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Running For President Stage 3: The General Election Presidential debates give candidates an opportunity to show how quickly and accurately they can respond to questions and outline their goals
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall 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 2006 Prentice Hall Efforts at Reform 3 strategies used to prevent abuse in political contributions 1. Imposing limitations on giving, receiving, and spending political money 2. Disclosure laws 3. Governmental subsidies
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall 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 2006 Prentice Hall Efforts at Reform The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act was passed and signed into law by President George W. Bush in February, 2002 Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.)
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Continuing Problems with Campaign Finance Rising costs of campaigns Declining competition Increasing dependence on PACs and wealthy donors
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Reforming the Nominating Process
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Reforming the Electoral College 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 Should we use a direct popular election instead of the electoral college? ProsCons
Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Reforming How We Vote The touch- screen voting machine is an example of a new way for voters to register their choice