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Chapter 9Campaigns and Elections

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

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 otherperson 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.

Twenty-second Amendment

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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

Proportional RepresentationAn 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 voteProblems:– May make it harder to have a clear winner

The Electoral College

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The Electoral CollegeWhy it exists: – 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

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

Battleground States

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Running for Congress

Partisan gerrymandering

Safe seats

Coattail effect

Safe and Competitive House Seats, 2000-2008

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

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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

U.S. House Incumbents Reelected1960-2008

The Senate

Costs more than House races, but cost varies by state

More likely than House seats to be seriously contested

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Rising Campaign Costs in Congressional General Elections

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

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

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The Presidential Campaign: Typical Campaign Organization

Selecting a theme

Negative Campaigning

Using focus groups and polling

News management

Paid advertising

Seeking free airtime

Campaign Strategies

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

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The Vice Presidential Nominee

Presidential candidates usually submit their choice for vice president in the run-

up to the party’s national convention

Running For President Stage 3: The General Election

- Debates

- TV and Radio Advertising

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

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Efforts at Reform

Three strategies used to prevent abuse in political contributions

1. Imposing limitations on giving, receiving, and spending political money

2. Disclosure laws

3. Governmental subsidies

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

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

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Soft Money

Until 1998, more important in presidential contests than in congressional contestsBetween 1998 and 2002, soft money contributions more than doubledSoft money enabled large donors to be major players in campaign financeBanned by BCRA

Issue Advocacy Advertising

Promoting/attacking candidates without explicitly saying “vote for” or “vote against”Surged in 1996In recent elections, issue advocacy groups have sometimes spent more than the candidates did themselvesOften more negative than the ads run by candidatesOnly partially addressed by BCRA

Section 527 and 501(c) Organizations

527s: May advertise for or against candidates501(c): Include nonprofits whose purpose is not political

America Coming TogetherMedia FundSwift Boat Veterans

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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

Continuing Problems with Campaign Finance

Rising costs of campaignsDeclining competitionIncreasing dependence on PACs and wealthy donorsCandidates’ personal wealthGrowth in individual contributions and use of the Internet to fund campaigns

Reforming the Nominating Process

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Possible Reforms

National presidential primary

Regional primaries

Expand use of caucuses

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?

Pros Cons