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

2. 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
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3. 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.
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4. 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
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5. 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
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6. The Electoral College
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7. 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
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8. 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
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9. Battleground States
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10. Running for Congress Partisan gerrymandering Safe seats
Coattail effect
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11. Safe and Competitive House Seats, 2000-2008
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12. 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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13. 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
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14. U.S. House Incumbents Reelected 1960-2008
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15. 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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16. Rising Campaign Costs in Congressional General Elections
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17. 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
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18. 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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19. The Presidential Campaign: Typical Campaign Organization
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20. Campaign Strategies Selecting a theme Negative Campaigning
Using focus groups and polling
News management
Paid advertising
Seeking free airtime
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21. 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
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22. The Vice Presidential Nominee
Presidential candidates usually submit their choice for vice president in the run-up to the party’s national convention
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23. Running For President Stage 3: The General Election
- Debates
- TV and Radio Advertising
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24. 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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25. 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
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26. 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
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27. 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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28. 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
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29. 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
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30. 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
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31. 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
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32. 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
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33. Reforming the Nominating Process
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34. Possible Reforms National presidential primary Regional primaries
Expand use of caucuses
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35. 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
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