Presidential Elections Political Parties And Presidential Elections

Political Parties are important to the American system of government. In order for a party to grow or remain strong, it needs to listen to the people. If they do not, they die out.

Political parties carry voter will into the government. They help voters to influence public policy.

We have a two party system in the U.S. This system allows differing opinions to be promoted as the two parties attempt to defend their positions.

Third parties have traditionally had little chance of getting their candidates elected, but they still have an important roll to fill in our political system. Third Party: Any political party in the U.S. system that has significantly less influence than the Republicans or the Democrats.

Third parties influence the major parties by forcing them to consider other or new ideas that people might be interested in. The major parties pay attention to third parties because the major parties want to be attractive to third party voters.

The major political parties would like to attract the votes of third party supporters.

Example: Two presidential candidates are polling at 43% (Republican) and 46% (Democrat). A third party candidate is polling at 8%. Either major party could win by appealing to the third party supporters. ***The third party never expected to win, but they still influenced the system by forcing the major parties to consider their ideas.

More on Third Parties… Many people may support a third party, but vote for the major party that has views similar to their own. They feel that voting for a third party is “throwing a vote away.”

Still more on Third Parties… However, if the Republicans and Democrats fail to address the ideas of third party supporters, those supporters may vote for their third party’s candidate and influence the election by taking votes away from the major parties.

Something to ponder… In 1992, the conservative candidate, George Bush (R) lost to the liberal candidate Bill Clinton (D) by 6 million popular votes. A third party candidate, Ross Perot, who many saw as another conservative received nearly 20 million votes.

Something to ponder… In 1992, the conservative candidate, George Bush (R) lost to the liberal candidate Bill Clinton (D) by 6 million popular votes. A third party candidate, Ross Perot, who many saw as another conservative received nearly 20 million votes.

Create Your Own Third Party In a group of three or four, create a third party by coming up with a name and three stances on issues important to your group. Write a statement (about one paragraph in length) which gives your three issues and what you would like to see done about them Decide which of the two major political parties is likely to try and get your party supporter’s votes and explain why you believe this.

The Electoral College The Electoral College is the group of people (electors) that actually vote for president. The electors almost always vote for the candidate chosen by their state.

There are 538 electors. A candidate must receive 270 (a majority) or more electoral votes.

Elected by the House of Representatives If no candidate wins a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the president by voting for one of the three candidates that received the most electoral votes. 1824: John Quincy Adams Elected by the House of Representatives

Each state receives the number of electors equal to the number of people they have in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives Example: California has 55 electoral votes. 2 Senators (like all states) + 53 Representatives (based on population) Michigan has 16 electoral votes. 2 Senators + 14 Representatives Six states have only 3 electoral votes. 2 Senators + 1 Representative

The Electoral College favors states with small populations because they get more electors per person than big states. This is because every state gets a minimum of 2 Senators and 1 Representative regardless of how small it is.

Some people have wanted to get rid of the Electoral College. They would prefer we just use the popular vote.

There have been 5 times when a person won the presidency, but did not win the popular vote. *Three times in the 1800s *Twice in the 2000s (President Bush in 2000, and President Trump in 2016)

Electoral College??? Do you believe that the U.S. should keep the Electoral College or replace it with the popular vote? Whichever you choose, explain why. If we did end the Electoral College, how would it be changed, and why would it be difficult? How would ending the Electoral College change presidential elections in the future?

Campaigns In addition to the electoral college, many have criticized the amount of money spent on political campaigns. A campaign for a seat in the U.S. Senate, or a presidential campaign is very expensive.

In 2016, the two major candidates had a combined total of well over 2 billion ($2,000,000,000) spent on their campaigns.

What does this mean? 1. Wealthy donors (people or corporations) may influence the decisions of elected officials because of their large campaign contributions. 2. Special interest groups may also have too much influence on politicians because of the money they raise (ex. Environmental groups, unions, gun advocacy groups)

3. Lobbyist (people that represent groups or companies) often keep contact with people in Congress in order to influence them with promises of campaign contributions or less votes based on the Congressperson’s decisions. 4. The average individual may see running for political office as well outside of their ability to raise funds.