Chapter 7: The Electoral process The $1000 Election… 1.Who wants it 2.Election 3.Vote immediately 4.All participate 5.What would happen? Then what would happen if we held the election tomorrow?

A Critical First Step Nominating stage is critically important part of the electoral process. Those who make nomination place practical limits on the choices voters can make Nomination –Process of candidate selection –Prime function of political parties –Reason for the decentralized character of the two major parties Republican or democrat –Two party system

There are 5 ways in which nominations are made in the United States 1. Self announcement 2. Caucus 3. Conventions 4. Direct primary 5. Petition

Self Announcement Oldest form –Simply announce that they want to run –Customs sometimes someone else makes announcement –Write-in candidates –Normally person who Failed to win regular party nominations Unhappy with party politics –Wallace, 1968 –McCarthy, 1976 –Anderson, 1980 –Perot, 1992

The Caucus A group of like minded people who meet to select the candidates –Originally private –Few influential figures –Criticism 1820 peak “King Caucus” Boycott caucus 1824 –Andrew Jackson –Henry Clay –John Quincy Adams Only still used to make local nominations in some places especially in New England

The Convention Caucus method collapsed, the convention system took it’s place –1832 all major parties use 1. Members meet at local caucus to pick candidates for local offices and select delegates to represent them at county conventions 2. At the county conventions, delegates nominate candidates for county offices and select delegates for the state convention 3. At the state convention delegates pick the party’s nominees for governor and other state wide offices and select delegates for the party’s national convention 4. Delegates at the national convention select the parties presidential and vice presidential candidates

The Direct Primary 1910 –Direct primary's had replaced the convention system in most states Direct primary is an intra-party election, held within a party to pick that party's candidate for the general election –Most state’s laws requires the major parties to use primary's –Some use combinations of primaries and conventions –States not party's police primary's –Two forms… »Open and closed primary's »Who can vote?

Open or closed? Open Primary –In which any qualified voter can take part Closed Primary –In which only declared party members can vote

Petition Mostly used at local level –Person is selected by means of a petition signed by a certain required number of qualified voters in the electoral district –Why not used at national level? Write-in

Sorry kids, Time for some reading… Read pages Answer the section assessment on page 194 –1,2,3,4,5 and 6

Campaign Spending No one really knows how much money is spent on election? –Presidential campaigns cost the most 2000, $1.5 billion Cost goes up every year Sources of funding? –Private –public

Private and Public sources of funding Private –1. Small contributors $5 or $10 –2. Wealthy individuals –3. Candidates themselves –4. Nonparty groups Political action committees –Move on.org –5.Temporary organizations –6. Fund raisers Public Funds –Subsidy Grants of money from a government Most important in presidential elections

Regulating campaign Finance Congress starts to regulate –1907 Unlawful ban or corporation to make a money contribution in any election –Passed four more laws Federal Election Campaign Act, 1971 –Loosely drawn and poorly enforced law intended to fix FECA amendments of 1974 and 1976 –Response to Watergate and “soft money”loop-hole –Talk about later –74 and 76 didn’t work Bipartisan Campaign Reform 2002 –Better but not perfect –Why? Congress does not have the power to regulate the use of money in state and local elections federalism

The Federal Election Commission FEC –Administers all federal law dealing with campaign financing member committee picked by president and confirmed by congress –Understaffed Under funded »1 timely disclosure of campaign finance data »2 place limits on campaign contributions »3 place limits on campaign expenditures »4 provide public funding for several parts of the presidential election process

Disclosure and limits Disclosure –No individual or group can make a contribution in the name of another –Cash gifts of more then $100 and foreign contributions are prohibitied –$200 must be identified by source, date, name, purpose –$5000 must be reported to FEC within 48 –So too $1000 contributions 20 days before an election Limits –Labor unions baned –No person can give more then $2000 in primary elections –No person can give more then $2000 in federal elections –No person can give more then $5000 to each PAC –Or more then $25,000 to a nation party committee –Total must be less then $95,000 in election cycle 2 year period

Hard $ and Soft $ Hard $ –Money raised and spent to elect candidates for congress and the white house Soft $ –Money raised and spent on party building activities Candidate recruitment, voter registration, get out the vote drives, and similar campaigns Soft money does impact elections Regulated with 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act