US-ELECTIONS AND DEMOCRACY

What are three formal requirements to be president?

-Need to be at least 35 years old

-Born in the US

-You cannot serve more than two terms

Where does it state you have to be 35 years old?

-Article 2 of the constitution

Give an example of a president who is at least 35 years old?

-Joe Biden was was inaugurated as president in 2021 when he was 78 years old. Because he was well over the required minimum age of 35, he legally qualified to serve as President of the United States.

Give an example for origin of birth in the US

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hawaii is a U.S. state, which means Obama was a U.S. citizen from birth. Since the Constitution requires the president to be a natural-born citizen, his birthplace made him eligible to run for and serve as president.

Give an example for how you can’t serve more than two terms

Donald Trump served one term as president from 2017 to 2021. During the 2024 election cycle, Trump claimed that he should be allowed to run for a third term in the future. However, the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution clearly states that a person may not be elected president more than twice.

What are three informal requirements to be president?

-Lots of experience

-Lots of Wealth

-You are judged on the content of your policies

Give an example for the President having lots of experience?

-Joe Biden had served as a senator between 1973 and 2009 before becoming vice president under Barack and then elected in 2020

Give an example of the President having lots of wealth

In 2016 Trump repeatedly claimed a net worth of around $10 billion during the campaign and emphasised that he was “self-funding” to avoid donor influence; by May 2016, Trump had loaned his campaign $48.8 million

What does it mean by being judged on policies?

Unlike in the UK the President tends to stand on their own platform rather than one developed by the party so have to have practical policies

Give an example of the President been judged on their policies

In the 2008 presidential election Obama used his commitment to healthcare reform especially expanding health insurance coverage and reducing costs, which resonated with many voters, aiding in his success

What is the counter?

Donald Trump with his Make America great Slogan and building a wall was not backed by detailed policies and yet he won

What is a state primary?

The process through which the people get to vote on who should be their party’s candidate

What is the invisible primary?

The period of time between a candidate’s declaration of running for an elected office and prior to the beginning of the primary season

What is the significance of the invisible primary?

It provides an opportunity for serious candidates to raise money, gain support and be seen as frontrunners to be the nominee for their party.

What are three factors that impact the success of a presidential candidate in the invisible primary?

-Endorsements

-Wealth

-Enhancing media image

Give an example of how endorsements influence the invisible primary

During the 2008 Democratic invisible primary, Obama secured a decisive boost when Senator Ted Kennedy endorsed him , followed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (April 2008). By the end of the invisible primary period, Obama had won the support of a majority of Democratic superdelegates

Give an example of how wealth effects success in the invisible primary

In the 2016 Republican invisible primary, Trump’s personal wealth allowed him to bypass traditional party funding networks. He loaned his campaign $48.8 million by May 2016 and later over $66 million, which forced people like Ted Cruz withdraw

Give an example of how media image effects success in the invisible primary

Trump dominated the invisible primary through media exposure rather than party support, receiving an estimated $2 billion–$5 billion in free media coverage during the 2015–16 primary season eg. Fox News and CNN

What is the purpose of the primary and caucus?

How is this done?

This is when after the invisible primary the candidates have to convince the public that they are the ones who will win the presidency

-Chosen Delegates go the national convention for each party and will cast their vote for the preferred candidate who will then become the nominee for the presidential election

What is a primary?

What is a caucus?

-A state based election to choose a party’s candidate for an elective office

-Public meet ups whereby people persuade others to join them in support of another candidate

What are three factors that effect the outcome of primaries?

-The timing of primaries

-Endorsements

-Media exposure

Give an example for timing of Primaries

Obama’s victory in the Iowa caucuses in 2008, where he won 37.6% of the vote ahead of Hillary Clinton , came before most states voted and transformed perceptions of his electability. This early win generated immediate momentum allowing Obama to compete effectively on Super Tuesday

Give an example for endorcements

By February 2016, she held the backing of over 450 superdelegates, compared to around 20 for Bernie Sanders, signalling to voters and donors that she was the establishment’s preferred and most electable candidate , which helped her dominate early large-state primaries such as South Carolina

Give an example for how media image increases chances in primary

Trump’s unprecedented media exposure shaped the 2016 Republican primaries: he received an estimated $2–5 billion in free media coverage across Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC during the early voting period, boosting name recognition and helping him win early contests such as New Hampshire

What are three criticism of the primary/Caucus system?

-Tends to be a show of partisan politics

-Limited Participation

-State’s later in the primary have limited impact

Give an example for partisan politics

During the 2016 Republican primaries, eg .the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary Trump focused on appealing to the party base rather than the general electorate. His success relied heavily on energising hardcore Republican voters with strong partisan messaging on immigration and trade, while establishment candidates like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio struggled to gain traction

Give an example for limited participation?

In the 2024 Iowa Republican caucuses, president Donald Trump won the contest with 51% of the vote, but only about 15% of the state’s registered Republicans actually participated in the caucus

Give an example of state’s having limited impact

In the 2008 Republican primaries, by the time California voted John McCain had already secured enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee, meaning later states had minimal influence on the outcome despite their large populations eg. Florida

What are three benefits of the primary/Caucus process?

-Increases political involvement by the people

-Allows increased state influence

-Is not partisan

Give an example for increasing political involvement by the people

Across the 2008 primaries and caucuses, more than 6.5 million people under age 30 participated, nearly doubling the youth turnout rate from 9 % in 2000 to 17 % in 2008 nationally, and Obama captured about 60 % of the youth vote,

Give an example for how it increases individual state influence

Despite being a small state New Hampshire holds the first presidential primary in the nation, meaning its results get disproportionately high attention In the 2024 New Hampshire Republican primary Donald Trump won with 54.% of the vote against Nikki Haley

Give an example for it not being partisan

In the 2020 Democratic primaries, the system allowed a wide range of candidates from the same party to compete on policy differences rather than party loyalty. For example, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders and others all contested openly, with voters choosing based on policy platforms and electability

What does it mean for primary/causes to be fit for purpose?

-Good Representation

-Good participation

-Not partisan etc

What are national nominating conventions?

How are they chosen?

Essentially it’s the formal coronation of each party’s candidate for President

-They have to get the most votes in the Primary and Caucus system via the delegates

What are three functions of the national nominating convention?

-A roll call vote in which each state’s delegates announce which candidate they vote for

-Deciding the party platform the party believes will give the candidate the best chance of winning

-To unite the party after bitter campaigns in the primary

Give an example of the roll call vote

2020 Democratic National Convention in which they held a live, televised state-by-state roll-call vote, with each state and announcing how many delegates they were awarding to Joe Biden, culminating in Biden formally reaching and surpassing the 1,991 delegates required for nomination.

Why is this insignificant?

The number of votes each candidate is going to get at the convention is largely known before it takes place

What does it mean by deciding the party platform?

Deciding the manifesto to best boost the party’s chance of success

Give an example

The 2016 Republican party platform included policies such as calling for the appointment of judges that would overturn the ruling of Obergefell vs Hodges and strict immigration restrictions(border wall)

What is the counter?

The policies are often more dominated by the candidate themselves eg. The idea of building a wall was a trump policy rather than one developed by the platform committee

Give an example of uniting the party

In ads both Sanders and Hilary Clinton threw jabs at each other with Sanders saying Clinton was ‘bank funded’ and Clinton criticising Sander’s rigid view on gun ownership but even so at the end Sanders said he was proud to stand with Clinton tonight at the convention

How did the electoral college system originally work and what changed?

Original View: Each elector cast two votes for president, with no distinction between president and vice president; the candidate with the most votes became president and the runner-up became vice president. Electors were expected to use their own judgement rather than follow public opinion or party instruction

Change: Electors are now party-aligned and pledged to vote for their party’s nominee, making the Electoral College largely a formality. The 12th Amendment ended the two-vote system by requiring electors to cast separate votes for president and vice president. All states now use popular elections to choose electors (except Maine and Nebraska’s district system variation), and the winner-takes-all system in most states means the outcome is driven by state popular votes

What are the arguments in favour of keeping the electoral college?

-It maintains federalism due to small state advantages

-Produces stable election outcomes

-Allow individual state choice on how to do elections

How does it maintain federalism?

Since each state gets 2 Senators regardless of the population smaller states automatically get more represented as they get more represented compared to the size of the population.

What does this mean in terms of small state influence?

Presidents cannot neglect small states as they may lose lose large influence to political opponents

Give an example of this

Wyoming has 3 electors 580,000 people so has roughly 1 elector per 193,000 people, while California has 54 electors, for 39 million people and so has 1 elector per 720,000 people.

What is the counter?

Most small states that are safe Republican or safe Democratic are largely ignored because their outcomes are predictable. In 2020, over 95% of campaign events and advertising spending were concentrated in just 12 competitive swing states, such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Give an example for maintaining policial stability

Since 1804, only two elections (1876 and 2000) produced major legitimacy disputes despite over 50 presidential elections. In 2020, Biden won the Electoral College 306–232,

Give an example of allowing individual state choice

For example, in 2020, states like Maine and Nebraska use a district-based allocation of electors, allowing candidates to campaign in specific congressional districts rather than relying solely on statewide totals

What are three electoral college criticisms?

-Conflict between electoral college vote and popular vote so distorts who win

-Protects the two party system

-Leads to prioritisation of swing states

Give an example of the conflict between electoral college vote and popular vote

On 5 occasions the person chosen to be president has not one the popular vote eg. in 2016 Donald Trump won 304–227 electoral votes while Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by about 2.9 million.

Give an example of how it protects the two party system

In 1992, Ross Perot won 18.9% of the national popular vote but received 0 electoral votes, demonstrating how the Electoral College discourages viable third-party challenges and reinforces the dominance of Democrats and Republicans.