Evaluate The View That The Presidential Election Process Requires Reform. (30)

AGREE 1.1 (PRIMARY PROCESS)

The primary process requires significant funding in order to campaign effectively

In the 2016 Democratic primary, a key reason for clinton’s success was her ability to out raise her opponent. Generated around $250m

AGREE 1.2 (PRIMARY PROCESS)

Gives disproportionate power to voters in certain states. Early primary states e.g Ioaw and new Hampshire as well as influential states like South Carolina hold significant influence due to their early scheduling

2020 South Carolina (AKA Bidens firewall) was crucial to Bidens eventual victory as it strengthened his campaign and positioned him as the main contender against sanders.

DISAGREE 1

Highly democratic as it allows voters to select their partys nominee and choose between party factions

The process allows voters of a party to select a candidate, even if this isnʼt the candidate favoured by the party establishment.

Obama was an outsider challenger to Hillary Clinton who was only successful due to grassroots support in the 2008 primary, largely due to the public agreeing with his opposition to the Iraq war.

AGREE 2.1 (ELECTORAL COLLEGE)

The electoral college is an outdated system that undermines democracy. Electoral college allows candidates to win the presidency despite losing the popular vote

Trump won the presidency in 2016 despite losing the popular vote by 2.87m votes.

AGREE 2.2 (ELECTORAL COLLEGE)

Third party candidate has never won the presidency and very few have received any electoral college votes

In 2020 the highest vote share of a third-party candidate was Libertarian Party candidate Jo Jorgensen with just 1.2% of the vote.

DISAGREE 2 (ELECTORAL COLLEGE)

Produces a clear winner even if no candidate has majority support from the population

Independent Ros Perot got 19% of the vote across the US in the 1992 election but this translated to 0 electoral college votes.

Bill Clinton won the presidency with 370/538 electoral college votes despite getting just 43% of the vote

AGREE 3 (UNEQUAL INFLUENCE BETWEEN STATES)

the weight of a vote varies significantly between states. Smaller states have more of a say as they get a min of 3 electoral college votes

California is over 60x bigger than Wyoming in population, but only receives 18x more electoral college votes.

Disproportionate focus on the 11 swing states.

DISAGREE 3 (UNEQUAL INFLUENCE BETWEEN STATES)

The electoral college discourages candidates from appealing to voters in one region/party of the US. They must appeal to a diverse range of states and regions to win.

·   Barack Obama's victory in 2008 was partly due to his campaign's successful outreach in states like North Carolina and Virginia, states that had not voted Democratic in a presidential election for decades.

·   2020 Bidens campaign strategy focused on rebuilding the “blue wall” in the Midwest, particularly in states such as Pennsylvania which had swung to trump in 2016.