us democracy and participation

what is the first step in choosing candidates for a presidential nominee

the invisible primary

what is the purpose of the invisible primary process

people will test and carry out polling to see i they are a suitable/viable candidate. This includes making speeches and fundraising.

give an example of how the invisible primary affected the primary process

in 2016 17 candidates aimed to be the presidential nominee of the Republican party, of these 5 withdrew during the invisible primary

what will lead to a candidate withdrawing during the invisible primary process

a large degree of unsuccess in the polls and a failure to attract public attention.

where would candidates want to receive financial support from

PACs or Super-PACs

how much did the 2020 election cost

$6 billion, making the invisible primary season important

how can the primary process damage parties

there are televised debates between candidates of the same party, giving them a platform to advance their ideas and policies while highlighting flaws in other candidates.

give an example of the primary process highlighting divides in a party

Jeb Bush announced his candidacy in 2015 and was well received, but suffered bruising criticism from Trump during the invisible primary due to his attacks on Twitter.

when do primaries occur

between february and june of an election year

what is a caucus

a public meeting in which people vote either by moving to a part of a room for a certain candidate or through a show of hands

what is a primary

a state-wide election in which people cast a ballot for their candidate of choice

what are open primaries

- allow all voters in a state to take part, even if they are not a registered party member

- a Democrat voter could take part in a Republican primary

what are closed primaries

only voters who are a party member can take part.

what are semi-closed primaries

registered party members can only take part in their party's primary. Unregistered voters can, however, decide.

what kind of electoral systems are used in primaries

- proportional

- winner-takes- all

- proportional unless a threshold is reached

how can the timing of a primary have an impact

earlier primaries have more significance. for states later in the calendar, the decision for each party's candidate has often already been finalised.

give an example of primaries having different significance based off where they are in the calendar

in 2020 Trump gained the majority of delegates on 17 March but 25 states had not held their primaries at this point, including highly populated states such as California.

What is Super Tuesday?

when lots of primaries and caucuses happen on the same day

what are advantages of the primary process

- raises key national issues

- tests electability of candidates

- voter choice, democracy between candidates

what are the disadvantages of the primary process

- primaries divide parties

- time issues

- inconsistency

give an example of how the primary process addresses key issues

in 2024 Trump and Haley debated US intervention in Ukraine and how to deal with inflation

give an example of how the primary process tests electability

2016 Bush was seen as the most likely presidential nominee until he struggled against Trump in the primaries

how does the US primary process support democracy

allows voters to select their candidates adding an extra level of democracy

give an example of how the primary process provided an extra level of democracy

in 2020 Biden had to convince the Democrats he should be the Presidential candidate despite being preferred by party leaders

give an example of how primaries have divided the republican party

Hayley branded Trump traitor during campaigning, Trump said she was also a traitor for supporting NATO

give an example of how primaries have divided the Democrats

2016 Clinton called Sanders a Communist

why could the primary process be considered unfair

squeezed into 5 months, some primaries are more important than others. Some candidates have dropped out/already won the nomination before some primaries have taken place

give an example of when the primary process was unfair

in march 2024, trump was the only Republican candidate left but 50% of the primaries still hadn't taken place

how is the primary process inconsistent

due to federal system many state processes are completely different meaning voters in different states select candidates differently. This questions how democratic the primary process is.

How are democrat and republican primaries different

Republican primaries are more likely to be winner takes all, democrats more likely to be proportional.

what is a National Party Convention

the importance of these has decreased, the main role of the conventions now is to formally confirms the Presidential nomination.

what are the roles of the convention

- selects presidential candidate

- promotes the candidate to the party and the public

- created party unity after the divisive primary campaign

- adopting the party platform and policies

give an example of the National Party Convention being used as an important media opportunity

Obama's 2007 speech had an audience of around 39 million television viewers.

How can National Party Conventions benefit other party members

can allow some of the rising stars of the party to speak and make their mark, as Obama did in 2004

how does the party convention influence the party platform

allows discussion on and amendments to the party platform

How significant are amendments to the party platform

Now it essentially acts as a rubber stamp for party platform which is normally pre-approved.

give an example of opposition to a party platform being insignificant

in 2016, it took the convention just 6 minutes to approve the party platform despite concerns expressed by some of its members at the anti-LGBTQ+ content of it

give an example of a candidate using the National Convention to confirm party unity

Having lost to Obama in 2008, Clinton opened her convention speech with stating she supported Obama.

where is election campaigning normally focused

swing states

give an example of campaigning being focused on swing states

in 2020 96% of official campaigning took place in one of twelve swing states.

what did governor walker state indicating the importance of swing states

"The Nation as a whole is not going to elect the next president. 12 states are."

how significant are televised debates example

in 2016 Hillary Clinton appeared to have 'won' each debate according to polling conducted afterwards but went on to lose the election

what decides the outcome of a US election

it is not the popular vote, its the Electoral College votes

how does the Electoral College Vote work in most states

operates on a winner-takes-all basis. The candidate with a plurality of a vote in each state gets all of the states ECV's

give an example of the Electoral College producing an unfair outcome

2016, Clinton gained more votes by approximately 3 million but lost the electoral college.

2024, despite a narrow popular vote, Trump comfortably won the electoral college (312)

what are faithless electors

delegates who vote not as their state did

how common are faithless electors

in 2016 there were 10 of 538 - three of these had their vote invalidated as they broke state law but 7 were upheld

what could be considered a positive of the electoral college processs

it protects federalism. ensures both low and high-population states have a voice on a national level in much the same way the Senate protects this in Congress

what are the advantages of incumbency for a president

- name recognition

- presidential record

- campaign spending/fundraising

what are the disadvantages of incumbency for a president

- perception of incompetence

- insurgent/change candidates more appealing

give an example of incumbent presidents being re-elected

Obama in 2012.

Clinton in 1996.

Trump in 2020.

give an example of a president who used their presidential record to their advantage in a capaign

Obama in 2012 campaigned on his handling of the financial crisis and introduction of affordable healthcare

how can being incumbent be beneficial for campaign fundraising

an incumbent president can begin fundraising a year before most challengers. Donors will support them because they are already president

what suggests incumbency can lead to unpopularity

both Clinton and Obama lost support between their 1st and 2nd campaign

how has perception of incompetence affected incumbent presidents

Trump was ahead in the polls until the COVID crisis, Biden-Harris campaign undermined by inflation

give an example of an insurgent candidate being more appealing than an incumbent

Trump in 2024 looked like a radical alternative for an aging Biden

why is the US a two party system

- the use winner-takes-all

- nature of the USA

- party ideology

- expense of politics

- electoral rules

how does winner takes all create a two party system

elections are run on a winner takes all basis for districts and states, makes it harder for small parties or candidates to win

how does the nature of the USA create a two party system

the federal nature of the USA and the guarantee of a state's rights to run its own elections, make every election a small, single-seat election.

how does party ideology in the USA create a two party system

the two main parties have a broad ideology and it is difficult for a third party to carve out any distinctive policy area that it is not already covered by them. If it were able to, it would not take much for one of the main parties to take it.

how has the expense of politics created a two party system

US elections have become so expensive only the main parties have the money to compete

why is it convincing to suggets the electoral college needs to be changed in modern democracy

it has twice returned a winner in the Electoral college that hasn't won the popular vote in the last 6 presidential elections

how does third party control suggest the EC needs to be reformed

effectively excludes third parties from the electoral process as ECVs are often not allocated proportionally and third-party votes tend to be thinly spread across the nation

how does the Electoral College affect small states

they are overrepresented

give an example of how small states are overrepresented in the Electoral college

California has 54 ECVs and a population of nearly 40 million. Wyoming has 3 and a population of 600,000.

That means each ECV exercised by Wyoming represents around 200,000 people while a Californian one represents over 3 times as many people

why could the electoral college creating swing states be a negative thing

campaigning is focused on them, the majority of states are therefore almost ignored throughout the electoral process

how does the Electoral college influence federalism

- allows different electoral procedures

- with the US population heavily concentrated in a few big states. The role, culture and traditions of smaller states could be ignored without the electoral college

what is the consensus that the electoral college should be replaced with

there isn't one, there are slight reforms suggested but given the difficulty of passing an amendment, it is unlikely any change will be produced.

why is the way the Electoral College produces a winner a positive thing

it is clear.

what is the contribution limits by an individual limited

contribution limits for individuals to candidates in 2021-22 was set at $2,900

what are the most common methods of raising campaign finance today

- PACs

- 527s

- Super-PACs

how much can PACs raise

a $5000 donation per campaign

what are 527s

tax exempt organisations created to influence electoral outcomes without calling for the defeat or election of a specific candidate

what can Super-PACs donate

unlimited amounts, but cannot co-ordinate with campaignd

why is there a reluctance for campaign finance reform

because those in power have benefited from the current system and can be reluctant to reform it

what else has made campaign reform difficult

- where there has there been reform groups have found ways around this e.g. Super PACs and B27s

- Supreme court rulings

what is the benefit of the length of the presidential election process

ensures the candidates are able to withstand the demands of being president. The 2024 process showed Biden wasn't

what is the benefit of the electoral college

produces a clear winner despite the split of US political opinion

what is the benefit of the presidential election process for smaller states

electoral college means they have a voice. Despite Democrats winning every time in California, the ECV prevents overrepresentation of one area

how can third parties have a role in the Presidential election process

- share of the national vote

- trying to shape debates of an election (Jill Stein and Gary Johnson, 2016)

how are primaries democratic

allow voters a genuine choice, neither Obama nor Trump was the frontrunner when the invisible primary began but they triumphed

why is there a strong argument that the National Party Convention should be abolished

serves little democratic purpose. It is expensive + bad for the environment.

how can it be argued the presidential election process is elitist

the amount of money required to become the President, open to corporate influence

how else is the amount of money involved in the process negative

gives undue influence to interest groups and corporations over the voice of the general population.

give an example of how corporations have influenced democracy

National Rifle Association makes donations to candidates and therefore has control over policy

how can the length of the process be a negative thing

the length of the process can create political apathy among the voters which can lower turnout and undermine the legitimacy of an election.

what are the two national infrastructures called

the Republican National Committee

the Democratic National Committee

what do the national infrastructures do

head their respective parties, developing and promoting the party platform and organising fundraising

what is the ideology of the democracts

generally liberal, believing in progressive rights and some level of government intervention in both social and economic policy

what is the ideology of the Republicans

generally conservative, believing in individual rights and a limited role for the government in the economy and social policy, although a larger role in homeland security

what is the democrat v Republican stance on the death penalty

D: abolish

R: support

what is democrat v Republican stance on abortion

D: support women's right to access safe and legal abortion

R: want a 'human life' amendment to the constitution, unborn child has a right to life

Democrats on environment

globally competititive, clean energy economy.

Support Paris Agreement

Republicans on environment

support coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power and hydropower.

Oppose carbon tax

democrats on gun control

- close loopholes and increase background checks

- ban sales of assault weapons and high capacity magazines

republicans on gun control

- support 2nd amendment

- oppose legislation to increase control

democrats on minimum wage

2020 pledge to raise to $15 an hour and guarantee equal pay for women

Republicans on minimum wage

argue it is an issue that should be handled at state and local levels

Democrats on healthcare

support increased access to secure, affordable health insurance. "Right for all, not a priviledge for the few"

Republicans on healthcare

repeal Obamacare