1 / 55

Campaigns & Elections

Campaigns & Elections. Preview. Put the following steps in order in your notebook. Star any terms you do not understand. Form a campaign organization Run in primaries & caucuses Participate in televised debates Announce candidacy Conduct electoral vote Attend national convention

borna
Download Presentation

Campaigns & Elections

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Campaigns & Elections

  2. Preview Put the following steps in order in your notebook. Star any terms you do not understand. • Form a campaign organization • Run in primaries & caucuses • Participate in televised debates • Announce candidacy • Conduct electoral vote • Attend national convention • Raise funds • Hold popular vote • Build coalition of supporters • Develop campaign strategy

  3. Types of Elections • Special Election • An election in which voters choose someone to fill an unexpected vacancy of a House or Senate seat

  4. Primary Elections

  5. Primary Election Calendar, 2008

  6. Homework: Ch. 10.3 Begin reading at “Joining the Race,” and work with a partner to create a “to-do” list chart for a presidential candidate trying to secure his/her party’s nomination. See the model below. • Form exploratory committee • Join the race • Set up campaign organization • Raise funds • Develop campaign strategy • Campaign • Run in primaries and caucuses • Attend national convention

  7. Town Hall Meeting

  8. General Elections

  9. The “Winner-Take-All” System(The candidate with the most votes wins.) Reinforces two-party system (Democrat vs. Republican)

  10. What about third parties?

  11. Third Parties’ Impact • Focus on a single issue • Bring new ideas to the political discussion • Take votes away from major parties

  12. Presidential Elections

  13. The Electoral College • Method by which we elect the president • Each state has a certain number of electors = # of Senators (2) + # of Representatives • Candidate who wins the majority of the state’s popular vote gets ALL of that state’s electoral votes • Candidate must achieve a majority of the electoral college (270/538 votes) to win

  14. Presidential Election Results, 2008(By County)

  15. Preview

  16. Homework: Ch. 10.4 Read Ch. 10.4 up to “Issues Versus Image” • Define presidential & midterm elections. • Explain how John Kerry’s 2004 campaign illustrates the typical candidate’s change in strategy from the primary to the general election. • Explain the effects of our country’s “winner-take-all” system.

  17. The Election of 2000 And the winner is…

  18. What happened???

  19. The Electoral College Map, 2000

  20. It all came down to Florida.

  21. The Sequence of Events • 6 million people vote • Computer count: 327 vote margin for Bush • Gore demands recount by hand • Florida Secretary of State sets deadline • Florida Supreme Court extends deadline • U.S. Supreme Court halts recount • Result of recount: 537 vote margin for Bush • Bush wins ALL of Florida’s 25 electoral votes

  22. Green Party Candidate: Ralph Nader 97,488 votes in Florida

  23. Conspiracy Theories

  24. How can this happen? • Candidate can win by large margin in popular vote, but only needs 50% + 1. • Small states are over-represented in the electoral college

  25. How much does your vote count?

  26. Problems with Electoral College • Candidates focus only on “swing states,” so people are left out of the process. • Our votes are not actually equal! • More popular candidate nationally can lose the election!

  27. “Battleground” or “Swing” States

  28. Interest Groups & Lobbying

  29. What is an interest group? • A group that seeks to influence government to reach a particular goal or set of goals • Examples

  30. What do interest groups do? • Lobby – Attempt to influence policy process by persuading public officials to favor or oppose action on a specific issue • Research – Carry out research and write policy proposals that support their goals • Litigation – Bring lawsuits to influence policy (e.g. NAACP & Brown v. Board of Education) • Grassroots Mobilization – Hold rallies, conduct direct mail/Internet campaigns, etc.

  31. What is the artist’s point of view regarding the role of interest groups?

  32. Campaign Finance

  33. High Cost of Running for Office • 2000: More than $3 billion spent on election campaigns • Winning candidates spent… • $500,000 each for House of Representatives • $4.5 million each for Senate

  34. Library Activity: Interactive Map

  35. Political Action Committee • Private groups sponsored by corporations, trade associations, unions, or other interest groups • Allowed to collect donations & give money to political campaigns • How much do they contribute? • 1980: $131 million • 2004: $310 million

  36. Types of Organizations that Form PACS

  37. Campaign Contribution Limits

  38. Loopholes in Campaign Finance Laws • 527 Organizations – Non-profit organizations with no limits on spending (“soft money”) for voter registration & turnout activities • Issue Ads – Political ads funded and produced by interest groups • Cannot explicitly tell people to vote for a certain candidate.

  39. Corporate Contributions

  40. Issue Ad Example

  41. Issue Ad Example

  42. 527 Ad

  43. What is the artist’s point of view regarding campaign finance?

More Related