POL S 202: Intro to American Politics

1. POL S 202: Intro to American Politics “Campaigns and Elections” Week 6: November 6, 2007

2. American Politics in the News… Interesting News Stories: 1. Pres Pakistan imposes Marshall law and postpones election 2. Democrats push issue of prosecutors getting fired, new hearings in D.C. 3. Ron Paul increase in fund raising, not moving up in to top tier…

3. Why does the U.S. have a political system with only two major parties? • Dems and Reps have more money • Single member district elections • FEC rules on “Third Parties” • Founding Fathers did not want factions

4. What kind of Interest Group is the American Medical Association ? • Economic • Public Interest • Single Issue • Other

5. Direct Democracy in WA • 1895: Socialist Labor Party makes first attempt for direct democracy in Washington • Coalition of farmers, laborers, urban progressives supported direct democracy • 1910: Joint Legislative Committee formed and lobbies for change to WA Constitution • 1912: Washington voters pass the direct democracy amendment

6. Direct Democracy in WA • Ways to get initiative considered: • 8% of electorate from previous election must sign petition, people of state vote • 8% of electorate from previous election must sign petition, submitted to state legislature • Referendum allows people to vote on laws proposed (or passed) by the state legislature

7. Direct Democracy in WA Use of the Direct Initiative to the People Decade Filed Certified Pass Fail 1910s 34 8 2 6 1920s 21 5 1 4 1930s 83 15 11 4 1940s 35 9 4 5 1950s 30 12 4 8 1960s 42 11 8 3 1970s 126 14 6 8 1980s 126 14 6 8 1990s 177 23 8 15

8. Campaigns and Elections • Structure of Elections 1. Getting nominated: The primary serves to narrow down the choices 2. Getting elected: generally speaking the candidate with the most votes wins; sometimes there are runoffs or majority requirements 3. Single Member District, or At-Large

9. Type of District? • Single Member District vs. At – Large Generally used by city council Smith 25% Jones 20% Jackson 20% Lopez 15% Chang 8% Williams 7% Hendeson 5% 3rd 1st 2nd 6th 4th 5th 9th 7th 8th

10. Gerrymandering

11. Gerrymandering 1st District 14th District

12. Who Is Eligible to Run for Office ? • there are few eligibility requirements to run for most U.S. offices • President • must be a natural born citizen • must be 35 years old • must be a resident of the country for 14 years before inauguration • Vice President • must be a natural born citizen • must be 35 years old • must not be a resident of the same state as the presidential candidate

13. Who Is Eligible to Run for Office ? (cont.) • Senate • must be a citizen for at least nine years • must be 30 years old • must be a resident of the state from which elected • Representative • must be a citizen for at least seven years • must be 25 years old • must be a resident of the state from which elected

14. The Modern Campaign • longer campaigns than in past times • greater emphasis on funds • lesser emphasis on political parties • greater reliance on political consultants, who are hired to devise a campaign strategy • greater emphasis on candidate visibility, or name recognition • greater use of polls and focus groups

15. Regulating Campaign Finance • Federal Corrupt Practices Act of 1925 • limited election expenses for candidates • required disclosures • was ineffective because of its many loopholes • The Hatch Act of 1939 • prohibited groups from spending more than $3 million in a campaign • limited individual contributions to committees to $5,000 • restricted political activities of civil servants • designed to end influence peddling

16. Regulating Campaign Finance (cont.) • Federal Election Campaign Act of 1972 • restricted mass media expenditures • limited contributions by candidate and family members • required disclosure of all contributions over $80 • Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974 • created the Federal Election Commission • provided public financing of presidential elections’ • limited presidential election campaign spending • limited contributions • required disclosure of contributions and expenditures

17. Regulating Campaign Finance (cont.) Buckley v. Valeo (1976) declared the 1972 limitation on what an individual could spend on his or her own election unconstitutional The Bi-partisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 – bans soft, limits interest group advertising, increases individual contribution limit to $2000

18. Running for President • Types of Presidential Primaries • closed primary – only voters who are declared party members can vote in that party’s primary • open primary – voters can vote in either party primary without disclosing their party affiliation • blanket primary – voters can vote in primary elections for candidates of more than one party (a Democrat for the presidential nominee and a Republican for the Senate nominee, for example) • run-off primary – if no candidate receives a majority in the first primary, some states require a second primary between the top two candidates

19. The Electoral College • Electors in the Electoral College actually elect the president and vice president of the United States • the numbers of electors in each state in equal to that state’s number of representatives in both houses of Congress • electors typically cast their votes for the candidate that receives the plurality of votes in that state • because of the winner take all system of the electoral college, it typically serves to exaggerate the popular margin of victory

20. How Presidents and Vice Presidents are Chosen IF top presidential and vice-presidential candidates receive fewer than 270 electoral votes, decisions are made in the House and Senate. Each state gets one vote in the House, two votes in the Senate. Presidential candidate receives 26 votes or more. General Election (first Tuesday in November) Voters vote for electors Electoral College (1st Monday after second Wednesday in December) Electors vote for president and vice president respectively President elected If no pres. Candidate receives 26 votes by Jan. 20, and v.p. has been elected, v.p. becomes acting pres. until pres. is elected by the House. House Representatives vote for president by state. Majority is needed to win. If neither candidate is elected by Jan. 20, speaker of the House becomes acting pres. until pres. is elected by the House. Senate Senators vote for vice president (from top 2 candidates). Majority is needed to win. Top presidential candidate receives 270 votes or more Top vice-presidential candidate receives 270 votes or more If no v.p. candidate is elected by Jan. 20, and pres. has been elected, a v.p. is appointed by the pres. and approved by Congress. President elected Vice president elected Vice president elected Vice presidential candidate receives 51 votes or more.

21. Discussion Questions for Wed • Should the Electoral College be reformed or abolished? Does it enhance or detract from our democracy? • Does the primary election schedule in 2008 help our hurt the presidential nomination process? Should we have a national primary election?