This aspect of Unit 3 focuses primarily on the Presidential elections, next set to take place in 2016; as well as the Congressional mid-term elections set to take place in November 2014. Within this aspect, you will cover:
 The requirements necessary for a presidential candidate
 The seven stages of electing a President
 Understand the importance of primaries (invisible and open), as well as caucuses
 Examine voter turnout and the presidential nomination process
 The role of the VP
 National Party Conventions
 Campaign Finance
 Presidential debates and the role of the Media
 The Electoral College
 The importance of the 2014 Mid-term elections
 Propositions, referendums and recalls

Before candidates from either party can begin their presidential bids in earnest, they must first meet a set of important criteria, which will determine their suitability. a) What are the three basic constitutional requirements for a presidential candidate? b) What personal qualities should a presidential candidate display? c) What are the seven extra-constitutional requirements for a presidential candidate? Why are these important?
Compulsory
 Read from ‘Eligibility’ to ‘Fundraisers and Campaign’ http://2012election.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004333
 Anthony J. Bennett, A2 US Government and Politics (Hodder Education,
2013), pp.39-42
 The Heritage Foundation, Presidential eligibility (2012) http://www.heritage.org/constitution#!/articles/2/essays/82/president ial-eligibility
Optional
 Robert Creamer, Top 10 reasons Obama defeated Clinton for Democratic
Nomination (2008) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/top-10-reasons-obamadefe_b_101307.html
 Glenn McDonald, 10 Things you can’t do and become President (May 2013) http://news.discovery.com/history/us-history/10-things-you-cant-doand-be-president-130508.htm

Invisible primaries are the first stage in the Presidential election trail. By virtue of its name, the invisible primaries refer to the period between candidates declaring an intention to run for the presidency and the first contests of the
primary season. It is often seen as a decisive step towards success in the general election. The invisible primaries for the 2016 presidential elections began in January 2013. a) What are the main parts of the invisible primary? What do candidates do? b) Why is the invisible primary so important? c) How has the invisible primary changed in the last few decades? d) Who has already joined the invisible primary on either side? e) How do you ‘win’ an invisible primary?
Compulsory
 Jay Cost, Welcome to the Invisible Primary (2011) http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/morning-jay-welcome-invisibleprimary_590310.html?page=1
 Burns and Haberman, The invisible primary: GOP preps as Chris Christie
stumbles (March 2014) http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/2016-republican-hopefulschris-christie-105028.html
 The Economist, Lexington: The Rand Paul Bubble (August 2014)
Optional
 Brendan Diamond, The Invisible Primary Part 2: Political Boogaloo (2014) http://democratify.com/invisible-primary-2/
 Brendan Diamond, The Invisible Primary Part 1: Coalescing vs. Guessing
(April 2014) http://democratify.com/invisible-primary-1/

Once candidates have ‘won’ the invisible primaries, we move to the second stage of the Presidential election trail: the state-wide primaries and caucuses.
1.
Why is the primary such an important part of the election process?
2.
How do candidates garner support during a primary?
3.
What usually leads to a loss in the primaries?
4.
How have each of the parties done so far in the mid-term primaries?
Compulsory:
 Robert Langley, Why the presidential primary elections are so important
(Date unknown) http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/politicalsystem/a/whyprimaries.htm
 2016 Presidential Primaries and Caucuses by month (September 2014) http://frontloading.blogspot.co.uk/p/2016-presidential-primarycalendar.html
Mid-terms
 The Economist, Voters do the Math (September 2014)
 The Economist, Triumph of the sort-of moderates (May 2014)
 The Economist, The Tea Party Scalded (June 2014)
 The Economist, Lexington: Charlie Rangel’s Fight to Remain (June 2014)
Optional
 The Economist, Republican Primaries: Mud Pie (June 2014)
 The Economist, Alaska’s State Primary: Chilly Oil (August 2014)
 The Economist, Texan Primaries: Tea Time in Texas (May 2014)
1.
Why are these two states so important?
2.
What are the consequences of not placing in either Iowa or New
Hampshire?
 Paul Finkelman, Why the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries matter (May
2011) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-finkelman/why-the-iowa-andnew-hamp_b_76886.html
 Jonathan Bernstein, Iowa might actually be influential (August 2011) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/12/139572265/new-republic-iowamight-actually-be-influential
 The Economist, New Hampshire’s Senate Race: Casting Stones in the
Granite State (August 2014)
 The Economist, Iowa’s Senate Race: Farmer v Lawyer (May 2014)

An incumbent is another word to describe a sitting representative who is
running for re-election. This year, both houses will experience a series of incumbent primary challenges in the mid-terms.
What is the general wisdom on primary challenges to incumbent presidents?
Under what circumstances do primary challenges usually take place?
What happens when/if an incumbent loses?
 Daniel Larison, Why have there been no recent primary challenges to
incumbent presidents? (November 2012) http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/why-have-therebeen-no-recent-primary-challenges-to-incumbent-presidents/
 The Economist, Lexington: Charlie Rangel’s Fight to Remain (June 2014)
 Margaret Carlson, The backlash in Kansas (October 2014) http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-10-01/the-backlash-inkansas
Optional
 The Economist, The royals of Capital Hill (July 2014)
 The Economist, Idaho’s Congressional Primary: Main Street’s Revenge (May
2014)
1.
What type of people tend to turnout at primaries?
2.
What is ‘gerrymandering?’ Why is it an important voting tactic?
Compulsory
 The Economist, Mid-term voters, Older, Whiter, Righter (May 2014)
 The Economist, Lexington: Hillary’s biggest test (May 2014)
 The Economist, The waning of Waxman (May 2014)
The importance of primaries has long been disputed, but a real wind of change took place in America following a series of significant reforms after a disastrous
1968 DNC candidate selection.
1.
Please complete a timeline of the events that lead to the McGovern-Fraser reforms
2.
What were the McGovern-Fraser reforms? Why did they take place?
3.
What are the consequences of these reforms, over 30 years on?
4.
What do the reforms show about the importance of primaries?

 Read from “The Current Drift: Front Loading the primaries” http://www.uvm.edu/~dguber/POLS125/articles/piroth.htm
 George McGovern and the Primary System (October 2012) http://poliscinews.wordpress.com/tag/mcgovern-fraser-commission/
 The Economist, A Modest Proposal: Why America should hold all of its
primaries on one day (August 2014)
 Anthony J. Bennet, US Government and Politics 4 th Edition (2013) pp.56-61
 Commonweal Institute, Reform the presidential nominating process
(March 2004) http://www.commonwealinstitute.org/archive/reform-the-presidentialnominating-process
 Rebecca Moxon, 'Consider the strengths and weaknesses of elections within the United States.' (November 2011) http://www.peterjepson.com/law/US-4%20Moxon.pdf
 D.F. Thompson, The Primary Purpose of Presidential Primaries (October
2009) https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=
1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdash.harvard.edu%2Fbitstrea m%2Fhandle%2F1%2F9637980%2FThompson_Primary.doc%3Fsequen ce%3D1&ei=l5YuVNLEEpCu7AaPyYHABQ&usg=AFQjCNGM4OseC3RX5H
WqNY7kDGmbu9qlhw&bvm=bv.76802529,d.ZGU&cad=rja
In recent years, the role of the Vice President has risen in importance to the party and elections. He/she has been known to help further unite the party.
1.
What are important considerations to make when selecting a VP?
2.
How has the role changed over the last few decades?
Compulsory
 Anthony J. Bennet, US Government and Politics 4 th Edition (2013) pp.62-63
 Joel Goldstein, Debunking Myths about Vice-presidential election (June
2012) http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/debunking-somemyths-about-vice-presidential-selection/
 Kim Stolz, Lessons on choosing a Vice-presidential candidate (May 2011)

We covered the topic of national party conventions during Parties, but we’ll examine them in a little further depth.
1.
To what extent does the National Party Convention still play an important and relevant role?
 Julian Zelizer, Why political conventions still matter (August 2012) http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/06/opinion/zelizer-politicalconventions/
 Quizlet, National Party Conventions (Date unknown) http://quizlet.com/12510490/presidential-elections-national-partyconventions-flash-cards/
This is the biggest campaign that America gets to see. Millions and millions of dollars are invested into persuading voters that each party’s man/woman is the right person for the job. As a result, questions on campaign funding have been raised time and time again.
1.
What are the key reforms that have taken place since 1974?
2.
What is a Super PAC?
3.
Why is campaign finance such an important issue to address?
4.
How effective have the reforms since 1974 been on maintaining democracy?
Compulsory
 Campaign Finance Reform, Historical timeline http://www.ctn.state.ct.us/civics/campaign_finance/Support%20Materia ls/CTN%20CFR%20Timeline.pdf
 Dan Roberts, Supreme Court strikes down cap on overall campaign
contributions (April 2014) http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/02/supreme-courtstrikes-down-cap-campaign-contributions
 Public Integrity, The Citizens United Decision and why it matters (October
2012) http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/10/18/11527/citizens-uniteddecision-and-why-it-matters
Considerably dissimilar to UK elections, the American media plays a huge role in supporting/defiling a candidate. Use the websites below to navigate a series of political commercials.

1.
What is the purpose of the political commercial?
2.
What are the different types of political commercial?
3.
What are the pros and cons of using the media during a political campaign?
Compulsory
 Analyse two political adverts from the “Type of Commercial” tab www.livingroomcandidate.org
 Saturday Night Live: Tina Fey does Sarah Palin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE-OCDexYrU
The first presidential debate was held in 1960 when John F. Kennedy went to battle with Richard Nixon. In the following years, presidential debates were seen to be a decisive factor in voting habits. Over the last 50 years however, there has been a considerable shift, especially considering the role of the media.
1.
How important is the presidential debate for campaign outcomes?
Compulsory:
 Time, How the Nixon-Kennedy debate changed the world (September
2010) http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2021078,00.html
 John Avlon, Why the Presidential debate matters (January 2012) http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/26/opinion/avlon-debates-matter/
 Julia Sides, Do Presidential debates really matter? (September 2012) http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_201
2/ten_miles_square/do_presidential_debates_really039413.php?page=all
Optional
 Reader contribution, Are debates in the US Presidential Elections really
important? (October 2012)
There are 9 major factors to be considered when voters go to the polls on the
First Tuesday in November to decide their future President.
1.
What are the 9 important factors?
2.
How was voting changed in the last four decades?
3.
How did these factors play out in the 2012 Presidential elections?
4.
What were the main surprises in the 2012 Presidential elections?

Compulsory
 Gallup Poll: 2012 Demographics http://www.gallup.com/poll/154559/US-Presidential-Election-
Center.aspx
 The Economist, Lexington’s notebook: Barack Obama’s Best 2012 Friends
(May 2013) http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2013/05/voting-2012election
 Gallup, U.S 2012 Electorate looks the same as 2008 (October 2012) http://www.gallup.com/poll/158399/2012-electorate-looks-like-
2008.aspx
Optional
 Soren Holmberg, Voting Behaviour in US Presidential Elections (July 2012) http://www.gu.se/digitalAssets/1369/1369709_voting-behavior-in-uspresidential-elections---2012-1-.pdf
 Anthony J. Bennet, US Government and Politics 4 th Edition (2013) pp.82-88
 Thom File, The Diversifying Electorate (May 2013) http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p20-568.pdf
 The Economist, Susan Collins: Her reign in Maine is easy to explain (July
2014)
Obama’s Victory
1. Why did Obama win in 2008 and 2012?
Compulsory
 USA Today, How Obama won re-election (November 2012) http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/11/07/turnoutand-organization-were-key-to-obama-victory/1688537/
 Huffington Post, President wins the way his campaign predicted
(November 2012) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/obama-2012campaign_n_2092452.html
Optional
 RealClearPolitics, 21 reasons for Obama’s Victory and Romney’s Defeat
(November 2012) http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/11/07/21_reasons_for_ obamas_victory_and_romneys_defeat_116090-5.html
As it is our final lesson together before the half term, in the second half of our double, we will have a debate (instead of a timed-question) based around the question:

‘This house would abolish The Electoral College”
1. What is the Electoral College? Why does it exist?
2. Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the Electoral College
Compulsory
 Huffington Post, What is the Electoral College? How it works and why it
matters (June 2012) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/what-is-the-electoralcollege_n_2078970.html
 Digital History, The Disputed Election of 2000 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=337
7
 PBS, Bush v Gore (2000) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/future/landmark_bush.html
Optional
 US News Today, Abolish the Electoral College (February 2013) http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/02/06/abolish-theelectoral-college
 Forbes, It’s time to abolish the Electoral College (November 2012) http://www.forbes.com/sites/taylorbrodarick/2012/11/04/its-time-toabolish-the-electoral-college/
Political theorists usually cite midterms as a comment on the President’s popularity amongst voters. When the president’s party wins in typically lowturnout midterms, this is usually seen as a sign of voter satisfaction. When his/her party lose however, this is usually seen as a referendum on the sitting president and a death bell for the future presidential elections.
1.
Where are the battleground states? How popular are Obama’s policies in this area?
2.
What do the results from the November midterms suggest about Obama’s popularity?
3.
Does the November result follow any political theory?
 Anthony J. Bennet, US Government and Politics 4 th Edition (2013) pp.107-
108
 The Economist, The Mid-terms: Brace yourself (August 2014)
 Politico, Are big three Senate races slipping from Dems? (October 2014) http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/big-three-senate-racesslipping-democrats-111575.html