Chapter 7 -The Electoral Process
The nominating process is the process of
candidate selection. Nomination is made in a
number of different ways in American politics.
The nominating process also has a very real
impact on the exercise of the right to vote. In the
typical election in the United States, voters can
make one of only 2 choices for each office.
Those who make nominations place real, very
practical limits on the choices that voters can
make in an election.
Dictatorial regimes underscore the
importance of the nominating process.
Many hold general elections, however,
the ballots usually list only one
candidate for each office and those
candidates regularly win with majorities
approaching 100 percent.
Saddam Hussein Election
Results
The ways in which nominations
are made in this country:
1. self-announcement-the
candidate announces their
candidacy for office.
2. caucus-like minded persons
who meet to select the
candidates they will support in
an upcoming election.
The caucus is still used in local elections in
some places.
3. convention-party members meet to
nominate their party’s candidate for office.
This was replaced by the direct primary.
4. direct primary-an election held within the
party to pick the party’s candidate. In most
states, State law requires that the major
parties use the primary to choose their
candidates for the US Senate and House.
5. nomination by petition-candidates for office
are nominated by petitions signed by a certain
number of qualified voters in the election
district.
2 Forms of Primary:
Closed primary-a party nominating election in which only
declared party members can vote. The primary is
closed to all others. 26 states use this type of primary.
Open primary-a party nominating election in which any
qualified voter can take part. It is open to all qualified
voters. 24 states still use this form of primary.
Tennessee has an open primary by public declaration.
Arguments for the closed primary:
1. it prevents one party from raiding the other’s primary,
in hopes of selecting a weak candidate
2. it helps make candidates more responsive to the
party
3. voters must be more thoughtful of the candidates,
because they only vote for one party
In most states, candidates need to win only a plurality
of the votes cast in the primary to win their candidates
nomination. In 10 states, a majority is needed to carry a
primary. If no one wins by a majority, a runoff primary
takes place.
Section 2-Elections
Most election laws in the United States are State
election laws, not Federal. The Constitution gives
Congress the power to fix the times, places and manner
of holding elections of members of Congress. Congress
also has the power to set the time for choosing
presidential electors , to set the gate for casting electoral
votes and to regulate other aspects of the presidential
election process.
Most states hold elections to fill State offices on
the same date Congress has set for national
elections-in November of every even numbered
year. Some states set the election for governor
during odd numbered years.
The Coattail Effect occurs when strong
candidates from a political party attract voters to
vote for other candidates of the same political
party. Sometimes the coattail effect happens in
reverse.
A precinct is a voting district. A polling place is
where the voters who live in a precinct actually
vote.
Voting Machine Demo
A precinct election board supervises the
polling place and the voting process in each
precinct. Typically, the County Clerk or the
County Election Board draws precinct lines,
and picks the members of the precinct
board.
The precinct board opens and closes the
polling place at the times specified by state
law, and is in charge of the election. Most of
the time, they count the votes, and turn them
in to the County Clerk or the County Election
Board.
The Ballot is the device by which a voter registers
a choice in an election. The Australian Ballot is
used in most states today. It has 4 features: 1.it
is printed a the expense of the public 2. it lists
the names of the candidates 3. it is issued to
voters at the polls, one to each qualified voter 4.
it is voted on in secret
Section 3-Money and the Election Process
Running for public office takes a lot of money,
and there are limits on who and how much can be
donated.
Ross Perot’s run for the Presidency in 1992,
cost in excess of $70 million.
Most campaign money comes from private
sources. Today, the main sources are: 1. small
individual contributors 2. wealthier families and
individuals 3. the candidates 4. special interest
groups-Political Action Committees(PACS) 5.
temporary party organizations 6. party fundraising events.
Regulating Campaign Finance-1.) All federal law
dealing with campaign finance is administered by
the Federal Election Commission. 2.) It was
established by Congress in 1974. 3.) Its 6
members are appointed by the President with
Senate confirmation.
Limits on Contributions-The total of any person’s
contributions to federal candidates and
committees must be limited to no more than
$30,400 in any one year. This does not apply to
campaigns of candidates for state and local
elections.
Public Funding of Presidential CampaignsCongress first began to provide for the public
funding of presidential campaigns in the Revenue
Act of 1971. The 1971 law set up the Presidential
Election Campaign Fund. It also provided that
each person who files a federal income tax return
can give one dollar of his or her tax payment to
the fund. This amount is now three dollars.
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$2,400 per election to a Federal candidate or the
candidate's campaign committee. Primaries, runoffs
and general elections are separate elections.
$5,000 per calendar year to a PAC. This limit applies to
a PAC (political action committee) that supports Federal
candidates.
$10,000 per calendar year to a State or local party
committee.
$30,400 per calendar year to a national party committee.
This limit applies separately to a party's national
committee.
$100 in currency (cash) to any political committee.
(Anonymous cash contributions may not exceed $50.)
Contributions exceeding $100 must be made by check,
money order or other written instrument.
The monies in the fund can be used to pay
for:
1. pre-convention campaigns
2. national conventions
3. presidential election campaigns
The FEC administers the public subsidy
process.
A minor party candidate can also qualify for
public funding, they must either:
1. have won at least 5 percent of the popular
vote in the last presidential election OR
2. win at least that much of the vote in the
election
No minor party candidate has come even close to
winning 5 percent of the popular vote. Ross
Perot did win 19% of the vote in 1992, but he did
not seek federal subsidy money.
Chapter 8-Mass Media and Public Opinion
Section 3
Medium is a means of communication; it
transmits some form of information. Media is the
plural of medium.
There are 4 major mass media in the United
States-ranked in order of impact-television,
newspapers, radio and magazines. Computers
are increasing in their importance to the mass
media.
The mass media are not a part of the government
and do not exist primarily to influence
government, although they may have a significant
impact on government. The media provide
people with information. People acquire most of
the information they know about government and
politics from the various forms of media.
There is at least one television in 98% of the
homes in the United States. (Compared to Iraq-5
televisions for every 100 people.)
Television replaced the newspapers as the
principal source of political information for a
majority of the American people in the early
1960s. Television is now the principal source of
information for an estimated 80% of the
population.
The first newspapers carried mostly political
news. Newspapers rank second only to television
as the people’s primary source of information
about government and politics.
The media’s influence is most visible and carries
the most weight in two areas: 1. public agenda
2. electoral politics.
The media have the power to focus the public’s
attention on particular issues-they do so by
emphasizing some things and ignoring or
downplaying others. For example, they put
certain news on the front page, or lead off the
telecast with a certain story.
The media does not tell people what to think; but
they do tell people what to think about...
The media, in particular television, have
contributed to a decline in the place of parties in
American politics. Television allows candidates
to appeal directly to the people, without the help
of a party organization.
How voters see a candidate--the impressions
they have of that candidate’s personality,
character, abilities, and so on--is one of the major
factors that influence voting behavior.
Candidates and professional campaign managers
are quite aware of this. They know that the kind
of “image” a candidate projects in all of the media
can have a telling effect on the outcome of an
election.
Studies of voting behavior show that in the typical
election, only about 10 percent of those who can
vote and only about 15 percent of those who do
vote are well informed on the candidates and
issues under consideration.
The power of mass media is not allencompassing. For one thing, people actually
absorb little of what the mass media
communicate. Many people use the mass media
as a source of entertainment rather than
information.