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Primary Elections:
› Election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a
party will represent the party in the general election.
 Closed primary: a primary election in which only a party’s registered
voters are eligible to vote
 Open primary: a primary in which party members, independents, and
sometimes members of the other party are allowed to vote
 Crossover voting: participation in the primary of a party with which the
voter is not affiliated
 Raiding: An organized attempt by voters of one party to influence the
primary results of the other party
 A nonpartisan blanket primary (also known as a Louisiana primary or
Jungle Primary) is a primary election in which all candidates for
elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party.
General elections are those in which
voters decide which candidates will
actually fill elective public offices
 Held at many levels.
 Contests between the candidates of
opposing parties
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Initiative
› An election that allows citizens to propose legislation
and submit it to the state electorate for popular vote

Referendum
› An election whereby the state legislature submits
proposed legislation to the state’s voters for approval

Recall
› Voters can remove an incumbent from office by
popular vote
› Are very rare

Primary elections or caucuses are used
to elect national convention delegates
which choose the nominee
› Winner-take-all primary
› Proportional representation primary
› Caucus
Over years, trend has been to use primaries rather than caucuses
to choose delegates
 Caucus is the oldest, most party-oriented method of choosing
delegates to the national conventions
 Arguments for primaries

› More democratic
› More representative
› A rigorous test for the candidate

Arguments for caucuses
› Caucus participants more informed; more interactive and
informative
› Unfair scheduling affects outcomes
› Frontloading (being first in the primary calendar) gives some
primary states an advantage
 Frontloading is the tendency to choose an early date on the primary
schedule
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Out-of-power party holds its convention first, in
late July, followed in mid-August by party
holding the presidency
Conventions were decision-making body in the
19th century
Today the convention is fundamentally
different
› Nominations settled well in advance of the
convention

Unit Rule
› A traditional party practice under which the majority of a
state delegation can force the minority to vote for its
candidate
 Abolished by the Democrats
› New Democratic party rule decrees that state’s delegates
be chosen in proportion to the votes cast in its primary or
caucus. (30% of votes = 30% delegates from that state) –
proportional allocation

Superdelegates
 Delegate slot to the Democratic Party’s national convention
that is reserved for an elected party official
› Some rules originating in Democratic Party have been
enacted as state laws thus applying them to the
Republican Party as well.

Changing nature of coverage
› No prime time coverage on some days
› Extending coverage on the final day of
each convention
› Reflects change in political culture
 More interest in the candidates themselves
› Convention still generates much coverage
for the party
The institution that formally elects the
president of the United States
 Representatives of each state (electors)
who cast the final ballots that actually
elect a president
 Total number of electors for each state
equal to the number of senators and
representatives that a state has in the
U.S. Congress
 District of Columbia is given 3 electoral
votes
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Result of compromise between:
› Selection by Congress versus direct popular election

Three essentials to understanding the design of
the Electoral College:
› Constructed to work without political parties
› Constructed to cover both the nominating and
electing phases of presidential selection
› Constructed to produce a nonpartisan president

12th Amendment (1804)
› Attempt to remedy the confusion between the
›
›
›
›
selection of vice presidents and presidents that
emerged in the election 1800
Provided for separate elections for each office, with
each elector having only one vote to cast for each
In event of a tie, the election still went to the House
Top three candidates go to House
Each state House delegation casts one vote

Electoral college crises
› At times a candidate can win the Electoral College
vote without having won the popular vote

Reapportionment matters
› Representation of states in the Electoral College is
altered every ten years to reflect population shifts
› Recent reapportionment has favored the
Republicans
› With the exception of California, George W. Bush
carried all of the states that gained seats in 2000
Popular Vote
 Congressional District Plan
 Keep the College, Abolish the Electors

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Very different from presidential elections
› Lesser known candidates, more difficulty getting
media attention

Incumbency Advantage
› Staff support
› Media and travel
› The “Scare-off” effect
› Redistricting/Gerrymandering

When incumbents lose it is generally due to:
› Redistricting
 Gerrymandering
› Scandals
› Presidential Coattails

Election takes place in the middle of a presidential term
› President’s party usually loses seats in midterms
› Tendency for voters to punish the president’s party more
severely in the sixth year of an eight year presidency - 6th
year itch
 Retrospective voting
 Senate elections less inclined to the 6th year itch
› 2002 midterm elections were a remarkable exception
 Bush picked up seats in the House and Senate
› 2006 midterm elections: backlash against the Republicans
Focus on the Electoral College
 Other areas

› Nomination
 Regional primaries
› Campaign Finance Reform
› Online Voting
› Voting by Mail
› Modernizing the Ballot