Unit 6 (Chapters 13-14)
Elections & Campaigns
Running for Federal Office
• Over 90% re-election rate in the House and Senate.
• House races are less contested than Senate races.
• Senators run in a statewide election, House run in
Districts.
• Senators run every six years, Congressmen run
every two years but have unlimited terms.
• Coattail effect – when the president is strong,
members of his party are voted for.
•More frequently in Congress and in Senate races
(stronger in presidential election years)
WHY INCUMBENTS WIN?
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Name recognition
Constituent service (casework)
Easier to raise money
Assignments on committees that serve their
constituents
• Free Press
• Take credit for anything positive that has happened.
Blame Washington (or prez) for anything bad that has
occurred.
• FRANKING PRIVILEGE
CAMPAIGNS
• Campaigns are extremely expensive.
• Most campaigns are now concentrated
on the media.
• Negative ads work, that’s why they
use them.
CAMPAIGNS
• Incumbents are rarely challenged in a
primary election.
• A primary election is an election to
nominate a candidate for office, has a
low voter turnout.
Types of Primaries
• Closed primaries are most common,
you must belong to a party to
participate in primary.
• Open primaries allow any registered
voter to participate.
• Most important thing to campaign is
name recognition, most get known to
be chosen.
• Open seat is an election where there is
no incumbent. Parties stay out of
primary until a winner is chosen, then
they put their support fully behind the
nominee.
MIDTERM ELECTIONS
• Presidential races are much more
competitive than House races, the
winning margins are more narrow.
• Midterm Election is an election that
occurs every two years in a nonpresidential election year.
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Turnout much lower
All Congressmen up for reelection (435 seats)
1/3 of Senators up for reelection
President coattails not as great
Congressional Breakdown
• Each state has 2 Senators
• House seats set at 435
– Number per state determined by population
– Dispersion changes every 10 years with National
Census.
– 1911 fixed the size at 435
– reapportionment
• Florida has enjoyed the greatest jump
in representation due to the last 3
counts.
DRAWING DISTRICTS
• The State Legislature is responsible for
redrawing the district lines if the census
causes a state to gain or lose a seat in the
House (redistricting). Can also occur if
there are population shifts in the state.
• Gerrymandering – boundaries drawn to
favor one party (registered voters) resulting
in odd-shaped districts. This is
unconstitutional if it is based on race (Shaw
v. Reno).
• Malapportionment- districts are drawn w/
very different populations. Illegal. Baker v
Carr (1962), “one person-one vote”
Gerrymandering
• Drawing of boundary lines for Congressional
districts to obtain partisan or factional
advantage
• From Governor Gerry of MA in 1811, the
shape of his district looked like a salamander
• Shaw v. Reno (1993) racial gerrymandering
unconstitutional, equal protection clause XIV Amendment
• State Legislatures redraw districts after census
(every ten years), sometimes add or lose
Congressional districts based on their state’s
population increases or decreases
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Nominating a President
• 1st Iowa Caucus – Party leaders meet
to select candidate
• Caucus may pick more ideological
candidates.
• 2nd New Hampshire Primary – Voters
choose favorite candidate
• Almost all states have primaries
PARTY CONVENTION
• Party convention is where the candidate is
officially nominated as presidential
candidate for party.
• Every 4 years receive delegates to make it
official.
• National chair- controls party convention.
• Each convention sets party platform for
upcoming four years.
Campaigns
• Campaign is dominated by television.
• Debates really don’t make a difference
unless a candidate really screws up.
• This is referred to as the gaffe problem
Participation in Government
• Conventional - Relatively routine political behavior
that uses institutional channels and is acceptable to the
dominant culture (voting, writing elected officials,
political demonstrations - holding signs in protest,
signing a petition)
• Unconventional - relatively uncommon political
behavior that challenges or defies established
institutions and dominant norms (Boston Tea Party
1773, boycotting, occupying buildings, locking arms to
block, striking, 1968 Dem Convention, assembly of a
militia group, suicide bombers)
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Electoral College
• Winner take all in each state –the candidate
who wins the popular vote wins all the
electoral votes (Maine and Nebraska are the
exceptions)
• You need a majority of electoral votes to win
the presidency.
• Total electoral votes is 538, but 270 would
be the majority.
• The electoral college vote makes the margin
of victory seem larger than it really is.
No Electoral Winner
• 12th Amendment – creates separate
elections for the president and vice
president.
• If no candidate wins 270 votes
– Presidential race goes to House, each state gets
a vote, 26 votes wins.
– Vice President races goes to Senate, each
senator gets a vote, 51 votes wins.
Money in Electoral Campaigns
• President gets money from private and
public funds.
• Congress gets private money.
• Federal restrictions:
– $2000 limit for individual contributions
– $5000 limit for PACs
Political Action Committees (PACS)
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PAC Requirements
1) At least 50 voluntary members
2) Give to at least 5 federal candidates
3) limited to $5000 per election per candidate.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
• 1974 FECA set limits on
donations by individuals and
groups
• Refer to the Table on p. 460
• PACs were created to circumvent
this act
BCRA
• 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
(BCRA)
– Banned soft money
*unlimited amounts of money that can be given to a
political party so long as that candidate is not named.
Sharply restricted independent expenditurescorporations, unions and other groups can’t advertise
referring to a candidate by name 30 days before a primary
and 60 days before a general election (struck down by
SCOTUS in 2008)
RESULT – Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (BCRA)
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“McCain-Feingold bill” (2002)
Changed some parts in FECA 1974
$2,100 (individual) to candidate for each election
$10,000 (individual) to state party or PAC
$26,700 (individual) to national party committee
Ban on soft $ - donations to party committees for buying
equipment, remodeling headquarters, staffing regional offices, or
get-out-the-vote drives; not for a specific candidate
• Definition of hard $ - financial contributions given directly to a
candidate running for office
• Buckley v. Valeo (1976) individual candidate can spend unlimited
amount on self campaign
• Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010)
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Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
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Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (FEC), 2010
Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
p. 459
Citizens United sought an injunction against the Federal Election
Commission in the United States District Court for the District of
Columbia to prevent the application of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform
Act (BCRA) to its film Hillary: The Movie. The Movie expressed opinions about
whether Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton would make a good president.
• In an attempt to regulate "big money" campaign contributions, the BCRA
applies a variety of restrictions to "electioneering communications." Section
203 of the BCRA prevents corporations or labor unions from funding such
communication from their general treasuries. Sections 201 and 311 require
the disclosure of donors to such communication and a disclaimer when the
communication is not authorized by the candidate it intends to support.
• Citizens United argued that: 1) Section 203 violates the First Amendment on
its face and when applied to The Movie and its related advertisements, and
that 2) Sections 201 and 203 are also unconstitutional as applied to the
circumstances.
Decision - Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
By a 5-to-4 vote along ideological lines, the majority held that under the
First Amendment corporate funding of independent political broadcasts
in candidate elections cannot be limited. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
wrote for the majority joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts and
Justices Antonin G. Scalia, Samuel A. Alito, and Clarence Thomas. Justice
John Paul Stevens dissented, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
Stephen G. Breyer, and Sonia Sotamayor. The majority maintained that
political speech is indispensable to a democracy, which is no less true
because the speech comes from a corporation. The majority also held that
the BCRA's disclosure requirements as applied to The Movie were
constitutional, reasoning that disclosure is justified by a "governmental
interest" in providing the "electorate with information" about electionrelated spending resources. The Court also upheld the disclosure
requirements for political advertising sponsors and it upheld the ban on
direct contributions to candidates from corporations and unions.
WHO WINS AND WHY
• The most recognized with the most
money raised and is an incumbent
wins.
• Party affiliation still #1 reason why
you vote for someone.
• Democrats have larger numbers,
should win, but Republicans have
higher turnout and get more
independent voters.
SOFT MONEY GROUPS
• TAX codes give these terms their names!
• 527 political committees
• Definition? Examples?
• 501(c) groups
• Definition? Examples?
Who Wins and Why?
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Party
State of the Economy
Candidate character
Incumbency
WHO DECIDES ELECTIONS?
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Party ID still #1
Democrats have more registered voters
Republicans have higher turnout.
GOP does better among independents
People change parties when their interests
change.
Prospective Voting
• Prospective voters- used by very few
voters
• These voters know the issues and vote
accordingly.
• Most common among activists and
special interest groups.
• Vote based upon what the candidate
pledges to do on an issue if elected
Retrospective Voting
• Practiced by most voters.
• Decides most elections.
• Judge the incumbent’s performance and vote
accordingly.
• Usually helps the incumbent…unless economy
has gotten worse.
• Midterm elections: voters turn against
president’s party.
The campaign
• Campaigns do make a difference.
• They let voters see how candidates handle and
apply pressure.
• They let voters judge candidates’ character and
core values.
• Campaigns emphasize themes over details.
Finding a winning coalition
• Candidate/Party goal is to appeal to as many
citizens as possible.
• Then you must get those voters to turnout and
be loyal to you and your party.
Democratic Coalition
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Blacks most loyal.
Jews slipping in recent years.
Hispanics are mixed between parties.
Catholics, southerners, and union members are
wavering with their loyalty.
Republican Coalition
• Party of business and professional people who
are very loyal.
• Farmers are often Republican, but are
changeable.
What decides elections?
• strength of economy.
• popularity of candidate.
• party loyalty and ideology.
• In Congressional campaigns:
• District lines and who is included and excluded
in the district.
Do elections really make a difference?
• Policies do change as a result of electoral
outcomes.
• However, separation of powers and checks-andbalances limits the impact of any single office or
election.
Study Charts and Tables!
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Figure 13.3 on p. 433
Table 13.1 p. 432
Figure 13.2 p. 426
Figure 13.1 p. 425
Thinking Globally p. 423
Table 13.2 p. 437
Analyzing Visuals p. 441
Thinking Globally p. 443
Figure 14.1 p. 456
Table 14.1 p. 460
Figure 14.2 p. 462