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| Chapter 7, cont. |
| 28 October 2004 Thursday Coattails-tendency of presidents to carry their own party�s candidates for Congress into office -have declined in strength Midterm- election in which president is not running -turnout is lower Many people Split their Tickets The Senate Paradox The founders intended the House of Rep to be closer to the ppl, and the Senate not so much. 17th Amendment (1913) exposed Senators to popular election. Things that bother Reformers: Role of Money in Politics * Primary campaigns: matching funds--funding can be matched by feds up to the spending limit. Some people forgo it b/c it limits them too much. Eligibility: must raise @ least $5000 in 20 different states w/no contribution larger than $250 * Presidential Campaigns: Under the terms of 1974 Fed Elections Campaign Act, the FEC gives major party candidates a set amount and candidates cannot raise & spend anymore Soft Money�never reaches the nominee�s hands, nor do they coordinate how its spent Just mentions facts, doesn�t say �vote for ___� Where it�s spent: tv, radio, they often attack opponents rather than make positive cases about themselves Congressional challengers are seriously underfunded Incumbents have an advantage b/c they can spend as much personal $ as they want. The way we elect candidates we never give everyone equal influence b/c of other goals: efficiency, protection of minorities The Electoral College electoral votes= House of Rep + Senate members (TX: 32 House, 2 Senate) can distort popular preference 48/50 states use winner take all method (NE & ME don�t) Advantage: keeps politicians from playing to the fears of minorities (must have support in different regions) Faithless Electors- people in electoral college who don�t vote for who they�re supposed to 2 November Apportionment Thursday Reapportionment Act- b/c Congress was getting too big to be efficient (435 members of the House, spread across the states) 1. figure out how many people each state gets 2. Spread those seats out across the state, into districts Redistricting - drawing the boundaries of the new districts to equalize population * gerrymandering- drawing the lines to benefit a certain group Single-Member, Simple-Plurality (SMSP) system 1. member comes from and represents that one district 2. winner-takes-all process Proportional Representation (some critics say we should shift to this instead) - party receives congressional seats according to its share of the vote The Nomination Process - can limit the choices of the voters - unusual way of choosing candidates Presidential Nominations Caucus- Meeting of candidate supporters, party leaders have too much influence Primary Elections- a preliminary - Closed primary- voters have to declare which party they will vote in the primary of - Open primary- voters get to select @ the booth which primary they vote in Runoff Elections - take place about 1 month after primaries when no person receives majority in primary - the 2 highest from primaries are on the ballots Invisible Primary - time for candidates to gauge their support to run in an actual election Weaknesses of Nomination Process - it starts too early (who wants to think about a Nov. election in Jan?) - it lasts too long- 6 months (before then, they already know who will win) - personal privacy- the lack of may drive away good leaders - gives political activists a great deal of power - forces candidates to move away from their natural position (to gain more votes on other side) - journalists interpret them, media has too much power Strengths of Nomination Process - gives you a lot of info about candidates - winners have more time to unify their party - allows citizens to choose their leaders Who Nominates the Vice President - the presidential nominee - criteria: different region, needed added characteristics |