Pros and Cons of Being an Incumbent or Challenger in a Political Office
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Incumbent
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existing holder of a political office
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Pros of being an incumbent
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-free publicity -free advertising -easier to make money -media coverage
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Cons of being an incumbent
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-not as much time for campaigning -greater critisism -more reliance which could be negative if they make a mistake
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Pros of being a challenger
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-can promote their political record -easily highlight their successes while ignoring their failures -extensive media coverage
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Cons of being a challenger
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-challenging to raise money -hard to convince people that they have the presidential material required to become president -many voters are unwilling to vote for someone they do not identify with
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Reasons the Framers were hesitant to allow popular vote to determine president
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They thought this would result in the most populous states getting to decide the president. The electoral college, they thought, gave some more influence to the smaller states.
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How the Electoral College works/ Winner Take All system
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Each state gets electors based on the number of representatives in the House plus 2 senators. The candidate with the most votes receives the electoral vote for that state.
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Pros of Electoral College
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*maintains a federal system of government *raises status of minority leaders *contributes to cohesiveness of the country by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president *shoes stability *promotes two party system *requires a wide variety of voters
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Cons of the Electoral College
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* some say it could fail to accurately reflect the national popular will *decreases voter turnout *allows for the \"faithless elector\"
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Caucuses vs. Primaries
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Caucuses are a series of public gatherings that help select delegates for the nominating conventions. Primaries do not let voters show open support for a delegate; they have secret ballots. In both caucuses and primaries, voters chose the candidate they support for the general election.
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Closed primaries vs. open primaries
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Closed primaries are where an individual may only vote within their party. In open primaries, people can vote for anyone they chose, no matter their party.
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Why do many states use frontloading?
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They do this in efforts to increase their influence over the nominating process. Candidates nominated early tend to get more attention.
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What happens at conventions?
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The party's official candidates are announced for President and VP. Party platforms and media options for publicity are also discussed at conventions.
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House of Representative have a higher reelection rate than do members in the Senate because...
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Citizens reelect the incumbent because they are so responsive to their constituents' demands. The rate of reelection for Senators is somewhat lower because of the more diverse constituency they represent, greater media coverage exposure and stronger competition
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Franking
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free postage
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pork barrel
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allows members to do things for their district which gets them more votes come time for reelection
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junkets
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trips
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credit claiming
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we consider a leader and a subordinate he appoints to engage in team production
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Qualifications to run for House of Representatives
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-25 years olds -U.S. citizen for the past 7 years -live in state that you are running to represent
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Factor that determines how many members a state receives in the H of R
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results of U.S. census; based on population
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single-member districts
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voting system in which a predetermined constituency elects a single person to some office
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marginal districts
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political districts in which candidates elected to H of R win in close elections
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safe districts
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house district in which the winner of the general election carries more than 55% of the vote
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how did the passage of the 17th amendment affect senatorial elections?
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Direct election by popular vote
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Qualifications to run for the U.S. Senate
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-30 years of age -U.S. citizen for nine years -resident of the state when elected
