GOVT CHAP 14 REVIEW: CAMPAIGN AND ELECTIONS
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Prenomination campaign
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The political season in which candidates for president begin to explore the possibility of running by attempting to raise money and garner support (Pg. 393)
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Invisible primary
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The competition among candidates seeking the party nomination for frontrunner status prior to the primaries and caucuses (Pg. 393)
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Presidential primary
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A statewide election to select delegates who will represent a state at the party's national convention (Pg. 395)
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Open primary
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An election that allows voters to choose on the day of the primary election the party in which they want to vote (Pg. 395)
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Closed primary
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An election that requires voters t declare their party affiliation ahead of time (Pg. 395)
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Caucus
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A method of choosing party nominees in which party members attend local meetings at which they choose delegates committed to a particular candidate (Pg. 395)
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Nomination campaign
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The political season in which the two major parties hold primaries and caucuses in all the states to choose party delegates committed to specific candidates (Pg. 396)
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Frontloading
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The recent trend of states moving their primaries and caucuses earlier in the year to attract greater attention from the candidates and the media (Pg. 396)
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Incumbent race
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General election race pitting a person currently holding the office against a challenger (Pg. 399)
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Open election
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General election race in which neither candidate is the incumbent. (Open elections for Congress are normally called "open-seat elections) (Pg. 400)
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Battleground states (also called swing states)
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States identified as offering either major-party candidate a reasonable chance for victory in the electoral college (Pg. 401)
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Electoral college
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The constitutional mechanism by which presidents are chosen. Each state is allocated electoral college votes based on the sum of that state's U.S. senators and House members (Pg. 404)
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Electors
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Individuals appointed to represent a state's presidential vote in the electoral college; in practice, voters in presidential elections vote for a slate of electors committed to a particular candidate, rather than voting directly for the candidate (Pg. 405)
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Unit rule
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The system in 48 states by which the candidate who wins the most votes among popular votes cast for president in a state receives all the electoral votes from that state; also known as the "winner-take-all" system(Pg. 405)
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Retrospective voting
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A theory on voting behavior that suggests voter evaluations of an incumbent's past performance provide important cues to voters in deciding whether to vote for that incumbent again (Pg. 408)
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Federal Election Campaign Act
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The federal legislation passed in 1971 that established disclosure requirements and restricted individual campaign contributions (Pg. 412)
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Hard money
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Donations made directly to political candidates and their campaigns that must be declared with the name of the donor (which then becomes public knowledge) (Pg. 412)
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Soft money
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Money not donated directly to a candidate's campaign, but rather to a political advocacy group or a political party for "party-building" activities (Pg. 412)
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Federal Election Commission
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The agency created in 1974 to enforce federal election laws (Pg. 412)
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Independent campaign expenditures
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Political donations that PACs or individuals spend to support campaigns, but do not directly contribute to the campaigns (Pg. 413)
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Buckley v. Valeo
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The 1976 Supreme Court opinion that held that spending money to influence election is protected First Amendment speech, and that prohibited limitations on independent expenditures or personal money spent by candidates on their own campaigns (Pg. 413)
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Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
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Also called the McCain-Feingold Act, the federal legislation that (1) restricted soft money spent by political parties, (2) regulated expenditures on ads that refer to specific candidates immediately before an election, and (3) increased limits on hard money donated directly to candidates and their campaigns (Pg. 413)
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Midterm congressional elections
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Congressional elections held midway between successive presidential elections (Pg. 413)
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Coattail effect
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The potential benefit that successful presidential candidates offer to congressional candidates of the same political party during presidential election years (Pg. 414)
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Power of incumbency
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The phenomenon by which incumbent members of Congress running for reelection are returned to office at an extremely high rate (Pg. 414)
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Safe seat
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A congressional seat from a district that includes a high percentage of voters from one of the major parties (Pg. 415)
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Marginal seat
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A seat in a congressional district that has relatively similar numbers of Democratic and Republican voters (Pg. 415)
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Franking privilege
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The traditional right of members of Congress to mail materials to their constituents without paying postage (Pg. 416)
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The five stages of the contemporary presidential selection process, as outlined in the text:
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(1) The prenomination campaign (2) The nomination campaign (3) The national conventions (4) The general election campaign (5) The electoral college decision (Pg. 392)
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What potential presidential candidates do during the prenomination campaign, and why it is considered a "weeding out" process:
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Behind-the-scenes candidates who are thinking about making a run often begin to "test the waters" by talking to party insiders, shoring up early commitments of support, lining up campaign staff, beginning a fundraising operation, traveling aroun the country to make speeches and appearances.. etc. Early on, many would-be candidates find insufficient support from party insiders. Others cannot raise sufficient funds to be competitive. Some tire too quickly of the arduous and time consuming schedule necessary for launching a run for presidency. These and other obstacles begin the process of narrowing the field of candidates (Pg. 393)
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Understand the invisible primary process:
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The competition between candidates seeking the party nomination for frontrunner status. A candidate gains frontrunner status by winning broad support from importing people within the party, raising more money than others, and achieving the top position in the public polls (Pg. 393)
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Understand the difference between an open primary and a closed primary:
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Open primary; The less common approach, in which voters can show up at the voting booth on the primary Election Day and declare whether they want to vote in the Democratic Party primary or the Republican Party primary, they then cast their vote in the primary they have chosen Closed primary; Requires voters to declare a party affiliation ahead of time. When the voters show up to vote on primary Election Day, they are eligible to vote only in the party in which they are registered (Pg. 395)
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Understand the difference between a primary and a caucus, and what is significant about the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary:
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Primary (a statewide election) Caucus (a statewide convention) method, party members are invited to attend local meetings at which they choose delegates who make a commitment to a candidate for the party nomination Iowa and New Hampshire have traditionally been the first two contests held (Pg. 395/396)
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Understand frontloading, and why a state would want to do it:
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Frontloading is a trend in which states have moved their primary or caucus contests earlier in the year to attract greater attention from the candidates and the media. A state that holds its contest early makes itself more important in the nominee selection process (Pg. 396)
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Understand incumbent races for president, and what "the focus of the campaign tends to revolve around":
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Incumbent race (pitting a sitting president against a challenger) The focus tends to revolve around the performance of the incumbent over the past four years. In this sense, incumbent races are often viewed as a referendum on the performance of the current occupant of the White House (Pg. 399)
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Understand whether the presidential elections in 2008 and 2012 were open elections or incumbent races:
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2008, open election 2012, incumbent race (Pg. 399/400)
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How the selection of the vice presidential candidate can be strategic, and the two factors discussed by the text that influence the VP selection:
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Vice presidential candidates are quite visible on the campaign trail and can provide a boost to the ticket. The choice of running mate often attempts to balance the ticket geographically (Pg. 400)
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How presidential candidates categorize the states in order to "put together a winning coalition of states sufficient to win a majority of electoral votes":
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States may be divided into three categories: reliably Republican states, reliably Democratic states, and the so-called battleground (or 'swing') states, those that either a candidate has a reasonable chance of winning (Pg. 401)
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The twelve battleground states of the 2012 presidential election:
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Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin (Pg. 401)
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Why presidential candidates might be reluctant to debate, but why they agree to do so anyway according to the text:
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Candidates may not believe it is in their strategic interest to debate their opponents (for example, a candidate who is ahead in the polls might prefer to play it safe and not run the risk of losing a debate and perhaps the lead in the campaign) But both major-party candidates usually agree to debate so that they aren't portrayed as being "afraid" to do so (Pg. 403)
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How the presidential debates may impact the election outcome, according to the text:
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Although debates may not have a direct impact on vote intentions, they can change the dynamics of a campaign, which in turn may influence the outcome (Pg. 403)
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How television ads are used as a "staple of presidential campaign strategies," and the "variety of different techniques [that are used] to accomplish these goals":
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They are used to heighten name recognition, communicate core messages to voters, and offer reasons why one should vote for (or against) a particular candidate. The variety of different techniques used to accomplish these goals: The most controversial of these techniques is the attack or "negative" ads (Pg. 404)
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Understand how the electoral college works, including the number of electors and where that number comes from, the total number of votes in the electoral college today, and the number required to win the presidency:
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How does it work? Article II of the Constitution allocates each state a certain number of electoral votes, based on the sum of the number of senators (two) plus representatives (currently anywhere from 1 to 53) that a state has in the US Congress. Constitution gives the state legislature of each state the authority to appoint electors, one for each electoral vote that a state has been allocated. Number required to win the presidency: A candidate must receive a majority 270 to win (Pg. 404)
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Who has the constitutional authority to formally appoint electors, and how electors are actually determined today:
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The state legislature of each state the authority to appoint electors. States shifted to using the popular vote outcome in the state to allocate electors (Pg. 405)
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The two states that do not use the unit rule, and how they determine to which presidential candidate their electoral votes will be awarded:
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Maine and Nebraska. The popular vote winner in each congressional district receives the electoral vote from that district, and the two votes that derive from the state's Senate seats are awarded to the statewide popular vote winner (Pg. 405)
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"In practice," who "voters in a presidential election" actually vote for:
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The slate of electors who commit to the candidate for whom the voters cast their ballots (Pg. 405)
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What is required to change the electoral college to a different presidential election system:
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A constitutional amendment, and because amendment procedures require approval by three-fourths of the state legislatures, any attempt to change the system is unlikely to win the support of a sufficient number of state legislatures (Pg. 406)
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Understand the factors that are "determinants of voter choice" - the factors that "act as cues to individual voting" behavior:
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Candidate Familiarity: Simple name recognition and familiarity with a candidate. Party Identification: Voters from a psychological attachment to a party that helps them organize their political information Issue Voting: Voters who vote based on a candidate's position on a particular issue or set of issues Candidate Image Voting: The image, personal traits, and other characteristics of the particular candidates in a campaign can also influence the way people vote. (include characteristics such as honesty, trustworthiness, leadership ability, concern for voters, integrity, intelligence, and sense of humor) (Pg. 407)
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The combined amount of money raised by the Obama and Romney campaigns in 2012:
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About $2 billion (Pg. 409)
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Where presidential campaigns find financial support":
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From individual citizens, interest groups and political action committees, and political parties (Pg. 409)
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Understand the definition of a political action committees, and what government organization it must register with:
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PACs are the arms of interest groups that raise and give money to political candidates. Any group that wishes to participate in financing campaigns must create a PAC and register it with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) (Pg. 410)
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Understand the difference between hard money and soft money, and how "the two major political parties have strategically spent soft money" in order to "attempt to affect the election outcome":
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Hard money: contributions that go directly to candidates and their campaign committees. Soft money: not contributed directly to candidate campaigns and that do not expressly advocate the election of a particular candidate. Two major parties have strategically spent soft money on administrative and party-building activities, as well as on issue ads that do not specifically promote and individuate candidate, but that nevertheless attempt to affect the election outcome (Pg. 412)
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The significance of Buckly v. Valeo and McConnell v. FEC, and the rulings' relationship to independent campaign expenditures:
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Ruled that Congress could limit campaign contributions consistent with the First Amendment, but that it could not limit independent campaign expenditures or personal money spent by candidates on behalf of their own campaigns (Pg. 413)
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The four ways in which congressional midterm elections "differ from presidential-year elections":
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(1) voter turnout tends to be lower in midterm contests (2) midterm elections fail to offer congressional candidates what has come to be known as the coattail effect (3) in midterm elections there has been a discernible trend, that favors congressional candidates in the party opposite the president's party in midterm contests (4) the power of incumbency? / or/ offered a rebuke to the political party holding the White House? (Pg. 414)
