The Federalists argued in favor of the new Constitution and government. They were led by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay,. The Anti-Federalists opposed aspects of the new Constitution on the basis that it was an infringement on state and individual liberty. The Anti-Federalists were led by Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock , and Samuel Adams. The Anti-Federalists supported a Bill of Rights because they wanted stringent protections of individual liberty to be written into the Constitution.

A caucus is a meeting of people within the same political ideology who come together to pick a nominee for an election. In the original caucuses, only the most important and influential men would meet to pick nominees for various positions. Over time participation in the caucus has expanded. The caucus has changed because in many cases it has been replaced with elections and conventions. The caucus is still in use at the small local level. The caucus works better in this format because it is easier to organize smaller communities to show up and vote in person while congregated together. However, the Iowa caucus is still the first election for the presidential nominating process and is held in communities statewide.

Due to the fragmented nature of state politics, the level of influence that a political party will have at the precinct level will vary tremendously from state to state. For many people, their only level of exposure to their precinct is that it dictates where they go to vote. State level policies regarding things like primaries and state party leadership may have a greater level of influence on members of a political party in that state.

Washington is referring to what he saw as the dangers of factions and political parties. In the paragraph before the above quote Washington writes of political parties, “The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”

He thought that factions and political parties would bring out the worst of people and make it harder to fulfill the true goal of government. Political parties would result in governance with the intention of revenge or superiority over the other party.

Washington believed that the actions of government should be based in the will of the people. He wrote that any change to the Constitution must come from the careful consideration and will of the people.

A single issue party is a political party formed around one issue. The Free Soil party of the mid 1800s formed around opposition to slavery spreading into the western states. Single issue parties tend to have the greatest impact by forcing the main two political parties to take a stand on their issue. While they don’t have electoral victories, they have seen moderate success through influencing the issue platforms of the other parties.

The two party system came into existence early in American history. The Anti-Federalists and Federalists aligned themselves on issues pertaining to individual and state liberty within the new national system. The electoral system also encourages a two party system. Since the states are generally speaking winner take all, with the exception of Nebraska and Maine, political parties want to position themselves to appeal to the largest number of voters in order to win. The more parties that compete in the election the greater the chance that no one candidate reaches 270 votes and wins the election. In that case the election would be decided by the House of Representatives. Both major parties are invested in preventing that from occurring. Election laws also encourage the two party system. In a winner take all system like the United States, two parties tend to form in order to have the greatest chance of winning the election. In a system which utilized proportional representation, a multi-party system tends to arise.

The internet is used by candidates to raise support and funds, organize events, promote their issues, and get out the vote. The internet is a productive fundraising tool because it makes it far easier for individuals to contribute small amounts from home. Online contributions are easier than mailing a check or going to a campaign office in person. Campaigns can quickly respond to events in debates or the campaign and fund raise online based off of them. If the internet didn’t exist people would likely behave the way they did in the mid 20th century. Donations would be solicited by mail and in person. News would be consumed from newspapers and television.

527 Organizations are named for the tax code that regulates their activities. These groups sprang up after campaign finance reform banned many forms of soft money, or money given to political parties or organizations. These groups faced regulation with the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) in 2002. 527s are groups that are not directly connected with a political party or candidate. However, they are advocacy groups whose goals tend to align with one party or candidate. Two well known groups are Swift Boat Veterans and MoveOn.org. Swift Boat Veterans are a 527 that arose in the 2004 election and aimed to cast doubt on John Kerry’s military service. MoveOn.org focused on raising funds and turning public opinion against President Bush. 527 organizations affect public policy by running ad campaigns that promote their issues and points of view.

In Citizen’s United v. Federal Elections Commission the court ruled that limitations on campaign spending by corporations and unions was unconstitutional. In a highly controversial 5-4 ruling the court argued that such limitations violated the 1st Amendment’s freedom of speech. Many argued that this would unleash a flood of special interest and corporate money into elections. Candidates that are beholden to corporations and interest groups rather than the people may be a risk to popular sovereignty and political equality.

Based on the above chart, one can clearly see differences in the party platforms regarding taxes and healthcare between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats advocated for ending the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans instituted under President Bush. They also sought to end tax loopholes for companies. The Republican tax plan included extending the Bush tax cuts and rejected a tax system which taxed the ultra-rich and gave tax cuts to lower income Americans. On healthcare, Democrats sought to protect the Affordable Care Act which protected those with pre-existing conditions that might have caused them to be rejected by healthcare companies. The Republican platform included repealing the Affordable Care Act and moving to a more free market approach.

A candidate could win the 11 states with the greatest number of electoral votes and reach the 270 mark. These states, and their number of electoral votes are: California (55), Texas (38), Florida (29), New York (29), Illinois (20), Pennsylvania (20), Ohio (18), Georgia (16), Michigan (16), North Carolina (15), and New Jersey (14). States with a small number of electoral votes actually are often over represented in terms of the number of electors per person. Since the smallest number of electors a state can have is three, regardless of population. That means that California has one electoral vote per every 677,345 people while Wyoming has one electoral vote for every 187,875 people. Although small states might not enjoy the same level of candidate attention, there are plenty of ways in which they are still vital to the process. The states of New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, and Nevada are the four first primary states and therefore enjoy an overwhelming amount of attention early in the process. Additionally, even in an system without the electoral college, smaller states still would not get the same attention as large populated areas.

Throughout history different states have been swing states and therefore enjoyed more attention then their size might suggest. For a recent example, Colorado only has 9 electoral votes but because of its unpredictable voting patterns it may receive more attention than a state like California that is highly likely to vote for the Democratic candidate.

The breakdown of electoral votes by region goes as follows:

West: 128
South 196
Midwest 118
Northeast: 96
Total: 538 Electoral Votes

The south has the greatest number of electoral votes by region. The total percentage of electoral votes held by southern and mid western states is 314/538 or 58%.

A presidential primary is an election in which voters express their views as to who should win their party’s nomination to then run in the general election for president. Presidential primaries are different from caucuses because they utilize a secret ballet rather than community meeting to determine which candidate to support. One could argue that a presidential primary is better than a party caucus because it gives more power to the everyday people to express their opinions on candidates for their party’s nomination. A party caucus is run by party leaders and excludes the rank and file membership.

Citizens can become involved in political activities in a variety of ways and intensities. One way that many people are politically active is to donate to political candidates and causes that align with their values. People can also try to encourage others to donate and help fund raise for candidate and causes. Volunteering their time is another way people can be politically active. Political campaigns depend on volunteers to make phone calls to potential supporters, go canvassing out into the community, represent the candidate at events, and use their time and skills in other ways to support their cause.

Political parties are important to the political system because they are the mechanism by which people in the electorate connect to those in political office. Political parties create a group of people bonded by shared beliefs and opinions. Often party members in the electorate have beliefs that vary along the political spectrum from moderate to radical. Political parties create a way to foster agreement within a diverse group of people in order to work toward shared goals. Political parties are also responsible for nominating their candidates for office, providing information to their supporters and activists, and are often a primary source of information for people about new policy being debated in government.

The number of electoral votes held by each state is determined by adding the number of seats the state holds in the House of Representatives to its two senators. Therefore the fewest number of electoral votes a state could have is three. Population changes are tracked through the census which is taken every ten years. After the census, states that have lost population might lose seats in the House of representatives. A change in the number of seats in the house will correspond with a change in the number of electoral votes.

MoveOn.org is a left leaning political organization classified as a 527. They were early adapters to using the organizing power of the internet to promote their issues. Their website states, “MoveOn pioneered the field of online organizing, innovating a vast array of tactics that are now commonplace in advocacy and elections and shifting power toward real people and away from Washington insiders and special interests. MoveOn campaigners were the first to use the internet to run virtual phone banks, to crowd source TV ad production, and to take online organizing offline, using the internet to mobilize activists to knock on doors and attend events.” (moveon.org/a-short-history) MoveOn.org has influenced the political process by galvanizing millions of Americans to contact their representative or become active in the political process in other ways. Advertisements like the one pictured use intense imagery to sway the point of view of the observer.

The Electoral College has many defects. Perhaps the greatest is that the winner of the overall popular vote will not necessarily win the election. Another drawback is that electors are not legally bound to vote for the vote winner of their state. This phenomenon is called a “faithless elector” and has occurred most recently in 2004. Another defect is the idea that an election could be decided in the House of Representatives if no one candidate reaches the 270 vote cutoff. Many of these negatives would be remedied by switching to a system which uses the overall national popular vote to determine the winner. In fact, no change to the Constitution would be required in order to make this change. Sates would pledge to award their electoral votes to the overall winner of the popular vote. This system would ensure that the candidate truly preferred by the majority of Americans would win the presidency.

**Elections** are one of the most important democratic processes in her country. According to the Constitution of the United States, **sovereignty** belongs to the citizens. Citizens decide to entrust the mandate to the government for the management of the state, and they do that in the elections.

The most important functions that are elected are the members of the legislature bodies (Congress, State Legislature, City Council) and the executive (President, governors, majors, local officers).

People who have certain common goals, and share common principles, unite in political parties and try to win seats in elections in order to implement their policy. Political parties are participating in the elections. In the United States, parties are electorally oriented.

There are two main ones: **the Democratic Party and the Republican Party**, and two of them usually win seats in elections. And here we come to the first significant answer to the question of who gets elected – **the candidates of one of the two major parties**.

The election laws themselves favor the candidates of the majority parties in relation to the candidates of the minority parties or the independent candidates – the two major parties cooperate on this topic and try to influence the shaping of the election laws in this direction.

The next important item for the elections is **the ideological consensus.** Although the United States are a heterogeneous environment, multicultural and multiethnic, there is a certain ideological consensus – **basic principles, ideals, patterns of belief that everyone shares.**

The parties know that only candidates who are in accordance with these basic principles can be elected, so only such candidates run in the elections. The parties try to take **moderate positions** – excessively extreme positions are not acceptable to the majority of voters. Given that both major parties address the same electorate, their policies regarding fundamental issues are largely similar.

One of the basic functions of the party is the nomination of candidates and it means the appointment of people who plan to run for elections. Only those nominated by the party can become candidates and be nominated by voters in elections. In order for someone to be elected, he must be nominated by his party and then win the intra-party elections, which are called primary – therefore, **the status of an individual in the party** significantly determines his chances of election.

The parties decide on the nominations and later on their candidates on the basis of only one goal – who has the best chance of being elected.

One of the most important items is the **political experience of the candidates**, especially if it is the most important election in the country (presidential election). The elections were mostly won by those candidates who had previously held high and important positions in the country.

The next desirable thing for the candidates is that they had some **prominent role in their home State**. Many presidents were first governors in their states or represented her in the Senate.

Further, **religious affiliation** is very important to voters – in the first place, the elections are usually won by Protestants, and then by Catholics. Candidates of other faiths have significantly lower chances in the elections.

Another important circumstance is the **size of the home State** – most of the nominees in the federal elections come from big countries, New York, Texas, California, etc.

Some of the **personal characteristics** of the selected candidates are that they are usually pleasant-looking with good speaking skills, with the impression of a healthy person, who is happily married and have attractive family.

**Age** plays a big role – older candidates have a better chance because they give the impression of experience.

Women and members of minorities have less chance in elections.

Although **election campaigns** had a great impact on the outcome of the elections, with the advent of the mass media, they became the most important means of influencing voters.

Nowadays, campaigns are organized professionally, there are agencies that deal only with this business and that try to cover all the necessary aspects. Various researches of the mood of the voters are being done, which are later used to plan the behavior and performance of the candidates in detail.

Considering that campaigns are very important, but also that they cost a lot at the same time, we come to the last important thing for candidates – **financial power**. Candidates who have the opportunity to raise large sums of money to be used in the campaign are more likely to be selected. Some are very wealthy themselves, but that is not a condition – the condition is that they know a sufficient number of wealthy people and that they have the ability to raise funds from them.