Jaymie TicknorPolitical Science 1050 Sect. 00218, 20, 25, and 27 March 2014Lecture #8Chapter #9 : Presidential Campaigns and Elections :Evolution of Nomination Process: initially, process was non-partisan in nature; emergence of political parties led to more partisan process; nomination process moved from a party-dominated, to a more voter-based process (know who is going to be the nominees for each party)Presidential Party Nominations: candidates must win party nomination to run for the presidency in the general electionCandidate with the majority of delegates at national convention wins nomination:Caucuses: meeting of party members that selects delegates in support of particular party nominees (argues that it may not be democratic)Primaries; elections where voters select the party nominee for the generalelection (35 states practice this; dominant)Reform of Nomination Rules, 1968: Democratic nomination rules significantly changed:Increased number of presidential primariesIntroduced proportional allocation of delegatesPolicies to make delegations more diverseCreated superdelegates (unpledged / can choose candidate at national convention; often political officeholders and party officials; allowed party to keep some control over nomination process)Winner-take-all system (win state, then win all delegates in state; still can get delegates within states, whether they win the state or not)Comparable to proportion of votesRepublican eventually adopted many of these reformsThe Nomination Process: Primary Elections: elections in each state that narrows the number of party candidates and determines who will be the party nominee in the general electionOpen Primary: can choose to vote either primary (not both though)Modified Open Primary: registered voters who are not affiliated with either party can vote in either party’s primaryClosed Primary: cannot vote in other primaryParty candidates campaign against one another for the nomination:Pledged Delegates: commit to voting for particular candidate at national convention; if selected to go to the national convention, then they will vote on candidate’s behalfUnpledged Delegates: elites who are not required to vote for a particular candidate (selected at a state or local level)Candidate with majority of delegates at convention wins nominationWinner-Take-All vs. Proportionality:Democratic Party has proportional allocation of delegatesFor Republicans, some states allocate delegates through the use of a proportional system, while other states use a winner-take-all system (popularity contest; not able to know candidate very well)Before 2012, Republicans had a winner-take-all system; Republicans shifted to proportional system in some statesAre Caucuses Undemocratic?Caucuses tend to have significantly lower participation than primaries (participants must spend 3-4 hours at a location; 10% participate); small group of ideological supporters can swing vote for particular candidates (15 states still have these)Most states today run primaries to select nomineesCriticisms of Primary Elections:Frontloading: are these states representative of the population? Unfairly advantages frontrunnersMedia Focus: concerned more with candidate mistakes and who is up and down at different moments (horserace)Tend to get more extreme candidates, because party voters are voting for one side or the other; more committed to party in the primary election; may lose themoderate voters in the general election (median voters)General Election: to win presidency, a candidate must win a majority in the Electoral College; number of electors equals number of House and Senate members from each state; District of Columbia gets 3 electors; 38 total electoral votes in Texas (magic number to win from Electoral College is 270towin.com)Candidate who wins popular vote in each state, wins all of the electors (538)Winning requires a majority of electoral college votes; if no one receives a majority of the electoral vote, the election is decided by the House of RepresentativesWho Are the Electors ? process of selecting electors varies from state-to-state; parties may nominate electors at state party conventions; state party may vote on electorsTypically, electors are party insiders (e.g., state elected officials, party leaders, people who have relationship with presidential candidate; fairly stable)Each candidate has their own slate (group) of electors who will vote for them if they win popular vote in stateSwing State: state going back and forth between Democratic (blue donkey) and Republican (red elephant)Stable State: state staying a Democratic or Republican state for the past few electionsControversies of Electoral College: electors are not obligated to vote for a particular candidate; in some instances, the candidate who wins the popular vote nationally may not win the actual electionThe Electoral College: electoral college democratic? (good but not perfect idea since Electoral College ultimately decides winner; depends on mindset; not trusting the popular vote)If not, what might be a decent alternative? (proportional, but time consuming and expensive; just use popular vote and get rid of Electoral College but may not be educated) what impact might the electoral college have on how candidates campaign for elections? (may not focus on certain states; incentives)1824, 1860, and 2000 (problems with Electoral College)Paying for Campaigns: running for the presidency can be expensive; 2012, Obama raised $715 million, and Romney raised $446 millionSome forms of funding are highly-regulated while other forms are notFunding Campaigns: Hard Money: money donated directly to the candidate or political party; highly regulated (how much, to whom, and what it is used for)Limits on size and source of individual donations: $2,500 per candidate per election cycle; $38,800 for national party; $5,000 to political action committee; $117,000 totalSoft Money: money donated for non-campaign purposes; less regulated; issue advertising for interest groups; Get-Out-The-Vote efforts; advertising on behalf of candidatePublic Funds: government offers matching funds; must raise $5,000 with $250 from individuals with at least 20 statesMajor candidates tend to opt-out; can raise more money through donations(outside of public funds); avoid restrictions attached to public funds (can be found when doing taxes)Evolution of Congressional Elections: Congress has changed since the beginning of the republic; more