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The Presidential Election - Coggle Diagram
The Presidential Election
Requirements to run in the election
Must be a natural born American citizen
Must be at least 35 years old
Residency of at least 14 years
Non-official requirements are that they have political experience, major party endorsement and desirable personal characteristics. They must be organised, able to raise lots of money, have sound policies and be good orators
Stages of election as President
The Invisible Primary, including fundraising, official announcements, and party TV debates. The calendar year before an election.
Primaries and Caucuses, to show popular support for candidates and choosing delegates for party conventions. Jan-Feb to June
Choosing VP nominations. Days / Weeks before election
National Party Conventions. Confirming candidates, approving party platform, acceptance speeches. July/ August
General Election campaign, Sep, Oct first week of Nov
Election Day. Registered voters go to polls, some may have participated in early voting. Tuesday after first Monday in November
Electoral College Voting. Electors vote in their state capitols to choose President and VP. Monday after second Wednesday in December
Primaries and Caucuses
Primaries are state based elections to choose that party's candidate for the presidency in that state
Presidential causes are a series of meetings to choose that party's candidate in that state. Usually low turnout and unrepresentative
Can be proportional or winner-takes-all. In proportional, candidates are awarded delegates in proportion to the votes they get in the primary
Turnout in primaries - in 2016, voter turnout in primaries was about 15% for both parties. Usually for democrats, it's higher
Weaknesses of the nomination process
Widespread apathy - turnout only 19% in 2000 and going down
Voters are unrepresentative of the voting-age population. Primary voters are usually older and well-educated
Process if far too long, nearly 11 months between announcement and the beginning of primaries
It is very expensive, hundreds of million of $
Dominated by media, and performance in primary is determined by performance in debate
Superdelegates in the democratic party make the primaries worth less, as they can nominate who they'd like
National Party Conventions
Decides the presidential candidate, with thousands of delegates. Over 4000 democratic delegates.
Deciding the party platform. This includes a year's work of "listening sessions", and is voted on by delegates. Key policies are called planks
They promote party unity, giving the party a chance to heal wounds of a divided party
Enthusing the party workers across all states
Enthusing ordinary voters
The post-convention bounce can show whether a candidate has become more popular throughout the convention
Campaign Finance
Campaign finance is strictly regulated, many laws governing it
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act 2002: Soft money was prohibited, increased individual limits on contributions to individual candidates and stopped union and corporate money being used to broadcast advertisements
Television debates
A very important part of the process
Style is often more important that substance
Verbal gaffes can be costly
It's an opportunity to create good soundbites
Potentially more difficult for incumbents than they are for challengers
The electoral college
Each state is awarded a number of votes which is the number of representatives in Congress + the Senate
Members meet in the state capitol on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December
Preserved the voice of small states
Tends to promote a two-horse race
Small states are overrepresented
Winner-takes-all distorts the result. 1996, Clinton won 49% of popular vote but 70% of electoral college votes
Unfair to third parties