Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
US Democracy & Participation - Coggle Diagram
US Democracy & Participation
Incumbency
Elections & Incumbency
The incumbent President has a strong chance of re-election for a 2nd term due to the status which they already have, and their popularity. The incumbent is better known and will have more recognition than who they are competing with.
However though, if there's a strong challenge to the incumbent president, then it can harm him in an election as it shows a lack of support from his own party.
George H.W Bush won 72% of the primary vote, but then lost the following 1992 presidential election. His low approval rating meant that he wasn't re-elected.
President Obama were re-elected though due to their popularity and approval ratings.
Electoral College
Electoral College System
Every state has an amount of EC votes which is equal to the number of representatives a state has in Congress.
Typically, the candidate with the most votes wins all the state's ECVs. However in Maine and Nebraska electoral votes can be split between candidates due to their districts.
538 electoral colleges total, 270 to win
Reforms
Direct elections would elect the President by a direct popular vote. It would solve the issue of candidates such as W. Bush and Trump gaining presidency despite losing the popular vote.
A proportional system would mean that EC votes are more equally distributed. But this makes candidates less likely to win a majority of the EC votes.
Barack Obama won by the popular vote and EC vote in 2012.
Presidential Elections
Presidential Elections
Elections take place every 4 years - Each party selects a candidate during the party's primary process. - Public then vote for the President based on the EC system.
The Constitution requires that all Presidential candidates must be natural-born US citizens, lived in America for 14 years and be over 35 years old.
22nd Amendment
limits terms to two.
During an invisible primary, candidates announce that they will run for President.
For example, Ted Cruz announced his campaign 10 months before the Republican primary even started.
Candidates aim to gain popularity through the use of social media and the internet.
Additionally, during this time candidates will also start raising funds which will be put towards their campaigns.
Primaries
A
Primary
is an election to choose each party's candidate to run in a presidential election
A
Caucus
is a meeting to choose a party's candidate for the presidential election.
Primary elections choose delegates who are going to the party's national convention, and it shows how popular the presidential candidates are.
Super Tuesday is a day Feb/March where many states hold their primary or caucus.
The primary is a long, difficult process which is appropriate for choosing a President because it's a highly demanding job. In 2016, Hillary Clinton raised 275 million dollars in the Democrat primary.
Primary voters are more ideological in their views, are much wealthier and better educated than the average American, and so it is unrepresentative of the US population. Voter turnouts at party primaries are often quite low.
National Party Conventions
The national party convention is used to choose the vice presidential candidate.
Presidents will choose a VP candidate who appeals to voters for various reasons, such as political experience, gender, race or age.
At a national convention, the party will agree on a set a policies that the candidate must pursue if they're elected.
Parties also use their conventions as a way to appear united
Electoral Campaigns
Issues in Elections
Candidates use financial donations to fund their campaigns. Money is also spent on media coverage such as on TV and social media.
Televised debates are also a method which candidates use to campaign as it allows them to address voters directly and have a large audience.
2002, McCain v Feingold
introduced campaign finance limits. It banned party committees from raising soft money and banned donations from foreign nationals.
The 2010 Supreme Court case of
Citizens United v FEC
allowed businesses the right to unlimited financing of presidential campaigns.
Super PACs
are organisations that are allowed to spend unlimited money on supporting a candidate, however they don't directly fund the candidate
84 million Americans watched the first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump
Democrats & Republicans
National & State Level Organisation
US parties are decentralised which means that most party organisation is at the state level. At the state level is also where most party conventions are held.
The national committee raises money for the party and coordinates election strategies for candidates in local/national elections.
Democratic & Republican policies
Democrats take a very progressive stance on social issues like abortion, gay marriage and the environment. They also believe in more government intervention and higher taxes for the more wealthy people.
On the other hand, Republicans are much more socially conservative in their approach to social issues, such as being against gay marriage and rights, as well the constitutional right to an abortion. - Republicans in Congress voted against more gun control checks in 2013. Republicans believe that there should be a 'smaller government' and less government intervention in the economy and lower taxes.
Obamacare
a healthcare program which free healthcare for most Americans, was supported by most Democrats but was opposed by a large proportion of Republicans.
Changing Party Significance
Voters focus more on the candidate and political issue when voting than on the party label - split ticket voting has increased where voters vote different candidates of different parties standing for different parties.
The Republicans and Democrats are opposed on major policies such as government intervention in the economy and social issues like abortion, gun control and healthcare.
Internal Conflict & Ideology
Types of Democrats
Moderate Democrats, conservative Democrats and liberals. But on the whole the Democratic Party has become much more liberal on social and economic issues. Central Democrats are much more obvious and prominent in the party than conservatives.
Liberal Democrats are progressive on social issues like the death penalty, abortion and same sex marriage.
Lib Democrats are supporters of same sex marriage which was legalised in America in 2015.
Moderate democrats though are more central in terms of ideological leaning,they're less liberal and they're in favour of entrepreneurship.
Conservative Democrats tend to be slightly right-wing in some of their views as they believe in lower government spending.
These people traditionally live in Southern US states.
1) Bill Clinton is a moderate democrat whose Defence of Marriage Act, was quite a conservative policy as it was against same-sex marriage.
2) Also, Obama's decision to extend tax cuts in 2010 which were introduced by W. Bush were opposed by liberal democrats.
Types of Republicans
Moderate Republicans, Social Conservative Republicans and Fiscal Conservative Republicans. Fiscal and Conservative have become much more prominent within the party, whilst moderate are in decline as the party is much more right-wing.
Moderates are conservative in their views on the economy, employment and taxes, but are moderate on social issues like same sex marriage and abortion.
They usually live on the Northeast or West coast in places like California.
Fiscal Conservative Republicans though believe in reducing government spending and lowering taxes.
They are a part of the Tea Party Movement. They advocate for a smaller and limited government as well as free markets.
Support & Demographics
Coalition of Supporters
Religion is an important aspect for voters because sometimes it can be linked to their stance on social issues like gay marriage and abortion.
The Democrats traditionally have more support from people from minority backgrounds. Ie Hispanic migrants and African Americans.
In 2008, 95% of African Americans voted for Obama.
Though Republicans have been attracting support from minorites as in 2000, W Bush won the Hispanic vote
Voter education especially influenced the 2016 election. Trump won the support of less well-educated voters who didn't attend college. He was supported by 71% of White males that didn't attend college
Women tend to mostly support the Democrats because of their much more liberal stance on social issues like abortion and gun control.
In the 2016 election, 54% of women voted for Clinton whilst 41% voted for Trump, even though he made sexist comments about kissing and groping women.
Interest Groups
Political Significance of Interest Groups
Interest groups give citizens the chance to participate in political decision making, and make the public better educated and more aware of policy issues.
They represent the interests and viewpoints of specific groups within society
They closely monitor and scrutinise the government's policies
Political parties in America are weak and decentralised, and so citizens look towards interest groups who might be able to represent them.
Interest Group Influence & Impact on Democracy
Pressure groups aim to have a strong relationship with the executive, including the government departments and other agencies.
They also aim to influence how members of Congress are voting on certain issues. Pressure groups do this by directly contacting Congress people or publicising their voting records
1) NRA influence on DC v Heller SC case which ruled that law banning handguns was unconstitutional.
Interest groups provide important information to lawmakers which helps politicians to formulate public policy. They offer Americans a chance for political participation.
Interest groups undermine democracy by supporting the interests of a small group, rather than what people are interested in nationally, which creates power imbalances.