Political Parties, Elections, and Campaign Finance
Some terms and ideas from past units that you need
Single member district
Proportional representation
Top of Form
Chapter 16-3
Proportional Representation
Caucus
Direct/Blanket Primary
Closed Primary
Open Primary
Party Platform
· Pros and Cons of the different primary systems
o How does a closed primary system lead to more polarized candidates?
o What is the practice of “crossover voting”
o Why are open primaries fair to some voters but not to members of political parties?
· How are delegates to the national convention chosen? How are the number of delegates each state’s political party sends to the national convention determined?
· What is the role of the national convention?
o What happened “back in the day”?
o What happens there now?
· Explain the “spoiler role” and “innovator role” of a minor party.
· What roles does a political party play in American politics?
o Governing
o Informing
o Nominating
o Bonding
o Watchdog
Congressional Elections and Gerrymandering
Census
Reapportionment
Redistricting
Gerrymandering
Incumbent
Zero-Sum Situation
· Reasons why reapportionment is needed
o Why do we have such an odd number of representatives (435), and why is reapportionment needed?
· Why is redistricting occasionally needed?
· What are the two primary goals of gerrymandering?
o To help candidates win who otherwise would not
o To help make districts “safe” from election challenges
· Gerrymandering methods:
o Packing v Cracking gerrymandering
· Four rules that try to make districting fair
o Baker v Carr
o Wesbury v Sanders
o Shaw v Reno
§ How the doctrine of “similar interests” helps politicians get around Shaw v Reno?
Electoral College – Ch. 8-2
Electoral College
Winner-Take-All
Time Zone Fallout
Popular vote
· How does the Electoral College work?
o How many total votes?
o How are votes divided?
o How many are needed to win?
o How does a candidate win electoral votes?
o 50 small elections (not one national election)
o Implications of this
· Why the Founders did not want the president elected by popular election?
· Why did the Founders not want the president elected by the House of Representatives?
· Why did the founders not want the president chosen by the state legislature?
· What principle is reinforced by the Electoral College plan?
· How did the development of political parties change the way the Electoral College works?
· What problems do many have with the Electoral College?
o “Faithless Electors”
o Big state vs Small state problems
§ Unfair to citizens of large population states
§ Tie breaking system in the House of Representatives
o “Winner take all” problems:
§ “Safe States” vs. Swing/Battleground States
§ Win the election but lose the presidency
§ Not representative of the people’s choice
· The Big State/Small state electoral vote problem (Why some states would want to split their votes and others not)
· Why (according to conventional wisdom) would a small state want to keep the Electoral College?
· One solution to some electoral college problems is to have the states adopt (like Nebraska and Maine already have) the “Proportional Plan.” What is this?
· The Election of 1800 disaster
o The 12th amendment
· What is the most major obstacle to changing the Electoral College?
·
Election Campaigns and Financing – Chapter 17
Political Action Committee
Soft Money
Hard Money
· Affiliated PACs
· Donation patterns of PACs…who gets PAC money?
o What limits are there on PAC money and activities?
· Federal Matching Funds of presidential campaigns
o Theory behind offering it
o Why don’t candidates accept it anymore?
· Attempted goals of McCain-Feingold Act
· What is the effect of an “off-year election” on voter turnout?
· What is the effect smaller election turnout on the results of an election?
· How can the restrictions on campaign donations be considered a Freedom of Speech violation?
o Buckley v Valeo
o Citizens United v FEC
o “Swing my fist principle” of rights limitation
Net Neutrality
· Basic definition
· How the term “net neutrality” can mean different things
o Concept of a neutral net
o Idea that government regulation is the best way to preserve that
· Pros and Cons