07 - ELECTIONS AND CAMPAIGNS

Voting and elections in the United States are a very visible part of the political process. Americans vote more often and for more offices than do the citizens of any other democracy. We elect a president and vice-president team, senators, representatives, governors, members of state Congresses, and an assortment of other state and local officials. Although a large number of government officials are appointed, not elected, most of our most prominent political leaders are elected.

FUNCTIONS OF ELECTIONS

Elections serve many important functions in the United States. Most obviously, elections select political leaders from a competitive field of candidates. They also are an important part of political participation, with voting in presidential elections the most common type of participation by the American public in the political process. Elections give individuals a regular opportunity to replace leaders without overthrowing them, thus making elected officials accountable for their actions. Elections legitimize positions of power in the political system because people accept elections as a fair method for selecting political leaders.

GUIDELINES FOR ELECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

The Constitution sets broad parameters for election of public officials, and Congress has been more active in recent years in setting rules for elections, most electoral guidelines and rules are still set by the individual states.

ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Candidates for political office almost always run with a political party label; they are either Democrats or Republicans, and they are selected to run as candidates for the party. The party, however, is not as important as it is in many other democracies. Running for the presidency or Congress requires the candidate to take the initiative by announcing to run, raising money, collecting signatures to get his or her name on the ballot, and personally appealing to voters in primary elections.

In many other democracies, the party controls whether to allow candidates to run and actually puts their names on the ballot. Campaigns become contests between political parties, not individuals. In United States history, parties once had much more control over elections and campaigns than they do today. In the nineteenth century, the Democratic and Republican members of Congress would meet separately to select their nominees for the presidency. Congressional candidates were often chosen by powerful local party bosses, and citizens were more likely to vote a "straight party ticket" than they do now. The power of the party has dwindled as campaign techniques have changed.

FIXED TERMS

Most Americans never imagine anything different, but many other countries do not set fixed terms of office for political leaders. In Great Britain and Canada, for example, the date of the election is open (within five years of the previous election), and the Prime Minister sets the date. Terms of office for the president and vice president and members of Congress are set by the Constitution. The president's number of terms is also set by a Constitutional Amendment, with a maximum of two elected terms or ten years in office. Although members of Congress may serve an unlimited number of terms, elections must be held every two years for representatives, and every six years for senators.

The dates of elections are almost always set ahead of time, with Congressional elections being the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in even-numbered years. State elections may vary, but the state sets the date ahead of time.

WINNER-TAKES-ALL

In most American elections, the candidate with the most votes wins. The winner does not have a have a majority (more than 50%), but may only have a plurality, the largest number of votes. Most American elections are single-member districts, which means that in any district the election determines one representative or official. For example, when the U.S. Census allots each state representatives for the U.S. House of Representatives, virtually all state legislatures divide the state into several separate districts, each electing its own single representative. This system ensures a two-party system in the U.S., since parties try to assemble a large coalition of voters that leads to at least a plurality, spreading their "umbrellas" as far as they can to capture the most votes.

The winner-takes-all system contrasts to proportional representation, a system in which legislative seats are given to parties in proportion to the number of votes they receive in the election. Such systems encourage multi-party systems because a party can always get some representatives elected to the legislature.

PRIMARIES AND GENERAL ELECTIONS

Political leaders are selected through a process that involves both primary and general elections. The primary began in the early part of this century as a result of reforms of the Progressive Movement that supported more direct control by ordinary citizens of the political system. A primary is used to select a party's candidates for elective offices, and states use three different types:

closed primaries - A voter must declare in advance his or her party membership, and on election day votes in that party's election. About 40 states have closed primaries.

open primaries - A voter can decide when he or she enters the voting booth which party's primary to participate in. Eight states have open primaries.

blanket (or free-love) primaries - A voter marks a ballot that lists candidates for all parties, and can select the Republican for one office and a Democrat for another. Only two states have this type - Washington and Alaska.

The state of Iowa has a well-known variation of a primary - a caucus. Under this system, local party members meet and agree on the candidate they will support; the local caucuses pass their decisions on to regional caucuses, who in turn vote on candidates, and pass the information to the statue caucus, who makes the final decision. In both the primary and caucus, the individual party member has a say in who the party selects to run for office.

Once the candidates are selected from political parties, they campaign against once another until the general election, in which voters make the final selection of who will fill the various government offices. More people vote in a general election than in the primary, with about 50% voting in recent elections, as compared to about 25% in primary elections.

CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS

Presidential and congressional races follow the same basic pattern: they announce for office, the people select the party candidates in primary elections, party candidates campaign against one another, and the official is chosen in the general election. But presidential and congressional elections differ in many ways.

Most obviously, congressional elections are regional (by state for senators and by district for representatives); presidential elections are national.

Congressional elections are less competitive than are those for the Senate or for the presidency. Between 1932 and 1992, incumbents typically won with over 60 percent of the vote. In contrast, the presidency is seldom won with more than 55 percent, with Bill Clinton winning with only 49% of the vote in 1996. In 1994 and 1996, a record number of new freshmen were elected to the House, so it may be that this tendency toward incumbency is weakening.

Fewer people vote in congressional elections during off years (when there is no presidential election). The lower turnout (about 36%) means that those that vote are more activist, and thus more ideological, than the average voter during presidential years.

Presidential popularity affects congressional elections, even during off years. This tendency is known as the coattail effect. In recent years, presidential popularity does not seem to have as much effect as it used to, with Republican suffering a net loss of six seats when George Bush won the presidency in 1988, and the Democrats suffering a net loss of ten seats when Bill Clinton won the 1992 election. The biggest surprise of all occurred in 1994 when the Republicans retook majorities in both the House and Senate, proving Bill Clinton's coat to have no tails at all.

Members of Congress can communicate more directly with their constituents, often visiting with many of them personally and making personal appearances. The president must rely on mass media to communicate with voters and can only contact a small percentage of his constituents personally.

A candidate for a congressional seat can deny responsibility for problems in government even if he or she is an incumbent. Problems can be blamed on other members of Congress or better still the president. Even though the president may blame some things on Congress, he must take responsibility ultimately for problems that people perceive in government.

THE ROAD TO THE PRESIDENCY

The road to the presidency begins long before the election, sometimes almost as soon as the last presidential election is over. Candidates follow several basic steps along the way.

Step 1: Deciding to announce

Presidential hopefuls must first assess their political and financial support for a campaign. They generally start campaigning well before any actual declaration of candidacy. They may be approached or suggested by party leaders, or they may float the idea themselves. Many hopefuls come from Congress or a governorship, but they almost never announce for the presidency before they feel they have support for a campaign. Usually the hopeful makes it known to the press that he will be holding an important press conference on a certain day at a certain time, and the announcement serves as the formal beginning to the campaign.

Step 2: The Presidential Primaries

Candidates for a party's presidential nominees run in a series of presidential primaries, in which they register to run. By tradition, the first primary in held in February of the election year in New Hampshire. States hold individual primaries through June on dates determined ahead of time. Technically, the states are choosing convention delegates, but most delegates abide by the decisions of the voters. Delegates may be allocated according to proportional representation, with the Democrats mandating this system. The Republicans endorse in some states a winner-take-all system for its delegates. In several states, the delegates are not pledged to any certain delegate. No matter what the system, however, the candidates who win early primaries tend to pick up support along the way, and those that lose generally find it difficult to raise money, and are forced to drop out of the race. By the time primaries are over, each party's candidate is almost certainly finalized.

Step 3: The Conventions

The first party convention was held during the presidency of Andrew Jackson by the Democratic party. It was invented as a democratic or "grass roots" replacement to the old party caucus in which party leaders met together in "smoke-filled rooms" to determine the candidate. Today national party conventions are held mid to late summer before the general election in November. Before primaries began to be instituted state by state in the early part of this century, the conventions actually selected the party candidates. Today the primaries determine the candidate, but the convention formally nominates them. Each party determines its methods for selecting delegates, but they generally represent states in proportion to the number of party members in each state. Even though the real decision is made before the convention begins, it is still important for stating the party platform, for showing party unity, and for highlighting the candidates with special vice-presidential and presidential candidates' speeches on the last night of the convention. In short, the convention serves as a pep rally for the party, and it attempts to put its best foot forward to the voters who may watch the celebrations on television.

Step 4: Campaigning for the General Election

After the conventions are over, each candidate then concentrates on defeating the candidate from the other major party. The time between the end of the last convention and Labor Day used to be seen as a time of rest, but in recent elections, candidates often go right on to the general campaign. Most of the campaign money is spent in the general campaign, and media and election experts are widely used during this time. Because each party wants to win, the candidates usually began sounding more middle-of-the-road than they did in the primaries, when they were appealing to the party loyals. Since 1960 presidential debates are often a major feature of presidential elections, giving the candidates free TV time to influence votes in their favor. In recent campaigns, the use of electronic media has become more important, and has had the effect of skyrocketing the cost of campaigns.

CAMPAIGN AND ELECTION REFORM

Campaigns and elections are criticized for many reasons. The last major reforms were passed in 1974 largely as a result of abuses exposed by the Watergate scandal. The Reform Act of 1974 had several important provisions:

• A six-person Federal Election Commission was formed to oversee election contributions and expenditures and to invetestigate and prosecute violators.
• All contributions over $100 had to be disclosed, and no cash contributions over $100 were allowed.
• No foreign contributions were allowed.
• Individual contributions were limited to $1,000 per candidate, $20,000 to a national party committee, and $5,000 to a political action committee.
• A corporation or other asosociation was allowed to establish a PAC, which had to register six months in advance, have at least fifty contributors, and give to at least five candidates.
• PAC contributions were limited to $5,000 per candidate and $15,000 to a national party.
• Federal matching funds were provided for major candidates in primaries, and all campaign costs of major candidates in the general election were to be paid by the government.

After the election of 1996 criticisms of campaigns became so strong that special congressional hearings were called to investigate them. Among the criticisms was the overall expense of both Democratic and Republican campaigns, since more money was spent in 1996 than in any previous campaign. President Clinton and Vice-President Gore were criticized for soliciting campaign funds from their offices and the White House, and Attorney General Janet Reno was called on to rule on the legality of their activities. Another major accusation was that contributions were accepted from foreigners, who were suspected of expecting favors for themselves or their countries in return.

ELECTION OUTCOMES

Elections can be important milestones in political history, either marking changes in the electorate, or forcing changes themselves. The strength of one political party or another may shift during critical or realigning periods, during which time a lasting shit occurs in the popular coalition supporting one party of the other. The realignment occurs usually because issues change, and reflects new schisms formed between groups. Political scientists see several realignments from the past, during or just after an election, with the clearest realignments taking place after the elections of 1860, 1896, and 1932.

In the election of 1860, the Whig party collapsed due to strains between the North and South and the Republicans under Lincoln came to power. In 1896, the issue was economics. Farmers were hit hard by a series of depressions, and they demanded reforms that would benefit farmers. The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan, a champion of the farmers, and in so-doing, alienated the eastern laborers, and creating an East/West split rather than the old North/South split of the post Civil War Era. Finally, in 1932, the issue of the Great Depresion created the New Deal coalition, where farmers, urban workers, northern blacks, southern whites, and Jewish voters supported the Democrats. As a result, the Democrats became the dominant party. Since 1932 political scientists agree on no defining realignments, but a dealignment seems to be occurring instead. Rather than shifting loyalties from one party to another, people today seem to be less inclined to affiliate with a political party at all, preferring to call themselves "independents."