The Presidential Campaign – American Government

(American Government, Walter E. Volkomer)

Introduction

The aim of every political constitution is:

1. To obtain for rulers men to discern and pursue the commongood of the society.

2. To take most effective precautions so they continue to hold their public trust.

(James Madison, The Federalist, No. 57)

The manner, time, places of holding elections is set in each state by the Legislature but the Congress may at any time by law make or change such regulations.

(Article 1, Section 1)

This constitutional disposal provides the basis for state administration not only for its own elections but also for federal office.- State personnel operate this system.- State laws establish the rules by which the system

function.- In most states the election system is administered at the

county level.- Congress has the power to control the election system of

this nation.- Federal law: punishes bribery, false registration,

intimidation of voters, filing false election returns,illegal voting etc.

- Congress has enacted legislation to prevent racialdiscrimination in the exercise of the civil right tovote.

- The first such legislation was enacted in 1870. - Since 1950s a network of federal laws have been past to

protect voting rights from various forms ofdiscrimination.

Nomination Procedures

In most democratic nations, political parties choose candidatesfor public office.

- United States did not followed this practice.- Since 19th century reformers wanted the adoption of

nomination systems that would be more democratic – weakenthe political parties and give people greater power tochoose candidates.

- The earliest means of choosing candidates for publicoffice was – the legislative caucus.

The legislative caucus defect - districts that had electedlegislators from one party were not represented in thecaucus of the other party.

The remedy: - mixed caucus was developed.

- This reform did not last and the caucus system waslargely abandoned.

- Andrew Jackson and his supporters – overturning what theycalled “King Caucus”.

- In 1824 election, the Democratic party caucus failed topick Jackson - discredit the system as beingundemocratic.

- In place of caucus – the convention system was favoredclaiming that it would democratize American politics.

- By the 1832 election, the convention was used by majorpolitical parties to nominate candidates for presidentand vice president.

- In early 20th century a reform movement known asprogressivism wanted the abolition of the conventionsystem using the same argument of a undemocratic system.

- Instead of convention system – favored direct primarywhere voters in a primary election nominate candidatesand officials.

- The primary system – the most common method of nominatingindividuals for public office.

- Some states require the use of a runoff primary when noneof the candidates receives a majority of the votes in aprimary election.

- The runoff primary is held between two candidates whoreceive most of the votes, and the victor becomes theparty’s nominee in the general election.

- The primary system has largely replaced the convention. Afew states still use the convention system such asKansas, Nevada, Wyoming and Virginia.

Two basic types of primaries:1. Closed primary – most states use it, voters who have

registered with a party may vote.2. Open primary – about seventeen states use it, voters

does not have to affiliate with a particular partybefore taking part.

Nominating a Presidential candidate

- The national conventions of both major parties formallychoose their presidential and vice presidentialcandidates.

- Today the choice of candidates for national electionstake place in the state primaries, where delegatessupport particular candidates to be chosen.

Choosing the Delegates

Presidential Primaries – first used in Wisconsin 1905 – is nowadopted by majority of the states.

- In 1956 – nineteen states had primaries.- By 1976 the total was twenty-nine.- In 2008 forty states and the District of Columbia held

some form of presidential primaries.- Both Democratic and Republican delegates are chosen in

state primaries.- State legislatures adopted state presidential primary

laws.- Delegates are chosen either by statewide voting or at the

local level.- Republican party have required the winner-take-all method

of choosing delegates.- In 2012 nominating process – Republicans adopted the

proportional representation system.- About 823 (19%) delegates at the 2008 Democratic National

Committee were superdelegates.- Republicans don’t have superdelegates, but a number of

unpledged delegates who attended 2008 convention,including 123 members of the Republican NationalCommittee.

- Each party determines the total number of delegates whowill attend its national convention.

- The Democratic party’s rules emphasize population andfavor the most populated states such as California, NewYork and Texas.

- The Republican party’s rules give greater delegatestrength to smaller states.

Caucuses and Conventions - Initially, caucuses were controlled by the political

parties.- In today’s presidential nominating campaigns, candidates

organize their supporters to attend caucus meetings.

The Preconvention Campaign

Candidates concentrate on winning state primaries, starting withthe earliest one usually held in New Hampshire.

- A candidate who wins the early primaries gains: delegatesupport, national publicity, support from delegates instates with caucus system, increased financial backing,greater popularity with voters.

- New York Senator Hillary Clinton was favorite to win theDemocratic party’s presidential nomination but waschallenged by Illinois Senator Barack Obama who receivedthe Democratic nomination in September’s convention.

- Obama’s strategy was to win in the early caucus states,Senator Clinton couldn’t overcome Obama’s advantage.

- Half a dozen persons sought the Republican partynomination in 2008.

- The main candidates were Senator John McCain, Mitt Romneyof Massachusetts and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas.

- Presidential nomination season stretches from lateJanuary to early February to the nominating conventionsheld in summer.

- Those who held late events found that one candidate hadsecured enough delegates to win and this caused anincreasing number of states to schedule their primariesand caucuses to early dates – frontloading.

- Republican party altered this system in 2012 presidentialnomination process.

- First four states to choose delegates in 2012: Iowa, NewHampshire, South Carolina and Florida- selected only 115of the 2,282 delegates.

- Frontloading characterized the 2008 nomination system.- On so-called “Super Tuesday” – February 5, 2008 – twenty-

four states held their primaries and caucuses.

The National Convention - The main task of the convention is to nominate the

party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates,including the preparation and approval of a partyplatform.

Adopting a Platform - Major task of a national convention - adopt a party

platform.- A series of statements of general policy each of which is

called a plank.- The platform is a set of compromises through which the

party seeks to unite its diverse supporters, forexample : Republican platforms have opposed abortion,Democratic platforms have endorsed it as a basicconstitutional liberty possessed by women.

Nominating a Presidential Candidate - The nomination procedure begins with the names of the

candidates proposed to the convention.- After all the names are placed before the delegates a

roll-call vote of the states is taken and a nominee ischosen.

- Today national conventions simply ratify the choice of apresidential nominee that has already been made in thestate primaries.

- Conventions continue to to serve as a means of rallyingthe party faithful, they are valuable in obtainingtelevision time to publicize the party.

- Television networks are unhappy with the presentation ofthe national conventions.

- In both 2004 and 2008 the party conventions lasted fourdays; the television networks dedicated only three hoursof live coverage on three evenings to the conventions.

Nominating a Vice Presidential candidate - The presidential nominee chooses his own running mate,

and his selection is always approved by the convention.- Presidential nominees have been concerned with balancing

the ticket, vice presidents may be strangers selected forthe purpose of balancing the ticket.

Sometimes they are even political opponents of the nominee.(For example: In 1960, John F. Kennedy selected Lyndon B.Johnson as his running mate. In 2000, George Bush pickedRichard Cheney as his running mate, the choice was madebecause of Cheney’s long experience in government. In 2008,Barack Obama selected Senator Joseph Biden because he hadforeign policy experience, something that he lacked.)

A National Primary?

- Present system of nominating presidential candidates iscriticized because of its complex and confusingprocedures.

- The proposed alternative – national primary.- National primaries would:

Eliminate national cconventions Simplify the nomination system Give the people greater control over the nomination process

The idea of national primary has never received strong support:

Not enough time for a relatively unknown candidate to gainsufficient support in an early primary.

If no candidate won more than 50% of the vote, it wouldprobably be necessary to hold a runoff primary.

Such system might be confusing to average voter and reduceturnout for the second primary.

The Campaign

The American presidential election campaign is the world’s most closely watched political event, as the winner of the November presidential election will become the most powerful political leader in the world.

The campaign officially begins once the two parties have selectedtheir presidential and vice-presidential nominees. In reality, the campaign starts as soon as a Democratic and Republican candidate has gathered a majority of convention delegates to guarantee the party’s nomination. For example, in 2008 this occurred in May for John McCain and in June for Barack Obama, making that presidential campaign last for at least five months.

Today elections are advertised through television, media consultants, focus groups and polling, all of which are much moreexpensive than traditional campaign advertising. For example, the

Federal Election Commission estimated that total spending during the 2008 presidential election reached more than $ 1.8 billion.

Campaign Financing

Throughout American history the major parties have obtained the financial support of a relatively small number of wealthy contributors to meet the costs of campaigns. For example, the Republican party has usually been able to outspend the Democrats in presidential campaigns, as more wealthy people support the Republicans.

The increasing use of television since the 1950s is largely responsible for the skyrocketing costs of political campaigning. The dependence of the parties on the very wealthy grew as the expenses increased.

The danger that large contributors could influence the policies of the parties has long been a source of concern to observers of American politics. In the 1972 campaign it was discovered that some contributors had violated existing campaign spending laws. For example, Dairy producers had secretly donated $680,000 to theNixon campaign and received favorable treatment from his administration.

Campaign Finance Legislation

The first major attempt to regulate campaign finance came in 1971with the enactment of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), which set limits on the amount of money that presidential and vice-presidential candidates or their families could contribute to their own campaigns and also required campaign committees and candidates to report the names of all contributors of amounts over $100. However, in 1972 this legislation was proven inadequate.

In response, Congress enacted the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974, which extensively amended the 1971 law. This law setlimits on the amount of money that could be raised from other sources and created special funds for the election campaign. A candidate seeking nomination in a presidential primary is eligible to receive federal funds if he or she is able to raise aminimum of $5,000 in each of twenty states.

Public funds for presidential campaigns are supplied out of tax revenues. A major political party-one that received 25% or more of the votes in the most recent election-is eligible to receive federal funding. Moreover, each major party nominee is eligible to receive federal funds to pay for the campaign.

Both major parties are automatically eligible to receive public money, while minor parties are eligible for retroactive payment of federal funds if they receive at least 5% of the total popularvote in the November election. The only major party candidate whodid not accept public money since the system began in 1976 was Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election.

The Supreme Court established that spending money on political subjects is partly protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

However, there was a loophole in the laws governing the financingof American Elections, known as “soft money”. It is based on a 1979 amendment to the FECA that was designed to encourage voluntary involvement in presidential campaigns.

“Hard money” is subject to individual group limits, while “soft money” is not. “Hard money” can be used by the party to promote its presidential and vice-presidential names by name. “Soft money”, however, may be used for party-building activities such as issue advocacy or generic advertising.

The Republicans have usually raised more soft money than the Democrats, but between 1999 and 2000 the parties competed on relatively equal terms.

In 2002 Congress adopted a major campaign reform law, which outlawed the use of soft money in elections. One of the unforeseen consequences of the new law was the emerge during the 2004 national election of so-called 527 committees. These tax-exempt groups are named after the provision in the Internal Revenue Code that legalizes their existence. They cannot give money to political parties or candidates. However, they can engage in voter mobilization and sponsor advertisements that either praise or criticize political candidates so long as they do not coordinate their activities with a party or candidate.

Congressional Campaigns

For congressional campaigns, the candidate finances these campaigns, either from his or her resources or with funds obtained from private contributions. The amount of money spent incongressional campaigns has increased greatly in recent years.

Between campaigns, legislators devote a considerable amount of their time to raising money. Fund-raising by House members, who seek reelection every two years, is almost continuous. Ironically, many House members face only token challengers who are poorly financed and have little chance of winning. Often the main purpose of the large sums of money raised by members of Congress is to scare off opponents.

After a decade of debate on the high costs of congressional campaigns and the political influence of large contributors, Congress finally passed a new campaign finance law-the BipartisanCampaign Finance Law of 2002. First, it raised the legal amounts that could be contributed to candidates for public office and indexed those figures to the rate of inflation. Second, it

outlawed soft money contributors to the national political parties.

The new legislation raised important First Amendment issues of freedom of speech and press. Therefore, Congress established a procedure for quick review of these questions by the U.S. SupremeCourt. Numerous lawsuits were soon filed challenging the constitutionality of the law. The ban on certain types of political speeches was the most controversial part of the new law.

Campaign Strategy

Candidates for public office must make plans long before the actual campaign begins. They often hire a professional consultant, an opinion research organization, an advertising agency, speechwriters, a direct-mail organization, attorneys, an accounting firm and other similar services, which have a single purpose: to create and communicate to the public a favorable image to the candidate and his or her policies.

There are two major parties in the U.S.: the Democrats and the Republicans. The Republicans try to gain voters for the candidate. The opponents can choose not to respond to the attacksand to engage in activities that are likely to appear on TV, for example, singing bills and meetings with representatives of foreign governments. President Nixon’s way of reelection doesn’t always work. We have the case of President Carter, who was overwhelmingly defeated by Ronald Reagan.

Candidates can come in the situation of having to criticize the president’s general program, his failure to keep campaign promises and other mistakes.

All candidates must seek to offset any perceived shortcomings andcapitalize on their strong points. Jimmy Carter chose to attack

the corruption and sheer size of the government in Washington because he was almost unknown outside his home state of Georgia.

Candidates for the presidency go to great lengths to make themselves attractive to voters. The candidate’s goal is to win aplurality of the popular vote in enough states that his total electoral vote will be 270 or more.

In 2008, Texas would vote for McCain and New York, California andIllionis would choose Obama. Both presidential candidates concentrated much of their time and money on Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Florida.

Television Debates

It took a long time for television debates between candidates to become an accepted practice. No federal law requires candidates to debate and for many years presidential nominees refused to do so. In 1960, Vice President Richard Nixon appeared in a series offour debates with his Democratic rival, John F. Kennedy. No otherdebates took place until 1976. Since then, debates have been heldin each presidential election campaign. The presidential debates have been criticized because they are more press conferences thantrue debates. For example, one often used format consists of reporters asking questions of the candidates.

Televised debates are now an important feature of every presidential election.

ELECTION

- of national, state and local officials takes place in the firstTuesday after the first Monday in November.

- of president and vice president is a process that involves counting the electoral votes and occurs at state-level in December and early January in the Congress.

- procedure includes: registration of voters, voting by secret ballot and counting of the ballot.

REGISTRATION

- assures that voters prove to an election official that they meet the legal requirements for voting;

- prevents people from voting more than once, but it also contributes to a lower vote turn-out.

▪ Attempts to increase voter turn-out have been the National Registration Act and the Election Day Voting laws.

BALLOTING

The U.S. use a secret ballot developed after the Australian modelas a way of preventing fraud.

The ballot can be organized as:

-an office block (Massachusetts ballot), that lists all the candidates according to the offices for which they are running

-a party column (Indiana ballot), that lists candidates for all in columns according to party.

▪ An October 2002 law was adopted to improve the methods of voting by: upgrading existing punch-card or lever machines and allowing people to vote provisionally if their name doesn’t appear on registration records.

▪ Absentee ballots allow people to vote if they are away from home. They have raised concern because fraud and coercive tacticsfrom political party workers could affect the election result.

▪ Between 2000-2004 general elections, 14 prosecutions regarding fraud in the use of absentee ballots were brought in.

ELECTING THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT The Electoral College

-was called “the most dangerous blot on our Constitution” by Thomas Jefferson;

-is a compromise between the delegates who favored direct popularelection of the president and those who wanted the Congress to select the president;

▪ Each state has a number of electors equal to its total number of U.S. senators and representatives, that are elected every fouryears.

▪ To be elected president a candidate must receive a majority (270) of the total number of electoral votes (538).

The winner take-all system

-is used in 48 of the states;

-means that the candidate who wins the majority of the popular vote gets the entire electoral vote;

-favors the populous states and is responsible for the special concentration of the campaign of a candidate in a certain state

Voting process

>Electors meet in the state’s capital on the first Monday after the 2nd Wednesday in December to cast separate ballots for their party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

>The result is sent to the president of the U.S. Senate, who opens it in early January. The votes are numbered and the president and vice-president are formally elected.

>If no candidates get the majority of the electoral votes: the president is chosen by the House of Representatives (each state having one vote) and the vice-president is chosen by the Senate.

PROBLEMS WITH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

▪ It is possible for a candidate to win presidency despite havingfewer popular votes than his opponent. This happened four times, the most recent being George W. Bush’s election from 2000.

▪ When the president is chosen by the House of Representatives, for example, if a state has 3 Democratic house members and 2 Republicans, the vote is surely given to the Democratic candidate.

Reform or abolition?

▪ There are suggestions of changing the Electoral College system with:

- the single member district plan adopted by Maine and Nebraska (election of 2 electors on a statewide basis; the remaining ones being chosen individually from the districts);

- direct popular elections.

▪ Supporting arguments also exist:

-with only a few exceptions the existing system has always coincided with the popular vote;

-it assures the stability of the two-party system

CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS

▪ 435 seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the hundred Senate seats are elected every two years.

▪ Many candidates for seats in the House of Representatives are basically victorious because they come from districts where one political party wins by 55% of the votes.

▪ Competitiveness of the House races has declined through much ofthe 20th century, the reelection rate reaching 98% of the votes in 1990. In the same period however, the Senate reelection was socompetitive that an average of 41% of the votes were decided by a majority of 55% or less.

▪ Incumbents reelection rate reached 98% between 1998-2004, however, most recent legislative reelection rate has declined as a result of Congressional elections by Democrats in 2004 and 2006and by Republicans in 2010.

▪ Incumbents have advantages over their challengers because:

-they are better known in their district and attract more financial support:

-of franking privilege of Congress members (can mail information about their activity to constituents at no cost);

-of gerrymandered districts (new boundaries drawn to their district, that offer an advantage over the opposition party);

High reelection rate

-caused limiting the number of terms that national legislators may serve to 12 years (senators have 2 terms, while representatives have 6 terms).

-proponents declared that legislators become more accountable to the public this way.

Presidential influence

▪ In competitive congressional districts and states, a popular president on the ballot can influence the outcome of elections (coattail effect). An example of such a case is Barak Obama, who’s wide margin victory helped Democrats to gain 21 seats in the House of Representatives in 2008.

▪ If congressional candidates feel that their party’s presidential candidate doesn’t have a chance they avoid association. Instead they stress their own achievements.

▪ The general rule is that the president’s party will lose seats in the off-year election. But this didn’t happen in 1998 when democrats won a lot of seats in the House despite Clinton’s scandal and risk of impeachment.

▪ The historic pattern of president’s party losing seats in the Congress during midterm elections was restored however, in 2006 and 2010. The Democrats gain in both houses in the former year, while Republicans won 5 seats in the Senate and 63 in the House in the latter year.

How Americans vote (and don’t vote)

The vote is the only form of political activity that is engagedin by a majority of adult.

Who votes? The citizens have two options: they can either choosebetween rival parties or canditates or choosing not to vote atall ( many choose not to).

The voter turnout has varied during different periods ofAmerica. In XIX century it was over 70% but between 1860s – 1920sit declined considerably reaching a low of 45 % in 1924. In 1940the voter turnout was about 63 % but then it dropped sharply.Again in 1980 the turnout was 60% and in 1988 it declined to 50%.

In 1992 the voter turnout was 54% and in 1996 it was the lowestvoter turnout since 1924 – 49 %.

The turnout saw a sharp upward in the Bush – Kerry contest in2004 was 61 % and the figure remaind the same in the 2008national election.

The public opinion polls shows that Americans do not payattention to presidential elections and that more than 50% ofAmerican children grow up in households in which neither parentvotes.

The participation in midterm congressional elections is evenlower than in presidential elections. The lowest percent – 39 –was reached twice in 1978 and 1986. The turnout increased in 1994and 2010 when the Republicans scored significant victories inelections for the House of Representatives.

The participation in primaries has reached a record low of 17% in2006 and only growned to just below 19 % in the 2010 primariescompared to 1960 when the turnout was about 35 %.

Voter turnout in the US is often compared unfavorably with thatin European democracies, where turnout percentages are oftenconsiderably higher.

Rates in European nations are based on the names of all adultscitizons who are automatically able to vote compared to U.S.,where in almost all states ptmericons must register to vote by acertain date before the election in order to qualify to vote.

The basic explanation for low turnout is actually the lack ofinterest, information and political involument on the part ofcitizens. People who are interested in politics are more likelyto vote than those who are not.

The groups in American society which contribute most to the lowturnouts for U.S. elections are the people with low income and

young people. Fore example only 40% of the people who earned lessthan 10.000$ a year voted compared with 80% of those who earnedmore than 50.000$ and only 20% of the people under 25 voted whileover 60% of those over 65 whent to the polls. Although thestudies showned that whites still vote in somewhat graterpropotions than African Americans do, some factories increasedthe number of blacks who register and vote: the elimination ofdiscriminatory barries to voting during 1960 and 1970, the growthof a better educated, more prosperous blacks middle class andthe increase in the number of blacks who register and vote.

Also, women traditionally voted less than men but the genderdifferend in voter turnout decreased steadly during the 1970 andearly 1980, in 1988 the Consus Bureau reported that for the firsttime the % of the voters surpassed that of men.

In order to increase the voter turnout, some states allowindividuals to appear at the polling place on election day andqualifie at that time-even though the turnout increased in thosestates, the system has faild tho gain wialespreads acceptancebecause of the posibility of fraud.

How do Americans vote?

Many factors influence the party support of Americans voters.Education usually determinate a person’s ocupation and income.The higher social class usualy tends to vote for Republicancandidate and those with less and lover in comes are more likelyto vote Democratic.

The Republican candidates received substantial support frompeople earning $ 100.000 or more in 2004 and 2008. The DemocraticJohn Kerry obtained 63% of votes in 2004 from voters making below$15,000 and Democratic Barack Obama won 73% of this group in2008.

Another factor which had an effect on voting behavior is theplace of residence. The Republican Party has traditionally beenthe party of North but after the World War II it also gainedstrong support in the South States.

The Democratic party could count on the support of the South fromthe end of the Civil War until recent decades.

Race is another factor that affects voting behavior. Blackssupported the Republicans ( the party of Abraham Lincoln) betweenthe Civil War and until the 1930s, when President Roosvelt s NewDeal benefited many poor blacks. In present blacks today are morestrongly associated with the Democtratic party than any othergroup in America ( in 2008, 91% of African Americans voted forBarack Obama).

Religion is also a factor. Many Catholics and Jews came in U.S.between 1880-1920 as poor immigrants and settled in the largecities and it was usually the Democratic party that provided themvarious social services and gained theri political loyalty.

Many wite Protestants have given their support to the Republicanparty. In the 2008 election, John McCain received 54% of theProtestant vote and 57% of white evangelical Christian vote.

Public opinion have revealed significant differences between theviews of women and men. Women are much less likely than men toback the use of military force in international affair and alsowomen have been more likely to support the Democratic party whilemen are more likely to vote for Republicans.

In the 2008 presidential election Barack Obama was able to expandhis elctoral support among most groups in the society: women,African Americans, the unmarried, people betweeb ages of 18 – 44,Americans of all income and educational levels. Obama s gainsenabled him to win the presidency with 53% of the popular voteand a large majority in the Electoral College.

Glossary

A

1. Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventhPresident of the United States (1829–1837) – Democratic party.

2. Absentee ballot - a vote cast by someone who is unable orunwilling to attend the official polling station to which thevoter is normally allocated;

3. A primary election - is an election that narrows the field ofcandidates before an election for office. Primary elections areone means by which a political party or a political alliancenominates candidates for an upcoming general election or by-election.

4. Abraham Lincoln - was the 16th President of the United States,serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865.Lincoln led the United States through its greatestconstitutional, military, and moral crisis—the American Civil War—preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, strengthening thenational government and modernizing the economy.

B

1. Bandwagon effect – delegates rally to the support of thecandidate they believe is likely to win the nomination.

2. Barack Hussein Obama II - (born August 4, 1961) is the 44thand current President of the United States, and the first AfricanAmerican to hold the office – Democratic party.

3. Balancing the ticket - In United States politics, balancingthe ticket is when a political candidate chooses a running mate,usually of the same party, with the goal of bringing morewidespread appeal to the campaign. It is most prominently used todescribe the selection of the U.S. Vice Presidential candidate.

4. Ballot - a printed list of candidates for public office usedfor secret voting. The names may be printed on paper or appear ona voting machine;

C

1. Constitutional provision - A constitution is the foundationallaw in most countries, including the United States. The term"constitutional provision" specifies that a rule or law comesfrom the constitution itself and not from statutory or commonlaw.

2. Convention system - A meeting of either elected or appointedmembers of a political party that can nominate candidates forpublic office, elect party officials and delegates, and writeparty platforms.

3. Caucus – A meeting of party members at the local or precinctlevel to select delegates to the national convention. Also, ameeting of all the members of one party in the House or theSenate.

4. Closed primary – A primary election in which participation islimited to voters who have formally registered as members of aparticular political party.

5. Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham - (born October 26, 1947) is aformer United States Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and FirstLady of the United States. From 2009 to 2013, she was the 67thSecretary of State, serving under President Barack Obama. Shepreviously represented New York in the U.S. Senate (2001 to

2009). Before that, as the wife of President Bill Clinton, shewas First Lady from 1993 to 2001. In the 2008 election, Clintonwas a leading candidate for the Democratic presidentialnomination.

6. Coattail effect - the ability of a popular presidentialcandidate to help elect legislative candidates of the same partyin a presidential election;

7. Constituent - any one of the people who live and vote in anarea; a member of a constituency;

8. Campaign - the competition by rival political candidates andorganizations for public office.

9. Congress - the bicameral legislature of the federal governmentof the United States consisting of two houses: the Senate and theHouse of Representatives.

10. Committee - a person or group of persons elected or appointedto perform some service or function, as to investigate, reporton, or act upon a particular matter.

D

1. Delegate - a person sent or authorized to represent others, inparticular an elected representative sent to a conference.

2. Democratic Party - is one of the two major contemporarypolitical parties in the United States. Tracing its origins backto the Democratic-Republican Party, the modern Democratic Partywas founded around 1828.

E

1. Electoral College - the institution that officially electsthe President and Vice President of the United States every fouryears.

2. Election - the selection of a person or persons for office byvote.

F

1. Federal office - a department of the federal government of theUnited States

2. Federal system - The term "federalism" is also used todescribe a system of government in which sovereignty isconstitutionally divided between a central governing authorityand constituent political units (such as states or provinces).

3. Frontloading – The process of scheduling a state presidentialprimary early in the nominating season.

4. FECA - a United States federal law which increased disclosureof contributions for federal campaigns. It was amended in 1974 toplace legal limits on the campaign contributions.

5. Franklin Delano Roosevelt - also known by his initials, FDR,was the 32nd President of the United States (1933–1945) and acentral figure in world events during the mid-20th century,leading the United States during a time of worldwide economicdepression and total war. A dominant leader of the DemocraticParty and the only American president elected to more than twoterms, he built a New Deal Coalition that realigned Americanpolitics after 1932, as his domestic policies defined Americanliberalism for the middle third of the 20th century.

G

1.George Walker Bush - an American politician and businessman whoserved as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to2009, and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.

H

1. House of Representatives - The lower house of the U.S.Congress and of most state legislatures.

I

1. Incumbent - the current holder of a political office;

2. Impeachment - a formal process in which an official is accusedof unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on thecountry, may include the removal of that official as well ascriminal or civil punishment;

J

1. John Forbes Kerry - is an American politician who is the 68thand current United States Secretary of State. He served as aUnited States Senator from Massachusetts from 1985 to 2013, andwas chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry wasthe presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004presidential election but lost to incumbent George W. Bush.

K

1. King Caucus - Partisan caucuses composed of members ofCongress met to choose nominees. Critics argued that it violatedthe spirit of the Constitution. Defenders argued the Congress wasa representative, well-qualified group. System broke down in the1824 election.

L

1. Legislative cucus – A group of legislators who organize toadvocate or influence legislation that promotes their commongoals and interests. Means an organization that is composedexclusively of members of the legislature, that elects orappoints officers and recognizes identified legislators asmembers of the organization, and that exists for research and

other support of policy development and interests that themembership hold in common.

2. Lever machine - a mechanical voting system in which voterschose by pulling a lever next to their choice;

M

1. Mixed caucus – Delegates from districts that were notrepresented were permitted to join the caucus to make nominationdecisions.

2. Midterm election - an election where the people can electtheir representatives in the middle of the term of the executiveor another set of members;

3. John Sidney McCain III - (born August 29, 1936) is the seniorUnited States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republicanpresidential nominee in the 2008 United States presidentialelection.

4. Michael Dale "Mike" Huckabee - (born August 24, 1955) is anAmerican politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas(1996–2007). He was a candidate in the 2008 United StatesRepublican presidential primaries, winning the 2008 IowaRepublican caucuses and finishing second in delegate count andthird in both popular vote and number of states won (behind bothJohn McCain and Mitt Romney).

N

1. National primary –A national primary is a proposed system forconducting the United States presidential primaries and caucuses,in which all of the primaries and caucuses would occur on thesame day (not currently the case).

2. Nominee - a person nominated, as to run for elective officeor fill a particular post.

O

1. Open primary - A direct primary in which a voter may choosethe party primary in which he or she wishes to vote withouthaving to formally register as a party member.

2. Off-year election - an election held in a year when apresidential election does not take place;

P

1. Public office - a position of authority or service involvingresponsibility to the public, especially within the government.

2. Primary – An election in which voters select a politicalparty’s candidates for local, state, and national office and insome states select party officials, such as members of partycommittees, convention delegates, and other leaders.

3. Progressivism - is a term that encompasses a wide spectrum ofsocial movements that include environmentalism, labor,agrarianism, anti-poverty, peace, anti-racism, civil rights,women’s rights, animal rights, social justice and politicalideologies such as anarchism, communism, socialism, socialdemocracy, and liberalism.

4. Presidential primaries – A primary election used by a majorityof states to select delegates to the presidential nominatingconventions of the major political parties.

5. Proportional representation system - The term proportionalrepresentation (PR) characterizes electoral systems by whichdivisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in theelected body. If 30% of the electorate support a particular

political party then roughly 30% of seats will be won by thatparty.

6. Party Platform – A political party’s statement of generalpolicy, adopted at the party’s national convention.

7. Plank - is the term often given to the componentry of thepolitical platform, in terms of the opinions and viewpoints aboutindividual topics, as held by a party, person, or organization.The word "plank" depicts a component of an overall politicalplatform, as a metaphorical reference to a basic stage made outof boards or planks of wood. The metaphor can return to itsliteral origin when public speaking or debates are actually heldupon a physical platform.

8. Punched card system - voters choose by removing or "punchingout" a perforated chad from the ballot next each choice. Theballot may be pre-printed with candidates and referenda, or maybe a generic ballot placed under a printed list of candidates andreferenda.

9. Policy - a course of action adopted and pursued by agovernment, ruler, political party, etc.

10. Poll - 1. The casting and registering of votes in anelection.

2. The number of votes cast or recorded.

3. The place where votes are cast and registered. Oftenused in the plural with the.

4. A survey of the public or of a sample of publicopinion to acquire information.

R

1. Republican Government - A Republic is a form of government inwhich power resides in the people, and the government is ruled by

elected leaders run according to law, rather than inherited orappointed (such as through inheritance or divine mandate). Inmodern times the definition of a republic is also commonlylimited to a government which excludes a monarch. Currently, 135of the world's 206 sovereign states use the word "republic" aspart of their official names.

2. Runoff primary – A second primary in which the two candidatesreceiving the highest number of votes for a party’s nominationfor local or state office compete with each other, both havingfailed to win a majority of votes in the first primary.

3. Rool-Call Vote - is one among the several ways of voting thatexist in the U.S. parliament. In roll call vote, the vote of eachmember is recorded. In this system of voting, Senators vote astheir names are called by the clerk. Each House Member has avoting card. They have to insert the cards at voting stations anda running count of votes is displayed. The recording of eachmember's vote is usually done electronically. The names of thosevoting for and against a motion will be recorded.

4. Registration - the procedure by which a person proves to anelection official that he or she is qualified to vote;

5. Republican Party - commonly referred to as the GOP (Grand OldParty), is one of the two major contemporary political parties inthe United States, the other being the Democratic Party. Foundedby anti-slavery activists in 1854, the GOP dominated politicsnationally and in most of the North for most of the period from1860 to 1932.

6. Revenue - the income of a government from taxation, exciseduties, customs, or other sources, appropriated to the payment ofthe public expenses.

S

1. Superdelegates - these delegates are not chosen in primariesbut serve because of their position as party leaders or electedofficials: Democratic governors, senators, representatives, andofficials of the Democratic National Committee.

2. Super Tuesday - In the United States, Super Tuesday, ingeneral, refers to the Tuesday in February or March of apresidential election year when the greatest number of stateshold primary elections to select delegates to nationalconventions at which each party's presidential candidates areofficially nominated.

3. Slate - a group of candidates that run in multi-seat or multi-position elections on a common platform;

T

1. Thomas Jefferson - an American Founding Father, the principalauthor of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and the thirdPresident of the United States (1801–1809);

2. The United States Census Bureau - (officially the Bureau ofthe Census, as defined in Title 13 U.S.C. § 11) is a principalagency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System responsible forproducing data about the American people and economy.

V

1. Voter turnout - the percentage of eligible voters who actuallyvote.

W

1. Winner-take-all - Delegates can be selected on a winner-take-all basis—as in many Republican Party state primaries, in whichthe candidate who wins the most votes wins all the delegates atstake.

2. Willard Mitt Romney - (born March 12, 1947) is an Americanpolitician and businessman who was the Republican Party's nomineefor President of the United States in the 2012 election. Beforehis presidential bid, he served as the 70th Governor ofMassachusetts from 2003 to 2007.

3. William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton - an American politician whoserved from 1993 to 2001 as the 42nd President of the UnitedStates. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngestpresident. He took office at the end of the Cold War.

SOURCES- American Government, Walter E. Volkomer- en.wikipedia.org- http://dictionary.reference.com/- http://en.wikipedia.org/