Describe:
Purpose: Elections serve as the foundation of a democratic governance. They are the primary means to filling public offices and organize and staff the government. The people vote for the person with similar opinions as they do to represent them inside of the office.
Types of Elections:
- Primary Elections
- General Elections
- Initiative and referendum
- Recall
- Closed primary- A primary election in which only a party's registered voters are eligible to cast a ballot
- Open primary- A primary election in which party members, independents, and sometimes members of the other party are allowed to participate
General Elections- Election in which voters decide which candidates will actually fill elective public offices
Initiative-An election that allows citizens to propose legislation or state constitutional amendments by submitting them to the electorate for popular vote
Referendum-An election whereby the state legislature submits proposed legislation or state constitutional amendments to the voters for approval
Recall-An election in which voters can remove an incumbent from office prior to the next scheduled election
Explain:
Primary-Exclusive
The primary election is exclusive to a specific party
General-Normal
The general election is the normal election process, to fill political office
Initiative/Referendum-Legislation
The Initiative/Referendum election is votes for a proposed legislation
Recall-Remove
The Recall election is to remove someone from political office
Give an Example:
An example of a Primary election is the Republican GOP primary. In this election, in 2012, Mitt Romney was elected to run for presidency with the Republican Party at his back.
Interactive Map showing the results of the 2012 Republican primary.
http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/primaries
An example of a General election is the presidential election between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in 2012. This map shows the results (Red-Republican, Blue-Democrat).
An example of a Initiative/Referendum is locally seen when the Oshkosh Area School District is considering asking tax payers to pass a referendum that would raise property taxes about $56 a year on a $100,000 home, which would equal about 4 million yearly for the district. This would to eliminate the $2.5 million budget shortfall next year.
An example of a Recall election can also be seen locally with the Scott Walker recall push
An interactive map of these results can be found on http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/wisconsin-recall-results
Chapter 13.3... Compare and contrast congressional and presidential elections and explain the incumbency advantage
Describe:
Congressional election vs. presidential elections : Presidential elections are for the presidency while Congressional election is for the House of Representatives and the Senate (Congress).
The Incumbency Advantage
Explain:
The incumbency advantage significantly helps the incumbent to maintain office. Often the most common factors for why they lose is Redistricting (Gerrymandering), Scandals, Presidential Coattails, and Midterm elections.
Give an Example:
An example of the impact of incumbency advantage can be seen in the numbers. From 1982 to 2006, in the House of Representatives, 95.17% incumbents were successful in reelection.
A specific example of the incumbency advantage is Barack Obama's second term. He was successful in reelection.
Data from http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/Renka/ps103/Spring2010/congressional_incumbency.htm
Primary-Exclusive
The primary election is exclusive to a specific party
General-Normal
The general election is the normal election process, to fill political office
Initiative/Referendum-Legislation
The Initiative/Referendum election is votes for a proposed legislation
Recall-Remove
The Recall election is to remove someone from political office
Give an Example:
An example of a Primary election is the Republican GOP primary. In this election, in 2012, Mitt Romney was elected to run for presidency with the Republican Party at his back.
Interactive Map showing the results of the 2012 Republican primary.
http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/primaries
An example of a General election is the presidential election between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in 2012. This map shows the results (Red-Republican, Blue-Democrat).
An example of a Initiative/Referendum is locally seen when the Oshkosh Area School District is considering asking tax payers to pass a referendum that would raise property taxes about $56 a year on a $100,000 home, which would equal about 4 million yearly for the district. This would to eliminate the $2.5 million budget shortfall next year.
An example of a Recall election can also be seen locally with the Scott Walker recall push
An interactive map of these results can be found on http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/wisconsin-recall-results
Chapter 13.3... Compare and contrast congressional and presidential elections and explain the incumbency advantage
Describe:
Congressional election vs. presidential elections : Presidential elections are for the presidency while Congressional election is for the House of Representatives and the Senate (Congress).
The Incumbency Advantage
- Staff Support- Members of the House hire eighteen permanent and four non permanent aides to work in their Washington and district offices. Senators enjoy larger staff, with their size determined by the state that they represent.
- Visibility- Incumbents have connections to local media, attend important events, and speak frequently at meetings and community events
- The "Scare-Off" Effect- The ability of the office holder to fend off challenges from strong opposition candidates because of the institutional advantages of office, sugh as name recognition, war chests, free constituent mailings, staffs attached to legislative offices, and overall experience in running a successful campaign
Why Incumbents Lose
- Redistricting- State legislators redraw congressional district lines to reflect population shifts. Some incumbents can be put in the same districts as other incumbents.
- Scandals- Incumbents often choose to retire rather than face defeat in reelections
- Presidential Coattails-Successful presidential candidates usually carry into office congressional candidates of the same party in the year of their election
- Midterm Elections-Voter resentment towards the president may have a negative effect in elections while the president is still in office
Explain:
The incumbency advantage significantly helps the incumbent to maintain office. Often the most common factors for why they lose is Redistricting (Gerrymandering), Scandals, Presidential Coattails, and Midterm elections.
Give an Example:
An example of the impact of incumbency advantage can be seen in the numbers. From 1982 to 2006, in the House of Representatives, 95.17% incumbents were successful in reelection.
A specific example of the incumbency advantage is Barack Obama's second term. He was successful in reelection.
Data from http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/Renka/ps103/Spring2010/congressional_incumbency.htm
