US Elections and Campaigns

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Deciding on the party’s nominee

2008 Democratic Party delegate count

What factors affected the outcome of this race?

Reforming the primaries…

The Delaware Plan – 2000

The America Plan – 2004

The Ohio Plan – 2008

Other reforms

Electing the President

2008 Electoral College map
2012 Presidential Election Results Map

Why only two parties?
Two-party vs. multi-party/proportional system
Duverger’s law
1992 Presidential election

Should we abolish the Electoral College? What would be the consequences of doing so?

How would you redesign the US electoral system/electoral college system?

What criteria should electoral systems be evaluated on?
How does US electoral system perform based on these criteria?
What could be changed and how?
What are the consequences you expect these changes will have on the criteria stated above?

Campaign finance

superPAC FAQs
2012 Presidential Campaign Finance
Mad Money: TV ads in the 2012 presidential campaign
Guide: How you can spend $$$ in politics

Media

Negative political ads, the 2012 campaign and voter effects
Winning the Media Campaign 2012
Political Polarization & Media Habits
FactChecking the Iowa Senate Race
Gallup’s most important problem in the U.S. — Oct. 2014

Why focus on the negative? Is it fair?

Congress

The financial incumbency advantage: Causes and consequences
Americans: My Member OK, Most in Congress Are Not

How well are we, the millennials, represented?!?

Who voted in 2014?

Hint: Not young people! Also see effects of moving to a new state. Oh the woes of voter registration laws!

Turnout

Class Survey Results!

Should voting be mandatory?

About 36.4% of the voting-eligible population cast ballots in 2014 (http://www.electproject.org/2014g).

What’s the deal with midterm elections?
What motivates people to vote in elections? How can we encourage participation in elections?

How will changes in US demographics affect voting in the future?
10 Maps That Explain the Next Election

Ideology and Partisanship

Political Party Identification
Party ID by age, race, gender – Pew: Trends in Party Affiliation

Strong Groups for the Democratic and Republican Parties

DW NOMINATE places ideologically similar legislators (e.g., liberal Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.)) closer to each other, and farther from dissimilar legislators (e.g., conservative Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)) based on the degree of agreement between their roll call voting records.

Party Polarization – DW Nominate & DW Nominate video