Elections and Political Parties 101 Elections How do elections work in the United States? First past the post voting: most simple form of a majority vote. The voter is presented with candidates on a ballot and chooses only one- the candidate with the most votes wins the election. Electoral College: How it works: States are portioned electors based on their congressional representation (which is based on population), and these electors vote for the president. In most states, the electors must vote for whichever candidate wins the popular vote in their state, but some are not legally bound to do so. Maine and Nebraska allow electors to be split between candidates based on results from each congressional district. In total, there are 538 electors. If no candidate receives at least 270 electoral votes, the House of Representatives chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice President. The Electoral College was adopted for two main reasons: The founders wanted to give some power to the states in the presidential selection process. The founders were concerned that a one candidate would be able to manipulate a majority of uninformed voters, so they desired a more informed and educated middleman. 3. Voting eligibility Originally under the Constitution, only white male citizens over the age of 21 were eligible to vote. Amendments that have changed this: 15th (Extended the vote to all races), 19th (Gave women the right to vote) Structures and Political Parties What do political parties DO? Select candidates to run for political office, check the other party’s power, organize the government (how they do it depends on their platform) Political parties are INFORMAL institutions because they are not officially sanctioned in the Constitution - many founding fathers warned against them. Divided government: The Presidency, the House, and Senate are not all controlled by the same party. Pros Cons More likely Slower to to produce respond long-lasting to a crisis results Creates Slower to incentives to respond compromise, in general extremism because kept in both check parties must approve legislation Less likely to Hinders lead to radical corruption change than that may control be needed Economic Social Foreign Policy Platform Platform Democratic Significant Equality/Liberty Interventionalist Party Government Influence Republican Little Government Traditionalism Interventionalist Party Influence
Elections and Political Parties 101 Elections How do elections work in the United States? First past the post voting: most simple form of a majority vote. The voter is presented with candidates on a ballot and chooses only one- the candidate with the most votes wins the election. Electoral College: How it works: States are portioned electors based on their congressional representation (which is based on population), and these electors vote for the president. In most states, the electors must vote for whichever candidate wins the popular vote in their state, but some are not legally bound to do so. Maine and Nebraska allow electors to be split between candidates based on results from each congressional district. In total, there are 538 electors. If no candidate receives at least 270 electoral votes, the House of Representatives chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice President. The Electoral College was adopted for two main reasons: The founders wanted to give some power to the states in the presidential selection process. The founders were concerned that a one candidate would be able to manipulate a majority of uninformed voters, so they desired a more informed and educated middleman. 3. Voting eligibility Originally under the Constitution, only white male citizens over the age of 21 were eligible to vote. Amendments that have changed this: 15th (Extended the vote to all races), 19th (Gave women the right to vote) Structures and Political Parties What do political parties DO? Select candidates to run for political office, check the other party’s power, organize the government (how they do it depends on their platform) Political parties are INFORMAL institutions because they are not officially sanctioned in the Constitution - many founding fathers warned against them. Divided government: The Presidency, the House, and Senate are not all controlled by the same party. Pros Cons More likely to produce long-lasting results Slower to respond to a crisis Creates incentives to compromise, extremism kept in check Slower to respond in general because both parties must approve legislation Less likely to lead to corruption than control Hinders radical change that may be needed Economic Platform Social Platform Foreign Policy Democratic Party Significant Government Influence Equality/Liberty Interventionalist Republican Party Little Government Influence Traditionalism Interventionalist
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