PoliticalScienceAmericanGovernment.ppt

Elections as a Linkage Institution Elections: Five Acts Act I: The Nomination Game Act II: The Party Convention Act III: The Campaign Game Act IV: Voting Act V: The Electoral College Act I: The Nomination Game A Nomination is a Party’s Endorsement of a Candidate for Office While party politics is declining in importance with respect to voters, in order for most candidates to have a chance of being elected s/he needs party backing.Why? First, parties provide financial backing, organization, campaign activities, and word of mouth endorsement. Second, politics in the U.S. are PARTISAN POLITICS.Under partisan elections—candidates run under party label. All national and state elections in the U.S. are partisan elections, except state-level elections in Nebraska In nonpartisan elections—candidates DO NOT run under party label. Nonpartisan elections are found primarily at local level. For example, about 75 percent of all cities in U.S. with 10,000 or more people use nonpartisan elections. Two types of elections Primaries—used to select party candidates General elections – used to fill an elective office Primaries are of two types Closed — about 3/5 of the states Open — about 2/5 of the states Closed Primary Selection of party’s candidates in a primary is limited to party members. Must declare your party affiliation and can vote only in that party’s primary. WHY CLOSED? To stop “cross-over voting” Open Primary Voter chooses which party primary they wish to vote in. Remember Nature of American Elections U.S. Constitution gives 50 states responsibility for conducting and managing elections Two-party system, third parties don’t fare well Single-member districts (U.S.-- 435 in House; Oklahoma--48 Senate and 101 in House) Usually candidate with plurality of votes wins (one more vote than someone else) At the state and local levels candidate nominations are most often handled through individuals“filing for office” and/or primary elections. BU