Primaries vs. Caucuses

1
Primaries vs. Caucuses

• Primary (or direct primary)
• An election in which voters elect candidates to
  represent their political party in the general
  election
• Caucus
• A meeting of political party members to select
  candidates to represent their party in the
  general election

2
Objectives

• Assess information on Electoral College and its
  impacts on the political process, and draw your
  own conclusions as to whether or not it should be
  reformed.
• The General Election for President is held on the
  first Tuesday after the first Monday in November
  (Election Day)

3
Structure of Electoral College

• Electors per state Members of Congress per
  state (Reps 2 Senators)
• 538 Electoral votes (270 needed for win)
• Winner Takes All
• All electors in a state vote for winner
• except Maine Nebraska (proportional)
• How many Electors does Pennsylvania have?
• See the 2012 Electoral Map

4
Impact on the Political System?

• Due to Winner Takes All.
• Candidates focus on large, competitive (swing)
  states while ignoring other states
• 2008 Exception Obamas 50 state strategy
• Discourages third parties who rarely get any EC
  votes
• (1968 was an exception)
• Candidate may win without popular mandate

5
CRITICISMS How is it possible to win the
popular vote but lose the election?

• Winning candidate wins by big margins in several
  states, but has narrow losses in some large
  states
• 2000 Bush (271 / 47.9) beats Gore (266 / 48.4)
• Gore had over 500,000 more popular votes, but
  lost by 537 votes in Florida
• Election results since 1964

Florida Recount
6
CRITICISMS How is it possible to win the
popular vote but lose the election?

• If no Presidential candidate wins a majority,
  House of Reps chooses Pres. from top 3 (Each
  state gets only one vote)
• If no VP candidate wins a majority, Senate
  chooses VP from top 2
• If Pres cant assume power by Jan. 20, then VP,
  Speaker of House, PPT, Sec. State, etc.

7
Arguments Keep the Electoral College

• Promotes Federalism
• Must campaign by states / cant win by focusing
  all efforts in one region
• smaller states given a boost
• Fosters Intentions of Founding Fathers
• Constitutional Compromise b/w direct election of
  Pres. and State Legislators electing Pres.
• Fosters Two-Party System
• More stability / fewer 3rd party upsets

8
Arguments Reform or Disband the Electoral
College

• Public Opinion (more people oppose it)
• Doesnt Reflect Popular Will
• winning election with minority of popular vote
• Votes of All Citizens Dont Count Equally (Not
  One Person, One Vote
• Smaller states overrepresented
• E.g. 2004
• 1 WY Elector 165,101 votes
• 1 CA Elector 617,000 votes
• Lack of Legitimacy for officeholder
• Current System is Unfair to 3rd Parties
• Problem of Faithless Electors

9
Discussion

• Agree on whether to keep, scrap, or reform the
  Electoral College
• Discuss Pros Cons of each
• Come up with a Proposal and Arguments to convince
  the rest of the Class to Agree with you

10
Should the Electoral College be reformed? If
yes, how?Informal Debate Make a list of pros
and cons. Choose a side. Defend and Explain
your position.