Campaigns
They must be registered with and monitored by the Federal Election Commission.
PACs and SuperPACs
In addition to officially nominating a party’s candidate for the presidency, what do national conventions perform?
They determine the party’s platform.
Who are awarded automatic delegate positions?
Superdelegates
Iowa uses these: meetings at a fixed time to express their presidential preference?
Caucus
What formed at the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation?
The McGovern-Fraser Commission
Which state’s presidential primary traditionally receives the MOST media coverage?
New Hampshire
How do Presidential campaigns in the United States differ from most European campaigns?
American campaigns are much longer than other campaigns.
Donations to political campaigns not given to a candidate in order avoid legal issues?
Soft money
New Hampshire uses this: a preliminary election to select a candidate?
Primary
They monitor the expenditures made by PACs and SuperPACS:
The FEC or the Federal Election Commission
What is a meeting at a fixed time to express their presidential preference?
A caucus
Electoral “earthquake” where the majority party is often displaced:
Critical elections
Holding primaries early to capitalize on media exposure:
An Act that banned soft money contributions initially:
Frontloading
The McCain-Feingold Act (2002) or the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
Explain why Iowa and New Hampshire’s early races give candidates such significant challenges.
If they don’t win in those first two places (a caucus and a primary), the candidate has little chance to win in the rest of the country. Both Iowa and New Hampshire, though not ethnically diverse as most of the country, adds significant weight to the chances of the candidate winning the nomination process with the delegates.
Explain one way candidates gain advantages in winning elections from high levels of campaign spending.
1. The more money you have, the more ads and media events you can have to get your name out in the public's eye.
2. The more attention is gathered for your name, the more free advertising you will get by being brought on shows and radio in order to get out the word of your campaign.
What does Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) say about campaign finance?
The Court held that the free speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting specific designations for political campaigns by corporations, including nonprofit corporations, labor unions, and other associations.
An official endorsement by a political party
Nomination
They must register/disclose their donors/donations to the IRS
527 groups
Identify a way in which the system of nominating candidates could be changed to decrease the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire.
A national primary day would make it so that all states hold a presidential primary election on the same day. Proponents of this reform claim that this system would be more efficient, however, opponents argue that it would be very expensive for candidates to compete on a national scale.
Another reform is having a few other states hold their contests on the same days as the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. This would keep the drawn out process of the current system and calm the criticism surrounding Iowa and New Hampshire going first.
Another reform is rotating regional primaries is one reform that The National Association of Secretaries of State has supported. This would group states by their geographical location (making segments) and create the primary schedule according to region. The order of these primary elections according to region would be rotated each election cycle.
Explain one way in which the demands of campaign finance challenge democratic elections.
1. If you don't have enough money you will not win election.
2. Only wealthy people can win elections.
What are the three main legal categories of independent groups in campaign finance:
1. Independent expenditure committees
2. 527 groups
3. 501c 3 groups
This is an example of a 527 group:
a PAC
Groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions but cannot spend more than half of their funds on political activities.
Non profits OR 501 c3
Identify one obstacle that keeps the changes that you mentioned before from taking place.
1. Opponents argue that it would be very expensive for candidates to compete on a national scale.
2. Choosing some of the states from among 48 other states could be a headache.
3. Candidates would be forced to build national campaigns from the start, rather than having the ability to focus on Iowa, New Hampshire, and other relatively small states to build support and attract free publicity from the national media. Less well-known and well-financed candidates would be greatly disadvantaged by a national primary.
4. The voting public in states that do not have early events now would lose the benefit from the elongated process that gives voters time to learn about the candidates.
Identify one reform that has attempted to keep campaign spending from undermining democracy.
1. The Federal Election Campaign Act was passed in 1974.
2. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002