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Flashcards

the election campaign

serena norman thomas Politics English 52 cards

Cards in this deck (52)

  1. 1what must presidential candidates do to target their campaign strategy?- 'energise the base': enthuse their core, aligned voters to turn out to vote
    - win over the independent voters whose votes are not yet decided- a difficult balancing act
    - create momentum for the campaign by raising funds and creating an electoral bandwagon
  2. 2in their campaign strategy they must take into account the following factors:- the huge size of the USA and diversity of the voters
    - the need to win EC votes by focusing on key 'swing states', e.g. Ohio, Florida
    - the need to target 'swing voters' in key states, e.g. elderly in Florida & industrial workers in Ohio, @ same time must target womens vote, youth vote, Hispanic vote
    - can no longer rely on large numbers of aligned voters always turning out to vote for their party
    - the 'incumbency effect', incumbent can look more 'presidential' then challenger but not always very effective, e.g. Jimmy Carter in 1980 - more effective in congressional elections
  3. 3candidates make appeals to voters on the basis of:- the party identification of the voters: the candidates Democratic or Republican label is the voting cue for aligned voters
    - their personal characteristics, e.g. likeability or trustworthiness, their experience
    - the policy positions they take on important salient political issues, especially on economy
  4. 4candidates attempt to connect with voters and persuade them through...- old-style whistle-stop campaigns, visiting key states and making speeches
    - the great debates on TV
    - focus groups
    - political advertising through the mass media and modern technology such as the internet
  5. 5the mass media are now ...- the main channel of political communication
    - enables candidates to connect to voters
    - first election when TV was a major factor = 1960 when John Kennedy's TV image was seen as key factor in his success over less media friendly Nixon
  6. 6the media personalises campaigns, what effect does this have?- tends to focus on image & appearance rather than policy positions; style rather than substance
    - changes the types of candidate coming forward & their style of campaigning
    - marketed on basis of their looks, personalities and personal views, with little focus on party
  7. 7elections are now held under 24/7 media coverage. what effect does this have on campaigns?- run by experienced media advisers & pollsters who use focus groups & 'voter meters' to test voter reaction to candidates & what they are saying
    - candidates will often shift views in response to professional consultations with key groups in the electorate
  8. 8there is increased emphasis on photo-opportunities on prime-time TV. what effect does this have?- candidates compete to coin the best soundbites to capture the attention of the electorate, e.g. Obama's 'Yes we can'
    - everything is planned to come across well on TV which helps candidates who are good media performers, e.g. Reagan but can damage those who aren't, e.g. Gore 2000, McCain 2008
  9. 9why are cable networks used?- to sent highly targeted messages
    - to influence groups of voters
    e.g. Christian Broadcasting Network can influence religious voters on issues like abortion or gay marriage.
  10. 10what is the main reason why candidates need to raise huge amounts of campaign finance?TV advertising time is very expensive
  11. 11what is seen or heard in the media rarely...persuades voters to switch their vote
    BUT
    it reinforces the views the voter already has
    - used to 'energise the base' rather than attempt to convert voters
  12. 12what is negative campaigning?- where a campaign's strategists attack and discredit their opponents character & policies rather than positively campaigning on the candidates own merits & policies.
    - increased use of 'attack ads'
  13. 13why is negative campaigning used?- it often works
    - it is difficult to counteract
  14. 14what percentage of campaign ads in 2016 had negative messages or focused on the differences between Clinton & Trump?92%
  15. 15what percentage focused on positive messages about Clinton?3%
  16. 16... and trump?5%
  17. 17what can negative advertising be closely linked to?the increasingly partisan nature of the American media
  18. 18when are presidential debates held?- September & October
  19. 19when were the first televised debates held?1960
  20. 20what style of debates used to be used?- candidates stood behind podiums and were questioned by one moderator
    - then developed into panel of up to 3 members of the press who asked questions
    - in 1976 a non-participatory audience was introduced
  21. 21what style of debates are used today?- 'Town Hall' style in which candidates seated on bar stools facing an audience of undecided voters who can ask candidates questions directly
    - roundtable discussion in which the candidates talk with each other with a moderator
    - behind podiums
  22. 22why is money so important in electoral campaigns?- high cost of TV advertising to reach voters
    - size of the country & high costs of travel & accommodation in 50 states
    - diversity of voters to whom candidates have to appeal to with highly targeted messages
    - need to hire specialist staff to run a modern campaign, including use of new technology
    - permenant nature of campaigning, with build-up for next election starting the day after the last one ends
  23. 23where do candidates get their finance from?- their own pockets - so it helps to be a multi-millionaire
    - Political Action Committees (PACs)
    - national and congressional party committees
    - 527 groups & Super PACs raising monet to send on issue advocacy on behalf of candidates
    - fundraising through the internet & social media, generating large numbers of small donations, as practised with great success by Obama campaign 2008
  24. 24what did the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 & later amendments introduce?- federal funding for presidneital elections
    - matching funds provided for candidates in the primaries who could raise lots of small contributions in at least 20 states
    - helping serious but outsider candidates like Bill Clinton in 1992 to gain funds
  25. 25if a candidate acceps federal funds (e.g. Jogn McCain 2008) what must they do?agree to spending limits on their campaign
  26. 26as a result of FECA all contributions to candidates must be ...disclosed and supervised by the Federal Election Commission thus making process open & transparent
  27. 27what was the impact of the FECA reforms on election campaigns- federal funding went to candidates not parties thus weakening parties role in campaigning & strengthening the personalised nature of the campaign
    - reinforced the 2 party system as minor parties fail to achieve 5% share of the vote @ previous election necessary to receive funding
  28. 28what did the 1976 Buckley V Valeo Supreme Court case rule?- parts of the FECA unconstitutional as freedom to spend money expressing political opinions could not be denied under the 1st amendment
  29. 29what is hard money?regulated money, contributed directly to a candidate subject to limits, monitored by the FEC and intended to prevent the 'buying' of elections
  30. 30what is soft money?unregulated money, usually given to parties for 'general political activities' but banned in 2002
    - it not refers to money not subject to FECA restrictions or limits, usually given to groups for 'issue advocacy'
  31. 31what is an example of soft money in action?funding a pro-gun advert that would indirectly benefit one candidate but without directly donating to the campaign or promoting a candidate directly
  32. 32what was another soft money loophole?large donations could be given to parties for 'general political activities', e.g. 'get out the vote' efforts but it was often used to support party electoral candidates
  33. 33what did the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act 2002 do?it banned all soft money contributions to candidates or parties that increased the upper limit for hard money donations from individuals to $2000 (now $2500)
  34. 34what was the impacts of the BCRA?- it changed finance strategy as candidates now make internet appeals to large numbers of small donors - greater use of grass-roots fundraising
  35. 35what did the BCEA lead indirectly to?- the growth of 527 groups
  36. 36what are the 527 groups?- named after a section of the US tax code
    - allows organisations to raise & spend unlimited amounts of money for 'general political activities
    - they are not allowed to coordinate their activities with the candidate or party they are supporting
  37. 37what is the famous exmaple of the 527s?- the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group
    - funded an advert attacking Kerry's war record of bravery in order to neutralise his advantage over Bush
    - it was aired almost constantly & effectively in key states before the 2004 election
  38. 38what are super PACs?independent expenditure only committees which can receive unlimited donations and make unlimited contributions
    - play a significant role in funding and spending in recent elections
  39. 39why did these groups emerge?ultimately due to the Supreme Court Case Citizens United V FEC 2010
  40. 40what did the court in this case rule?restricition on political spending on corporationg and unions was unconstitutional as it infringed the 1st amendment
    - so it granted corporate and labour organisations the same rights of political free speech as individuals
  41. 41what did this decision overturn?century old precendent allowing the government to regulate such spending
  42. 42Super PACs dominated the 2012 election. true or falsetrue
  43. 43how much did Restore Our Future spend?$142.6
  44. 44how much of this was spend supporting the downfall of Obama?62%
  45. 45how much did American Crossroads spend?$124.1
  46. 46what percentage was spent advocating the downfall of Obama?83%
  47. 47Super PACs cannot coordinate their spending with parties/candidates but ...they can spend 'on behalf of' using 'independent expenditures' for 'issue advocacy'
  48. 48what did Obama describe them as?a 'threat to democracy' because of their increasing amount of money spent by them in campaigns and their likely influence over campaign outcomes
  49. 49what is another criticism?although they must disclose their donors to the FEC, there is a loophole which allows the groups to link with advocacy groups, e.g. new '501(c) 4' groups (don't have to disclose their donors)
  50. 50what is a key question in US politics?whether candidates or special interests who spend on their behalf, can 'buy' electoral success & also whether well-funded candidates have an unfair advantage over poorer rivals: there are arguments on both sides of the debate
  51. 51what are other factors that are important in a candidates electoral success?- their policies
    - record & image
    - the circumstances of the time
  52. 52what is another key question?whether in a country with rights guaranteed by the constitutions first amendment, it could ever be possible to limit campaign spending effectively by law

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Politics (The electoral process and direct democracy) Flashcards on the election campaign, created by serena norman thomas on 17/01/2018.
Created by
serena norman thomas · Jan 2018
Updated
Jan 20, 2018
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