2. UNIT 3A : OUTLINE: KEY CONCEPTS
KEY CONCEPTS
Open, closed and invisible primaries
The caucus system
The balanced ticket
Candidate and issue centred campaigns
Momentum
Soft and hard money
Negative campaigning
Insider and outsider candidates
Fixed terms
Swing states
3. OUTLINE: KEY IDEAS
Answering questions on this topic requires
knowledge of:
The main characteristics of presidential and
congressional elections and campaigns.
The main influences on their outcomes.
Candidate selection and nomination through the
primary and caucus system and the role of the
national nominating conventions
Debates concerning the workings and outcomes of
the Electoral College and its impact on campaigns
4. OUTLINE: KEY IDEAS
Answering questions on this topic requires
knowledge of:
The significance of money as a factor in electoral
success.
The impact of the media on campaigns and candidates
Direct democracy at State level through the use of
referendums
Initiatives, propositions and recall elections, and
debates concerning their use
Comparisons with the UK electoral process to illustrate
arguments
5. Congressional Elections
Held every two years
1/3 of the Senate (who sit for six years) elected
All of House of Representatives
Held midway through a presidents term in office hence
the name – mid-term elections
6. Breakdown of Congress
Senate Representatives
Composition 100 Senators 435 Congressmen
Representation 2 per state
Dependent on
population in state
Term 6 years 2 years
Minimum age 30 25
Powers Legislation Legislation
Ratification of
Federal judges
Financial legislation
begins
Ratification of
ambassadors
Begins impeachment
process
Ratification of
Executive appointees
Ratification of
Treaties
Tries impeachment
cases
7. Congressional Elections
Mid term elections can be used as an indicator of what
the electorate think about a presidents performance
They can also be critically important to incumbent
president, particularly if result imparts gridlock
government
It is quite common for a presidents party to lose out in
mid term elections
8. Mid-Term Elections
They can put president in a very difficult position
Should he support his party’s Congressmen who might
suffer on local issues?
If he does not, morale of party as a whole may be
negatively effected
If he does, then he might be associated with
‘supporting a loser’
9. Mid-Term Elections
If he supports his candidates and they lose in a
negative and unpleasant campaign, he then has to
work with opposition who might now make it very
difficult for him
Some of his critics may also be from within his own
party. Should he support these people or not? If they
don’t win, it will weaken him in Congress and with
public perception
10. Mid-Term Elections
Mid-terms present a president with a difficult
balancing act.
He can use the opportunity to rid his party of those
who have not supported him but he could also see
those that he has supported lose and the consequences
could be dire.
