William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

How do American elections work? 299

running for reelection to their current office, or challengers, running for the office for

the first time. Because America is a representative democracy, by voting in elections,

Americans have an indirect effect on government policy. Although citizens do not

make policy choices themselves, they determine which individuals get to make

these choices. In this way, elections are supposed to connect citizen preferences and

government actions.

Shaping Policy Although the fundamental choice in an election is between two

or more candidates running for some political office, elections also involve a choice

between candidates’ policy platforms: the set of things they promise to do if elected.

By investigating candidates’ platforms, citizens learn about the range of options for

government policy. Moreover, their voting decisions determine who gets to make

choices about future government policy, and thereby shape government policy itself.

For example, Republicans’ unified control of Congress and the presidency was at stake

in the 2018 elections—the fact that the election gave Democrats majority control of the

House of Representatives means that they can block Republican policy initiatives and

begin investigations of the Trump administration’s decisions.

Promoting Accountability The election process also creates a way to hold

incumbents accountable. When citizens choose between voting for an incumbent

or a challenger, they can make a retrospective evaluation. They consider the

incumbent’s performance over his or her previous terms in office and ask, “Has

he [or she] done a good job on the issues I care about?”^1 Citizens who answer yes

typically vote for the incumbent, and those who answer no typically vote for the

challenger.

Retrospective evaluations are significant because they make incumbents

responsive to their constituents’ demands.^2 If elected officials anticipate that some

constituents will make retrospective evaluations, they will try to take actions that

these constituents will look back upon favorably when they’re in the voting booth. If

incumbents ignore the possibility of voters’ retrospective evaluations, they run the risk

of being voted out of office in the next election. Retrospective evaluations can also form

the basis for prospective judgments: voters’ beliefs about how the country will fare

if different candidates win. This provides an additional reason for incumbents to be

responsive to citizens’ demands.

Two Stages of Elections

Candidates running for federal office (House, Senate, or president) face a two-step

procedure. First, if the prospective candidates want to run on behalf of a political party,

they must win the party’s nomination in a primary election. If the would-be candidates

want to run as Independents, they need to gather signatures on a petition to secure a

spot on the ballot. Different states hold either open primaries, semi-closed primaries,

or closed primaries, and state law sets the timing of these elections. For House and

Senate seats, a few states hold single primaries, in which there is one election involving

candidates from both parties, with the top two finalists (regardless of party) receiving

nominations to the general election.

The second step in the election process is the general election, which is held

throughout the nation on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Federal

law designates this day as Election Day. General elections determine who wins elected

positions in government. The offices at stake vary depending on the year. Presidential

elections occur every four years (2008, 2012, 2016,.. .). In a presidential election year,

primary

A ballot vote in which citizens select

a party’s nominee for the general

election.

open primary

A primary election in which any

registered voter can participate in the

contest, regardless of party affiliation.

semi-closed primary

A primary in which anyone who is a

registered member of the party or

registered as an Independent can vote.

closed primary

A primary election in which only

registered members of a particular

political party can vote.

general election

The election in which voters cast

ballots for House members, senators,

and (every four years) a president and

vice president.

Though incumbents fared well in the

2018 congressional elections, some,

such as Representative Joe Crowley

(D-NY), lost in the primaries.

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