American Politics Today - Essentials (3rd Ed)

191 A MERICAN NATIONAL ELECTIONS ARE ABOUT CONFLICT—THEY ARE contests in which candidates compete for political offi ce, offerin ...

192 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS The presence of confl ict in American elections is no surprise: as we discussed in Chapter 5 on public ...

HOW DO AMERICAN ELECTIONS WORK?| 193 How Do American Elections Work? The American political system is a representative democrac ...

194 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS open primaries or closed primaries, and state law sets the timing of these elections. A few states hol ...

HOW DO AMERICAN ELECTIONS WORK?| 195 Determining Who Wins Most House and Senate contests involve plurality voting: the candidat ...

196 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS What is clear is that election rules can aff ect results. Particularly in close races, small changes i ...

HOW DO AMERICAN ELECTIONS WORK?| 197 CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CANDIDATES NUTS & bolts 7. 1 Offi ce Minimum Age Resid ...

198 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS After the delegates nominate a presidential candidate, they select a vice- presidential nominee. The p ...

HOW DO AMERICAN ELECTIONS WORK?| 199 almost always vote for the presidential candidate they have pledged to support. After the ...

200 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS Now that we have reviewed the main steps of how American elections work, we will f ...

WHO ARE THE ELECTORS? Candidates to be electors are nominated by their political parties. They pledge to support a certain candi ...

202 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS Pa r t y com m it t ees a nd ca nd id at es h ave pa r t icu l a r i nt eres t i n t he l i kel i hood ...

ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS| 203 other things. While only the most well-funded campaigns can aff ord top consul- tants, almost all camp ...

204 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS Democratic campaigns use sophisticated databases, combining voter registration data with demographic i ...

ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS| 205 In writing their platform, candidates may be con- strained by positions they have taken in the past or ...

206 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS to raise doubts about their opponents by citing politically damaging statements or unpopular past beha ...

ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS| 207 Other evidence suggests that campaign advertising has several benefi cial eff ects. Scholars have foun ...

208 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS limited in the amount of hard money they can give to a candidate’s campaign and in the amount they can ...

ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS| 209 These federal funds are generated, in part, by money that taxpayers voluntarily allocate out of their ...

210 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS each election cycle: control of the federal government, with a budget of about $3 trillion a year and ...