Chapter 10

Elections and
Campaigns

1. What is the difference between a primary election

and a general election?
2. Does the federal government provide funding for
political campaigns?
3. How do voters typically decide on a candidate?
4. How do American elections determine the kind of
people who govern us?
5. What matters most in deciding who wins
presidential and congressional elections?
6. Do elections make a real difference in what laws
get passed?

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Learning Objectives

WHO GOVERNS?
1. How do American elections determine the
kind of people who govern us?
2. What matters most in deciding who wins
presidential and congressional elections?

TO WHAT ENDS?
1. Do elections make a real difference in what
laws get passed?

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Introduction

 Campaign tasks performed by

Media consultants
Direct-mail firms
Polling firms
Political technology firms

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Campaigns Today

 Expensive
$7.1 billion in 2012 campaign cycle
(combined races)
Media consultants and ads largest
campaign expense
Ads mostly target voters fears
Some work to engage positive emotions
Unclear if ads influence election outcomes

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Campaigns Today

2004-2012
Campaign
Receipts

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The 2010 Midterm Elections:

Money Raised and Spent

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2012 Campaign Spending,

Selected Items

 Better or Worse?
Extensive polling
High-tech canvassing (micro-targeting)
Campaigning = fundraising

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Campaigns Today

 Here and Abroad

U.S. elections have two crucial phases:
Getting nominated and getting elected
Requires individual effort

In most of Europe, party organization

decides
Who is allowed to run
What candidates appear on ballots

Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Campaigns Today

Presidential Race

Congressional Race

More competitive

Less Competitive

Winner usually gets less

than 55% of the vote

More voters
Held responsible by
voters

Winner usually gets over

60 % of the vote

Fewer voters (nonpresidential years)

Closer to constituents
Can deny responsibility
Incumbency advantage

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Presidential versus
Congressional Campaigns

10

 Running for President

Getting Mentioned
Money
Organization
Strategy and Themes
Tone
Theme
Timing
Target

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Presidential versus
Congressional Campaigns

11

 Getting Elected to Congress

Problems of malapportionment and
gerrymandering
Winning the primary
Staying in office

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Presidential versus
Congressional Campaigns

12

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Changes in State Representation

in the House of Representatives

13

Primary Campaign
Mobilize political
activists
Ideological extremes

General Campaign
Mobilize voters
Ideological center

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Primary versus General

Campaigns

14

 Two Kinds of Campaign Issues

Position Issues
Rival candidates have opposing views, issue
divides voters

Valence Issues
Voters are not divided on important issue,
examine whether candidate fully supports view

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Primary versus General

Campaigns

15

 Television, Debates, and Direct Mail

Television: includes paid advertisements,
making the nightly newscasts
Debates: best for lesser-known candidates
Internet: sophisticated direct-mail
campaigning (information and $)

Campaigning divorced from process

of governing

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Primary versus General

Campaigns

16

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Keeping the Ball Rolling

In the 1888 presidential campaign, supporters of Benjamin

Harrison rolled a huge ball covered with campaign slogans
across the country. The gimmick, first used in 1840, gave rise
to the phrase keep the ball rolling.

17

 The Sources of Campaign Money

Campaign Finance Rules
PACs and Super PACs
Ban on soft money
Independent expenditures
Presidential primaries
Presidential election

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Money

18

 A Second Campaign Finance Law

Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act
of 2002
Buckley v. Valeo

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Money

19

 New Sources of Money

527 organizations

Money and Winning

Not decisive factor in presidential elections
Economics
Character

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Money

20

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Growth of PACs 1979-2010

21

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Top 20 PAC Contributors to

Candidates, 2011-2012

22

 Party
Issues, Especially the Economy
Prospective voting
Retrospective voting

The Campaign
Finding a Winning Coalition
Loyalty
Importance

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What Decides the Election?

23

(1) Each dot represents a

presidential election, showing
the popular vote received by the
incumbent presidents party.
(2) 1992 data do not include
votes for independent candidate
H. Ross Perot.
(3) 2004 value on RDI is
projection from data available in
December 2004.

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The Economy and Vote for

President 19482012

24

 Election Outcomes
Trends in winning and losing
Attitudes of voters
Operation of electoral system
Fate of political parties
Direction of public policy

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The Effects of Elections

on Policy

25

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Partisan Division of the

Presidential Vote in the Nation,
1856-2012

26

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John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon debate

during the 1960 presidential campaign.

27

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Romney Secures the Needed Number of

Delegates for the Republican
Nomination

28

Click picture to play video

Taking a closer look:

1. What were the major issues during the
2012 presidential election cycle?
2. Did fundraising play a more prominent
role during this primary season?
3. What is a swing state?
4. When did you last vote? Why?

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Romney Secures the Needed Number of

Delegates for the Republican
Nomination

29