Campaigns and Elections: What Everyone Needs to Know(r)

Description

Frequent and fair elections, open to all, are fundamental elements of a democracy. The United States, through its local, state, and national contests, holds more elections, more often, than any other democracy in the world. But in recent years, there have been troubling signs that our system of campaigns and elections has become much more fragile than we had previously thought. More specifically, in the past twenty years, campaigns have changed profoundly: social media and viral messaging compete with traditional media, races once considered local in nature have become nationalized, Supreme Court decisions on campaign finance law now encourage mega-donors, voters are more polarized, party affiliation has waned, and the middle ideological ground has given way to extremist language and voter rage. Twice in sixteen years we have seen winning presidential candidates gaining fewer popular votes than their opponents. The fundamental right of every citizen to vote has been impeded by state legislatures demanding tighter access, more identification, and accusations of voter fraud. And we have faced the real threat of foreign influence in our national elections. This book offers the most up-to-date examination of campaigns and elections, including the challenges and opportunities they present. It addresses fundamental questions about who votes in American elections, how legislative districts are reapportioned and why it matters, the realities of voter fraud, the pros and cons of reforming the Electoral College, the impact of dark money on campaigns, and the role of political consultants and specialists, among other topics. Given the fragility of our election process, what are the threats to a healthy American democracy? Do the candidates with the most money always win? This is not simply a book on how campaigns are run, but why campaigns and elections are integral components of American democracy and how those fundamental elements may be vulnerable to misuse. Cover Campaigns and Elections Copyright Dedication Contents Preface: Why You Need to Know About Campaigns and Elections Acknowledgments 1 Voting and Participation How does the United States conduct elections? What’s the historical background on the right to vote in America? Why was the Voting Rights Act of 1965 important? What’s the importance of the 2013 Shelby decision? Are the Voting Rights Act protections needed today? What about voter suppression? Who votes more, men or women? Why is there a gap between the voting participation of women and men? What about Millennials? What are the rates of voting for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans? And what was the racial makeup of those who voted in recent elections? Have there been efforts to diminish voting participation? Do convicted felons ever get back the right to vote? Why do so few voters participate in elections, especially in state and local contests? Compared to other democracies, how does the United States rank in terms of voting participation? What would happen if every American adult were required to vote, as in some other countries? After the 2000 presidential election exposed problems in local voting systems, Congress passed legislation to make sweeping reforms in the administration of voting procedures. Has that made any difference? How vulnerable are state and local voting procedures to hacking and cyber threats? How accurate are voting records? Can a person be kicked off the voting rolls for failing to vote in previous elections? How have mail-​in ballots, absentee-​ballot voting systems, and early voting worked out? Is there widespread voting fraud today? Why did President Trump order an investigation into alleged voter fraud, and what did the Voter Fraud Commission find? 2 Carving Out Legislative Districts How do some states gain and some states lose congressional seats following reapportionment? Why has redistricting been such a problem? What are the requirements for creating legislative districts? Who makes the decision about redistricting legislative districts? What is partisan “gerrymandering”? How far can it go before it is unconstitutional? Has there been any attempt to take redistricting and gerrymandering out of the hands of partisan legislators? Why do all states get two senators no matter how big—​or small—​they are? 3 Political Parties and Elections When did the two major political parties play an important role in elections and campaigns? The South was once very Democratic but now is largely Republican. What happened? What’s the difference between Republicans and Democrats? Why are we so polarized today? How much disagreement is there within the political parties? Who has more followers, Democrats, Republicans, or independents? How did we get the labels “red states” and “blue states”? Where do we find the heaviest concentrations of Republicans and Democrats? Wasn’t the Tea Party a separate political party? Do other political parties get involved in presidential elections? Have the political parties surrendered their role in campaigning to wealthy donors and super PACs? What’s happened to the Democratic Party and the Republican Party? 4 Statewide, Local, and Congressional Elections How many state and local elections are there? What are the rules and regulations controlling campaign financing at the state and local levels? How do local candidates get out the message and let voters know about themselves? Are more women running for political office than in previous years? Does it cost a lot for local candidates to run for office? Do states have public financing laws and, if so, what offices do they apply to? How can an average citizen help a candidate or a cause at the local level? Electing judges has become more and more like electing regular political candidates. Is there any danger to this? Congressional incumbents hardly ever lose when they are up for re-​election. Why is that so? You are kidding about elections for dogcatcher, aren’t you? 5 Presidential Elections Can anyone run for president, or is that just an old American myth? Why do presidential elections last so long? Why do we have so many primaries and caucuses? What’s the difference between a caucus and a primary? Why does Iowa go first? How do you become a party delegate? What’s a “superdelegate”? What is the electoral college and how does it work? Why did the Founding Fathers decide that we needed the electoral college to determine presidential elections? Who are the electors, and how do you get to be one? What if “faithless” electors refuse to vote for the winner of the popular ballot? What if the president-​elect dies before the electoral college meets? What happens if no candidate receives 270 votes when the electoral college tallies the votes? What’s the “winner-​take-​all” system? What is a “battleground” state? What was the Democrats’ “Blue Wall”? How close have recent presidential contests been? What about third-​party candidates, with no chance of winning, acting as spoilers? How much money is spent in presidential elections? Do the candidates (and their allies) who spend the most money always win? What kinds of reforms have been suggested for our lengthy primary and caucus season? Why don’t we just have a nationwide election where whoever gets the most votes wins, and not worry about the electoral college vote? What is the idea of a national popular-​vote compact? 6 Money, Mega-​Donors, and Wide-​Open Spending What federal rules and regulations controlled campaign financing before 1971? What did the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 do? Can individual candidates spend as much as they want on their own campaigns? What’s the difference between “hard” money and “soft” money? What are political action committees (PACs)? What did the McCain-​Feingold Act do to fix campaign-​finance problems? What do organizations do to get around campaign funding restrictions? How did the Supreme Court undo campaign-​finance reform in Citizens United and subsequent cases? What are 501(c) groups, and how do they impact campaign spending? How do super PACs differ from ordinary PACs? What is “dark money” and how important has it been in recent elections? Who are the top individual mega-​donors, how much have they spent, and where do they stand politically? What about regular people? Do they give money to political candidates? How well has the FEC performed its job of enforcing campaign-​finance rules? Didn’t the IRS get in trouble for trying to oversee these organizations? Where does all that campaign money go? What are the most expensive campaigns at the federal (but not presidential) level? Do candidates who amass the most money always win? What about self-​funded candidates? Where are we now with federal campaign laws? 7 Inner Workings of Modern Campaigns Why can’t candidates just run on their own, without the need for consultants and handlers? What are the key elements of any successful political campaign? What do you mean by political consultants, and what kinds of services do they provide? What do media consultants provide? What do pollsters do for a campaign? How much information do political campaigns have on the average voter? Who have been some of the most important political consultants over the years, and where are they now? Hillary Clinton had the best team of consultants available; Donald Trump’s group was best described as “junior varsity.” Did Trump show that consultants aren’t all that necessary or smart in getting a candidate elected? 8 Direct Democracy—​Ballot Campaigns When and why did ballot campaigns become a part of American politics? What’s the difference between initiatives, referendums, and recalls? What states have direct democracy through ballot campaigns? What about at the local level? How do political consultants get involved in ballot issues? What was California’s Proposition 13? How many people are affected by ballot initiatives? How much money is spent on ballot campaigns, and who spends the money? How successful are ballot issues? What is “choice fatigue”? What are the downsides of ballot initiatives and direct democracy? Is there a federal recall mechanism? Can voters recall a member of Congress, a cabinet member, or the president? What about a national referendum? Is it allowed in the Constitution? What might the ramifications of a nationwide ballot initiative be? 9 How Campaigns Have Changed Federal candidates now say, “I’m [name] and I approve this message.” When did that become a part of campaigning, and why? How has the digital revolution changed campaigning? Is regular television dead, or is there still room for national and local television news coverage in our digital age? There is more polling done today than ever before. Is it worthwhile, and is it more accurate than past polling? Has early voting changed the way campaigns are run? Has early voting been good for voters and for democracy? How have outside voices expanded their impact on campaigns? In sum, how have campaigns been transformed since the twentieth century in the first two decades of the twenty-​first century? 10 Threats to Democracy Is voter suppression real? Why don’t more citizens participate in voting? Is registration the barrier? What about voter apathy, especially among young voters? Why not hold general elections on the weekend or make Election Day a holiday? Can our election process be trusted? How confident should we be about our decentralized election system? How can we combat “fake news” and social media lies? Do plutocrats control our elections? Many consider the current campaign-​financing system to be a mess. Is there any way to reform it? How can citizens find out which groups gave money to political candidates? For example, who received money from tobacco companies, pro-​choice organizations, from unions, or from the National Rifle Association? Notes Further Reading Index