Campaigns and Elections

Explore each section in the tabs below to learn more.

Stage One: Exploratory Phase
Stage Two: Primary Phase
Stage Three: General Election

Election Time

Choose each tab above to learn more about the stages of Campaigns and Elections.

Stage One: Exploratory Phase

The candidate has to decide if they are financially capable of maintaining a campaign. They also have to think about their personal lives and the impact on their family and loved ones. Potential candidates also have to really question if they think they can actually win.

Stage Two: Primary Phase

There are two types of primaries:

Open Primary: Voter doesn't have to be a registered member of a party in order to vote.
Closed Primary: Voter does have to be a registered member of a party in order to vote.

Stage Three: General Election

The nominee of each of the two major parties is trying to win the election.

Presidential elections happen every four years and congressional elections happen every 2 years. Presidential elections are typically more competitive than congressional elections. Incumbents are usually very hard to defeat in congressional elections due to name recognition, pork-barrel politics and political action committees (PACs). In addition, if a popular president is elected, then voters tend to support congressional candidates from the same party. This is known as the theory of presidential coat-tails.

The expansion of political participation was impacted by the following amendments:

Fifteenth : African-American males can vote
Seventeenth : Direct election of senators
Nineteenth : Women's right to vote
Twenty-Fourth : Eliminated poll taxes
Twenty-Sixth : 18 year olds can vote

Political model explaining voting behavior:

Rational- Choice voting| Theory that states individuals will make logical decisions when voting.
Retrospective Voting| Theory that states individuals are more concerned with policy outcomes when voting.
Prospective Voting| Theory that states individuals will vote for a candidate who will be best for the country in the next few years.
Party-line voting| To vote in a way that best supports the opinion of your political party.

Factors influencing voter choice include:

Party identification and ideological orientation
Candidate characteristics
Contemporary political issues
Religious beliefs or affiliation, gender, race and ethnicity, and other demographic
characteristics
Mobilization and education of voters
Party platforms
Candidate recruitment
Campaign management, including fundraising and media strategy
The committee and party leadership systems in legislatures

The functions and impact of political parties on the electorate and government are represented by:

The structure of parties has been influenced by:

Critical elections and regional realignments
Campaign finance law
Changes in communication and data-management technology

Interest group Influence may impacted by:

Inequality of political and economic resources
Unequal access to decision makers
"Free rider" problem

The process and outcomes in U.S. presidential elections are impacted by:

Incumbency advantage phenomenon
Open and closed primaries
Caucuses
Party conventions
Congressional and State elections
The Electoral College

The benefits and drawbacks of modern campaigns are represented by:

Dependence on professional consultants
Rising campaign costs and intensive fundraising efforts
Duration of election cycles
Impact of and reliance on social media for campaign communication and fundraising

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS