The United States Presidential
Election
Introduction
•
The
United States is a Federal Constitutional Republic which is broken up into 3
branches:
–
Executive
–
Legislative
–
Judiciary
Federal
government shares power with the state authorities.
Executive Branch
President
·
President
is the head of state and the government, the military commander in chief and
head diplomat.
·
His
main job is to defend and uphold the constitution and oversee the executive
branch and staff.
·
He
can sign laws or veto laws passed by Congress.
·
He
may sign treaties with other countries.
Vice
President
·
Second
highest ranking official in the gov. 1st
in line of succession if something happens to the president.
·
Can
vote in the Senate in the case of a tie and is the head of the Senate.
Secretary
of State
·
Chief
executive officer in the department of state.
·
Third
highest official.
·
Serves
as the chief advisor on US foreign policy
·
Represents
the US at international events and conducts negotiations
·
Directs
US overseas government.
Legislative Branch
Congress
House
of Representatives
·
Currently
435 voting members which represent a district in the United States.
·
Serve
2 year terms
·
Create
the first draft of laws
·
Approve
and pass laws with the senate
·
Impeach
Presidents and make them go to trial in the senate.
Senate
·
2
representatives from each state: 100 members which serve six year terms. Elected to positions.
·
Gives
advice and consent to President and for Presidential appointments in his
cabinet
·
Approve
and pass laws with the senate
·
Power
to impeach Presidents through a court process, happened with Bill Clinton
Judicial Branch
Supreme
Court
·
Appointed
by the President and approved by the Senate.
·
There
are nine judges who are appointed for life.
·
Upholds
the Constitution and listens to cases that were brought up from appeal.
·
Highest
court in the United States
State
vs. Federal
•
Establish
local governments
•
Issue
licenses (driver, hunting, marriage, etc.)
•
Oversee
commerce within the state.
•
Conduct
elections
•
Ratify
amendments to the U.S. Constitution
•
Provide
for public health and safety
•
Set
drinking or smoking age etc.
FEDERAL
•
Print
money (bills and coins)
•
Declare
war
•
Establish
an army and navy
•
Enter
into treaties with foreign governments
•
Regulate
commerce between states and international trade
•
Establish
post offices and issue postage
•
Make
laws necessary to enforce the Constitution
-
The
State vs. Federal argument is a hot topic, as many people want the Federal
government out of the job as the main governing party and they believe that in
a country so big and diverse, each state should have the power to run its own
government and make its own laws.
Political
Parties
The
political system in America is largely two party system, meaning that even
though there are other political parties, only Democrats and Republicans have
had Presidents. Other parties that have
standing are the Libertarian party which believes in break from government and
the green party which is similar to the one in France.
-
Democratic Party
•
Founded in 1828
•
The
socially liberal and progressive political party.
•
Placed
center-left on the US political scale.
•
President
Obama is the 15th democratic United States President.
•
Famous
Democratics include Franklin D. Roosevelt and JFK
•
Main
platforms include socialized health care, increased peaceful foreign policy,
public school funding, access to family planning for women, and tax increases
for the rich.
-
Republican Party
·
Founded
in 1854 and is nicknamed the GOP
·
Conservative
party that favors an open capitalist economy (free market) and states’ rights.
·
Placed
on the far right of the United States political scale.
·
Famous
Republicans include Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
·
Main
platforms include pro life accordance, tax cuts for big business, protection of
marriage, upholding of the Second Amendment that gives the right to hold arms,
military increase, immigration
Electoral
College
-
538
total votes, 270 needed to win the Presidency.
-
Electoral
voters are chosen by the states and D.C.
-
Most
states follow a winner take all policy.
-
Electoral
voters are not obligated to vote with the popular vote.
-
Critics
believe that this system is undemocratic and gives swing states too much say in
the voting process.
Recent
Elections
November
7th 2000: Bush vs. Gore
•
One
of the most controversial elections in history.
•
The
awarding of the 25 electoral votes of Florida changed the outcome.
•
4th
time in history that a president was elected who did not win the popular vote.
•
Decision
for a recount went to the Supreme Court and the result was upheld on a 7-2
vote.
•
Some
media outlets reported that Gore had one because of exit polls while other
stations reported Bush as the winner.
•
Brought
a change in voting technology.
November
2nd 2004: Bush vs. Kerry
•
Foreign
policy was the main topic of debate, especially the Iraq war.
•
Democratic
candidate Kerry was viewed as a “flip-flopper.”
•
Re-election
of incumbent presidents is extremely common in times of war.
November
4th 2008: Obama vs. McCain
•
Extremely
high voter turnout and large celebrity support.
•
Social media was used as a major campaign tool
for the first time.
•
Nebraska
did not give all of their votes to one candidate, Obama received 1 of the
5.
Campaign
Ads
-
Advertisements
play on public and private television in the United States and are paid for by
the political parties that are running.
-
Advertisements
can be negative towards the other candidate and the closer to Election Day, the
more frequently advertisements run.
For
Obama
•
Spent $457.6 million on ads (Washington Post)
•
In Ohio spent $72,762,477
•
Big topics include:
•
Health Care
•
Foreign Policy
•
Women’s Rights
•
Taxes
•
Job
Creation for a Middle Class
·
Spent
$356.8 million on ads (Washington Post)
·
In Ohio spent $43,198,708
·
Big topics include:
• Cutting
health care
• Religious
platform
• Tax
cuts
• Foreign
Policy in Israel
• Economy
Celebrity
Influence
Celebrities
in the United States come out and support publically their candidate, sometimes
in surprising and extreme ways.
How
does it work?
•
On
Election Day, people go to vote in public voting areas.
•
In
some states voting is done by mail.
•
Votes
are counted and electoral voters cast their vote to elect the President.
•
New
President is inagurated January 20th
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