Dilan Muheddin – A2 Government & Politics
Consider the strengths and weaknesses of elections within the United States Introduction Elections are most certainly great important within any democratic country due to the fact it provides the opportunity for ordinary citizens with a country to actively participate in choosing a leader for the government. This tends to work by maintaining representative democracy through casting their vote for a particular party that they believe will embody their views. This shows that elections are therefore vital within America giving individuals the opportunity to participate effectively in American politics as by voting they are creating a government, ensuring the representation and upholding the legitimacy. In terms of the US elections they involve a lengthy process but at the same time extremely important with primaries and caucuses, national convention, election campaigns and the Electoral College. This essay will explore the various advantages and disadvantages of the electoral system in United States which can result in some people questioning the efficiency of elections in the US. Advantages and disadvantages primaries and caucuses Caucuses and primaries are of great importance within the US election system, ‘caucuses are a series of state based meetings of party activists who come together and will indicate their preference for the candidates and try to persuade others to side with the candidate their representing’1. According to Colleen Harris, caucuses are not democratic as the voters are much more likely to be extreme activists operating in the smoke-‐filled room style of machine politics. This shows that there is a evident disadvantage of the US election process with it leading to more extreme views being represented when not the majority of Americans will hold this view. In addition, Edward Ashbee argues that it makes it harder for the parents for those that are disabled and people who work late to participate due to the fact you do not just vote you have to attend and deliberate in person as ‘this makes it hard for the population to participate’2. In contrast there are also advantages that associate with caucuses as it can give momentum to a Presidential candidate which was evident ‘in the first one which was traditionally held in Iowa 2008 which had resulted in Obama gaining a momentum’3. In terms of the phrase ‘momentum’ Colleen Harris defines it to be ‘Big Mo’ as it refers to the support after wins in the invisible primary, early primary and causes as a result, using the example of Barrack Obama in 2008 he had gained media recognition as he began to feature in exclusive stories with Time magazine and The New York post. One might argue that this does in fact put a candidate at a serious advantage over their rivals as the portrayed ideal candidate would be making the headlines for all the right reasons. On the other hand a candidate who fails to 1
AQA Government and Politics A2 United 3A – The Politics of USA Page 9 by Colleen Harris Politics Review – Volume 19: No 2 (Nov 2009) Page 12 – The Electoral Process by Edward Ashbee 3 Ibid Page 13 2
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Dilan Muheddin – A2 Government & Politics
achieve or sustain a momentum during a caucuses could result in them pulling out early or having a dramatic effect on their campaign for election. Primaries are ‘intra-‐party state elections to select the party’s nominee for te presidential election and are now held in the majority as well as carrying the function to show popularity to a presidential candidate and choose delegates to go to the National Party Conventions’4. They are under state law which means that there are large amounts of variations which provides accountability for how they run and the national parties will usually lay down the earliest and latest possible dates. However, some states such as ‘New Hampshire schedule their primaries on days when no others are being hld in the hope it will give their candidate prominence’5. Colleen Harris argues that every President had won the primary but since then it a few leaders have lost out to it for example George W Bush in 2000 and Barrack Obama in 2008. Ashbee also states that there has been a rapid increase in the use of super Tuesdays which was seen in 2008 where a number of states put their primary on the fir Tuesday in February alongside the increase in front loading where they schedule their primaries as early as possible to give the greatest influence. This is important because it shows ‘great amount of influence that primaries now have with states being a lot more tactical in which they hold them to have the greatest influence’6. Within the use of primaries there are a variety of advantages and disadvantages about the use of primaries in nominating candidates. First of all, unlike caucuses they provide a democratic choice for voters, end the smoke filled room Politics and decrease the power that party bosses have. This was certainly reflected in the fact with ‘1950s and 1960s candidate selection being controlled by State Party Conventions’7. As a result, the introduction of primaries has meant that more power has been given to the people and has made the whole nomination process a lot more democratic. Also, they ‘help produce candidates that have nation appeal who have the ability to win in different regions of the country’8. Using the example of ‘Bill Clinton in 1992 who was a Southern Democrat and showed his appeal in the liberal states’9.With Bill Clinton it shows that primaries help to produce well rounded candidates who have the opportunity to be successful in the future. In addition Colleen Harris argues that they also create the idea of political Darwinism where the weaker candidates who have little chance of winning a presidential election fail to gain momentum in primaries as a result, this means that primaries can effectively get rid of the candidates who would not be fit to run America. In regard to this debate it had been said that ‘they also mean the democratic process is able to start a lot sooner than it would with 4
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US Government & Politics 3 Edition – Chapter 2 Page 44 by Anthony Bennett Politics Review (Sep 2009) No:2 Page 12 – The Electoral Process – by Edward Ashbee 6 Ibid Page 12 7 Ibid 12 8 The New York Times – Primaries in USA by David W. Chen -‐ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/nyregion/2013-‐new-‐york-‐primary-‐voting-‐requires-‐any-‐party-‐changes-‐ by-‐oct-‐12.html?_r=0 9 Ibid -‐ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/nyregion/2013-‐new-‐york-‐primary-‐voting-‐requires-‐any-‐party-‐ changes-‐by-‐oct-‐12.html?_r=0 5
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Dilan Muheddin – A2 Government & Politics
the absence of primaries’10 This is because individuals are able to vote in a democratic primary and select the candidate as they wish to nominate creating a greater deal of democracy. To finalise the points of advantages would be that it has ‘allowed the process to be open to outsiders who previously would have not have the chance’11. The recent example of this would be Barrack Obama in 2008 as he wouldn’t have had a chance without the publicity that he got winning the primaries. Conclusively all these points show how primaries within the US election process can have a range of advantages to making the process run a lot more effectively and democratically. On the other hand there are also a handful of disadvantage in the use of primaries being used to nominate candidates for elections. Firstly one problem is that the primary process goes on far too long with invisible primaries ‘creating a situation of permanent campaigning which means that voters lose interest’12. Political scientist Micheal Parenti argues that there are two primaries before the actual vote which is the money primary and the media primary as a result, he refers to the processing being lengthy and the amount of money that it costs presents large amounts of problems for independent candidates or minor party candidates who may have to drop out due to the fact they do not have enough money. In addition, another problem would be that there is often a widespread voter apathy with turnout in primary election ‘only ever being around 17%’13. As a result this questions the effectiveness of primaries with the turnout being at a low does indicate that people’s views are actually not getting effectively represented. Also prior to reform ‘presidential candidates were chosen by professional politicians who were able to use peer review’14. Peer review brings about an effective test of presidential qualities and before reform the colleagues had a good idea of the qualities needed as a president. This demonstrates that primaries and caucuses are of great importance within the US election system and, they clearly have a range of advantages and disadvantage of primaries and causes with a similar feeling that they should be used or one could argue that they hold not much effectiveness. National Party Conventions strengths and weaknesses ‘National Party Conventions are held by parties and are the ends to the nominating process for a candidate’15. In recent years they have become less important due to the fact primaries now have the job of nominating candidates and they are therefore now just there to ‘crown the candidate rather than choosing the candidate as they usually last for 4 days and each evening has a them and prime speaker’16. Using the example the first evening of the Democratic Convention was entitles ‘One Nation’ and focussed on Obama’s story with 10
Politics Review (Oct 2009) No:2 Page 17 – Primaries & Caucuses by Edward Ashbee The Economist – Primaries and Elections – by Boca Raton -‐ http://www.economist.com/node/21552584 12 nd US & Comparative Government & Politics 2 Edition – Chapter 2 Page 36 by Anthony Bennett 13 AQA Government & Politics – A2 Unit 3A – The Politics of USA – Page 10 by Colleen Harris 14 Ibid Page 14 15 Ibid Page 11 16 Ibid Page 12 11
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Dilan Muheddin – A2 Government & Politics
his wife Michelle Obama being the prime-‐time speaker. In terms of their advantages they help to confirm the party’s presidential candidate with people arriving at the conventions as committed delegates so it helps to ensure that a specific candidate goes onto the election. In addition they have an advantage in that it helps ‘choose the party platform which is a a document containing policies that the candidate intends to pursure if they are elected president’17. The party platform is similar to that of the UK where they have a manifesto in time of the campaign to which they confirm their party policies for the public to explore but in America they party platform tends to be an unwritten one to that of the UK. But in the USA this shows that national conventions have a key advantage in that they give the opportunity for candidates to come up with policies to get them on side with the American electorate. Furthermore they help to ‘promote party unity after primaries which can turn into bitter personal battles so the conventions gives one the opportunity to heal the wounds that was created in the primaries’18. In addition in the 2008 Democratic convention it was very important that the party portrayed a united front following the bitter personal rivalry in the primaries between Obama and Clinton as a result, the National convention provides an effective way to reunite the part after this rivalry. And they also help to enthuse the party to get them ready for the challenging election that will come ahead. Edward Ashbee continues to argue that they still play a pivotal role in determining the policies that will be included in the party platform, setting the tone for the subsequent election campaign, attracting media coverage and providing a springboard that supports hope will enable their candidate to secure victory in November. The Election Campaign advantages and disadvantages Election campaigns are a great importance within the US election process and they do present some key strengths and weaknesses as they involve fiancé and the influence of the media all of which that come with advantages and disadvantages. Firstly the origins of the election campaign can be traced to when they were ‘financed by private donations to a candidate’s campaign or by the politician combining such contributions with his or her own personal resources’19. Using the example of the Watergate revelations they did introduce the ‘Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974’20 which included limits on contributions and spending by congressional candidates, a system of public finacing through taxpayer funding with linked to spending and contribution limits for presidential campaigns. The significance of this would be that it shows how the finance system is very effective as it regulated to ensure that election funding is fair with everyone having equal opportunities. But, ‘organisations or individuals can spend money on behalf of candidate or fund a campaign that makes one look bad’21. This was seen with George W Bush ‘Willie Horton revolving door 17
Ibid Page 12 Politics Review (Oct2011) No:2 Page 17 – Elections within US – Edward Ashbee 19 rd US Government & Politics 3 Edition – Chapter 2 Page 64 by Anthony Bennett 20 Ibid Page 64 21 Ibid Page 65 18
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Dilan Muheddin – A2 Government & Politics
advert in 198822. This signifies that money can be used as a way to can and loose support within the election campaign which presents a problem for candidates that may not have as much money. This does illustrate some of the problems with the US election system with certain figures in society being able to but their influence over campaigns. Furthermore the media within campaigns is very significance as it brings a range of strengths and weaknesses to the US election process. Colleen Harris argues that ‘America is the best democracy money can buy due to its media input’ and this emphasises on how the media such as newspapers have a great deal of influence over the election process with newspapers such as the Washington Post and the New York times reporting on campaigns but also containing analysis on a potential candidate. Using the example of ‘Barrack Obama making it into Time magazine twice during the election campaign’23 this indicates that there is a clear advantage of US elections due to the fact the media can help direct a way for candidates to be voted during an election. It is important to note the importance of television can bring strengths of the US election process as shows that include ABC, CNN are all shows which are able to report on a candidate and how they are doing in the process as a result, this was evident in ‘2000 where Al Gore and Bush appeared in the Oprah Winfrey Show and in 20008 Oprah made specific endorsement of Barrack Obama’24. This signifies that a clear success within US elections with the candidates having the opportunity to do better by appearing on chat shows and getting themselves on television but the role of the can most certainly prove to be beneficial in candidates that are shown in a good light but for those it can be disastrous. One might argue that the ability of candidates to spend on television can be unbalance and this was evident during the 2008 election when Obama was able to ‘significantly outspend his rival John McCain on television advertising’25. This presents that there is a problem with the influence of the media in election as soem candidates may not have the funs for an effective campaign which could result in them loosing the campaign. In terms of the origins of television debate it was John F Kennedy in 1960 who ‘significantly Nixon suffered due to being portrayed poorly through the eyes of the media’26. This is partly because JFK took advantage of using the television debate and appealing to the vast majority of electorates in the USA. As a result this does show that there is a problem with US elections with it being too dominated by the media without the media support one can be doomed to fail. Conclusion In summary, it does seem clear that US elections are very important and vary out some major functions and there are some clear strengths and weaknesses within the US elections as you go through the numerous stages. The primaries and caucuses help the electoral 22
Ibid Page 69 AQA Government & Politics – The Politics of USA – Page 15 by Colleen Harris 24 Ibid Page 15 25 Ibid Page 16 26 rd US Government & Politics 3 Edition – Chapter 2 Page 50 – by Anthony Bennett 23
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Dilan Muheddin – A2 Government & Politics
process to be a lot more democratic but at the same time present their problems in low turnout and do lack the expertise for the electorate. The national conventions present their strengths in that they do maintain the party united and get them prepared for any future election but do weaken them by not carrying out formal function. As mentioned above the election campaigns themselves although d provide candidate with a dominated appeal to ones characteristics are dominated far too much in the USA. My judgement is that Colleen Harris puts America in a fantastic perspective by describing it to be ‘The best democracy money can buy’ and ‘money doesn’t talk, it shouts’. Bibliography Academic Resources US Government & Politics 3rd Edition by Anthony Bennett AQA Government & Politics – The Politics of USA – by Colleen Harris US Comparative Government & Politics 2nd Edition – by Anthony Bennett Politics Review (September 2009) No:2 by Edward Ashbee Politics Review (November 2009) No:2 by Edward Ashbee Politics Review (October 2011) No:2 – Elections within US – Edward Ashbee The New York Times – Primaries in USA by David W. Chen -‐ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/nyregion/2013-‐new-‐york-‐primary-‐voting-‐requires-‐ any-‐party-‐changes-‐by-‐oct-‐12.html?_r=0 Politics Review (Oct2011) No:2 Page 17 – Elections within US – Edward Ashbee
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