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Campaigns, Elections, and the Threat to Democracy: What Everyone Needs to Know® 2nd Edition Dennis W. Johnson full chapter instant download
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CAMPAIGNS, ELECTIONS, AND
THE THREAT TO DEMOCRACY
WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW®
CAMPAIGNS,
ELECTIONS, AND
THE THREAT
TO DEMOCRACY
WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW®
2nd Edition
DENNIS W. JOHNSON
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and educationby publishing worldwide.
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Paperback printed by Lakeside Book Company, United States of America
Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America
For Pat, with all my love
CONTENTS
How do some states gain and some states lose congressional seats
following reapportionment? 24
Why has redistricting been such a problem? 26
What are the requirements for creating legislative districts? 28
Who makes the decision about redistricting legislative districts? 28
What is partisan “gerrymandering”? How far can it go before it is
unconstitutional? 29
Has there been any attempt to take redistricting and gerrymandering
out of the hands of partisan legislators? 32
Why do all states get two senators no matter how big—or
small—they are? 33
When did the two major political parties play an important role in
elections and campaigns? 35
The South was once very Democratic but now is largely Republican.
What happened? 36
Contents ix
5 Presidential Elections 65
Can anyone run for president, or is that just an old American myth? 65
Why do presidential elections last so long? 66
Why do we have so many primaries and caucuses? 67
What’s the difference between a caucus and a primary? 68
Why does Iowa go first? 70
How do you become a party delegate? What’s a “superdelegate”? 71
What is the Electoral College and how does it work? 72
Why did the Founding Fathers decide that we needed the Electoral
College to determine presidential elections? 75
Who are the electors, and how do you get to be one? 76
What if “faithless” electors refuse to vote for the winner of the
popular ballot? 77
What if the president-elect dies before the Electoral College meets? 78
What happens if no candidate receives 270 votes when the Electoral
College tallies the votes? 79
What’s the “winner-take-all” system? 81
What is a “battleground” state? 82
What states have had the most consistent record in voting on the
winning side of presidential elections? 82
How close have recent presidential contests been? 83
What about third-party candidates, with no chance of winning,
acting as spoilers? 83
How much money is spent in presidential elections? Do the
candidates (and their allies) who spend the most money always win? 85
What kinds of reforms have been suggested for our lengthy primary
and caucus season? 86
Why don’t we just have a nationwide election where whoever gets
the most votes wins, and not worry about the Electoral College vote? 88
What is the idea of a national popular-vote compact? 89
Contents xi
How well has the FEC performed its job of enforcing campaign-
finance rules? 143
Didn’t the IRS get in trouble for trying to oversee these organizations? 144
Where does all that campaign money go? 144
What are the most expensive campaigns at the federal (but not
presidential) level? 145
Do candidates who amass the most money always win? 147
What about self-funded candidates? 147
Where are we now with federal campaign laws? 149
Why can’t candidates just run on their own, without the need for
consultants and handlers? 151
What are the key elements of any successful political campaign? 152
What do you mean by political consultants, and what kinds of
services do they provide? 154
What do media consultants provide? 154
What do pollsters do for a campaign? 155
How much information do political campaigns have on the average
voter? 156
Who have been some of the most important political consultants
over the years, and where are they now? 157
In 2016, it was Hillary Clinton’s race to lose. How did her consultants
and strategists get it wrong, and did Trump show that consultants
aren’t all that necessary or smart in getting a candidate elected? 158
What about Trump versus Biden in 2020? How did the campaign
strategies fare? 161
NOTES 213
FURTHER READING 239
INDEX 241
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION: WHY
YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CAMPAIGNS,
ELECTIONS, AND THE THREAT
TO DEMOCRACY