POLI 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Incumbent, Proportional Representation
4 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Roots of american elections: purposes of elections. Proof of popular sovereignty, or consent of the governed. Electorate, or citizens eligible to vote, judge those in power. Elections provide voters a choice in policy. Winners claim a mandate or command from the voters to enact their policy platform: types of elections. Closed primaries- only voters registered w a particular party can vote. Open primaries- independent voters and voters registered with the opposing party can vote: crossover voting- voting from party to party. Runoff primary- vote between the top 2 vote getters in the primary elections (primary fails to produce a winner) All registered votes participate and vote for whomever their want. Voters can remove an incumbent from office. States get to choose their own way to vote. Caucus- became open in recent years but they were closed. Can give frontrunner advantage: getting traction early on can change the mind of voters, selecting a president: the electoral college.
