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Wave Elections In The United States
Wave elections in the United States are elections in which a political party makes major gains. Based on the "red states and blue states" color coding convention since 2000, wave elections have often been described as either a "blue wave" if the Democratic Party makes significant gains, or a "red wave" if the Republican Party wins a substantial number of seats. Wave elections usually happen during midterm elections. There is no consensus definition of what level of gains is necessary to constitute a wave election, but the most recent election year widely described as a wave election was 2018's blue wave, where the Democratic Party regained control of the House of Representatives and made a net gain of 7 seats in gubernatorial elections. Terminology Political analyst Charlie Cook describes wave elections as the result of a "overarching, nationwide dynamic," such as a high or low presidential approval rating, economic conditions, and scandals. Cook contrasts wave elections w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Politics Of The United States
The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legislative body comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate; the executive branch which is headed by the president of the United States, who serves as country's head of state and government; and the judicial branch, composed of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, and which exercises judicial power. Each of the 50 individual state governments have the power to make laws within their jurisdictions that are not granted to the federal government nor denied to the states in the U.S. Constitution. Each state also has a constitution following the pattern of the federal constitution but differing in details. Each have three branches: an executive branch headed by a governor, a legislative body, and judicial bra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incumbents
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-election or not. In some situations, there may not be an incumbent at time of an election for that office or position (ex; when a new electoral division is created), in which case the office or position is regarded as vacant or open. In the United States, an election without an incumbent is referred to as an open seat or open contest. Etymology The word "incumbent" is derived from the Latin verb ''incumbere'', literally meaning "to lean or lay upon" with the present participle stem ''incumbent-'', "leaning a variant of ''encumber,''''OED'' (1989), p. 834 while encumber is derived from the root ''cumber'', most appropriately defined: "To occupy obstructively or inconveniently; to block fill up with what hinders freedom of motion or action; t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elections In The United States
Elections in the United States are held for government officials at the federal, state, and local levels. At the federal level, the nation's head of state, the president, is elected indirectly by the people of each state, through an Electoral College. Today, these electors almost always vote with the popular vote of their state. All members of the federal legislature, the Congress, are directly elected by the people of each state. There are many elected offices at state level, each state having at least an elective governor and legislature. There are also elected offices at the local level, in counties, cities, towns, townships, boroughs, and villages; as well as for special districts and school districts which may transcend county and municipal boundaries. The country's election system is highly decentralized. While the United States Constitution does set parameters for the election of federal officials, state law, not federal, regulates most aspects of elections in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Six-year Itch
The six-year itch, according to political scientists, is the pattern which takes place during a US president's sixth year in office. This year is characterized by the nation's disgruntled attitude towards the president and their political party. During this time, there is a midterm election and the party in power usually loses a significant number of seats in Congress. History Pre-Reconstruction Prior to Reconstruction, the six-year itch saw the president's party gain seats in one house, while losing seats in the other house. Presidents before Reconstruction whose party had this occur: * 1814 – Democratic-Republican James Madison: Gained 5 seats in the House, but lost 2 seats in the Senate. * 1822 – Democratic-Republican James Monroe: Gained 34 seats in the House, while the Senate was unchanged. * 1834 – Democrat Andrew Jackson: Lost 0 seats in the House (the smallest swing in the House's history), but gained 1 seat in the Senate and gained control of the chamb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red States And Blue States
Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in blue states — in presidential and other statewide elections. Examining patterns within states reveals that the reversal of the two parties' geographic bases has happened at the state level, but it is more complicated locally, with urban-rural divides associated with many of the largest changes. All states contain considerable amounts of both liberal and conservative voters (i.e., they are "purple") and only appear blue or red on the electoral map because of the winner-take-all system used by most states in the Electoral College. However, the perception of some states as "blue" and some as "red" was reinforced by a degree of partisan stability from election to election — from the 2000 election to the 2004 election, only three states c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Party Divisions Of United States Congresses
Party divisions of United States Congresses have played a central role on the organization and operations of both chambers of the United States Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives—since its establishment as the bicameral legislature of the Federal government of the United States in 1789. Political parties had not been anticipated when the U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787, nor did they exist at the time the first Senate elections and House elections occurred in 1788 and 1789. Organized political parties developed in the U.S. in the 1790s, but political factions—from which organized parties evolved—began to appear almost immediately after the 1st Congress convened. Those who supported the Washington administration were referred to as "pro-administration" and would eventually form the Federalist Party, while those in opposition joined the emerging Democratic-Republican Party. Party divisions by Congress The following table lists the party divisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landslide Victory
A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geological landslide buries whatever is in its path. What constitutes a landslide varies by the type of electoral system. Even within an electoral system, there is no consensus on what sized margin makes for a landslide. Notable examples Argentina * 2011 Argentine general election – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of the Front for Victory won a second term as President of Argentina in a landslide victory. She received 54.11% of votes, while no other candidate received more than 16.81%. Australia State and territory elections: * 1989 Queensland state election – Wayne Goss led the Labor Party to a historic landslide victory over the Country Party (later known as the National Party) led by Russell Cooper. The Country Party had bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coattail Effect
The coattail effect or down-ballot effect is the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election. For example, in the United States, the party of a victorious presidential candidate will often win many seats in Congress as well; these Members of Congress are voted into office "on the coattails" of the president. This theory is prevalent at all levels of government. Popular statewide candidates for governor or senator can attract support for down ballot races of their party as well. This is prevalent in the United Kingdom and Canada especially in a general election. People have a tendency to vote on the basis of a political party instead of the MP for their area. This also refers to the phenomenon that members of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives are more likely to be voted for on a year of the presidential election than a midterm. The "coattail effect" is not usually caused by popular candidates c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midterm Elections
Apart from general elections and by-elections, midterm election refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the term of the executive. This is usually used to describe elections to a governmental body (generally a legislature) that are staggered so that the number of offices of that body would not be up for election at the same time. Only a fraction of a body seats are up for election while others are not until the terms of the next set of members are to expire. The legislators may have the same or longer fixed term of office as the executive, which facilitates an election midterm of the tenure of the higher office. In the United States, the president and vice president are elected every four years in indirect ( electoral college) presidential elections. The legislative bodies of the United States are the Senate (which serves six-year terms) and House ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Presidential Elections
The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not directly for those offices, but instead for members of the Electoral College. These electors then cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for president, and for vice president. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes (at least 270 out of 538, since the Twenty-Third Amendment granted voting rights to citizens of D.C.) is then elected to that office. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of the votes for president, the House of Representatives elects the president; likewise if no one receives an absolute majority of the votes for vice president, then the Senate elects the vice president. In contrast to the presidential elections of many republics around the world (operating under either the presidenti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landslide Election
A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geological landslide buries whatever is in its path. What constitutes a landslide varies by the type of electoral system. Even within an electoral system, there is no consensus on what sized margin makes for a landslide. Notable examples Argentina * 2011 Argentine general election – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of the Front for Victory won a second term as President of Argentina in a landslide victory. She received 54.11% of votes, while no other candidate received more than 16.81%. Australia State and territory elections: * 1989 Queensland state election – Wayne Goss led the Labor Party to a historic landslide victory over the Country Party (later known as the National Party) led by Russell Cooper. The Country Party had been in po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redistricting
Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral district boundaries, usually in response to periodic census results. Redistribution is required by law or constitution at least every decade in most representative democracy systems that use first-past-the-post or similar electoral systems to prevent geographic malapportionment. The act of manipulation of electoral districts to favour a candidate or party is called gerrymandering. Australia In Australia, redistributions are carried out by independent and non-partisan commissioners in the Commonwealth, and in each state or territory. The various electoral acts require the population of each seat to be equal, within certain strictly limited variations. The longest period between two redistributions can be no greater than seven years. Many oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
