Agenda Today

• Announcements

• Lecture:

    - Is the US a democracy?
    - Elections and federalism

Agenday Wednesday

• Announcements

• Lecture:

    - Political parties
    - Presidential nominating conventions

Announcements

• Module 2 Quiz next week, online

• No class next Monday (October 13)

• No office hours next week

• Module 2 Quiz update

    - Book questions: 3 over Congress, 5 over parties and campaigns, 3 over public opinion
    - Lecture questions: 6 questions over the lecture topics
    - Congress lecture will take place after the quiz during Module 3 time
    - I will post study questions and practice exam by Thursday night/Friday early morning

Is the United States a democracy?

• What is a democracy?
• The right wing critique: Democracy is bad (or not important) and the United States is a Republic not a Democracy (based on James Madison’s and Aristotle’s definitions of democracy)
• The left wing critique: Democracy is good and the United States fails to meet democratic standards (Assorted)

What is a Democracy?

• Accurate understanding requires definition

• Word roots:

            + demos: the people
            + cracy: a form of government

Democracy - rule by the people

Republic

• Republic

    - not a monarchy
    - res publica - political power resides in the public
    - a form of government in which the country is considered a "public matter" - not the private concern or property of the rulers

Democracy vs. Republic: Questions

• Can a country be a democracy and not a republic?

• Can a country be a republic and not a democracy?

• Can a country be both a republic and a democracy?

• Can a country be neither a republic nor a democracy?

Democracy or Not Democracy

• United Kingdom
• Sweden
• Nazi Germany
• Japan (current)
• People’s Republic of China
• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
• Republic of Korea
• Soviet Union (20th century)
• France

Democracy or Not Democracy

• United Kingdom - constitutional monarchy, democracy, maybe a republic
• Sweden - constitutional monarchy, democracy, maybe a republic
• Nazi Germany - republic, not a democracy, dictatorship
• Japan (current) - constitutional monarchy, democracy, maybe a republic
• People’s Republic of China - republic, not a democracy, dictatorship

Democracy or Not Democracy

• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - republic, not a democracy, dictatorship
• Republic of Korea - republic, democracy
• Soviet Union (20th century) - republic, not a democracy, dictatorship
• France - republic, democracy
• Saudi Arabia - monarchy, not a democracy, dictatorship

Characteristics of democracy

• Meaningful elections

            + Contestation - Party in power can lose

• Irreversability of elections

            + Party in power can not reverse a lost election

• Repeatability of elections

            + Political minorities (losing parties) must be protected

Rules to determine if these are true

• Near universal adult citizen suffrage

                            + Limits on convicted criminals voting          
                            + Noncitizens not entitled to vote

• The chief executive must be elected directly or indirectly

                            + Prime ministers are elected by the parliament from the members of parliament in most democracies

• Elected legislature

                            + At least one elected chamber
                            + An unelected chamber is allowed
                            + Direct democracy not required!

• There must be more than one party

                            + Organized opposition
                            + Continues between elections

Democracy or Not Democracy

• United Kingdom - Y
• Sweden - Y
• Denmark - Y
• France - Y
• Japan (current) - Y
• People’s Republic of China - N
• Soviet Union - N
• Nazi Germany - N
• Fascist Italy - N

Right Wing Critique

• Modern: “The United States is a Republic not a Democracy.”
• This is mostly a result of 18th century (1780s) terminology and earlier
• This also considers Aristotle’s view that democracy was corrupt
• It’s also a result of people taking very seriously the writings of one person: James Madison
• These folks argue that the US is not a democracy and they argue that is a good thing

Aristotle Types of Government

Types of Government

James Madison

• Framer of the Constitution
• Coauthor of the Federalist Papers
• concerned with preventing “mob rule” type democracy
• Very much a student of Aristotle
• Referred to the United States system as representative government and called it a Republic
• Aristotle would have called this a Polity

James Madison on Democracy

• “The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.” – 1787

• “Place three individuals in a situation wherein the interest of each depends on the voice of the others, and give to two of them an interest opposed to the rights of the third. Will the latter be secure? The prudence of every man would shun the danger. The rules & forms of justice suppose & guard against it. Will two thousand in a like situation be less likely to encroach on the rights of one thousand?” – 1821

Questions about modern democracy

• Is modern democracy more like Madison’s mob rule or Madison’s Republic?

• Does modern democracy take the rights of political minorities seriously?

• Is modern democracy a good protector of individual liberty rights, freedom from organized coercive violence?

Madison’s Republic

• Representative government not direct
• Limited franchise
• Protection of political minorities
• Protection of basic civil liberties (Madison - Bill of Rights)
• Protection of property rights
• Opposed to one party domination
• Fragmentation of parties to divide their power

Modern Western or liberal democracy

• Representative government not direct

• Universal franchise (or near)

• Protection of political minorities

• Protection of basic civil liberties

• Protection of property rights

• Opposed to one party domination

• Fragmenation of parties to divide their power

        + US and British style  systems - no  
        + Proportional representation (PR) systems - yes

Question

Which of the following features of Madison’s Republic are present in modern liberal democracy?

    A. Election of representatives
    B. Limited franchise
    C. Protection of political minorities
    D. Opposition to one party rule

Republic vs Liberal Democracy and the United States

• Modern liberal democracies have all major features of Madison’s Republic except limited franchise

• Some modern liberal democracies have Madison’s fragmentation of parties to divide power

• The United States lacks two features of Madison’s Republic:

    - limited franchise (because of Constitutional amendments!)
    - effective fragmentation of parties to divide power 

The Left Wing Critique

• Democracy is good

• The United States is not a democracy because:

            + Electoral College
            + Supreme Court
            + Economic inequality

Electoral College

• Chief executive must be elected directly or indirectly
• Electoral college is unique, but indirect election is not
• Prime ministers are elected by parliament in 32 of the 50 members of the European Union
• Prime ministers are elected by parliament in 50 out of 89 electoral and liberal democracies in the world
• Prime ministers are elected by parliament in 42 out of 67 liberal democracies

Electoral College

• The chief executive is indirectly elected in the majority of democracies

• The Electoral College is unique but indirect election of the chief executive is the standard in democracies

Supreme Court - Major Issues

• The Supreme Court may block laws passed by the elected branches
• The Supreme Court blocks majority rule

Supreme Court - Responses

Blocking majority rule to protect minority rights is crucial to a functioning democracy and this is the Supreme Court’s role

• The rule of law is major characteristic of liberal democracy
• Rights of political minority’s must be protected to ensure they can contest the next election
• Consensual democracy is partially defined by the idea that citizens have rights that a simple majority can not take away
• We may not like the outcome in a specific case, but the process of protecting rights guarantees our own rights

Economic inequality

• This is a complaint about outcomes, not really anything to do with the political system
• This is actually a complaint about the result of the democratic process not about a lack of democratic process
• Inequality is not unique to the United States among democracies
• Inequality is not uniquely tied to any particular political system

Questions about modern democracy

• Is the US a democracy? Yes

    - It is a representative democracy, not a direct democracy
    - It is a consensual democracy, not a majoritarian democracy
    - The rights of political minorities matter

• Is the US a republic? Yes

    - Simple: not a monarchy
    - More complex: res publica, the public thing
    - The people own the government not vice versa
    - This also means that all the people own the government, not that the majority own the minority

Elections and federalism

• Role of the States
• Role of Congress
• Role of the Courts
• Role of the President
• Federal election laws

Role of the States

• Who ran elections in the colonial legislatures?
• Who ran elections in the Articles of Confederation?
• If the states had a power before the Constitution and did not relinquish it to the federal government, who has that power now?

Role of the States

• “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof…” - Article I, Section 4, Clause 1
• “The House of Representatives…Electors [voters] in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.” - Article I, Section 2, Clause 1

Role of the States

• Congress can not change voter qualifications except by Constitutional amendment
• 15th Amendment (race)
• 19th Amendment (sex)
• 24th Amendment (poll taxes)
• 26th Amendment (age)
• States can set other voter qualifications (residency, registration, etc.)

Role of the States

• States run local elections

• States run elections for federal offices (congressional and presidential)

• States set many election rules

    - voter registration
    - early voting
    - absentee voting
    - polling places
    - ballot design
    - vote counting procedures
    - recount procedures
    - campaign finance rules for state and local elections

Role of the States

• If there is a tyrannical President, who can control him?
• If there is a tyrannical Congress, who can control them?
• If there is a tyrannical Congress and President, who can control them?
• If the Presidency, Congress, and the Courts are all controlled by a tyrannical party, how can they be peacefully removed if the federal government controls the elections?

Role of the States: The ultimate peaceful check

• States are sovereign, not agents of the federal government (Prinz v. United States (1997))
• The control of federal elections at the state and local level is the ultimate peaceful check on federal power
• If the federal government becomes tyrannical, the states can ensure the ability of the people to elect new federal officials

Role of Congress

• “…the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.” - Article I, Section 4, Clause 1

Role of the Courts

• Defend Constitutional rights

    - voting rights
    - free speech issues
    - freedom of association

Court cases (examples)

• FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007) - Free speech and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
• California Democratic Party v. Jones (2000) - free association and California blanket primary law

Federal Election Campaign finance laws

• Campaign Finance Legal Framework

    - Goes back to 1867
    - Federal Election Campaign Act (1971)
    - Federal Election Commission (1974)
    - Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002)

• Free speech issues (important cases)

    - Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
    - McCutcheon v. FEC (2014)

• Campaign finance entities

    - Campaign committees
    - Political Action Committees (PACs)
    - Super PACs
    - 501(c)(4) committees (IRS designation for a type of nonprofit social welfare organization)

National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993

• “Motor Voter Act”
• Those who move within 30 days of Presidential election can vote in old precinct
• Requires states to offer voter registration at motor vehicle departments
• Rules for maintaining voter rolls
• Federal voter registration form

Role of the President

• Signs or vetoes federal election laws
• Enforces federal election laws
• Appoints members of the Federal Election Commission (with Senate approval)
• Very little direct role in elections

Role of the states revisited: The Electoral College

Presidential General Election

Electoral College

    - Indirect election
    - Candidate names are on the ballot
    - We elected Electors pledged to those candidates
    - Electors meet in December to cast their votes
    - Congress counts the Electoral College votes in January
  

Indirect Election

• Indirect election of the chief executive is not unique to the United States

    - The Electoral College is unique to the United States
    - Most democracies are parliamentary systems where the chief executive is chosen by the legislature
    - The Electoral College is a compromise between direct election and election by the legislature
    - Preserves federalism and the power of the states
    - Preserves the Separation of Powers (Congress role is extremely limited)

Compromise and Federalism

• Compromise and Federalism

    - between direct election and election by the legislature
    - preserves federalism and the power of the states
    - With Senate directly elected, the EC may be more important
    - preserves the Separation of Powers (Congress role is extremely limited)
    - Acts as an important check on factional and regional domination of the Presidency by requiring a majority of electors from 50 separate state level elections

What are political parties?

What are political parties?

What are political parties?

Courts and political parties

• Since parties are private organizations, Courts generally do not interfere in party rules
• Courts have occasionally intervened in party rules when they violate constitutional rights
• Smith v. Allwright (1944) - ruled that Texas Democratic Party’s white primary was unconstitutional

How do parties decide their interests and rules?

• primary elections
• party committees
• party conventions

Typical party structure in the US

• local party committees elected by primary or caucus
• local party committees elect state party committees and state convention delegates
• state party committees elect national party committee members and national delegates

What are political parties?

What are political parties?

Primary elections

• Select the parties nominees for the general election

    - Closed primary 
    - Open primary 
    - Blanket primary 
    - Jungle primary / Top two primary / Louisiana primary
    - Caucus

Party conventions

• Held every four years

• Delegates are elected in the state primaries and caucuses

    - Delegates are pledged to support a candidate
    - Delegates select the party’s nominee for president
    - Delegates also draft the party platform
    - Usually a formality
    - In the past, conventions were more important

• Rules set by party National Committees

Democratic Convention Rules

• Superdelegate

    - party leader or elected official who is automatically a delegate
    - not pledged to support a candidate
    - can vote for any candidate
    -  out of total delegates       

• 2024:

    - 747 superdelegates
    - 3,949 pledged delegates
    - 4,696 total delegates

Presidential General Election

• Superdelegates helped defeat Independent Bernie Sanders in 2016

    - Sanders won the most pledged delegates
    - Hillary Clinton won the most superdelegates
    - Clinton won the nomination

Republican Convention Rules

• Superdelegates are not used in the Republican Party

• Former Democrat and Reform Party Member Donald Trump won the Republican nomination in 2016

    - took over the Republican Party from the outside
    - getting a plurality in primaries (most votes but less than 50%)
    - won a plurality of primaries (not a majority)
    - No superdelegates existed to defend the GOP against the hostile takeover by a non-Republican

Republican Convention Rules

• The Republican Party has been massively changed by the 2016 election

    - Longtime Republicans have been purged from the party
    - The party has moved sharply nationalist and isolationist
    - The party has abandoned its conservative principles on free trade and foreign policy
    - The party has abandoned its traditional support for limited government and fiscal responsibility
    - The party has abandoned its neutral to friendly position on immigration

• The Democratic Party survived the 2016 election intact with incremental changes typical of a major party

Authorship and License

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Author: Tom Hanna

Website: tomhanna.me

License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License

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