Question 1

Would America benefit from reform in this process? Could there be a cheaper/more efficient/ more democratic system?

Accepted Answer

Sure, it's called Canada.

I'm an American but had my schooling on both sides of the border and was lucky enough to have both American and Canadian civics classes.  While the Canadian process is not perfect (e.g. prorogation), the 5-week election cycle guarantees that it will be cheaper and more efficient.  For example: in 2000, the prime minister called for an election in late Oct, the election was held only three weeks after ours (27 Nov). The votes were tallied and the new Parliament was seated prior to our Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision on 12 Dec gave us a president the majority of American voters did NOT vote for.  I'm convinced that U.S. news networks don't cover Canadian elections because it would just be too embarrassing for Americans to watch.

Question 2

Who has the right to vote in the primaries? and who decides who has the right to vote in a state?

Accepted Answer

Some states require that you be a registered member of that party, or that you vote in no more than one primary, but those decisions are made on a state-by-state basis.

Question 3

So at the end of the state conventions, there is just one candidate to move on to the national convention? And is this per state, leaving fifty candidates per party, or did I miss something?

Accepted Answer

I'm afraid that an unclear statement in Sal's presentation has led to this question being asked this way.  In actual fact, in non-primary states, it's not the candidate "who moves to the national convention,"  it's a set of national delegates who get elected and who then go to the national convention, often having publicly pledged at the caucuses or in the conventions to support a certain candidate in the first round of voting at the national convention. So depending on a state's rules, a given group of delegates elected in a convention system might go the national convention all ready to distribute their votes among several different presidential candidates, or they might all be committed to voting for one candidate.

However, a lot can change between the state primary or the state convention and the national convention, (especially if it becomes apparent that a certain presidential candidate has lined up more than 50 percent of the pledged and bound votes of the national delegates).

As the primary season progresses, candidates who do poorly will often withdraw from the race or "suspend" their campaigns, and "release" their pledged delegates to vote for someone else. When that happens,  the question of whom those delegates will vote for at that point is usually determined by the rules of the state (party) from which those delegates come.

Question 4

Will the state still have a primary/caucus if there is only one canidate for the party?

Accepted Answer

That doesn't happen. If there was ever one guy running  (assuming he is not incumbent) others would definitely join because it is easier to win in a small pool. It is also very good for the party to always have more people running because the competition helps strengthen the candidates for when they run in the general elections...

Question 5

If any parties other than Democrats or Republicans get large enough, do they go through Primaries and Caucuses?

Accepted Answer

Many smaller parties are already required to do so in some states.  What you may not be aware of the ballots in closed primaries, but they often exist.  A Green Party ballot, for example, is usually available (in Illinois) but you must specifically request the ballot.  Most parties also hold conventions.  Generally speaking, each registered party in a particular state must follow the same set of rules.

Question 6

Do you think that the primaries should open primaries rather than closed? This increases fairness to third party politicians

Accepted Answer

Paraphrasing Wikipedia: 
Arrow’s impossibility theorem states that, when voters have three or more distinct alternatives, no rank order voting system can convert the ranked preferences of individuals into a community-wide consensus while also meeting three [very reasonable sounding] fairness criteria. 
Here’s the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow's_impossibility_theorem

So your third party candidate puts you into the realm where Arrow’s (a man’s name) Theorem applies, where trying to “fairly” pick a winner isn’t possible.

Question 7

At 2:15; how is the number of delegates per state determined? Also, how are the delegates chosen?

Accepted Answer

Delegates are chosen by an election process depending on where they are from and what party they are affiliated with. Normally after you apply to be a delegate you would campaign to the party leaders.

Question 8

At 4:50, how does a state decide if it does a primary or a caucus?

Accepted Answer

Great question.
The short answer is that before an election, each political party will choose how it is going to select its candidate within each state.
 It's actually somewhat complicated partly because the process isn't outlined in the US Constitution. One thing to remember is that the political party is choosing its candidate for president within the state. That means that each political party has their own rules within each state for choosing a candidate (like I said, it can get complicated). Basically what the Democratic party does in New Hampshire doesn't have to do what the Republican party does in New Hampshire. It also means that what one party does in Iowa doesn't have to be the same thing they do in Florida.

Big changes like whether to do a Primary or a Caucus don't occur very often, but they could. It's up to the political party, which is made up of citizens who "register" for that party.
Hope that helps!

Question 9

What is debt?

Accepted Answer

I am going to assume, since, this is posted in a section about politics, that you mean what is the national debt, and what is the budget deficit.

The national debt is the grand total of all the money that the US government has borrowed to cover the shortfall between what it takes in in taxes and what it spends on all the various things it does.

The deficit is the amount EACH YEAR by which the government's expenditures exceed what it takes in.  So each year, the deficit gets added to the debt, and the debt increases.

The opposite of a deficit would be a surplus, and the government had a surplus then it would use that to start to reduce the debt.

Course: US government and civics > Unit 6

Primaries and caucuses

Want to join the conversation?

Video transcript