Nonpartisan Campaign Advantages

Most local elections in California are nonpartisan. A nonpartisan election is an election in which the parties of the candidates are not printed on the ballots. Although the candidates may identify with one of the political parties, their preference is not shown on the ballot during the election. This causes candidates to have to work harder for their votes and make their agendas known to the public rather than relying on their political party to get them elected. In order for politicians to move up in the political ladder, they must have contributed greatly to their local office and have a decent resume to get them through. In a partisan election, candidates may be able to rely on his or her partisanship to get them elected. For example in a largely democratic area, a candidate may simply be elected just because his name is next to the word democrat on the ballot. This in turn strengthens the parties role because that candidate would owe the party for his or her election. Since California holds nonpartisan elections, candidates owe nothing to the party for their success during an election. They are able to move up in politics based on the impact they had made during their previous role. Although a large amount of the state offices has partisan elections, by the time a candidate has made it to a state election they have made a name for themselves without relying on the party to speak for them. Therefore, even

By reducing candidates to labels, they are robbed of any true identity. If political candidates were not weighed down by partisan templates, it would enable them to earn votes based on their ideals and goals, not simply by their mascot. Each side has valid ideas; as long as they’re divided, many of those ideas will fall on ears deafened from bias.

A Political Party is defined as “a formal coalition of interests joined together to get their candidates for public office elected under a common label and agenda.” Political Parties, over time, have seemed to do more harm than good for our nation. The founders of America never even intended for this nation to be separated into two different Political Parties. “There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.” John Adams, The Works Of John Adams, Second President Of The United States.

Political scientists have observed that individuals and groups donating to campaigns choose from two basic strategies. The first is the electoral strategy. Donors that follow this strategy use their money to help elect candidates who support their views and to defeat those who do not. The goal is to increase the likelihood that Congress, their state legislature, or their city council will vote as the donor wishes it would vote.

Partisanship is defined in The American Voter “as both a set of beliefs and feelings that culminate in a sense of “psychological attachment” to a political party. It is one of the most important factors affecting the American political system. It explains, to some extent, vote choice, political engagement, partisan reasoning, and the influence of partisan elites. This definition generates two competing views of partisanship, the instrumental and expressive perspectives. This debate is what

The campaign process limit third party success because only two parties dominate the modern American political process; the Democrats and Republicans. American politics operate on a two-party system, the Democrats and Republicans who dominates voting in most elections and elected offices. These two parties are associated with liberal and conservative views individually, and nearly all elected officials are allied with one of the two. The Democrats and Republicans have more funding and a bigger chance a succeeding in an election than a third party, or any party running in an election other than the major two. Another important thing is ballot access laws often mandate that candidates pay an excessive number of fees or collect a large number

People came out to vote, in spite of their disagreement with the morals and the ideas of the candidates. I volunteered on election day, and went canvassing in a low-income neighborhood as part of a Get Out the Vote Drive. I was frankly disgusted and disheartened to feel the atmosphere set by the election. Residing in the majority of houses I visited was an American citizen who did not have any positive anecdotes about the two main candidates. They were doubtful of both of their abilities to serve. When these people casted their votes, they were supporting the candidate’s respective party, rather than the candidate themselves. Many are unaware to the fact that these candidates are not their only options. In the recent election, there were about 10 presidential candidates on more than 20 state ballots. Perhaps the electorate would give one of these less known candidates a victory if they truly desire for their voices to be heard in other ways than by the two main political

Over the years, political scientists have expressed their disapproval of American elections. They have openly stated that presidential elections do not matter. The reason being, is that they believe the outcome of elections is a result of forces outside of the campaigner’s influence. For example, the state of the economy, partisan loyalties, and normative, communicative, and symbolic roles are all disconnected from the influence of the campaigner. The latter mentioned aspects (anthropological), according to political scientists, receive little attention from scholars, but their impacts are very substantial. They restore confidence in governing institutions, result in an upsurge in mutual feelings, and give the citizenry hope of a better governing body after elections

Balance of power in American elections rests with the moderate voters in the center. Party ideology is acceptable as long as it is tinged with moderation. In multiparty systems, each party is supported by a narrow range of interests, but America’s two-party system requires parties to have a wide range of interests in order to gain a voting majority to win. The Democratic party has a large variety of voters from different ethnicities, ages, and sexual preferences because of future benefits offered by Democratic politicians. The Republic consists of white middle-class voters that support traditional values.

In a country with more than three hundred million people, allowing each person to have a voice would be impossible without the employment of the voting system. The human individual yearns for love, security, peace, and accomplishment, and none of those things would be possible without freedom, and our founding fathers have granted us the key to unlocking our freedom with the power to vote. With enough determination and cooperation, the ballot has the power to change politicians’ views, laws, and the course of history. With the right to vote, each man and woman is entitled to his or her own opinion. While there are two political parties that encompass the majority of Americans, we are not subject to having only two choices. There are the

A consistent issue with voting in the USA throughout the past few decades is that the majority of votes come fro9m one of two groups: the elderly and those devoted to their political party. One thing that these two groups have in common is that there is no more room for nuanced opinions within them; the elderly stick to the values that they have learned throughout their lives and the politically devote will vote for any representation that bears the title “Democrat” or “Republican”. Unlike these two groups, younger groups have not been conditioned to strictly abide by political

Many Americans know of the dominant Democratic and Republican parties when talking about politics. Few may know of the many diverse parties that have and still do grace American soil. The diversity of political parties may seem confusing to some, but when examined closely, is a prime example of what America stands for, the right to choose. Some may argue that the American political system does not exemplify the Constitutional right to choose despite its many choices in political practices. However, others may argue that the diversity in political choice and practice-despite not used it its full extent- is what America stands for. The diversity in political parties that the United States has allows those who believe they’re not represented,

While gearing up for the 2016 election, it was extremely clear that this election was going to be a turning point in American politics. Ever since the 2016 Presidential candidates started campaigning over a year ago, one thing is becoming very clear: America’s two-party political system is in disarray. “Party systems in the United States are inherently unstable. Because it is a two-party system, the party that wins is the party that builds the biggest coalition. But the bigger the coalition, the more unstable it is” (Drutman). The struggle is finding solutions to fix it. It definitely did not help that businessman Donald Trump became president. Currently, there are two main parties in the United States federal system: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. There are also many third party alternatives that are struggling to change the way we look at politics.

In James N. Druckman’s Priming the Vote, he asserts that nowadays numerous academics presume that voters’ choices are essentially molded by campaigns. For decades, traditional wisdom recommended that campaigns had little to no influence on voters. Druckman insists that numerous academics have noted a relationship between campaign differences and overall distinctions in voting conduct. Some academics propose investigational proof that certain rhetoric can influence a voter’s choice.

Working on political campaigns taught me very quickly that not all work in politics is glamorous. Some days I spent working with the candidate directly, and many others I spent working with the whole office staff to put together and mail out hundreds of letters, or contacting hundreds of voters via phone or canvass. As campaign staff, I was responsible for being present for numerous phone and live meetings, voter turnout, volunteer recruitment, contacting fundraisers, setting up events and much