Literature Review: On November 8, 2016, the United States’ 58th presidential elections will take place, where voters will elect the President and the Vice President of the United States. One of the customs of Presidential elections is the debates held between the candidates prior to that event. The topics discussed in these debates are of controversial nature and their role is to target and convince undecided and independent voters - those not belonging to a specific political party. Presidential debates are usually held towards the last phases in the election cycle, right after nominations. These debates are broadcast live on television and radio, and they draw over 80 million viewers (Shapiro, 2012). As we will see in this review, many …show more content…
Many believe that delivery and content work together (Patterson, Churchill and Burger and Powell, 1992), but others believe that delivery has a bigger impact on decision making than content (Burgoon, Birk and Pfau, 1990). This study will deal with an experiment that will try to prove who people will vote for in elections if we have two candidates; one who has a meaningless yet well-delivered speech or a candidate with a rich but poorly delivered speech. According to Bowers, “That delivery affects listeners is both a matter of common sense and a result verified by a number of experiments”. Bowers also argued that changes in vocals during debates, affect changes in attitudes when the candidates are known and successful. However, as cited by Bowers himself, he points out that Bettinghaus argues that “delivery is a significant variable in bringing about attitude change toward concepts as well as towards speakers when unknown, “live” speakers are the source”, meaning that they only have an impact when the candidates are unknown or new to the political environment. Bowers comes to a conclusion that a speaker’s status as well known or his success are both related to characteristics of delivery. (Bowers, 1965). Bowers, however, is not the only one who talked about the importance of delivery characteristics, way long before him; Aristotle defined good delivery as
Another four years another presidential debate. Before I go on to the current debates let me state a few facts about past ones. The Lincoln and Douglas debate was in important because it started Lincoln presidential career. The Debates lasted from August 21 -- October 15. There where seven of them, with two days to two weeks in between. Each debate lasted three hours; first candidate spoke for one hour; the second for one and a half hours; the first replying for a half hour. Candidates alternated going first. The topics involved where primarily slavery and the Union. Other important debates were the '48 and '57. They were the only debates before 1960; there were no presidential debates between 1960 and 1976. In
Campaigns in politics are important in determining outcomes and inform the voters who remain undecided. Also, campaigns matter because although the candidates or media officials may know what the outcome will be, the voters themselves do not (107). Aside from campaigns, conventions are also important, if not more important. Party nominating conventions affect the apathetic, uninterested electorates who think conventions are interesting and exciting, often known as the Olympic games of politics (121). This experience for voters can carry influence, and is a time of “intense political learning” (129). Therefore, aggregately, conventions make public opinion meaningful because the citizens who watch make an informed decision about a candidate, and have facts about why they will vote for that candidate. The chief reason why individual public opinion is meaningless during presidential elections is the “nonattitudes.” Nonattitudes are survey responses made up on the spot during an interview by a respondent who has no attitude on politics (113). Therefore, these individuals diminish the value of public opinion because we hate inconsistency and this creates an abundance of views on issues. However, during election night, exit polls support why aggregate opinion is also important. Exit polls are meaningful because one hundred percent of those leaving the polls have voted (102). Therefore, we can get real results from the electorates and this makes collective public opinion
When attempting to present a certain perspective to an audience, the speaker must not merely string a list of monotonous and meaningless words together and call it a speech. Rhetoric, also known as persuasive elocution, has the power to captivate an audience and is essential to any effective oration. In his 2008 Republican Convention speech, actor Fred Thompson lends his support to John McCain’s presidential campaign in order to convince American voters to do the same. Appealing to his audience’s patriotism and sense of responsibility while also discrediting the possibility of a successful Democratic nominee, Thompson delivers a memorable presentation laced with passion, light-hearted humor, and, most especially, hope for a better future lead
All together, there are 538 Electoral votes. In December after the election, the electors cast their votes. When the votes are counted on January 6th, the Presidential candidate that gets more than half, 270, wins the election. The President-elect and Vice President-elect then take the oath of office and are inaugurated two weeks later, on January 20th.
`Every four years our country elects a new president. Many people believe that when we cast our votes on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, the way we cast our votes will determine who the next president of the United States will be. That belief, however, is not the case. The truth is that we are only voting for “presidential electors, known collectively as the Electoral College” (history.com). It is this group of people that actually elect to president. Each state is given a number of electors based on how many representatives they have in Congress, for a total number of 538 members of the Electoral College as of the time this paper was written. It is imperative that we maintain our Electoral College, so as to minimize
The Electoral College is one of those things that differentiate the American electoral process from the rest of the world. It is an old institution that has been fundamental to the American political system ever since the Declaration of Independence. There have been calls to disband this way of voting to join the rest of the world with the ordinary populace voting. During the month of November in a presidential election year, every state holds an election in which all citizens who qualify may participate. They cast a ticket for president and his vice president. After this voting, the winning party is allowed to choose a slate of
The 45th President if the United States of America will be sworn in on January 2017. So let’s examine the election process leading up to this momentous occasion.
The United States Electoral College is the body that elects the President and Vice President every four years. The people of the United States do not vote directly for the President and Vice President. Fun fact, nowhere in the Constitution does it say that Americans have the right to choose their President. This power is reserved solely for the 538 electors. Explained by the National Conference of State Legislatures: a national organization to support, defend and strengthen state legislatures initiated in 1975, when a voter cast his or her vote for President and Vice President, “s/he is in actuality casting a vote for the presidential electors who were selected by that candidate 's party” (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2016, para 11). The way that the Electoral College works is, each state is allowed an equal number of electors as they were allocated members of Congress. The exception is the District of Columbia, where
We hold debates between the Republican and Democrats before the primaries, and then we hold debates between the two remaining presidential candidates. Upon first glance it may appear that the presidential debates are held to get to know the candidate’s positions on the various issues that are important to the American people; however, the format of the debates make it difficult to accomplish that task. Instead, it is more plausible that these debates are held in order to discover what the candidates are like personally because the debates provide ample opportunities for us to discover the candidate’s values. Ultimately, we want to find out the values that these potential presidents have because we want someone we trust to lead the
In order to have a government that is run by people; specifically, people that must choose a candidate to vote for, its seems fit that it would be important that there be adequate means of illustrating each candidate’s positions on all of the issues that the constituents care about. Presidential debates are the means of showcasing a candidates’ policies to the nation and at the same time they allow the citizens in the democratic society to make a more informed decision about their vote than they otherwise would have without a debate.
They are often asked the same questions and their responses typically draw in or push away voters. Debates can show voters what the candidate will be like as their representative and foreshadow the major decisions that the candidate would make in office. While the Lincoln-Douglas debates are remembered as the first major political debates in the United States, most elections occurred with some sort of discussion between
Television is a form of communication that can be used to transfer information to the general public, and its full value and effects can be seen at all times, especially during election seasons. To some extent, this medium has helped people make informed decisions on which candidate is suitable to be president. However, this positive influence could distract people from focusing on policy and turn the election into a popularity contest.
A Presidential Election, determines how the next four years would be. The election is a fight between different political parties, and they fight to win and represent the political beliefs and values of their followers. In the 2016 Presidential Election, there are many candidates who ran for president. There are main two main parties, the Democrat party and the Republican party, there were also many Third-party candidates. Donald Trump the primary candidate for the Republicans ran with no political experiences and won while Hillary Clinton the primary Democrat candidate who was the former sectary of state ran and lost. Not only was there a fight between the different parties, there also was fighting among each other and in individual parties. Many parties had many different views on the issues of today world. They both made many different promises on each issue.
In any presidential election, it is important to take the characteristics of each candidate into consideration in order to determine who is most qualified for the title “president of the United States”. Being a president of a country comes with a great deal of responsibility. A president is required to make appearances, present speeches, be involved in foreign affairs, help make military decisions, and serve as a representative of the nation as a whole. To be a good president, one must be able to present their arguments eloquently with sufficient evidence provided to support their claims. Though the practice of good rhetoric is fundamental in any potential president, it is not the only the only skill necessary to be considered a good president.
Candidates have a chance to present their ideas to the citizens through debates and other platforms that are available for the candidates. It provides a platform for the citizens to debate important issues with the candidates and among themselves.