Trending 14th August 2024 by Olivia O'Dwyer

A Crash Course On The American Political System

It's so ... brat?

Has Brat Summer created a newfound interest in the American political system?

The US presidential election in all its glory and excitement is somewhat of a confusing affair for us on the other side of the pond. Watching the candidates pursue rigorous campaigns to rally up support for their bid for the White House is like a marathon compared to the pretty low-key campaigning strategies here in Ireland.

It can seem a bit odd that we can have more interest in another country’s political affairs rather than our own, but with Republican presidential nominee Trump narrowly escaping assassination and the new Democrat nominee being labeled Brat by none other than the queen of brat summer herself, it is difficult not to sucked into this all encompassing election.

Professor Scott Lucas from UCD’s Clinton Institute tells us that this surge in interest for the election is a double-edged sword, “Interesting can get people engaged, but interesting also means it leans towards being a circus. What happens when it becomes a spectacle is people are engaging with the spectacle and not engaging with the issues.”

Whilst Professor Lucas raises the important query of whether voters and spectators are engaging in the real issues, we also wonder: do we understand the American election at all? Charli xcx tweeting her endorsement of Kamala Harris was iconic, but how did this heplp her campaign beyond igniting her popularity on TikTok?

Do we know that the US has a presidential system instead of the dominant parliamentary system here in Europe? Why do we hear so much about the ‘Iowa caucus’? Do we even know what a caucus is?!

Whilst everyone has been watching the news through their lime green tinted glasses since Biden’s withdrawal, here at Stellar we wanted to learn the basic concepts of this rigorous election process and why Super Tuesday is well… so super.

Firstly, what is a Primary?

“The Primary is when you choose who your party’s candidate is going to be for the general election,” says Professor Lucas. “America doesn’t have a party leader per se, because of course, the US doesn’t have a parliamentary system, they have the presidential system.

“Whoever in the party wants to run can put their name forward to get the support of party members. The US isn’t just one big election, it is 51 different elections. It is the 50 states plus DC. You are running for the presidency in a series of state contests that take place.”

What is a caucus?

Professor Lucas explains: “A caucus is more of a town-hall meeting at various places across the state where voters talk amongst themselves. Amongst the people who have decided to attend you have a vote amongst those voters.”

The Iowa caucus is famous because it is the first contest to take place, in January of the election year. “The Iowa caucus is big in terms of the publicity it attracts,” says Lucas. “Three quarters of states might go and vote at a ballot box but then there would be 12-15 states that go with caucuses instead”.

 

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What about Super Tuesday?

Super Tuesday is the first Tuesday in March, and it is the day when the biggest number of primaries and caucuses are held.

Lucas says: “It is very rare a competition would go beyond Super Tuesday because normally that day is decisive in deciding who is going to win.”

Could you tell us a bit about the Electoral College?

The voting system in the states is a whole lot different to the system here in Ireland. It’s called Proportional Representation (PR), and concerns the Electoral College. “When you vote in each state you are voting for representatives of that candidate, what we call delegates. The number of delegates is determined by the number of legislators that each state has in the US Congress.

Professor Lucas explains that the number of representatives differs from state to state, “California has the most at 52, whereas small states like Rhode Island and Alaska only have one representative. So, what that means is that California has around 54 Electoral votes whereas Alaska or Rhode Island would only have three.” There are 538 electoral votes in total and the candidate must win a minimum of 270 to be successful in the election.

What are battleground or swing states and why are they so important?

We often hear candidates saying they need to win the vote of certain states to give them that lead on the campaign trail. These states are known as swing or battleground states.

The professor says the outcome of most states will be known come November. He goes on to inform us that New York and California nearly always go Democratic, so they are known as blue states, whereas a state like Alabama would be known to lean towards Republican so it would be a red state.

Battleground states are known as purple (a mix of red and blue) as there is a chance the vote could swing either way. “The three starting states Democrats have to win to win the electoral college in 2024 are: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan,” says Lucas. “There were three other states that went for the Democrats in 2020 and are swing states this year – Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada.”

Do celebrity endorsements really affect the outcome of the election?

Following Charli’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, we were curious if such support really affect the popularity of a candidate.

Take for example Taylor Swift’s posts in the past. Last year, 35,000 new voters registered after the singer put a link on her Stories encouraging fans to do so.

Professor Lucas says, “I think those get-out-and-vote endorsements are more effective because when you endorse a candidate people are like ‘It’s just these liberal celebrities’ and they will try to mobilise their own people in reaction to them.”

He adds: “Most celebrities tend to endorse Democrats, so the Republicans will always say it is out of touch Hollywood. If you just say, ‘go out and vote’ it is harder to run that attack line.”

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