The 2016 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. During this presidential election year, a President of the United States and Vice President were elected. In addition, all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate were be contested. 13 state and territorial governorships and numerous other state and local elections will also be contested. More...
From the Scholars Strategy Network, written by Jan Leighley, American University, and Jonathan Nagler, New York University
With the first presidential primary debate scheduled for August 6, attention to Election 2016 is set to heat up in a substantial way.
Political officeholders have long been seen as having a wide range of advantages over challengers: Name recognition is no problem, as they’re always in the public eye. Even if voters don’t agree with every position a long-time incumbent might take, they like the prestige and power that can come with seniority. And most importantly, officeholders make policy, so donors know to whom they should be signing the checks.
The notion of a government “by the people, for the people” is one of the bedrock concepts of American democracy, but the reality is that policy outcomes are often influenced by a wide range of factors, not merely the candidates whom voters select to represent them on Election Day.
From the Scholars Strategy Network, written by Daniel Kreiss, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
The news media often anticipate televised presidential debates as a national event of great importance — a kind of Super Bowl of American democracy. But political scientists have noted that, in contrast to the party conventions, the general election debates do not typically have dramatic effects on voters.
