The U.S. Election Cycle and Divided Government (Edexcel A-Level Politics): Flashcards
📚Flashcards
Practise the cards
15 cards from this deck
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Practise the cards
15 cards from this deck
Swing states in U.S. elections
Swing states in U.S. elections
States that can swing either way, critical for election outcome
Total number of electors in Electoral College
Total number of electors in Electoral College
538 electors
Winner-takes-all system in Electoral College
Winner-takes-all system in Electoral College
Candidate winning state's popular vote gets all electoral votes
Faithless electors
Faithless electors
Electors who vote differently from their state's popular vote
Faithless electors in 2016
Faithless electors in 2016
Seven
Faithless electors in 2020
Faithless electors in 2020
None
Biden's electoral votes in 2020
Biden's electoral votes in 2020
306 electoral votes
Electoral College tie - who picks President?
Electoral College tie - who picks President?
House of Representatives
Divided government
Divided government
One party controls presidency, other controls one/both houses of Congress
Legislative gridlock
Legislative gridlock
Branches can't agree on policy, resulting in stalemates
Obama after 2010 midterms
Obama after 2010 midterms
Faced divided govt; Republicans controlled House
Trump after 2018 midterms
Trump after 2018 midterms
Faced divided govt; Democrats took House, used exec orders
Election Day federalism
Election Day federalism
Each state has own rules/processes for conducting elections
2020 presidential debates scheduled vs. held
2020 presidential debates scheduled vs. held
Three scheduled, only two took place
Campaign coverage criticism
Campaign coverage criticism
Focuses on soundbites & personality over policy substance