Timeline:
November 6, 2012
– @BarackObama tweets “This happened because of you. Thank you.”
– CNN announces the presidential election results “to New Yorkers and the world” on the Empire State Building: Barack Obama is re-elected.
– Obama sends the most retweeted and famous tweet of 2012: 700,000 retweets in 14 hours.
Analysis of results:
270 votes were needed to become president.
Barack Obama gathered 303 votes against 206 for Mitt Romney.
These are:
93% of African-Americans
71% of Hispanics
60% of those under 29
60% of those earning less than
50,000
dollars
54% of women.
The statistics are
clear:
Barack Obama won thanks to
the massive vote of minorities, especially African-Americans (13.6% of the population, 2nd largest ethnic group) and Hispanics (14% of the population, 3rd largest group).
Geographical distribution: see detailed results on the diagram at the end of the article
The election of the United States Congress:
In addition to the election of the
President,
the United States also votes for a new composition of its Congress
Congress, the country’s legislative body.
Congress is composed of two houses:
– The U.S. House of Representatives: 232 Republicans to 191 Democrats.
Republicans dominate the House of Representatives
representatives, but lost 2 seats.
– Senate: 54 Democrats to 45 Republicans
Democrats dominate the Senate and gained 1 seat.
The Democrats emerged victorious in the election.
Presidential elections in the United StatesThe
election is held every 4 years.
There are 50 American states.
For each US state:
– There are Great Electors.
– The American people elect
these electors.
– These electors are
numerous: between 3 and 55 (the bigger the state, the more electors there are)
– These electors will have to elect the president of the United States, they have indicated for whom they will vote.
For each state :
– Once these electors are elected, we establish
statistics in each state: how many electors will vote for each
will vote for each candidate
– The candidate who leads this count in the state
the state, then wins the favor of the whole state and all the electors
all the electors: “winner-takes-all”
For example:
among the Great
voters in California, 59% voted for Obama, only 39% for Romney
for Romney. Result: all the votes are converted for the winner, Obama
winner, Obama, who wins 100% of the votes.
For
all states :
– All states included,
there are a total of
538 electors.
– To win, the candidate must receive
a majority of the electors: 270
The
Congress: (direct vote)
Two assemblies:
– The House of Representatives of the
House of Representatives: all members are renewed every two years.
– The Senate: only one-third of the members are renewed.
Elections are held every two years on Election Day: the Tuesday following the first Monday in November
monday of November.
1 time out of 2, the elections fall at the same time
presidential elections, otherwise this day is called “mid-term elections”.
2 candidates from 2 dominant political partiesObama
→ Democrats: from
left
More “supportive” economic system,
progressives
Romney → Republicans (also called Grand
Old Party): right-wing
More capitalist economic system,
conservatives
This representation is
nuanced: in
France, we would consider :
Democrats: center-right
Republicans: hard right
The other
candidates:
With very little influence, these candidates are from weak political parties, or independents.
There were 13 of them in 2012.
English Vocabulary about ElectionsBefore
the election:
a presidential election
presidential election – a presidential election
a presidential campaign
– a
presidential campaign
to run for – faire campagne
president
to take a poll – faire un sondage
an opinion poll – an
opinion
survey
measure a popularity – to
measure a
popularity
the Republican Party – the
Republican Party
the Democratic Party – the
Democratic
Party
to be left-wing – to be left-wing
to be right-wing – to be
right-wing
le premier tour – the first
round
the second round – the
second round,
the run-off
During the
elections :
register on the electoral lists
electoral lists
– to register
s’abstenir – to abstain
vote – to vote
elect – to elect
to go to the polls – to go to
the polls
a polling station – a
polling
station
un scrutin- a ballot
a candidacy – a
candidacy, a
candidature
a ballot slip – a
ballot slip
a blank bulletin – un bulletin blanc
vote
After the elections :
the Congress :
→ the Senate – the
Senate
→ the House of
representatives –
the House of Representatives
Articles to read for practice
For
prepare effectively for the Sciences Po exams, nothing beats the
practice. Here is a selection of articles that could be useful for
sciences Po exams this year.
The New York Times:
Obama Wins a Resounding
victory,
but the balance of power in Washington remains unchanged:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/us/politics/a-divided-nation-keeps-the-status-quo.html
The Washington Post
:
At Romney headquarters, the
defeat of the 1%:
The Economist:
A Divided Country
:
http://www.economist.com/democracyinamerica/2012/11/barack-obamas-re-election
