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:
Two hundred and seventy 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 US 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 States
The 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, then wins the favor of the whole state and 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’s
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.
Once 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 parties
Obama → 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 Elections
Before the election:
a presidential election – a presidential election
a presidential campaign
—a
presidential campaign
to run for – faire campagne
président
to take a poll – faire un sondage
an opinion poll – an
opinion
survey
measure 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
—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
