2016 Election Essay

1513 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Money and elections chapter 7

THE ORDINARY IN THE EXTRAORDINARY: 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Many political commentators and pundits have described 2016 US Presidential elections as bizarre and unique (Rothenberg 2016). But when factors pertaining to the current election are observed and compared to that of the past elections, the 2016 election does not appear different from past elections. While the candidate with less popular vote winning the majority of the electoral votes makes this election little unusual, common factors like partisanship, the power held by the swing states, dynamics and tactics of the candidates’ election campaigns and the anger towards the establishment still played the most powerful role in determining the fate of the election.
The Extraordinary …show more content…

Donald Trump has justified his candidacy with the talk of his business acumen and wealth, and this has often been controversial. But candidates running on the power of their wealth is not a new phenomenon. One example of a past candidate running for the Presidential office with their wealth as the foundation of their election campaign was Nelson Rockefeller in the 1960s election. Theodore White (1962, 66) describes Rockefeller as being “Born into what is America's closest counterpart to a royal family, raised within the walls of the greatest private fortune known to man”. So, a Trump candidacy is not as unconventional as it is often …show more content…

He has referred to Mexicans as “rapists” and called for the blanket ban of Muslim immigration to the United states. Media and political commentators have called Trump’s politics the politics of fear (Stokols 2016). Despite all of this, this is not a new strategy that Trump’s election campaign team invented. For instance, Lynden B. Johnson ran advertisements (“Daisy” 1964) that leveraged the threat of a nuclear war in order to win the 1964 election against Barry Goldwater. Richard Hofstadter in his 1964 article (The Paranoid Style in American Politics) lists the Anti-Masonic movement, the nativist movement, the Anti-Catholic movement and so on as the examples what he calls “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”. Trump’s platform is just another example of this style of

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of How American Politics Went Insane

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    Renowned author Charles Dickens once wrote, “it was the best of times and the worst of times” (Tale of Two Cities). An all to true statement when one looks at the current American political situation, but author and journalist Jonathan Rauch endeavors to analyze the current political climate and explain how it became what it is today. In his article ‘How American Politics went Insane’, Rauch dissects the 2016 election and events leading up to the final vote to understand how politics went sideways. Rauch begins by offering a hypothetical scenario that depicts an extreme disintegration of American politics and its political institutions and parties.

    Read More

  • Influencing History: Rodney King and the Election of 2000

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/la_riot/article/0,28804,1614117_1614084_1614831,00.html. Levy, W. (2013). The 'Standard'. United States presidential election of 2000.

    Read More

  • Essay On Partisan Elections

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this essay, I will explain why Texas should retain the partisan election of judges. Texas is one of the few states that elect their judges using a Partisan voting method. Partisan elections can be unfair and can misinform the voter. A high legal position such as a judge should never be chosen in such a manner. Partisan elections often cost more than nonpartisan elections in campaigning. Partisan elections are also more likely to lead to straight ticket voting or mindless voting. Partisan elections also lead to more campaign contributions and can increase the power of constituencies. Lastly partisan elections can cause an imbalance in equal represent the population. Therefore, Partisanship voting does not belong in the courts of Texas and

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Electoral College

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Electoral College allows a candidate to win the presidency without winning the majority of popular votes. Additionally, the unequal representation created by the number of electors each state has leads to a differential worth depending upon a voter’s state of residency. Moreover, the winner-take-all rule of the results in votes which are essentially rendered worthless if they are contrary the state majority. Finally, the system places much of the focus and power to effect elections in the hands of so called swing states that are not historically aligned with only one party. (Dahl, 80-83) These aspects of the U.S. political system are utterly counterintuitive and stand in stark contrast to many of the cardinal ideals of

    Read More

  • Electoral College Persuasive Essay

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    In America, voting for the President is a privilege and a lie. Many Americans think when they go to the polls in November, they are voting for the President of the United States; but really, they are voting for a group of electors who have pledged to support a nominee for the President. The Founding Fathers were concerned that presidents would always come from a populous state and wondered whether the public would have the knowledge of various candidates necessary to make a wise selection. They did not have access to technology like the internet or smart phones as we do. In most states, as the result of the election, the state awards all its electors to the winning candidate (Belenky 1308). A Presidential a candidate must win 270 Electoral

    Read More

  • Electoral College Outdated

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every four years, the century-old debate over the Electoral College rekindles. Currently, as the contest between the Republican candidates intensifies and the remaining four rush toward the finish line for nomination, speculators are turning their attention toward the Presidential Election that is right around the corner. Predictably, the legitimacy of the Electoral College is once again under scrutiny. Although the Electoral College was an ingenious compromise establish by Framers of the Constitution, the development of the two party politics and the “winner-take-all” system has led it to the fail its original purpose.

    Read More

  • Hillary Clinton Presidential Debate Essay

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prompt 1: Who won the debate & why? Based on the performance and content of the presidential debate, Hillary Clinton emerged the winner. A debate is a typical adversarial argument, which is characterized by competition. There is one winner and one loser. The argument revolves around two people who have different or opposite ways of thinking, arguing on the same topic.

    Read More

  • Leadership By Donald Triumph

    1639 Words  | 4 Pages

    Donald Trump can be appreciated for his cunning business savvy and an ability to at various times throughout his career, make it big. By co-creating this reality show with Mark Burnett, not only has he capitalized on the public's desire to fantasize about (and for a precious few, compete for) achieving a high-profile, financially lucrative career as a business mogul, he has also brought to the mainstream audience a heated, emotional and stimulating debate about something that we all seem to have an opinion on: what it takes to be a great leader.

    Read More

  • Political Parties Essay

    1384 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the nation’s founding, parties were widely considered to be dangerous to good government and public order, especially in republics. In such an intellectual climate, no self-respecting leader would openly set out to organize a political party. The pervasive fear of parties reflected both historical experience and widely held eighteenth-century beliefs. People in authority saw themselves as agents acting on behalf of the whole community; any organized opposition was therefore misguided at best, treasonous at worst. Accepting the same perspective, rivals justified their opposition by imagining that those in power were betrayers of the community’s trust.

    Read More

  • Evolution of the American Political System

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    From even before the arrival of some of the first pilgrims to the eastern coast of the Americas, to the effects of Chief Justice Marshall’s court decisions, and FDR’s new deal. The American political system has been actively changing since over a century before the United States was founded and will more than likely continue to evolve in our present day and future. The changes of our political system can be due to multiple reasons including fear of establishing a tyrant state, such as Great Britain in the 17th and 18th century, the failure of the Articles of Confederation, the economic state of the Nation and several key historical persona with great ideologies that have molded not only politics but our Nation as a whole.

    Read More

  • Debating the Impact of the Electoral College

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the article it discusses electoral dynamics,it leads to the debate of how the elections can change often. The authors, Charles Prysby and Carmine Scavo, explores how “a lopsided victory for one party may be followed by a landslide for the other party . Electoral changes can be divided into two types: short-term and long-term” (2012). The short term changes are caused by fluctuations that vary for the particular election. Examples of short term changes include characteristics of candidates or condition of

    Read More

  • American Political Culture Essay

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    From the beginning of time people practiced an idea of political culture; the “setting of attitudes and practices held by people that help shape their political behavior including moral judgments and ideas that makes for a good society” (Sparknotes). American political culture is based on the basic ideas of political culture, in that American political culture “subscribes to general ideas including liberty, equality, democracy, individualism, unity, and diversity; although not all Americans share the same values, a vast majority abide by this idea” (Sparknotes). Our founding fathers based the U.S Constitution on the idea of political culture in trying to make good for society, the founding fathers wanted to develop a system that tailored to

    Read More

  • Liberal Democracy Essay

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    In American history, the elements of the American liberal democratic tradition that were most relevant in the society were individual freedom, economic freedom, equality, and democracy. Liberal democracy refers to the people being the rulers with guarantees of individual freedom and equality and that it focuses on individual liberty as an essential to protecting that liberty. The two biggest challenges that liberal democracy faces are one balancing equality and liberty and the other is balancing the government’s needs for individual freedom and legitimacy. Liberal democracy plays a major role in our society to limit government power in interfering with liberty while as it ensures that the government protects liberties. The elements of

    Read More

  • Conservatism Essay

    1620 Words  | 4 Pages

    Conservatism is an ideology consisted of ideas and beliefs that value social order and tradition. The question of whether or not conservatism is a coherent ideology is a highly debated topic. Conservatism can be seen as a disbelief to its critiques against other political ideologies such as liberalism. (Ruth, 2017) However, I believe the ideas of conservatism do make up a coherent ideology. Throughout this essay I will explain the reasons why I believe the ideas of conservatism make a legitimate ideology. The Oxford Dictionary defines an ideology as “a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.” Meaning that in order for a viewpoint to be deemed an ideology it must contain a

    Read More

  • Ideology Essay

    1516 Words  | 4 Pages

    What is ideology? How can it help us understand media? Use academic literature to support your argument.

    Read More

More about 2016 Election Essay

Open Document