Simply put, presidential campaigns are too long. The dissolution of the UK Parliament on 30 March 2015 meant that the formal UK general election campaign lasted just 38 days. Due to the nature of candidate selection for presidential elections, the campaign in the USA certainly feels a lot longer than that of the UK. The series of primaries and caucuses from January of election year, the announcement of party nominees at the National Party Conventions in July, the presidential debates in October and election day in November prolong the process unnecessarily. There are three ways in which presidential campaigns can be seen to last too long.
The time between the first candidate declaring and the election itself is unparalleled in other democracies. It is highly plausible that the length of the campaign is a significant factor in higher voter apathy and thus lower voter participation in both the primaries and the general election itself.
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe
