The incumbent, in politics Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in other group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power" and refers to, is the existing holder of a political office A politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest, right of inheritance (see also: divine right) or. This term is usually used in reference to elections An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent(s). For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. Foreign policy was the dominant, George W. Bush George Walker Bush ( /ˈdʒɔrdʒ ˈwɔːkər ˈbʊʃ/ ; born July 6, 1946) was the 43rd President of the United States, serving from 2001 to 2009, and the 46th Governor of Texas, serving from 1995 to 2000 was the incumbent, because he was the president in the current term while the election sought to determine the president for the following term.
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Etymology
The word "incumbent" is derived from the Latin verb incumbere, literally meaning "to lean or lie upon" with the present participle stem incumbent-, "leaning a variant of encumber,[1] while encumber is derived from the root cumber,[2] most appropriately defined: "4. To occupy obstructively or inconveniently; to block or fill up with what hinders freedom of motion or action; to burden, load."[3]
In politics
In general, incumbents have structural advantages over challengers during elections An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local. The timing of elections may be determined by the incumbent instead of a set schedule. For most political offices, the incumbent often has more name recognition Name recognition is a concept used in politics to describe number of people who are aware of a politician. It is considered an important factor in elections, as candidates with low name recognition are unlikely to receive votes from people who only casually follow politics. It also considered a major obstacle for challengers hoping to defeat due to their previous work in the office. Incumbents also have easier access to campaign finance Campaign finance refers to the fundraising and spending that political campaigns do in their election campaigns. As campaigns have many expenditures, ranging from the cost of travel for the candidate and others might include the purchasing of air time for TV advertisements, however in some countries, such as Britain TV advertising is free, as well as government resources (such as the franking privilege Franking are any and all devices or markings such as postage stamps (including printed and/or embossed on postal stationery), printed or stamped impressions, codings, labels, manuscript writings (including "privilege" signatures), and/or any other authorized form of markings affixed or applied to mails to qualify them to be postally) that can be indirectly used to boost a campaign. An election (especially for a legislature A legislature is a type of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. Legislatures are known by many names, the most common being parliament and congress, although these terms also have more specific meanings. In parliamentary systems of government,) in which no incumbent is running is often called an open seat; because of the lack of incumbency advantage, these are often amongst the most hotly-contested races in any election.
In the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language, incumbents traditionally win their party's nomination to run for office. Unseating an incumbent president, senator or other figure during a primary election A primary election , also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the following general election. Primaries are common in the United States, where their origins are traced to the is very difficult; see incumbency advantage. In particular, barring major scandal or controversy, about 94% of congressional The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C incumbents win re-election to their seats[citation needed]. However, shifts in congressional districts due to reapportionment Apportionment is the process of allocating political power among a set of principles . In most representative governments, political power has most recently been apportioned among constituencies based on population, but there is a long history of different approaches or other longer-term factors may make it more or less likely for an incumbent to win re-election over time. For example, a Democratic The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. It is one of the world's oldest political parties and boasts the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the United incumbent in historically conservative Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and opposes rapid change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism and seek a return to "the way things were." The first established use Texas Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States, while San Antonio is the second largest in the state and seventh largest in the United States. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and sixth largest United States metropolitan areas, respectively. Other major cities include El Paso and Austin—the would have less chance of winning than a Democratic incumbent in liberal Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equality. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but most liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutions, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, capitalism, free trade, and the separation of church and state New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over global commerce, finance, media, culture, art, fashion, research, education, and entertainment. As host of the United, because Texas has shifted away from the Democratic Party in terms of voting (see also Congressional stagnation in the United States).
However, there exist scenarios in which the incumbency factor itself leads to the downfall of the incumbent. Popularly known as the anti-incumbency factor An anti-incumbent vote is one exercised against elected officials currently in power. It allows the voters to register their discontent with sitting government officials, particularly when protesting against certain actions taken by the government or the elected officials in question, situations of this kind occur when the incumbent has proven himself not worthy of office during his tenure and the challenger demonstrates this fact to the voters. An anti-incumbency factor can also be responsible for bringing down incumbents who have been in office for many successive terms in spite of performance indicators, simply because the voters are convinced by the challenger of a need for change.
When newcomers vie to fill an open office, voters tend to compare and contrast the candidates' qualifications, issues positions and personal characteristics in a relatively straightforward way. Elections featuring an incumbent, on the other hand, are as Guy Molyneux puts it, "fundamentally a referendum on the incumbent."[4] Voters will first grapple with the record of the incumbent. Only if they decide to "fire" the incumbent do they begin to evaluate whether the challenger is an acceptable alternative.
In business
In business the term "incumbent" is used for the largest company in a certain industry, for instance the traditional phone company in telecommunications, typically called the "incumbent operator". In a sales process, such as public tender, incumbent may also refer to the vendor that has the largest existing commercial relationship with the issuer of the tender.
In large corporations it is the incumbent who is the holder of an office, or one that occupies a particular position.
See also
- Lists of office-holders These are lists of incumbents , including heads of states or of subnational entities
- List of current heads of state and government This is a list of current heads of state and government, showing heads of state and heads of government where different, mainly in parliamentary systems; often a leader is both in presidential systems or dictatorships. Some states have semi-presidential systems where the head of government role is fulfilled by both the listed head of government
- Outgoing president An outgoing president is a president or, generally, other head of state or government when he or she holds office between the election of his or her successor and the inauguration by which that successor assumes power
Notes
- ^ OED(1989), p.834
- ^ OED(1989), p.218
- ^ OED(1989), p.124
- ^ Guy Molyneux, The Big Five-Oh, The American Prospect, 1 October 2004.
References
The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. Print. lnkembol
Categories: Political terms Categories: Terminology | Sociolinguistics | Politics
