Political Parties and Elections Final Review

Super PAC

account for much of polarization, independent PAC, that raises unlimited amounts of money from corps, unions and individuals, however they may not coordinate directly with candidates or parties

Super PACS are prohibited from

donating directly to political candidates and spending cannot be coordinated with the campaign

Heuristics

use mental shortcuts to simplify the process, out aside preference, does not allow us to rationally make decisions since they may be biased, have errors or be supoptimal, people wont always pick the best possible candidate because they are loyal to their teams

Voting and Heuristics

shortcuts rely on political/social identites, partisanship, parties are the biggest shortcuts

Party Caucus Democrats or Conference for (R)

Allows members of Congress, to organize in order to elect, leadership, develop rules and forumate agenda

Primary Election

Election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election

Wave Election

describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant gains in the US Senate or US House, parties are usually the most active in mobilizing voters

Know Nothings

anti immigrant party from 1856, anti-catholic, advocated for nativist policies

Whip

encourage party discipline and "whip" votes for party bills; collect and report rank and file sentiment on bills, disseminate info from leadership to members

Steering Committee (D) Conference (R)

Picks which members belong on which committee

Median Voter Theory

suggests the policies adopted by a democratic government will tend to reflect the preferences of the median voter - satisfies the needs of the general public

Ranked Choice Voting or Instant Runoff Voting

Voters put their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices on a ballot. The last-place candidates are gradually eliminated. If your 1st choice is eliminated your vote switches to your second choice. The winner must receive a majority of the vote.

Cons of Ranked Choice

too much counting, ballot exhaustion, doesnt solve all rep issues, limited public understanding

proportional representation system

A multiple-member district system that allows each political party to participate in governance according to its percentage of the vote

Multiple Member District

An electorate that selects several candidates from a single electoral district is called a:

Partisan Gerrymander

practice of drawing electoral district boundaries in a way that gives one political party an advantage over others

Partisan Gerrymander Outcomes (PACKING)

dilution of minority group voting strength by improperly placing more minority voters into a district than is necessary to elect a representative of their choice (minimizes influence)

Purpose of Electoral College

made up of 538 electorates that represent the states, creates a balance between populated and less populated states, made to balance influence or majority rule, leads to winner take all systems, essentially elects the president typically vote for candidate that won state (but also faithless electors possible in some states); protects minority/small state interests but winner may not win popular vote (or majority), distorts power of small and swing states, dissuades people from voting

Structure of Electoral College

It reflects the federal structure of government, consists of 538 electors

Cons of Electoral College

elect president excluding the majority, faithless, reduces voter turnout, does not reflect the interests of the population, no chance for three parties

Pros of Electoral College

One region cant dominate, gives minority voters a little more recognition, makes for a two party system, supports federalism

Plurality Winner

Voting system in which the candidate who receives the most votes within a geographic area wins the election, regardless if they win the majority

partisan polarization

The presence of increasingly conflicting and divided viewpoints between the Democratic and Republican Parties (NOT BIPARTISAN)

Party Unity in Congress

Often leads to policy gridlock on major issues, since the parties are increasingly unified in voting patterns

Elector

eligible voter who has the right to participate in an election and vote for political candidates or issues.

Independent Expenditure

money spent to support or oppose a candidate that is not coordinated with the candidate's campaign or political party

Judicial Election or Non-Partisan Election

candidates are not selected or endorsed by political parties and party affiliation is not listed on ballots

Open Primary

Primary election in which any voter, regardless of party, may vote, no declared membership to party needed

Cracking (Gerrymandering)

Splitting of a geographically compact minority population among two or more districts, thereby reducing the group's ability to elect a representative in any district

Power of the Incumbency

Political experience, campaign money (established contacts to donors and politicians), familiarity with voters, develop expertise and insider knowledge, all while developing long term constituent relationships

Duvergers Law

a regularity that only two parties tend to compete for control of the government in countries that have single-member, plurality electoral systems or winner take all systems, leading to a 2 party system with no competition

Dark Money 501c4

groups that do not have to report where their money comes from, groups influence elections without disclosing where there money comes from as long as half their money is spent on elections

PAC (Political Action Committee)

an independent organization established by interest groups, political candidates, and people who hold office. PACs serve to raise and contribute money to the political campaigns of individuals whose platforms agree with the aims of the PAC.

Air Conditioning

argumen that air conditioning led to demographic changes,

especially Northerners moving South, that resulted in realignment of the parties (expelling of Southern Dems from Democratic Party, competitive South)

DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and NRCC (republican)

autonomous campaign arm of house democrats, works to elect dems

Executive Centered Party

presidents usually dominate american parties, because of national constituency, influence over the PAO, informal powers and media attention

Political Amateurs

candidates with no political experience, rely on volunteers and grassroot campaigns (Marjorie taylor Greene)

Individual Donors

They are the most partisan and can only spend 2,500 per election

Why Money in Politics

Voters need info on candidates, advertising costs a lot of money, and challengers need the most money to compete with incumbents

Moderate Money

does not exist, which means that there is more payout being ideologically partisan, its hard for moderates to run for office, and political agendas are influenced by donors

Incumbents Leaving Office

due to health, scandal, districts re-drawn, wave against their party, losing an election, to run for another office

Open Seats

A seat in a state or district being contested by candidates, none of whom currently holds the office. Congressional seats become "open" when the incumbent dies or does not run for reelection.

Quality Challenger

a candidate with the experience and backing necessary to run a competitive campaign

Primary Elections in Congress

barely challenge incumbents, mostly open seats, adopt partisan positions, parties recruit favored candidates

General Election in Congress

voters lack knowledge on both candidates, minimal name recognition, rely on party labels, develop messages that voters feel positive about

Messaging in Congress Elections

know supporters and where they live, address local and national issues, understand issues important to them, address the median voter, be present in the community

Incumbency Advantage

larger vote share for being an incumbent, political experience, campaign money, familiarity with voters, redistricting favors them, and name recognition

Midterms in Congress

The party of the president usually loses seats, due to a surge in political stimulation and usually the most partisan or active turnout

Gerrymandering

Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power, done by Elbridge Gerry to benefit his democratic republicans instead of the federalists

Gerrymandering and the Constitution

If gerrymandering is done to dilute the votes of racial groups against the 1965 Voting Rights Act, then it's unconstitutional

Third Parties Loose

winner take all system for both congress and presidency, people dont want to vote for the loosing party, party primaries, getting on the ballot, polarization

Fusion Voting for Third Parties

you can run on as a member of two parties so when voters go to the poll and the name appears within the other party, the winner will be able to represent two parties

Spoilers

When a minor political party or candidate draws votes away from a major party, potentially changing the outcome of an election, significant in winner-take-all systems

Party List Proportional Representation

voters pick a party not a candidate, the party gets seats in proportion to the voter share

closed-list proportional representation

electoral system in which each party represents a ranked list of candidates

open-list proportional representation

voters can influence which candidates get selected

Single Transferable Vote USED IN MULTIMEMBER DISTRICTS

Voters rank their candidates. Once a candidate passed a threshold, his EXTRA votes, in order of preference, get transferred to other voters. It stops once enough have passed the threshold.

Advantages of Proportional Representation

more representation of political views, encourages multi-party systems, more likely to include women and minority candiates, reduces vote wasting

Disadvantages of Proportional Representation

can lead to coalition governments, voters feel less connected to individual representatives, complex ballots, can fringe parties if thresholds are too low

Multimember Districts and Third Parties

lower threshold to win, reduces the spoler effect, reflect diverse preferences, encourages party building

Consequences of the Electoral College

Candidates focus on swing states, safe states are ignored, possible to win the presidency while losing the popular vote, raises questions about democratic legitimacy

Electoral College and Small States

They are overrepresented

Pros of Electoral College

encourages coalition building across regions, maintains the role for states in federal elections, and prevents majority rule

Congress is super

polarized, held together by ideology, narrow margins to control the legislature create unity, LEADS TO GRIDLOCK

Gridlock

the inability of the government to act because rival parties control different parts of the government

Speaker of the House

most influential member of the house, mentioned in the constitution and is the leader of the majority party, makes committee assignments and controls flow of legislation to the floor

Newt Gringrich/Republican Revolution

- in 1994 Republicans for the 1st time in 40 years, gained control of both houses

- Gingrich was republican house speaker

- credited for brining the party back to power by raising money to recruit candidates

-used his power to weaken committee

Appointing S.C. Judges

Presidents and senators use partisan and ideological criteria for selecting judges, and decisions will usually align with the president's

Public Perception of the Courts

Public trust in the court varies by party, and high-profile decisions, Republicans' trust dropped post-2020 election decision

Dissenting Opinion

A statement written by a justice who disagrees with the majority opinion, presenting his or her opinion

Casework

legislative work on behalf of individual constituents to help build the personal vote for members of congress

Personal Political Party (Trump and Obama)

The party that revolved around one person, people should support the party because of the persona or figure that they are, drives the parties platform and ideology

Primary v Caucus

A primary is a preliminary election where delegates or presidential nominees are chosen. A caucus is a large meeting of representatives where they select their party's presidential nominee.

Populism

the political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite binary view of the world (good v. bad elites)

PAO

party as an organization, create party platforms, recruit candidates, and help manage candidates' campaigns by funding and providing media attention responsible for educating voters

PIG

The party in government is the elected officials who belong to the party. These politicians are responsible for proposing, debating, voting on, and signing legislation that meets the party's platform goals.

PIE

is made up of all citizens who identify with that party; it supports the party organization and its candidates by mobilizing voter support and turnout, and by donating to candidate campaigns.