gov u5: political participation

retrospective voting

looking at what the current candidate’s work so far is to decide who to vote for in the next election

prospective voting

thinking about what will happen in the future if they vote for a certain candidate when deciding who to vote for in the next election

party line/straight ticket voting

voting for your party only

primary election

election in which political parties choose which candidate to run in the general election

open primaries vs closed primaries

open: allow people to vote for a candidate no matter the party

closed: only allow people to choose a candidate in the party they are registered for

general election

the final election in which voters choose among the candidates nominated by their parties for public office

midterm election

occur every even number year (not pres election)

• all house members up for election

• 1/3 of senate up for election

• most incumbents get re-elected

caucus

alternative for some states’ primary elections where registered political party members gather in person to discuss candidates

• very time consuming

how does electoral college work

number of electors preset based on population

• if popular vote wins in the state they win all electoral votes

• (except Maine and Nebraska)

linkage institutions

things that connect people to the government

• interest groups, elections, media, political parties

winner take all method

candidate that gets the most votes in the state wins all the electoral votes

lobbying

the act of trying to convince Congress to pass laws/regulations that align with one’s political agenda.

• lobbyists work for interest groups, corporations, other organizations to push for specific legislation

electioneering

efforts by interest groups, political orgs, etc. to attempt to influence the outcome of elections

• ex. endorsing a candidate or running ads

incumbency advantage

incumbents have an overall higher chance of winning than someone who has not been in office already

• they alr have more name recognition, media coverage, funding, etc.

soft money vs hard money

soft

• not limited, does not go directly to a candidate

hard

• limited and directly for a candidate

PACs vs SuperPACs

PACs

• committees that have a limited amount of money they can donate to

Super PACs

• committees that don’t have a limit on how much money they raise and spend but they can’t donate to candidates specifically

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

regulates the financing of political campaigns by placing significant restrictions on soft money.

• made candidates say their name to increase accountability in campaign advertising

horse race journalism vs watchdog journalism

horse race

• constantly showing the polls and who is leading/behind, rather than discussing candidates’ policy positions

watchdog

• constantly looking for scandals to expose, in order to focus on holding government and public officials accountable.