PS 2150 Voting & Elections – Midterm Vocabulary

Exam 1

Public Opinion

What people think about an issue or set of issues at any given point in time. Can be difficult to know because polls are expensive and mostly taken at national polls.

Baseline Poll

surveys of 1,000 or more, which are designed to assess the knowledge of voters on a large number of issues and candidates. “Have you heard of a candidate?”

Trend Poll

survey of 800 or less, have fewer questions. follows up on areas of interest of voters, and if they know about a candidate. this info is used for campaign advertising.

Tracking Poll

taken during the last two months of an election campaign, goal is to see how public opinion responds to campaign activities. 150-200 people

Exit Poll

Interviews with voters as they leave the polling place, used to predict outcomes and analyze voter behavior.

Focus Group

A small, demographically diverse discussion group used by campaigns to look at voter attitudes in depth.

Push Poll

A deceptive poll that acts as a survey but is intended to persuade or spread negative information.

Why is public opinion usually not well-formed, detailed, or consistent?

Most people don’t care, aren’t consistent, and are based on emotion rather than reason.

Why is there a polling industry in the US and around the world?

-political candidates and officials want to know public opinion on issues

-media/advertisers want know which candidates are more popular. create profit from it.

How do you collect valid, reliable, and unbiased public opinion data?

-select random sample

-valid survey instrument

-interview respondents

-interpret results

Why is sampling difficult today?

-people don’t answer

-inconsistent info among people

-difference between people who do respond (extremists) vs. those who don’t

Why are non-response rates problematic?

Most people who don’t respond to phone calls, and those who do are from specific demographics. Older people, those with more time, and extremists.

How does method of interviewing impact the amount of responses you get?

-phone: easy to hang up

-face to face: pressure to listen to this person

-online: easier to lie

What makes it difficult for US government to solve problems quickly?

separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, political parties, etc

What are Robert Dahl’s 5 essential features of democracy?

1. Elected Officials

2. Free, fair and frequent elections

3. Freedom of expression

4. Associational autonomy

5. Inclusive citizenship

   • Broadly disperse powers

Robert Dahl’s “Free, Fair, and Frequent Elections”

1.) Freedom of citizens to form or join organizations in support of candidates

2.) Freedom to express preferences

3.) Alternative sources of information

4.) Ability of new leaders to enter system to compete for support

5.) Right to vote without administrative barriers or intimidation

6.) Votes counted fairly

7.) Votes translate into representation fairly

Role of money in elections

-increased amount spent on campaigns, giving a leg up to previously wealthy candidates.

How did the Supreme Court impact the money spent on elections?

Citizen’s United vs FEC (2008). Corporations/unions had the same right of political speech as individuals, could spend unlimited resources on elections campaigns.

What concerns about the media in the US have increased concerns for elections?

-mainstream media is concentrated into few parent companies. (ex: Disney owns ABC, ESPN, and Disney channels)

-sussy sources popping up out of nowhere (citizens have hard time sorting through them)

-social media being #fake (political manipulation, algorithm, misinformation)

Other reasons the US isn’t “free and fair”

-only two main political parties with a chance of winning

-voter registration that has more steps, preventing groups of people from participating

-electoral college distorting vote count

Democratic Beliefs and Values

-Acceptance of majority rule

-Belief in the rights of minorities

-Political candidates must be willing to play by democratic rules and respect the will of the people

What are the three bases for government legitimacy?

-Divine right of kings

-religious authority

-consent of the people

Why is government legitimacy in democracy important?

provide some kind of support from the public to stay in power

Why is there a declining trust in government?

-most Americans view debate as incessant bickering

-media influence

-compromise is seen as selling out

4 examples of electoral participation activities

-voting

-attempting to persuade others

-working for a campaign (door-to-door, phone calls, post card mailing)

-contributing money

Four dimensions of electoral participation

1. How often can the activity be performed?

2. personal resources required to engage in the activity

3. is it performed solo or with others?

4. how much information the activity conveys about citizens preferences, needs, and desires?

Participatory Distortion

group of people with unrepresented thoughts and beliefs have greater impact in politics

Why do American’s vote much less than other democratic countries?

registration limits, lack of motivation

Individual factors in voting

difference in socioeconomic status (lower/middle/upper class), age, sex, race/ethnicity

Political efficacy

belief that one’s voice and participation will matter, American’s have greater sense of this, especially with political parties

Contextual factors that impact political participation

-campaign activities to “get out the vote”

-competitiveness within elections

-registration limits (voter ID, age, felons, etc)

-laws that make voting easier

Laws that make voting easier

-absentee voting

-early voting

-online registration

-mail voting

Laws that make voting more difficult

-felonies

-voter ID laws

-location of polling places

How does socioeconomic status affect voting?

-higher class individuals are more likely to participate in elections (higher education = higher wealth)

How does age affect voting?

-younger individuals want to have a say in their future, so more motivated to vote.

How does race/ethnicity affect voting?

-white people tend to vote more than black/Hispanic (citizenship rates, socioeconomic status)

How does sex affect voting?

-more issues concerning women, more motivated to vote. typically woman have a higher rate of participating in elections than men

Conventional vs. Unconventional

-conventional: working within the democratic system (voting)

-unconventional: participating in rallies, civil right movements, protests, etc.

Why do people engage in unconventional participation?

-used to make important changes, use their right of freedom of speech

Examples of successful unconventional participation

-Civil Rights Movement, Womens Suffrage, ADA Protests

What are types of unconventional participation?

-protests

-boycotts

-sit ins

-violence

Who is more likely to participate in unconventional?

-Younger people

-People with higher education

-People in cities

-democrats

What explains unconventional participation?

-those in cities have more opportunities for it

-younger people on social media, allow for recruiting more people quicker

-those who are affected by the issues (ex: more women participating in Women’s Suffrage)

What are social networks and why are they important recruiters for political activity?

-Social media, allows for easier and quicker recruitment of more individuals

-social networks: people with whom one interacts with face or face/over social media

When does a social group have greater impact than an individual in politics?

-an individual strongly identifies as a member of the group (very passionate)

-group feels threatened or challenged by outside forces

How do Americans feel about the use of violence in unconventional participation?

-very opposed, but used as retaliation when group members face violence.

5 major eras of American political campaigns

1.) Pre-Democratic

2.) Mass Mobilization

3.) Progressive Era

4.) Candidate Campaign

5.) Contemporary Campaign

Pre-Democratic

-1788-1824.

-Unanimous (total agreement) vote for George Washington

-Federalist vs. Democratic Republican

-Candidates chosen by state legislatures

-first negative campaigning, GOTV campaigns

Mass Mobilization

-1828-1892

-Politicians began campaigning

-Andrew Jackson won first, John Quincy Adams came second

-no one got majority vote of electoral college, HOR got to decide (1824)

-Adams made sketch deal with Henry Clay, promised higher position in exchange for supporters. Jackson wasn’t taking that disrespect

Changes before 1828 elections

-many states removed property requirements for voting

-small group of Jackson’s friends led campaign, motivated by personal loyalty

-Jackson increased campaign activities to promote voter turnout: rallies, picnics, more entertainment

-lead to prioritizing entertainment over actual policy discussions

1828-1832: New Parties

-Jackson’s supporters became the Democratic Party after his election

-Whig Party (previously National Republican Party)

Presidential Election of 1876

-Democrats spread rumors and lies about Republican candidates

-President press turned into “penny press”, meaning media focused on spreading gossip instead of actual news

Progressive Era

-1896-1948

-personal campaigning, candidates became more involved in their own campaigning.

Election of 1896

-William Jennings Bryan (Dem) vs. William Mckinley (Rep)

-Bryan appealed to farmers, traveled a lot to campaign. Wanted to use the silver standard instead of gold (concept that we have more silver, so our currency should be based on silver rather than gold)

-Democrats didn’t like this = didn’t vote for him

-Mckinley did front porch campaigns, spent $7 million. Rep won and became the majority party

Election of 1912

-Wilson (Dem) vs. Taft (Rep.) vs. Roosevelt (Progressive “Bull Moose” Party)

-Roosevelt and Wilson campaigned a lot, Roosevelt ended up being shot

Progressive Era Reforms

-women were able to vote (voter participation decreased)

-adopted Australian ballot

-increased use of non-partisan elections in cities

Media Transformations During Progressive Era

-inventions of telephones, microphones, and radio

Candidate Campaign

-1952-2012

-defined by television

-rise of primary elections (focused attention on candidates)

-Democratic Party became majority

Retail and Wholesale Politics

Retail: direct, personal interactions between candidates and voters

Wholesale: broader group of people, meant to be televised/mass media

Impacts of television on campaigning

-elevated the importance of fundraising

-shifted importance from parties to candidates

-altered the content of political messaging

-changed geographical unit for targeting

Primary Elections

-wanting to increase democracy led to rise in primary elections

-fundraising became a priority in campaigning in order to fund primary elections

Election of 1932

-Democratic Party became the majority

-By 90’s, Democratic advantage decreased as they lost white southern and religious voters due to the rise in support for issues concerning civil/abortion rights

-elections became more competitive

Contemporary Campaign

-2016-present

-new tech: internet, social media, “big data” and “analytics”

-internet and social media allowed for the spreading of misinformation and propaganda

-demographic changes noted with analytics