ap government final

franchise

• who has the right to vote

• determined by Article I, Section IV

  • 1789.- white men of power

  • 1830 - Andrew Jackson extended this to all white men

15th amendment

recognized black men’s right to vote

17th amendment

granted people the right to vote senators into office

19th amendment

recognized women’s right to vote

24th amendment

abolished poll taxes which were used to suppress minority votes

26th amendment

lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

two methods that make it hard for minorities to vote

• Place more indirect restrictions on minority groups 

• Prevent convicted felons from voting

4 types of voting models

• rational choice voting, prospective voting, retrospective voting, party line voting

rational choice voting

a person votes based on their individual self-interest and carefully studies the issues and platforms

retrospective voting

person votes based on recent track record of political in question

prospective voting

person votes on predictions of how party / candidate will perform

party line voting

person votes for all candidates of a party

voter turnout factors

structural barriers, political efficacy, demographics, type of election

structural barriers

policy / law preventing people from voting

voter id cards debate

republicans argue it’s needed to decrease fraud

democrats argue voter fraud is not a serious threat

political efficacy

citizen’s belief about whether or not their vote matters

• people who live in swing states know their vote matters

demographics

senior citizens - higher voting rates

teenagers - lowest voting rates

factors that impact voting

party identification, ideological orientation, candidate characteristics, contemporary political issues, religious beliefs, race, gender, etc

linkage institution

societal structure that connects people to their government or the political process - intermediaries

4 linkage institutions

political parties, interest groups, elections, media

political party

an organization that at least partially defined by a certain ideological belief that puts forward candidates for election

democrats - liberal and republican - conservative

political party purposes

• Mobilization and education of voters - voter education drives 

• Canvassing campaigns - party people try to convince people to vote during the election season 

• Write and publish the party platform - kinds of policies  

• Find quality candidates - likable candidate, good following, unite the party, a wealthy candidate 

• Provide campaign management support for their candidates 

canvassing

volunteers who try to convince people to vote during election season

3 main methods of altering party structure

• party realignment

• campaign finance law

• communication and data management technology

coalition

certain demographics of voters such as generations, religions, etc

party realignment

after the party loses many elections 

campaign finance laws

how much money can be given to certain candidates and parties

communication and data management tech

parties’ ability to mine data on voters and structure their campaigns

• project orca - mitt romney

• project narwhal - barack obama

demographics

classify people according to external traits such as race, gender, age, and regions

psychographics

classify people according to their inner life: personality, attitudes, aspirations, and desires

two party system

republicans or democrats will always win an election

why can’t third parties win?

winner takes all voting districts

third party agenda incorporation

winner take all voting districts

candidate is awarded all of the electoral college votes

proportional system

seats alloted by percentage of votes

interest group

group of people who gather around policy issue in order to persuade policy makers to pass legislation favorable to the group

major goals of interest groups

• Educate voters + officer holders on the interest group’s chosen issue 

• Engage in lobbying - hold meetings with policy makers to try and influence them to pass legislation in their favor 

• Draft legislation - hire staff to draft certain bills and acts 

• Mobilize its members to apply pressure on and work with legislators and government agencies

iron triangle

strong, mutually beneficial relationship between interest groups, congressional committees, and government agencies

issue networks

when many interest groups come together to work and achieve a short term policy goal - end subsidies for tobacco act

free rider problem

when a larger group benefits from efforts of interest groups than the actual members of the group

• members pay the bills but help common ciitzens

single issue interest group

group of people who spend their finances rallying for one specific cause

• pro-life and pro-choice groups

prohibition movement

lead by women’s christian temperance movement - women were tired of drunk men being violent - persuaded legislators to pass amendments restricting sale of alcohol across America

civil rights movement

lead by Martin Luther King who practiced civil disobedience - breaking laws on purpose to highlight injustices in civil laws - civil rights act and voting rights act

factors that affect policy

professional organizations

bureaucratic agencies

political parties

social movements

protest movements

military

interest groups

cycle of passing new policies

• Social and protest movements get nation’s attention on certain realities that need to be changed 

• Interest groups step in and draft potential legislation to present to lawmakers

• When it comes to making laws, political parties and bureaucratic agencies get involved 

• When it comes to implement + execute the law, bureaucratic agencies figure out the rules and regulations to accomplish that 

• The law is either implemented well or not 

open primaries

registered voter can vote in either party’s primary but not both

closed primaries

only people registered with the party can vote in the primary

caucuses

people vote on their chosen nominee but voters discuss and debate and then vote publicly

national convention

political party delegates assemble to formally nominate their presidential and vice-presidential candidates

incumbency advantage

incumbent has already won an election, so they are familiar with how to get people to vote for them - already has army of volunteers and fundraisers who can help with another campaign

election day

first tuesday of november where everyone goes to vote

electoral college

constitutional mechanisms by which we elect the president

electors = state representatives + 2 senators

maine and nebraska splits the votes

270 electoral votes to become president

faithless electors

if an elector goes against popular vote

• some states have laws against this

congressional elections

every two years and senate has 1/3 up for election every 2 years

name recognition

people are more likely to vote for someone who they have heard of

track record

incumbents can use their track record to show all of the accomplishments they achieved while in office 

established funding

senators and representatives spend a lot of their time working towards reestablishing their campaign so they can win when they run again 

safe districts

congressional representatives in the House can gerrymander districts in order to win againle

length of election cycle

election season has slowly gotten longer

complexity of campaigns

modern campaigns require professional consultants in order to run them 

• Campaign manager, public relations expert, social media experts, dedicated fundraisers, etc

methods of advertising

billboards, social media ads, television ads

federal elections campaign act

• Created a new federal commission called Federal Election Commission 

• FEC created to oversee + regulate money spent in political campaigns 

• Established limits for how much money a person could give to a political candidate and how much money candidates could spend on campaign 

supreme court case - buckley vs valeo

• Freedom of Speech - creating ads, billboards, campaigns 

• Court restricted amount of money an individual could give to candidate

hard money

contributions directly given to a candidate

soft money

money donated to party or interest group who can buy advertisements on behalf of the candidate - not subject to campaign finance laws

bipartisan campaign reform act

increased amount of hard money but decreased amount of soft money

stand by your ad provision

amount of negative advertising would decrease if a candidate had to tie their face to their ads

supreme court case - Citizens United Vs FEC 

• Court ruled that limits on contributions from individuals and corporations was a violation of free speech 

• Corporate funding of ads + broadcasts cannot be limited

• Political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions is a form of protected speech under first amendment

political action committee

organizations that raise money for the sake of influencing the population to vote for their candidate

connected pacs

• Formed by corporation or other entities like labor unions 

• Only collect funds from the members of their organizations 

• Money can be donated directly to candidates in limited quantities

• Can raise unlimited amounts of money provided the individual limits are obeyed

non-connected pacs

• Formed independently of an organization - usually around a specific public interest 

• Donations to non-connected PACs are limited by law 

• Accept donations from public and donate directly to candidates 

super pacs

• Can be formed by anyone - contested because political scientists believe the rich will have and advantage

• Can accept unlimited donations 

• Cannot directly coordinate with a candidate

bipartisan campaign finance act

BCRA made it illegal for nonprofits or corporations to engage in electioneering communications for 60 days before an election or 30 days before a primary

• Movie made against Hillary Clinton - but by the time people wanted to release this movie, it was past 30 day mark

• Citizens United wanted to challenge BCRA

constitutional principles behind Citizens United vs FEC

• Citizens United argued that BCRA’s prohibition against electioneering communication by corporations was a violation of the 1st amendment’s protection of the freedom of speech 

• Corporations = many individuals banded together

decisions of Citizens United vs FEC

• Supreme Court decided 5-4 in favor of Citizens United 

• Argued that the limitations put on corporations to run political ads and communications were not different from government censorship of speech towards individuals

watchdog agency

•  holds government responsible to the people 

  • papers, telegraph, radios, television, internet, and social media 

news events

anything newsworthy presented in the news

investigative journalism

seeks to expose corruption in govt and society

• 1900s - journalists wrote about oil corporations and urban poverty 

• Teddy Roosevelt coined the term “muckrackers”

election coverage and political commentary

who’s running for office and horse race journalism

• people are in a race to publish polling numbers so they can report inaccurate numbers 

media bias

social media algorithms determine what we like and keep serving us those kinds of stories

fairness doctrine

media outlets had to report competing sides of the same issue when publishing news - problematic because it highlighted positives of tobacco!

methods to detect media bias

• Determine ideological preference of reporters themselves 

  • Many studies show reporters lean more Democratic 

• Examine the character of the reporter itself

american beliefs

individualism, equality of opportunity, free enterprise, rule of law, and a limited government

individualism

places emphasis on self-reliance and independence 

equality of opportunity

belief that every American, regardless of their race, ethnicity, sex, religion, etc deserves equal footing to go after life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness 

free enterprise

belief of laissez-faire economics with little government intervention in the economy as possible

rule of law

belief that every citizen is equal under the law 

limited government

a government whose limits are well-defined and is restrained through the separation of powers and a system of checks + balances

conservatives

cherish established institutions and seek to preserve them for overall good of society - support smaller govt and fewer public services

liberals

push for new reforms in order to make society more just + equitable - want to increase justice and equality for all through new government reforms

divide over individualism

• Conservatives value self-centered individualism - emphasizes the interests of the individual above the interests of society

• Liberals value enlightened individualism - emphasizes the interests of society above the interests of the individual

divide over equality of opportunity

• conservatives believe in power of meritocracy

• liberals agree with idea of meritocracy with conditions because not all groups start in the same place

divide over free enterprise

• Conservatives want the government to stay out of the affairs of businesses and allow the free market determine what’s best 

• Liberals want the government to intervene with appropriate regulations to ensure safety and equality in the workplace

divide over rule of law

• Conservatives see the law as already embodying equality - emphasis letter of law 

• Liberals agree laws embody equality with condition - emphasize the unequal application of laws in regards to minority groups

divide over limited government

• Conservatives want to define strong boundaries of federalism - leads to less government interference in people’s lives 

• Liberals embrace the need for government intervention - believe this to be for the sake of the greater good

political socialization

factors that influence our political beliefs

6 factors that influence political socialization

• family, schools (civics and government classes), peers, media, civics/religious organizations, globalization

social conformity + influencers

influences our political decisions and mindset

influencers are cancelled if they make controversial statements - could instill a sense of fear in some young voters

boy scouts and girl scouts

• Boy scouts and girl scouts have also been taught different skills which influences their political mindsets 

globalization

growing interconnectedness of world thru economic + social interactions

political beliefs in immigrants

• Asian + Latino immigrants believe in community good while European immigrants believe in individualism