Unit 5 Review

15th Amendment

Recognized the right of black men to vote

19th Amendment

Recognized women’s right to vote

Rational Choice Voting

Person votes based on their individual self-interest, carefully studies the issues and platforms

Retrospective Voting

Person votes based on the recent past track record of the politician in question

Prospective voting

Person votes based on predictions of how a party or candidate will perform in the future

Party-Line Voting

Person votes for all the candidates of the voter’s party

Voter turnout ; Structural barriers

A policy or law that can prevent people from voting or encourage people to vote - ex. voter ID laws

Voter ID arguments

• Republicans argue that ID laws decrease the possibility of voter fraud

• Democrats point to a growing body of research that indicates voter fraud is not a serious threat and almost never happens

  • Therefore these laws only serve to keep minorities out of the voting booth

Voter turnout ; Political efficacy

A citizen’s belief about whether their vote matters

Voter turnout ; Demographics

• Voter turnout amongst registered voters ~50-60%

• Older Americans vote at a higher rate than young Americans; 18-21 year olds are the least likely to vote

• White Americans tend to vote more than minorities; tend to vote more when they feel represented - ex. Asian Americans & Kamala Harris, Black Americans & Obama

• People with a higher college education tend to vote more

• Women vote slightly more than men (~3-4%)

• The higher the income, the more likely you are to vote

Voter turnout ; Type of election

• National elections see more participation than state and local elections

• More people vote in presidential elections v. midterm elections (>20%)

Factors affecting voters’ choices

• Party identification / ideological orientation

• Candidate characteristics

• Political issues

• Religious beliefs, gender, race, ethnicity

Linkage Institution

Societal structure that connects people to their government or the political process; act as intermediaries between average people and policymakers in the federal, state, & local governments. Include political parties, interest groups, elections, and media.

Political party

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

What political parties do

1. Mobilization and education of voters

2. Write and publish the party platform

3. Find quality candidates

4. Provide campaign management support for their candidates

Federal Elections Campaign Act (FECA)

• Created a new federal commission called the Federal Election Commission

• FEC created to oversee and regulate the money being spent in political campaigns

  • Established limits for:

    • How much money a person could give to a political candidate

    • How much money candidates could spend on their campaign

Hard money

Contributions given directly to a candidate

Soft money

Money donated to a party or interest group who can buy advertising on the candidate’s behalf ; not subject to campaign finance laws

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)

Increased the amount of hard money that could be donated to a candidate and made provisions to regulate and make transparent the amount of soft money that could be given as well

Citizens United V. FEC

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

• Corporate funding of ads and broadcasts cannot be limited

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

Connected PAC

• Formed by corporations or other entities like labor unions

• Only collect funds from the members of their organization

• Money can be donated directly to candidates in limited quantities

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

Non-connected PAC

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

• Donations to non-connected PACs are limited by law

• Can accept donations from the public and donate directly to candidates

Super PAC

• Can be formed by anyone

• Can accept unlimited donations

• Cannot directly coordinate with a candidate

Sources of media

• Print media - newspapers and magazines

• Broadcast media

• New media - internet and social media

Regulations on mass media

FCC regulates broadcast media

• No company is allowed to control >35% of the stations in a market

• Licensing - all stations need a license to broadcast

• Equal time rule - must sell advertising at the same rate and amount of time to opposing candidates

Buckley v. Valeo

Can limit contribution to avoid corruption, but cannot limit expenditures

Interest group

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

1. Educate voters and office holders on the group’s chosen issue

2. Engage in lobbying; hold meetings with policy makers to try to influence them to pass legislation in their favor

3. Draft legislation

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

Iron triangle

• The strong, mutually beneficial relationship between interest groups, congressional committees, and governmental agencies

• Members of congressional committees are especially helped by interest groups

  • Provide them with policy information

  • Provide campaign donations if the representative is sympathetic to the group’s goals

Presidential election

1. Announcement (1-2 yrs before election)

2. Presidential primaries (Feb-Jun) - each state has either a primary or caucus

3. National conventions (Jul/Aug/Sep)

4. General election (First Tuesday in Nov after the 1st)

Incumbency advantage

• The incumbent has already won an election, so they know how it’s done

• Incumbent is a known quantity

  • People already know how they’ll act as president

• The incumbent already has an army of volunteers and fundraisers ready to help with another campaign

Primaries

• Some states hold open primaries

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

• Some states hold closed primaries

  • Only people registered with the party can vote in those primaries

Caucus

Meeting of party members who vote openly

General elections

Race between the nominees from each party to determine who wins the office/seat

Policy elections

Allow the public to pass legislation directly

• Referendums: when politicians put policy on the ballot

• Initiatives: When the people get a law on the ballot (petition)

Criticisms of the primary system

• Importance of early states

• Time and money

• Low voter turnout

• Media has too much power

The National Convention

• Week-long infomercial for the party and presidential candidate

• Reward the faithful and energize the party

• Choosing a location

• Delegates to the convention

• Set platform, official nomination of Presidential and VP candidate

Electoral college

• Each state get the number of electoral votes that matches the number of representatives and senators

• 538 total electoral votes (435 + 100 + 3)

• Winner take all in each state (except Maine and Nebraska)

• Majority (270 votes) needed to win

Criticisms of the Electoral college

• Small states have too much power

• Focus on swing state or battleground states

• Presidents have won the electoral vote, but lost the popular vote

Stump speech

Standardized speech that a presidential candidate delivers repeatedly at campaign events and rallies, highlights most of a candidates important political viewpoints and beliefs

Campaign slogan

Short phrase that characterizes the overall sentiment of their candidacy and why they chose to run for office in the first place

Political surrogates

Political allies of a presidential candidate - appear alongside candidates or have separate events - elected officials, family members, famous celebrities

Campaign finance

• Costs of running modern campaigns has skyrocketed

• Costs of professional consultants

• Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974

• Hard money v. soft money

Elections as linkage institutions

• Politicians present their platforms to people - campaign events and mailings

• People voice their preferences by voting - most common form of political participation

• People can contribute to campaigns and volunteer to help

• Policy elections allow people to voice opinions on laws

Narrowcasting

Television programs target specific audiences - political ideology

Issues v. horse race

Covering the polling numbers and strategies of candidates instead of the issues

Media’s impact on the government

• Since the 1960s the media has become more negative, aired shorter sound bites, and become more interpretive

• Investigative journalism and agenda setting

• Watchdog - checks & balances

• Inform about public opinion

Bias in the media and public opinion + impacts

• Reporting v. interpreting

• Routine stories v. feature stories, investigative stories, editorials, pundits

• Priming (choosing what media to present and leave out)

• Framing (how the info is presented)

• Reinforces beliefs on certain topics; selective attention & confirmation bias

• Influence importance & direct conversation

• Increased polarization

• Media creates cynicism and negativity

Mass media as linkage institution

• Government relies on the media for news

• The media inform people on the actions of the government (government uses media to connect with the people) - cover campaigns, speeches, and policy actions

• Informs government of public opinion by conducting polls and reporting unconventional participation (protests)

• Influence public opinion and policy agenda through agenda setting and framing

Interest groups v. Political parties

• Do not try to win elections; instead try to influence those in gov’t or who wins elections

• Policy specialists not policy generalists

• Only try to satisfy their members, do not try to appeal to everyone

Pluralist (group) theory

• Support interest groups

• Provide linkage between the people and the government - people get the government’s attention

• So many groups that it guarantees that influence is dispersed- no one group will become too dominant (Federalist 10)

• Check on the power of the government

Elite theory

• Against interest groups

• Real power is only held by a few key groups - influence of money - i.e. large corporations, pay for votes

• Power is not equally distributed between all the groups

• Interest group can buy votes and sway elections

• Astroturfing - paying people to attend rallies or protests, creating fake social media accounts

Hyperpluralist theory

• Against interest groups

• System is out of control - so many interest groups with so much power that the government tries to please them all

• Leads to contradictory and confusing policy or legislative gridlock

• Iron triangles and issue networks

• Can cause runaway spending

Successful interest groups

• Monsieur Olsen’s law of large groups

• Free rider problem

• Intensity

• Leadership and membership - good CEO and influential members

• Financial resources - ex. Koch brothers

Types of interest groups

• Economic

• Environmental

• Equality

• Public interests

• Single issue

Lobbyists

• Professionals that work for interest groups and try to influence the government - 40% are retired congressmen/senators

• Source of info & expertise

• Help with political campaign strategies

• Source of new policy ideas

• Work w Presidents, Congressmen, Senators

Laws regulating lobbyists

• Lobbying disclosure act (1995) - Lobbyists must register and file expenditure reports

• Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (2007) - ban on gifts, tougher disclosure laws, lengthen time in between retirement from gov’t and hiring by interest groups (2 yrs)

Dark money

Political contributions to nonprofit groups and super PACs whose donors do not need to be legally disclosed - corporations

Methods used by interest groups

• Lobbyists

• Iron triangles and issue groups

• Electioneering

• Courts and litigation

• Grassroots

Interest groups as linkage institutions

• Express group members’ preferences to politicians

• Communicate policy information to group members

• Raise and spend money to advocate for the interests of the groups; electioneering and political advertisements

• Lobbyists try to persuade politicians and provide expert information

• Unconventional participation - organize grassroots protests