Campaigns and Elections Chapter 1

What are the three principles of the Procedural View?

1. Universal participation- Who should participate

2. Political equality- How much should individual preferences count

3. Plurality or majority rule- How many votes are needed to make a decision

4. Responsiveness

What is Responsiveness?

Elected reps should do what the majority of citizens want, no matter what it is

What are the standards of the procedural view in evaluating campaigns and elections?

1. Free Choice

2. Political equality

3. Deliberation

4. Free Speech

What is free choice?

-Standard of the procedural view

-People should be able to vote without intimidation and coercion and should have adequate unbiased information to base their vote upon

What is Political equality?

-standard of the procedural view and one of the three principles of the procedural view

-14th amendment sets an electoral standard

-election laws cannot disadvantage certain groups.

-class, age, gender, nor race should be a detriment to voting

What is Political science?

methodical and systematical analysis of power

What is Deliberation?

-Standard of the procedural view

-The quality of information provided to voters based on the juxtaposition of the candidates

-it should produce high quality information

What is the standard of free speech in the procedural view of evaluating campaigns and elections?

-Not only should people be free to vote but they should be equally free to run for office and to associate themselves in effective groups. -Financial requirements for voting seems to stand in the way of this.

What is the conceptual framework we use to understand campaigns and elections?

1. The RULES that govern elections

2. The broader REALITY - economic, political, and historical- that parties and candidates confront as they decide whether to run or how to campaign

3. The STRATEGIC CHOICES that various actors make

4. The CHOICES OF CITIZENS who ultimately decide the outcome

Describe the significance of rules in understanding campaigns and elections

Rules affect every aspect of elections:

-Qualifications to run

-Conduct of elections

-Role of actors

-campaign financing

How are the rules of elections changed?

-not easily

-may require legislation, Supreme Court decision, or even a constitutional amendment

-changes typically do not happen during the campaign itself

What is the "reality" in the framework to understand campaigns and elections

The context in which an election occurs

-The candidates biography

-records of the political parties

-recent and current political and economic events

-prosperity of economy

-external factors like 9/11 or Hurricane Sandy

Describe campaign strategy in the framework for understanding campaigns and elections

The element of elections that candidates and other actors can control

-Choices such as who to hire, what issues to focus on, how negative/positive to be

-Party affect such as platform items, message focusing, targeting efforts down to the street level

What is legitimacy?

1. Legitimacy by tradition

2. Legitimacy by influence

3. Legitimacy by law

legitimacy is the cause, obedience is the goal