campaign & elections 1-3,

What are the qualifications to be a candidate for the House of Representatives?

-at least 25yrs old

-Citizen for 7 yrs

-inhabitant of the state that the district is in

What are the qualifications to be a candidate for Senate

-At least 30yrs old

-Citizen for 9yrs

What are the qualifications to be President

-At least 35yrs old

-U.S resident for at least 14 yrs

-Native-born citizens

What is the 15th amendment?

-Rights of citizens to vote shall not be taken away regardless of race, color, and/or creed

-I.E Black males can vote

What is the 17th Amendment?

Senate is elected by people

What is the 19th Amendment?

Women get to vote

What is the 24th Amendment?

Eliminates poll tax

What is the 26th Amendment?

right of 18yr olds to vote

What gives the right to vote?

Article I Section II Clause I

What is the 22nd Amendment?

Restricts POTUS to 2 terms

What is the 14th Amendment?

Equal protection clause

What values are reflected in the qualifications to seek office?

1. Age- Competence

2. Residency- Loyalty

What has the largest impact on who can run for office?

-Party membership and Term Limits

What is good and bad about a permanent campaign

Good

-May help improve the quality of deliberation in the campaign. because the longer the candidates campaign the more information citizens receive

-Can improve the quality of representation because a campaign keeps politicians in constant contact with citizens

Bad

-May dissuade good candidates from running

-Campaigning takes time away from learning about policy or writing legislation and therefore detract from good governance

SMDP

Single Member District Plurality

-States are divided into districts that are represented by the plurality winner of a general election

What is redistricting?

-every 10 years congressional districts are redrawn to reflect changes in population distribution

-process of drawing district boundaries

What is reapportionment?

process that determines the actual number of districts (seats) in each state

What is gerrymandering

redistricting towards the benefit of one party or group

What is malapportionment

-districts not having the same number of constituents

Describe the principle of one person, one vote

-because the 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection, states must have electoral systems where each person's vote counts equally

-Had implications for drawing district boundaries

Voting Rights Act of 1965

- Forbade states from intentionally diluting the voting power of minorities

-Prevents discrimination in the electoral process

-Singles out states and counties that have a history of discrimination and says that before they change their electoral laws they must get approval by the Justice Department

-Puts the federal government and not the states as the guarantor of the right to vote

Plurality vs majority

majority is 50%+1

plurality is just the most votes

Describe proportional representation

seats are allocated to parties in proportion to the percentage of the vote they received

What is Duverger's Law?

SMDP elections produce two party systems because of strategic voting and coalition building

Why do we have a two party system?

1. Federalism

- Each state has their own laws making it difficult for new political parties to get started

2. Small parties are ignored

3. SMDP

- Only one person elected. Whoever receives the most votes

4. Psychological- the two parties have strong historical claims on the loyalties of citizens

5. Organizational- The importance of the presidency causes diverse groups across the nation to coalesce into the same two parties within each state

Weakness of Two-Party Ststem

Discourages 3rd party candidates and new parties

Strength of the Two-Party Ststem

-Stability through political socialization

-Keep a broad base of support through compromise, consensus building, forming alliances within parties

Compare Two-Party System to a Multi-Party System

In Multi-Party:

-Citizens vote for Political Party, not the person

-Proportional voting- When votes are tallied each Party receives a % of the vote

-No vote is wasted. Every vote is counted toward a Political Party

-No single Member Districts, no Winner take all

All of this allows many political parties to gain power in government

list 4 similarities between democrats and republicans

Both believe:

1. Individualism- human nature is selfish and includes competitive proclivity. Conflict must be managed; compromise is encouraged

2. There is a Natural Right to economic and intellectual liberty (private property and religion)

3. Government power should be limited; value and create the conditions for freedom, order and equality

4. Free Market Capitalism- The prices of goods/services should be determined by the market. The corporation is an entity with the same rights as the citizen (free speech)

List differences between parties

1. Democrats wish to reduce military spending. Republicans wish to increase role in global military activity

2. Democrats want to provide safety net for most vulnerable, Republicans want fewer safety net provisions

3. Democrats want to reduce governments role in social welfare. Republicans want to increase government role in regulating moral values

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