U5- Political Participation- AP Gov + Politics

Party Coalition

group of voters that consistently support the platform.

Linkage Institutions

connect individuals with the government

• ex: media, interest groups, social movements, cable/local TV, social media, and more

Realignment

major shift in political allegiance

Dealignment

detachment from a political party → more likely to become independent.

• increase in split-ticket

• decline in party loyalty

Party Identification

degree in which voters are connected to a political party [parties influence voting chocies]

Straight-Ticket Voting

voting for candidates on the ballot from one party.

Split-Ticket Voting

voting for candidates from different parties in the same election.

Open Primary

where all eligible voters can vote

Closed Primary

where only voters with an established political party can vote

Caucus

meeting or gathering of members of a political party or organization

Superdelegates

Their role is to provide a balance of power and ensure that the party's nominee is electable and representative of the party's interests.

Retrospective Voting

voting based on past actions and behaviors.

Prospective Voting

voting based on future policies and politics.

Rational-Choice Voting

voting based on a citizen’s best interest

Party-line Voting

voting for one political party across all offices on a ballot

Interest groups

Voluntary associations of people with a goal to get favored policies enacted [social change].

• Build grassroots support, lobby + electioneer, and donate through PACs.

  • Public interest: labor unions, consumer rights, human rights… [these seek collective good]

  • Single Issue: abortion, gun control, taxation… [these ppl tend not to compromise]

Iron Triangle

• Combination between Congress, Interest groups, and the Bureaucracy

• Interest groups → help Congress [information for bills] → bureaucracy [depends on congressional funding to operate policies]

Issue Networks

relationships and interactions among various actors, such as interest groups, government agencies, and policy experts, who collaborate to address specific policy issues.

Political Action Committes [PACs]

• continuity from watergate scandal → Federal Election Campaign Act [‘74]

• organizations that raise money solely to elect and defeat candidates

Federal Election Campaign Act [‘71 → ‘74]

• required candidates to identify financial contributors

• limits on individuals + interest groups (PACs)

• led to the Federal Election Commission

Federal Election Commission

• regulates campaign provisions (funding, spending..)

• prohibits direct contributions to campaigns

‘Electioneering’

group involvement in electoral processes to advertise a candidate or ideology.

Policy Agenda

the set of issues that policymakers attend to

Lobbying

interacting with the govt. to advance a group’s goals

• revolving-door: when people move between positions in govt. to lobbying positions

Theory of a Participatory Govt.

belief that citizens affect policy-making through civil involvement

Pluralist Theory

belief that distribution of political power among many groups → creates checks + balances

Elitist Theory

belief that the wealthy hold a disproportionate amount of power

Social Movements

Loosely organized groups that educate the public + pressure policymakers

Free Riders + Collective Good

• Free rider: everyone benefits from the collective goods + advantages gained by a union/group [collective good: public benefit]

Selective benefits

• barrier to the free rider problem

• only availiable to those who join (ex: AARP)

Goals of Political Parties

• recruit + shape candidates, run campaigns, and mobilize + educate voters

Influence of Third Parties

• draw people who are dealigned, pressure major parties, and get issues on the table.

Barriers for Third Parties

• plurality voting [low margins], winner-take-all electorate, and campaign financing + funding.

Presidential v Congressional Elections

• presidential: strong messages + large organtizations

• congressional: advantage of ‘sophomore surge’ [incumbent] → engenders gerrymandering + possible malapportionment

Gerrymandering

Manipulation of district lines to favor a political party.

• census helps to decide # of representatives in a congressional district

• lines are drawn by state legislatures

Malapportionment

deliberate rearrangement of districts to impact elections and representation → dilutes votes

• ex: amount of large states v small states to win the electoral college or changes in rural/urban areas → affects representation → Baker v Carr [‘72]

Voting Rights [Provisions]

• removal of poll taxes, grandfather clauses, literacy tests → VRA 1965

• 15th → black men could vote

• 18th → lowered from 21 to 18

• 19th → women could vote

Impact of the VRA + 15th

• Attempted to end the disenfranchisement of the black vote [tests, taxes..]

• 15th called for a “preclearance” for any new voting procedures wishing to be enacted.

Shelby v Holder [2013]

• struck down the ‘pre-clearance’ clause of the VRA [5-4 majority]

• this allowed states to pass voting limitations like ID requirements, if felons can vote, and registration practices

Primary v General Election Styles

• primary: candidates expose their viewpoints more specifically to gain traction'

• general: pivot to more broad policies to attract the masses

Position v Valence Issues

• position: rivals take opposing views

• valence: generally accepted ideas [ex: drugs = bad]

Super PACs

• continuity of Citizens United v FEC [2010]

• cannot have direct affiliation with specific campaigns, but can utilize issue advocacy on behalf/against a campaign

• Must disclose donors + expenditures, no financial limits

Soft v Hard Money

• soft: an unaccounted financial contribution that doesn’t go to a specific candidate → flies under the FEC [unlimited amounts]

• hard: accounted contributions to disclosed parties, groups, and candidates in limited amounts

Buckley v Valeo [1976]

• struck down limitations on total contributions + individual spending (billionaires using their own $)

• divided issue + express advocacy

  • issue: isn’t limited [political advertising on broad issues]

  • express: limited [political advertising that supports an outcome]

BCRA [2002]

effort to combat campaign finance loopholes

• capped campaign expenditures

• banned soft money

• banned electioneering communications near elections

Citizens United v FEC

called into question the ‘electioneering’ clause of BCRA

• restrictions on campaign funding = restriction on free speech

  • corporations are alike to people in the pursuit of 1st amendment protections

• dissent: undermine democracy

• after: now super PACs can collect money for ‘unaffiliated’ campaigning

527 Groups [BCRA loophole]

• nonprofit, issue advocacy, have to publicly disclose donors, and report to the FEC

501c(4) Groups [BCRA loophole]

• social welfare group, unlimited monies on electioneering, but politics has to consume less than 50% of their spending, and don’t have to disclose donors.

• aka dark money

Strong Groups of Affiliation

• african-american, jewish, & hispanic dems

• business + southern-white repubulicans

Demographic Characteristics

affects voter turnout

• education, race, class, socio-economic status [higher SES = highter political participation]

Electoral College

• required process to select president by state electors

• all states use winner-take-all [expect for maine + nebraska]

• electors → chosen by party leaders/activists

Horse-Race Journalism

• emphasizes the drama of an election

• doesn’t report the differences on policies

• affects the political agenda

Partisan Bias

slanting of news coverage in support of a political party/ideology → causes distrust in the media

Evolving Media

• The 1930s → rely heavily on journalism, soon there would be radio [Communications Act]

• The 40-50s → rise of TVs, post-war world, kennedy-nixon debates televised

• The 80-2000s → mass media/increase in viewing options, internet boom. Cable is regulated way less

Media Acts

• Radio [1927] → established FRC

• Communications [1934] → created the FCC (regulates interstate + international communcations)

• Telecommunications [1996] → encouraged media consolidation

Roles of Media

• gatekeeper: influences the national topics/policy agenda

• scorekeeper: keeps track of who’s winning/losing

• watchdog: scrutinize people, places, events

Net Netruality

principle that internet communications from providers are treated equally → obama era