Unit 5 (20-27%) Political Participation

Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior

Legal protections found in federal legislation and the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments relate to the expansion of opportunities for political participation

15th Amendment

cannot deny voting rights based on race

17th amendment

direct election of senators

19th amendment

gave women the right to vote

24th amendment

federal poll taxes illegal

26th amendment

lowered the voting age to 18

Rational choice

Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen’s individual interest

Retrospective voting

Voting to decide whether the party or candidate in power should be reelected based on the recent past

Prospective voting

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

Party-line voting

Supporting a party by voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices at the same level of government

voter turnout

• Structural barriers, political efficacy, and demographics can predict differences in voter turnout in the U.S., and the following can influence voter turnout among democracies worldwide:

  • Structural barriers include both restrictions to voter registration and actual voting (like voter ID laws).

  • Types of elections can increase or decrease turnout. Presidential elections have the highest turnout

  • federal laws can be passed to encourage voter turnout such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 or the Motor Voter Act

  • Constitutional amendments have extended suffrage to citizens (15, 19, 23, and 26)

political efficacy

A citizen’s belief that their vote matters and can influence government policies.

Demographic characteristics and political efficacy or engagement are used to predict the likelihood of whether an individual will vote.

Education and age likeliest indicators of voting.

Factors influencing voter choice include:

Partyidentification and ideological orientation

Candidate characteristics

Contemporary political issues, saliency: importance of an issue to a person when voting.

Religious beliefs or affiliation,gender, race and ethnicity, and other demographic characteristic

Linkage institutions

are channel that allow individuals to communicate their preferences to policy-maker ➔ Political parties ➔ Elections ➔ Interest groups ➔ Media

The functions and impact of political parties on the electorate and government are represented by

Mobilization and education of voters: get out to vote campaigns, cues to voter

Party platforms: main agenda and goals of the political party if elected.

Candidate recruitment: parties try to find candidates who give them the best chance of winning.

Campaign management and fundraising

Parties help to impact leadership in Congress and the committee system

How and Why Political Parties Change and Adapt

Parties have adapted to candidate-centered campaigns, and their role in nominating candidates has been weakened.

Parties use communication technology and voter data management to disseminate, control, and clarify political messages and enhance outreach and mobilization efforts.

The structure of parties has been influenced by

• Critical elections and regional realignment: this is when large groups shift voting behavior from one party to another.

• Campaign finance law: independent expenditures has lessened the importance of party fundraising to a degree

• Changes in communication and data management technology: social media

third-party politics

• Thirdparties are the minor parties (not Democrats and Republicans) who tend to not win national elections. Barriers to their success are our electoral system, media coverage, fundraising, and how the two major parties can incorporate their platforms

• The winner-take-all electoral system is a barrier to third party success

• The incorporation of third-party agendas into platforms of major political parties serves as a barrier to third-party and independent candidate success

Interest Groups Influencing Policy Making

• Interest groups facilitate citizen participation in government, organizing individuals to take collective action through voting, fundraising, and spreading information about their issues to elected officials and the public.

• Interest groups may represent very specific or more general interests, and can educate voters and office holders, conduct lobbying, draft legislation, and mobilize membership to apply pressure on and work with legislators and government agencies.

Lobby(ing):

Seeking to influence a public official on an issue

In addition to working within party coalitions, interest groups exert influence through

• long-standing relationships with bureaucratic agencies, congressional committees, and factors. other interest groups; such relationships are described as “iron triangles” and “issue networks,” and they help interest groups exert influence across political party coalitions

iron triangles

A longstanding, mutually-beneficial relationship between an interest group, congressional committee, and bureaucratic agency devoted to similar issues

issue networks

A group of individuals, public officials, and interest groups that form around a particular issue, usually a proposed public policy that they wish to support or defeat.

Interest group influence may be impacted by:

• Inequality of political and economic resources

• Unequal access to decision makers

• “Free rider” problem: Aproblem of group behavior that occurs when an individual can receive a public benefit without making a personal contribution of money or effort. For example a teacher does not join a teacher union, but still receives a pay raise if the union was successful. Groups use selective benefits as one way to get people to join.

Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes

• Outside groups can influence public policy through a variety of methods.

  • Lobbying

  • Electioneering

  • Litigation

  • Going public

  • Single-issue groups, ideological/social movements, and protest movements form with the goal of impacting society and policy making.

  • Success of these groups might depend on many different factors

Electing a President

• While U.S. presidential elections are held every four years, the process is long and consists of multiple stages

• The process and outcomes in U.S. presidential elections are impacted by:

Incumbency advantage phenomenon

Incumbents are those currently in office running for re-election. They tend to have a better chance of winning

Nomination process:

To win the nomination for president, there are primaries and caucuses they have to win for each state’s delegates. Whoever wins a majority of the delegates becomes the party’s nominee.

Closed primaries:

: a primary election limited to registered members of a political party

open primaries

a primary election that is not limited to registered party members. Allows for independent voters to choose a party to vote for during primary elections

caucues

a meeting in a voting precinct at which party members choose nominees for political office after hours of speeches and debates

Party conventions

a meeting of delegates from one political parties to vote on policy and select party candidates for public office

General (presidential) elections:

Elections held every 4 years during presidential election. Midterm elections are held in the middle of general election years.

The electoral college

the group of electors chosen by each state to formally vote for the next U.S. president based on the result of voting in the state. 270 Electoral College votes required to win

Swing States or Battleground states

Because the Electoral College determines the presidency and not a national vote, states that can go either way during the general election become the candidates main focus.

• The winner-take-all allocation of votes per state (except Maine and Nebraska) under the setup of the Electoral College compared with the national popular vote for president raises questions about whether the Electoral College facilitates or impedes democracy

Congresssional elections

● One major factor influencing the outcome of congressional elections is the advantage that incumbent candidates have over challengers; incumbents are typically much better funded and are better recognized by voters; along with gerrymandering and casework.

Midterm elections have lower voter turnout than general elections.

The House of Representatives run for election every 2 years, Senators have 6-year terms.

modern campaigns

The benefits and drawbacks of modern campaigns are represented by:

Dependence on professional consultants

Rising campaign costs and intensive fundraising efforts

Duration of election cycles

Impact of and reliance on social media for campaign communication and fundraising

campaign finance

Federal legislation and case law pertaining to campaign finance demonstrate the ongoing debate over the role of money in political and free speech, as set forth in the

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

which was an effort to ban soft money and reduce attack ads with “Stand by Your Ad” provision: “I’m [candidate’s name] and I approve this message”

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010),

which ruled that political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment

Debates have increased over free speech and competitive and fair elections related to money and campaign funding

(including contributions from individuals, political action committees [PACs], and political parties).

PACs

An organization, usually representing an interest group or corporation, that raises money with the goal of supporting or defeating candidates, parties, or legislation. There are limits to the amount of money a PAC can donate to a candidate or party in each election

super PACs

may raise unlimited funds in support of a candidate or party as long as they do not coordinate in any way with the candidate or party or donate directly to the candidate

independent expenditures

money raised by individuals that they spend in support of a candidate or issue. Money does not go to the candidate or party. SuperPACs

the media

The media plays an influential role in how citizens learn about political issues and events. Media coverage also affects the formation of policy agendas by raising awareness of certain topics, which can increase public demand for government action

Gatekeeper

The media’s role in setting the political agenda by drawing public and government attention to certain issues

Investigative journalism

Deep, original investigation on a specific topic, often conducted over a long period of time and sometimes involving the exposure of secret information. Watchdog

The media’s use of polling results to convey popular levels of trust and confidence in government can impact elections by

turning such events into “horse races” based more on popularity and factors other than qualifications and platforms of candidate

horse race journalism

journalism that focuses on who is winning or ahead in the polls rather than on candidates' policy agenda or debates.

changing media

The media landscape has changed rapidly in recent years. While the avenues for producing and consuming news have multiplied with the rise of smartphones and social media, a handful of giant media conglomerates own nearly all of the commercial media outlets.

Media consolidation

The process by which a few large companies have acquired the majority of news sources in the United States. Today, six companies (CBS, Comcast, Disney, News Corporation, Time Warner, and Viacom) control 90% of American media outlets

• The rapidly increasing demand for media and political communications outlets from an ideologically diverse audience have led to debates over media bias and the impact of media ownership and partisan news sites

The nature of democratic debate and the level of political knowledge among citizens is impacted by:

Increased media choices: narrowcasting and selective bias

Ideologically oriented programming

Consumer-driven media outlets and emerging technologies that reinforce existing beliefs: media responds more to views than substance

Uncertainty over the credibility of news sources and information