Unit 5 - Political Participation

Rational Choice Voting

voting rationally

Retrospective Voting

Looking at past record of politician in question

Prospective Voting

Look at how the party or candidate will perform in the future.

Party-line Voting

Voting down the line of party.

Voter Turnout

• structural barriers

  • a policy or law can prevent or encourage people for voting

• political efficacy

  • belief of weather their vote matters

• demographics

  • age

• type of election

  • national get more than state or midterm

Factors affecting vote

• party/ideology

• candidate characteristics

• political issues

• religion, sex, race

Linkage Institution

Societal structure that connects people to their government or the political process

The 4 Linkage institutions

• political parties

• interest groups

• elections

• media

Party and Ideology

Democratic is liberal ideas

Republican is conservative ideas

Coalition

a demographic group

Party Realignment

Rearranging stuff if you lose or win

Why can’t 3rd parties win?

• Winner takes all

  • whoever has the popular vote in the district gets all electoral vote and 3rd party will never get popular vote

• Two parties incorporate third-party ideas

Interest Group

A group of people who gather around a policy issue to try and persuade policy makers to pass legislation that is favorable to the group.

Why interest groups exist

• Lobbying - pushing, educating

  • Going door to door in the capitol and pushing for their goal

  • Asking for the support of congress people

• Electioneering/Campaigning ($)

  • Donate time and support certain people running for office

  • Tell people in their group hey vote for this person they support our policy/agenda

• Litigation - lawsuits, amicus curiae

  • File lawsuits

  • Help out with lawsuits

  • File out amicus curiae briefs to help if they think the case has to do with their agenda

• Going Public - Spread awareness

Iron Triangle

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

• Members of Congressional committees are especially helped by interest groups

  • provide them with policy information

  • provide campaigns donations if the representative is the sympathetic to the group’s goals

Types of Interest Groups

• Single issue

  • Devoted to one thing (ex: pro-choice)

• Corporate

  • Defense contractors

• Union

  • Teachers unions

  • Firefighters unions

  • Electricians unions

Electing a President

• candidates first have to earn their party’s nomination through primary elections

  • elections in which members of a party vote on which candidate they want to represent them in the general election

• 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

Same as the primary but instead of using secret ballots to cast their vote, voter at a caucus discus and debate together and then vote publicly.

National Convention

A big party for the winning candidate and their choice for president and that’s the beginning of the general election

Incumbent vs Challenger

Incumbent has already been there, challenger is a newbie

• incumbent>challenger

Election Day

First Tuesday of November

Electoral College

Winner takes all system for each state

• faithless electors vote against popular vote

• almost never happens

How many votes does the candidate need to win?

At least 270/538 electoral votes.

Congressional elections

• every 2 years

• members of the house of reps have 2 year terms

• senators have 6 year terms

  • 1/3 are up for reelection every 2 years

  • 90% of incumbents win reelection

What effects campaign spending?

• election cycles (starting campaign as early as possible)

• complexity of campaigns (hiring multiple people to handle it)

• advertising

FECA

• federal elections campaign act

• created new federal commission called FEC (federal election commission)

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

• established limits on

  • how much money a person could give a candidate

  • how much money candidates could spend on their campaign

Hard Money

given directly to the political candidate

Soft Money

money donated to a party or interest group that can buy advertising on the candidate’s behalf

• not subject to campaign finance laws

Political Action Committee (PAC)

• organizations that raise money for the sake of influencing the population to vote for their preferred candidate

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