Voters and Elections Exam

2024 Elections: The difference between the percentage of the
national vote won by Democratic candidates and by
Republican candidates for the U.S. House of
Representatives is smaller now than in the 1980s. Are
most contests for individual House seats now very
close?

No. Despite the national margin and House makeup being much closer than ever before, most House races are won by 20% or more. Only 37 House races were won by ±5% in 2020.

2024 Elections: Describe some evidence that American electoral
politics has grown more nationalized. What does
“nationalization” mean in this context?

Nationalization means that voters no longer consider their own states’ problems when voting; they are more concerned with national problems when choosing a candidate or party. Some evidence that American politics is becoming nationalized includes only states having split representation in the Senate (1 Democrat and 1 Republican Senator) while the rest have both in the same party, only 23 districts (a large minority) split their presidential and House votes (voted for one party in the preisdency and the other to represent them in the House; suggests down ballot voting and dedication to party rather than state interests and candidates), and 40 states having complete one party control of their governments (House, Senate, and Governor are all controlled by one party; trifecta).

Public Opinion: What are the characteristics of the “ideal citizen” in a
democracy? In what ways do most Americans fall
short? Why?

The “ideal citizen” is interested and active in politics and knowledgeable about government, candidates, and policy. They also vote based on their own critical evaluations of the candidates. One way Americans fall short of this ideal citizen status is by not voting at all; only 50-60% of eligible voters actually vote in presidential elections and only 35-45% of eligible voters vote in midterms. Another aspect we fall short on is civic knowledge; we only know very basic facts about civics and only 2/3 of Americans know who controls the House and Senate. It’s not the media’s fault, contrary to popular belief, since we have similar rates of participation and knowledge throughout our history; we just don’t live in the perfect world that the folk theory of democracy establishes.

Public Opinion: Compare the influence of political ideology and party identification on the opinions and choices of the
American electorate.

Political Ideology is much less influential on the opinions of the American electorate since many Americans don’t identify with or understand ideological labels like liberal or conservative. Party identification, however, is very influential. Most Americans identify with the two major parties and Independents. They also associate particular policies with each political party. Most people decide their positions and choices on policy and candidates in relation to what the political party they identify with supports or upholds. Democratic or Republican policies mean more to Americans than liberal or conservative.

Public Opinion: Whom or what do Delli Carpini and Keeter, in their chapter called “Informing the Public’s Discretion,” hold responsible for the fact that many Americans know little about politics?

The media for prioritizing entertainment rather than quality political information. The Education System and its unequal access in low income communities. Socioeconomic structures like dispartities in race, wealth, and income impact the access and quality of political knowledge; less aware because of long term exclusion from the political process. Candidates, parties, and public officials also don’t do enough to educate voters at a large scale; they provide political answers and ambiguous responses for political gain rather than genuine answers and education.

Political Parties: What makes presidential debates important?

Voters can learn more about the candidate’s policy and personality, it has more of an impact than a TV attack ad since it’s much longer and has a real exchanging of ideas, and it can reveal aspects of a candidate’s character. This is all especially true in this election since Kamala Harris is very new to the Presidential Candidate role because of the circumstances of her nomination with the dropout of Joe Biden.

Political Parties: How has the polarization of the American
public over the past fifty years differed from
the polarization of the U.S. Congress?

The American public still largely identifies as moderate or independent and the polarization is not nearly as extreme as the polarization in Congress. The amount of moderates in Congress and the Senate is at the lowest point in history (almost zero) while in 1960 a good portion were moderates. This is also shown by the bipartisan support of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the strictly partisan support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2021. Even interparty disagreements in votes on the Civil Rights Act emphasize the current party polarization of Congress and the Senate at large.

Political Parties: What are political parties for?

They are spaces for groups of people with similar interests to work together and create policy; voters of that party pledge their support for a list and coalition of policies that they want to see be implemented by the candidates they elect to office. They are meant to organize and progress political ideas and policies by gaining voters.

Elections: What are the major factors affecting voter
turnout in the United States? What are examples of each?

Qualifying: the 26th Amendment allowed 18 year olds to vote which influences voter turnout; also being a citizen of the US is required to vote.

Registering: residency requirements, online registration, registration by mail, require registration 3 weeks before election day, and it’s initiated by the voter (not done automatically by the government).

Casting a Ballot: voting by mail, absentee ballots, voter ID laws, etc.

Elections: How does party identification foster stability in the American political system?

Party identification in the US has stayed relatively the same year over year; people don’t change their minds easily or often at all. This makes the American political system since the parties are reaching out to the same voters in most elections: moderate independents who they need to convince to join the people who are solidly and consistently on their side.

Constituencies: How do the protections against racial gerrymandering and against partisanm gerrymandering differ?

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits practices that dilute minority voting strength which included packing and cracking forms of gerrymandering in which the aim was to lessen the impact of black voters. The Supreme Court upheld and enforced this law in many cases where they emphasized the importance of majority minority districts and the need for states to make as many of them as possible in order to be in accordance with the Voting Rights Act. Shown in Allen v. Milligan in 2023. There is no federal law prohibiting partisan gerrymandering which was affirmed in 2019 when the Supreme Court decided that it went beyond the scope of them and federal courts since it was a present political questions which should be left up to state legislatures (Rucho v. Common Cause). This does not stop State Supreme Courts from redistricting like in PA when there is partisan gerrymandering.