Unit 5 - Political Participation

20 - 27%

Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior

  • expansion of political participation opportunities:

    • 14th amendment - granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the US

    • 15th amendment - granted African American men the right to vote

    • 17th amendment - electing senators from a vote by state legislatures to a direct vote by the people

    • 19th amendment - women’s suffrage

    • 24th amendment - eliminated poll taxes

    • 26th amendment - lowered the voting age to 18

  • rational choice voting - individuals who base their decisions on what is perceived to be in their best interest

  • retrospective voting - individuals who decide whether the party or candidate in power should be reelected based on the recent past

  • prospective voting - individuals who vote based on predictions on how a party or candidate will perform in the future

  • straight ticket voting - individuals who vote for all of the candidate from one political party on a ballot

Voter Turnout

  • structural barriers (polling hours, absentee ballot availability, etc), politial efficacy, and demographics an influence turnout

    • political efficacy - belief that an individual’s participation in the political process will make a difference

  • influenced by:

    • differences in state-controlled elections

      • poll hours

      • Voter ID laws

      • types of voting allowed

    • variations in voter registration laws and procedures

    • election type

      • more turnout for presidential election than midterm elections

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

  • factors influencing voter choice

    • party identification and ideological orientation

    • candidate characteristics

    • contemporary political issues

    • religious beliefs or affiliation, age, gender, race, and ethnicity

Political Parties

  • linkage institutions are channels that allow individuals to communicate their preferences to policymakers

    • political parties

    • interest groups

    • elections

    • media

  • functions and impact of political parties on the electoral and government are represented by:

    • mobilization and education of voters

    • party platforms

    • candidate recruitment

    • campaign management - includes fundraising and media strategy

    • the committee and party leadership systems in legislatures

How and Why Political Parties Change and Adapt

  • parties have adapted to candidate-centered campaigns where the public focus is on the characteristics of the candidate and not on the party

    • role of parties in nominating candidates has also been weakened

  • parties may adapt their policies and messaging to appeal to various demographic coalitions

  • The structure of parties has been influenced by:

    • critical elections - where there is a realignment of pollical party support among voters

    • campaign finance law

    • changes in communication and data management technology

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

Third-Party Politics

  • in comparison to proportional systems, winner-take-all voting districts serve as a structural barrier to third-party and independent candidate success

    • winner-take-all voting advantages the two-party system in the U.S.

  • 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 Policymaking

  • interest groups may represent very specific or more general interests

    • they can educate voters and office holders, conduct lobbying, draft legislation, and mobilize membership to apply pressure on and work with legislators and government agencies

    • may also file an amicus curae briet (written document as a “friend of the court” to provide additional info for justices to consider when reviewing a case)

  • exert influence through iron triangles and issue networks that help interest groups exert influence across party coalitions

  • inequality of interest group resources affects the amount of influence they may have on the policymaking process

    • some have large memberships and are able to access large financial reserves

    • some have more direct and frequent access to important people in the policy process

    • free riders - individuals who benefit from the work of an interest group without providing financial support.

      • interest groups may deal w/ this issue by providing selective benefits to members to encourage more ppl to join

Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes

  • single-issue groups, ideological/social movements, and protest movements form with the goal of affecting society and policymaking

  • competing groups, organizations, movements, agencies, and the military influence policy making at key stages and to varying degrees

  • elections and political parties are related to major policy shifts or initiatives, occasionally leading to political realignments of voting constituencies

Electing a President

  • process and outcomes are affected by:

    • incumbency advantage phenomenon - benefits current officeholders possess over challengers

    • open and closed primaries - voting process to elect candidates

    • caucuses - closed meetings of party members to select candidates or decide policy

    • party conventions

    • general (presidential) elections

    • the Electoral College

  • states can choose how they allocate their electors - most do a winner-take-all system

    • results may not be the same as the popular vote

Congressional Elections

  • process and outcomes are affected by:

    • incumbency advantage phenomenon

    • open and closed primaries

    • caucuses

    • general (presidential and midterm) elections

Modern Campaigns

  • 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 show the debate over money in political and free speech. shown in:

    • Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002)

      • effort to ban soft money and reduce attack ads with “Stand by Your Ad” provision: “I’m (candiadate’s name” and I approve this message”

    • supreme court decisions that ruled political spending by corporations, association, and labor unions as a form of protected speech under the 1st amendment

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

    • including contributions from individuals, political actions committees (PACs), and political parties

  • different types of PACs influence elections and policymaking through fundraising and spending

The Media

  • agenda setting takes place when tradition news media, new communication technologies, adn advances in social media influence how citizens routinely acquire political information, including news events, investigative journalism, election coverage, and political commentary

  • the media’s use of polling results to convey popular levels of trust and confidence in government can affect elections by turning such events into “horse races” based on popularity and factors other than qualifications and platforms of candidates

Changing Media

  • political participation is influenced by a variety of media coverage, analysis, and commentary on political events

  • the rapidly changing 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 affected by:

    • increased media choices

    • ideologically oriented programming

    • consumer-driven media outlets and emerging technologies that reinforce existing beliefs

    • uncertainty over the credibility of news sources and information