Heimler Unit 5

Voting

The Constitution allows states to decide who could vote, and states had decided that old white men with land and money were the only ones who could vote but the federal government could take control

In 1830 the right to vote was extended to the same category but that do not own land

Important Amendments to Know:

  • 15th: African American men could vote
  • 17th: direct senatorial election
  • 19th: women could vote
  • 24th: abolished poll taxes
  • 26th: 18-year-olds could vote

Barriers are still erected to limit franchise for certain groups, and some laws prevent certain groups from voting.

How People Vote

^^Rational Choice:^^ votes based on own self-interest

%%Retrospective:%% based on track record of candidate

==Prospective:== based on predictions of performance

Party-line: votes with party

Presidential Elections

  • highest turnout
  • Parties must nominate the candidate first through primary elections
  • States hold primary elections
    • ^^Open^^ primary: voters can only vote in one primary, not both the Republican and Democrat primary
    • ==Closed== primary: voters must be registered with the party to vote in its primary for it
    • Others hold caucuses to nominate candidates, just more debated and in person events (Iowa and New Hampshire)
  • %%National conventions%% are held at which candidates for POTUS and VP are presented (depends on what term the President is on)
    • The incumbency advantage is present here
    • They already won an election and know how its done
    • They’re known and recognized
    • Fundraisers and volunteers are ready
    • Election day is the first Tuesday in November when the people vote, but the people do not actually vote for the President

The Electoral College

Devised by founding fathers to limit ignorant voter power

States have the same number of electors as %%representatives and senators combined%%

There is a %%winner take all system%%, meaning that all of the votes of the state go to the candidate chosen (Maine and Nebraska allow these votes to be split, however, but the rest are the same!)

270 electoral votes are needed to win the college and Presidency

The college can ==limit democracy== because despite thinking that candidates will have to campaign in all states, they tend to ==focus on the swing states==, making some votes more important than others

Congressional Elections

  • Every two years
  • House members have two year terms
  • Senators have six year terms
    • 1/3 up for reelection each time
  • They can correspond with Presidential elections half of the time
    • If not, they are midterm elections
  • A bit of a lower turnout

Incumbency advantage

  • More pronounced than in Presidential elections
  • Name recognition
  • Accomplishments and good track record
  • Established funding and large war chest
  • More resources (staff, free mailing)
  • (gerrymandered) safe districts

The Media

The media report what the government does and influences engagement in politics by citizens

It is the watchdog to tell us what is happening

Newspaper existed since the Republic, and telegrams and radio only advanced the media’s reach. TV and Internet, along with social media, have only expanded this reach.

The people with confirmation bias and a vast amount of sources have come to only consume news relevant and interesting to them, not necessarily the news needed to be heard and known.

There are three categories of reporting:

  • News events
    • Volcanic eruptions, COVID, bombings
  • Investigative journalism
    • Investigations into corruption in government and institutions
  • Election Coverage and political commentary
    • Coverage of elections and politics
    • Can lead to horse-race journalism, obsessions with poll numbers and turning elections into popularity contests instead of focuses on platforms and candidates

Media bias is everpresent and not new, but is becoming harder to detect with new algorithms, telling you only what believed you believed in

The Fairness Doctrine, now gone, had prevented this and required multiple views to be explained, but it backfired in some situations

Talk radio became cable news with bias

Media bias can be determined via….

  • Examining ideological preferences of reporters (most tend to be liberal)
  • Looking at the character of the reporting (Democrats are represented as bipartisan, and Republicans as stubborn and harsh in Democratic eyes)

News channels have leaned away from the mission of education and more towards getting viewers, leading to narrowcasting and consistent leaning towards one ideology (CNN is more liberal and Fox more Republican)

Social media can elevate activism but also create weak ties- its controversial