Voting Campaigns and Elections-2

Chapter 11: Voting, Campaigns, and Elections

Overview

  • Focus on political participation, voting behavior, and election campaigns.

  • Research into voting demographics and turnout influences.

Political Participation

  • Factors Influencing Voter Turnout

    • Partisanship: Strongly affects voting behavior.

    • Age and Education: Major determinants of voting likelihood.

    • Gender Trends: Currently, women exhibit slightly higher turnout rates than men (5% more likely).

    • Demographic Disparities: Lower turnout in African American, Hispanic populations, and residents of southern states.

Individual Factors Affecting Turnout

  • Community Engagement: Higher turnout in individuals with deep community roots.

  • Confidence and Political Engagement: Individuals confident in their political knowledge are more likely to vote.

  • Local Political Activity: Living in active political environments enhances participation.

  • Legal Barriers: Areas with fewer registration hurdles tend to have higher turnout rates.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Voting

  • Voting Costs Versus Benefits: Participation occurs when costs are manageable, and benefits are appreciated.

    • Factors such as money, education, free time, and self-confidence lower costs of voting.

    • Psychological investment can increase perceived benefits from voting.

  • Rational Voting: Voting seen as a rational decision for those deriving personal satisfaction from participation.

Institutional Factors Affecting Turnout

  • Resource Disparities: Wealthy, educated, older, white individuals often overrepresented in electorate.

  • Voting Barriers: Poor, uneducated, young, and non-white individuals underrepresented.

Voter Decision Process

  • Prediction Making: Voting as a predictive act about future governance.

    • Voters set standards for candidates based on relevance, uncertainty influences decision-making.

  • Cognitive Shortcuts: Voters use cues and free information to simplify choices.

Cues and Shortcuts Used by Voters

  • Media and Campaign Information: Candidates' policies and promises should be critically evaluated. Cues from opinion leaders influence voting behavior.

  • Party Labels as Information Shortcuts: Party affiliation serves as a guide for performance and issue voting.

Types of Voting Behavior

  • Performance Voting: Votes based on candidates' past successes in office.

  • Issue Voting: Focused on candidates' positions on specific issues rather than personal attributes.

Partisan Influence on Voting

  • Party Identification: A central predictor of voting behavior in party-aligned elections.

    • Historically strong connection, though independents and defectors exist.

  • Trends (1956-2016): Typically, around 80% of voters align with their party in presidential elections.

Negative Partisanship and Affective Polarization

  • Negative Partisanship: Citizens strongly align against a specific party.

  • Affective Polarization: Tendency to view opposing partisans negatively while favoring their own.

Campaign Essentials

  • Candidates and Messages: Key requirements for effective political campaigns include qualified candidates, impactful messages, and effective communication channels.

  • Ad Effectiveness: Negative and attack ads can influence perceptions and voter choices, though their effects may be temporary.

Campaign Strategy and Advertising

  • Understanding Voter Demographics: Planners utilize polling data and canvassing to identify potential supporter demographics.

  • Framing the Campaign: Successful strategies involve clear messaging that differentiates candidates from their opponents.

Funding in Campaigns

  • Campaign Cost Dynamics: Running modern election campaigns is costly; funds are essential for successful outreach.

  • Sources of Campaign Funds: Primarily from private sources, leading to concerns about financing regulations.

Regulating Campaign Finance

  • Historical Development:

    • Pre-1970s: Unregulated campaign funding.

    • 1971: Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) establishes regulation.

    • 2002: Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (BCRA) limits soft money.

    • 2010: Citizens United case eliminates restrictions on independent spending.