Cases and Propaganda Techniques (Unit 2) Flashcards
Bush v. Gore (2000)
- Equal Protection Clause
Election between Al Gore (Dem) and George W. Bush (Repub) - George W. Bush seemed to be winning Florida in a close election, and a machine recount on Nov 10 concluded Bush as the winner by a 327 vote margin
- Florida Supreme Court (ruling in favor of Gore) decided to order manual recounts of 61,000 “undervotes”
- Bush campaign requested a review of this decision by the Supreme Court
- OUTCOME: SCOTUS ruled this unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause, since it protects citizens from their ballots being affected by “later arbitrary and disparate treatments”. The Florida Supreme Court’s recount method was unfair because different standards were applied from ballot to ballot, county to county.
- FSC’s decision was unconstitutional because election law is a right reserved to state legislatures
- Important and controversial case about the mechanics of elections
- gave Bush 25 electors from Florida, and helped him win the election with 271 electoral votes.
Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
- First amendment free speech
- Citizen’s United, a conservative non-profit, made a film called “Hillary: The Movie”, and it was debated whether the movie was subject to regulation under BCRA/McCain-Feingold Bill
- OUTCOME: SC overturned parts of McConnell v. FEC, and ruled that some parts of the BCRA were unconstitutional. Ruled that under the First Amendment, corporate funding of political ads cannot be limited. However, Citizens United was subject to disclosure requirements, and direct contributions from corporations to candidates are unconstitutional still.
McConnell v. FEC (2002)
- 1st amendment free speech; money given to campaigns
- The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002), also known as the McCain-Feingold Bill, was passed by two Senators John McCain and Russel Feingold
- It did three things: ban soft money contributions from corporations/individuals directly to political parties, limits the kind of advertising corporations/non-profits can do 60 days prior to an election, and restricts political parties’ abilities to use their money in coordination with the campaign of a candidate
- OUTCOME: the SC upheld the BCRA’s constitutionality. ruled that this act’s restriction of soft-money contributions only minimally restricted free speech, and it aligned with the government’s interest in preventing “actual corruption” or the “appearance of corruption” from soft money contributions in elections
Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
- First amendment free speech; contributions to elections
- Senator James L Buckley sued claiming that FECA (Federal Election Campaign Act) limited first amendment free speech
- OUTCOME: SC upholds most of FECA but strikes down parts of FECA that limited the amount of money one is allowed to spend on their own campaign, limits on independent spending, and limits on total campaign expenditures since they violate the first amendment
- this case introduced the idea that spending money was a form of political speech that should be protected by the First Amendment
Baker v. Carr (1961)
- political question doctrine
- Baker argued that Tennessee’s reapportionment ignored economic and population changes in the state, that an urban district was underrepresented, and violated the Equal Protections clause
- Baker tried to sue in a federal district court, but the court wouldn’t hear the case since it was considered a political question that was out of the court’s jurisdiction
- OUTCOME: SCOTUS rules that federal courts can hear cases about states redrawing of election boundaries/legislative apportionment, and it is within their jurisdiction
political question doctrine
If any of these factors are met, the court may not hear the case:
- commitment of the issue to another branch of government
- lack of standards for resolving the issue
- impossibility of the judges to resolve the issue without making a policy proposition
- if the judicial decision results in a lack of respect for the other branches of government
- a political decision has already been made
- there can potentially be multiple announcements by multiple branches on one question
Shelby County v. Holder (2012)
- 14th amendment (due process); 15th amendment right to vote; 10th amendment (all rights not granted to fed are given to states); Article 4 (self-government for each state)
- Shelby county, Alabama argued that Sections 4 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act (1965) were unconstitutional
- Those sections say that districts that have had voting tests in place as of 1964 and had less than 50% voter turnout for the 1964 may not make changes to their election laws without official authorization
- OUTCOME: Chief Justice Roberts and SCOTUS wrote that yes, Section 4 and 5 are unconstitutional because the constraints they put on certain districts to prevent voter discrimination no longer make sense as much as they did in the 1960s/70s
- Congress exceeds its powers under the 14th and 15th amendments by reauthorizing Section 5
Propaganda
Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
Glittering generalities
Using a word with a mostly positive connotation that people may interpret very differently, hoping the word will evoke a positive feeling and encourage a person to look beyond the facts buried underneath.
Plain folks
When a Leader acts like their ideas are those of the “rake and file” people and uses this as a means for support
Testimonial
Having some respected or hated person say that a product or person is good or bad.
Fear
When a propagandist warns members of their audience that disaster will occur if they do not follow a specific course of action.
Unwarranted extrapolation
The tendency to make huge predictions about the future on the basis of a few small facts is a common logical fallacy.
Euphemisms
A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.
Transfer
This technique influences viewers to think a certain way with the use of well liked objects, brands, ideas, or people.
