Chapter 9: Elections Flashcards
What are the functions of elections?
- select representatives
- influence policy
- promote accountability
What question voters ask themselves to hold their incumbents, referring to their members of Congress, accountable? How does a Congress member’s party influence how voters vote?
- Has my incumbent (referring to member of Congress) done a good job?
- members who do not do much get reelected due to party majority in their district
- members from opposing party are immediately deemed bad solely due to how they are from the other party
What are the two stages of an American election?
- primary election - pick candidates in a party
- multiple candidates, choose one to represent the party
- members only vote for candidate of their own party
- general elections - choose people for office
- choose between multiple parties
- incumbents have a 90% chance of getting reelected
What are the two types of participation? What are examples of each type?
- conventional
- voting
- community organizing
- run for office
- unconventional
- protest
- civil disobedience
What is the most common form of participating in politics? Do most citizens participate in politics outside of this way?
- voting
- no, due to indifference
How is the voter turnout determined?
percentage of voters who actually vote out of those who are registered to vote
Voter turnout would be way lower if the percentage was taken out of those who are eligible to vote.
During what type of election is voter turnout the highest? Why?
- Presidential elections
- people constantly hear about the election, become motivated or pressured to vote
Part-time voters are typically Democratic, while consistent voters are typically Republican. How does this correlate to high voting turnout?
high voter turnour means more Democrats are voting, which means that Democrats are more likely to win
Younger people are less likely to vote than older people. What factors contribute to their small turnout?
- apathy - lack of care, interest
- lack of time
- lack of political knowledge
- high schools do not teach students about politics or help them register to vote
How does the Electoral College work?
- each state is worth a certain amount of votes, based on the total number of people they send to Congress
- “winner takes all” system within a state
- all the votes in a state goes to the party that has the popular vote within that state
Which states do not abide by the “winner-take-all” system? How do they distribute the electoral votes?
- Nebraska & Maine
- divide votes proportionally
