FINAL EXAM WEEKS 8-12

Question 1

Is Media an institution?

Answer 1

Media is not a formal institution but is critical for democracy because media facilitates public opinion and political communication.

Question 2

What are the Medias key functions?

Answer 2

Monitors elected officials on behalf of citizens, outlet for political news and resources, and acts a venue for politicians to communicate with voters.

Question 3

What are some Incentives and challenges the media face?

Answer 3

Incentives: Profit margins, career opportunites for journalists, and social impact/political influence.

Challenges: Ballancing accurate reports with sensationalism driven by profits as well as distortion due to partisanship and ideological basis.

Question 4

What is Medias influence in politics?

Answer 4

Agenda Setting: Media influences what should be considered important in political discource (“menu” for what needs to be prioritized).

Framing: Media influences specific aspects of policies and how they are percieved.

Priming: Media influences how voters percieve candidates and policy stances.

Question 5

Key differences between news media and social media

Answer 5

1) Social media has faster dissemation of information and focuses on “clickbait” that is emotionally charged. Contributing to distrust in traditional media due to percieved biases.

2) Social media uses emotional messaging to swayed vote choice, policy perception, and participation.

3) Social media is more vulnrable to fake news or untrusted sources.

Question 6

What are the effects of media access?

Answer 6

Knowledge: Access to diverse political resources increases political knowledge.

Participation: Online platforms foster engagement but depend on users political interests.

Polorization: Media consumption contributes to political divides; largely due to partisian biases or misinformation.

Question 7

What is entertainment in media politics?

Answer 7

Soft News and Satire

• Reaches lower information audiences through humor and cultural relevance.
• Can erode trust in political institutions

Question 8

What was reconstruciton?

Answer 8

The formal end of slavery led to formal black voting rights

Republicans wanted to ensure the vote for African Americans to gain electoral base in the south however, attempts at voting rights were resisted with violence (KKK) and republicans ultimately abandoned the south

Question 9

Womens suffrage?

Answer 9

Seneca falls (1848)
uneasy alliances of both ideological suffrage and temperance advocates. Movement was successful in 1920 with the 19th amendment

Question 10

Jim Crow Era

Answer 10

Efforts to restrict voting rights of African Americans
Southern states quickly adopted laws that had an effect of eliminating voting rights for Black Americans (not explicitly based on race because of the 15th amendment) (poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses)

Imposition of federal power; federal government eventually interfered to address the discriminatory practices
Jim Crow Laws mostly rooted out by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965

Question 11

Modern Barriers to Voting

Answer 11

• Registration requirement: complexity and accessbility can deter voter registration.
• Polling Place Access: Closures and long lines disproportonately affect marginilized groups.
• Voter ID Laws: Often adjusted by voter fraud concerns but criticized for disenfranchisement of low-income and minority governments.
• Ballot design: The format and layout of the ballot, including the arrangement of candidates and instructions
  Poorly designed ballots can lead to voter confusion, potentially resulting in unintended choices or for the vote to be discounted
  Most famous ballot design issue occurred in Florida 2000 election
• Ballot Practises: procedures and rules governing the actual casting of votes. Practices such as strict deadlines or limited voting hours can impact voter accessibility and participation. Adoption of voting machines has increased causing worries about hacking into software and the miscounting of votes.

Question 12

Why does polling matter?

Answer 12

Provides critical information for voters to guage public sentement, campaigns to strategize and allocate resources, media organizations to report trends and inform the public.

• Polling measures voter enthusiasm and intention / preferences.

Question 13

Shelby V. Holder

Answer 13

Supreme court case involved Shelby County, Alabama challenging the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Key issue was section 4(b) which contained a coverage formula determining which jurisdictions required federal pre-clearance before changing voting practices or procedures.
The supreme court ruled that the coverage formula was outdated and unconstitutional, meaning certain states and localities no longer needed federal approval to change voting laws
Decision significantly impacted the enforcement of voting rights laws in US.

Question 14

What are alternative methods to gauge voter preference?

Answer 14

They may use focus groups

• Analyze social media activity
• Direct Interviews
• Observing demographics and trends

Question 15

How does polling work?

Answer 15

They use telephone surveys, online surveys, in person interviews.

They consider representitive sampling (ensuring a cross-section of voters), sample size and response rates, and use of weighting to adjust for demographic imbalances

Polls provide accurate predictions, margins of error with expected ranges, and outlier affects caused by externalaties.

Question 16

What was the literary digest and gallup poll (history of polling)

Answer 16

Literary digest case-study: Infamous failure during the 1936 presidential election–predicted a Landon Victory over Roosevelt, which suffered from election bias and nonresponse bias.

Gallup Poll: Revolutionized polling with quota sampling, but there was a famous mistep in 1948, predicting Dewey’s victory over Trueman–issue included inadequate sampling techniques and assumptions.

Question 17

What are some polling Challenges the analysis face?

Answer 17

1. Sampling issue:
   - Selection bias: Over or underrepresenting certain groups.
   - Nonresponse bias: Systematic differences in who responds.
   - Qouta sampling challenges: Ensuring interviews don’t inject bias.
2. Technological and Social Changes:
   - Decline in landline usage complicates phone surveys
   - Rise of mobile phones and online surveys present new challenge
3. Demographic considerationsL
   - Education levels: Key factor in the 2016 elections polling errors.
   - Geographic shifts: Movers and transient population affect accuracy.

Question 18

How Can we improve the polling accuracy?

Answer 18

1. Enhanced voter records:
   - Using updated voter rolls for better targeting.
   - Incorporating geographical corrections for mobility
2. Weighting adjustments:
   - Incorporating income and education disparities.
3. Random digit dialing:
   - Ensures broader coverage but comes with challenges in response rates.

Question 19

The Marist Theory

Answer 19

The Marist Theory improves election polling by emphasizing the use of detailed voter records and geographic adjustments to capture demographic trends. It revisits random digit dialing (RDD) to ensure broader outreach and corrects biases in education and income representation.

Question 20

How does money Impact electoral outcomes?

Answer 20

Campaign spending is a controversial topic with no clear consensus on its effect:
- Popular view: More money equals more votes
- Political science view: Mixed: outcomes are influenced by various factors beyond spending.

Question 21

Famous Acts of Money in Politics

Answer 21

1. Pendleton Act of 1883: banned government officials from requiring employees to make political contributions.
2. Tillman 1907: Prohibited corporations from using funds to influence elections
3. Federal corrupt practise act 1925: Set spending limits and introduced disclosure requirements for parties.
4. Federal election campaing Act 1972: Limited advertising spending.

Question 22

History of Campaign Finance - Federal Elections Campaign Act of 1972 (FECA)

Answer 22

limited spending on advertising generally, placed limits on candidates and their families’ own spending on campaigns, imposed stricter reporting requirements.

Question 23

History of Campaign Finance - Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

Answer 23

Upheld: limits on individual contributions
disclosure of contributors
aggregate limits
public funding

Struck down:
limits on candidate expenditures
limits on group expenditures

Question 24

History of Campaign Finance - CRFCC v. FEC (1996) & McConnelL v. FEC (2003)

Answer 24

later cases that continued to refine and challenge campaign finance regulations. In general, they dealt with issues such as party spending and the regulation of “soft money” (money raised outside the federal limits for general party-building activities)

Question 25

Individuals in campaign donation

Answer 25

rarely give money to two candidates (they give to one party not both) giving indication that individuals are policy motivated and party motivated

Question 26

businesses in donation

Answer 26

Filter campaign donations through political action committees, corporations may be motivated to give money to gain access
They support candidates because they are offering policies that the business wants to see, the same applies to individuals and interest groups
Give to members of both parties at much higher rates

Question 27

Interest groups and donations

Answer 27

Slightly less ideologically motivated but still are
Ex: pro-choice groups are more likely to give to democrats because they are more likely to support their cause

Question 28

Access and Influence of donations? (Vote buying):

Answer 28

Vote-Buying hypothesis suggests campaign donations are exchanged for policy favors.

• However, PAC spending is relativley small (only 25%).
• Most donations come from individuals not organizations]
• Many fortune 500 companies lack PAC’s suggesting limited influence.

Question 29

What are the key motivations of members of congress

Answer 29

1. Primary Interest: Reelection drives most congressional actions.
2. Activitie for Reelection:
   - Advertising: building name recognition through non-political messages
   - Credit claiming such as highlighting accomplishments or benefits
   - Position taking stands on issues to appeal to constituents.

Question 29

What is the incumbency advantage?

Answer 29

1. Historical Strenght:
   - Incumbents traditionally enjoy a strong advantage due to name recognition, fundraising, capacity, and established networks.
2. Other Benefits:
   - Access to government resources
   - Greater visibility in their district

Question 30

Is the Incumbency advatnage declining?

Answer 30

Yes, due to: Increased partisian polorization and nationalism of elections, where party affiliation matters more than individual candidates.

Question 31

What are some redistricting goals?

Answer 31

Redistricting is the process of redrawing electoral district boundaries to reflect population changes after a census.

Goals:

Population Equality: Districts must have roughly equal populations to ensure equal representation “one person, one vote.”

Geographic Contiguity: Districts should be geographically connected; all parts of the district must touch. This prevents creating disconnected areas within a single district.

Political Fairness (Minimizing Gerrymandering): The goal is to avoid favoring one political party over another (partisan fairness).
Courts and reform efforts often aim to reduce the effects of gerrymandering, where district boundaries are drawn to give one party an advantage.

Question 32

Whats Gerrymandering?

Answer 32

• Manipulating district boundaries to favor a political group or party.

Methods:
1) Packing: Concentrating opposing voters into a few districts to dilute their influence elsewhere
2) Cracking: Spreading opposing votrs thinly across multiple districts to prevent them from gaining a majority.

Question 33

Non-partisian Elections?

Answer 33

• Candidates do not run under party labels on the ballot
• Common in local elections and some judicial elections

Question 34

• Features of Non-partisian elections

Answer 34

• Party endorsements may still occur but are often informal
• Symbols and explicit affiliations are sometimes banned.

Question 35

What are partisian Cues for voters?

Answer 35

• Federal elections heavily rely on party labels as voter shortcuts.
• Without these cues, voters must rely on other information (candidate profiles, endorsements).
• Economic Health: Voters often reward or punish state candidates based on the local economy.

Question 36

Judicial Elections: Partisian Vs. Nonpartisian Elections?

Answer 36

Judicial elections, a common method of selecting judges in the United States, differ significantly depending on whether they are partisan or non-partisan.

Partisian: Judges declare a party affiliation (e.g., Democrat, Republican) on the ballot.

Advantage:

Clear Voter Cues: Party labels provide voters with a simple way to infer the judge’s likely ideological stance and policy preferences.

Disidvantage:

Perceived Bias: Aligning with a political party can compromise the appearance of impartiality in judicial decision-making.

NON-PARTISIAN:
Party affiliations are not listed on the ballot, emphasizing individual qualifications over political alignment.

Advantage: Removes overt partisanship, emphasizing the judge’s qualifications and judicial temperament.

Disidvantage: Without party labels, voters have fewer cues to guide their choices, potentially leading to lower engagement or reliance on name recognition.

Question 37

Direct democracy and retention elections?

Answer 37

Retention Elections
Retention elections determine whether judges or other officials stay in office after their initial appointment. Voters decide to either retain or dismiss the official, typically without a competing candidate on the ballot. This process is designed to balance judicial independence with public accountability.

Intersection
Retention elections can be seen as a form of direct democracy since voters directly decide the tenure of officials, particularly judges. While not legislative, retention elections are a mechanism for public oversight within the framework of representative governance.

Question 38

Impact of Non-partisian elections for voters and candidates

Answer 38

Voter behavior: Less reliance on party labels / Descisions are influenced by endorsement, candidate reputation, or single issues.

2. Elected officials: Officials may act differently in non-partisian systems, focusing less on party loyalty and more on broad appeals.

Question 39

Challenges and consequences for voters and officials without partisian cues?

Answer 39

1. Voters: Lack of party increases the cognitive burden of decision making
   - Risk of lower voter engagement for uninformed choices
2. Officials:
   - Reduced partianship can foster independence but might also weaken accountability to ideological platforms.