Intro and Chap. 1 (N & T) Flashcards
What is the minimal requirement to being a democratic government?
Having elected officials and elections that allow citizens to make choices about who is governing them
Where does the word “Campaign” come from?
comes from military usage: a connected series of military operations forming a distinct phase of a war or connected series of operations designed to bring about a particular result. Campaigns are battles to define public problems and develop policy solutions and to persuade voters.
Do campaigns matter? And why if they do?
Campaigns do matter when they are strategic in their promotion of the candidate and take advantage of a particular issue. Campaigns matter because the voters need to know the candidates name, their issues positions, and then create mobilization and voter turnout.
Does money matter in campaigns? And why if it does?
The money pays the campaign managers and political consultants, not only that but it buys research and polling data and pays for television ads, digital ads, direct mail and more. The more money that a campaign has the more electioneering can be purchased.
What was the ruling in Buckley v. Valeo?
First, it held that restrictions on individual contributions to political campaigns and candidates did not violate the First Amendment since the limitations of the FECA enhance the “integrity of our system of representative democracy” by guarding against unscrupulous practices. Second, the Court found that governmental restriction of independent expenditures in campaigns, the limitation on expenditures by candidates from their own personal or family resources, and the limitation on total campaign expenditures did violate the First Amendment. Since these practices do not necessarily enhance the potential for corruption that individual contributions to candidates do, the Court found that restricting them did not serve a government interest great enough to warrant a curtailment on free speech and association.
What did the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) do?
The main idea of HAVA was to provide states for funds to computerize voter rolls and replace antiquated voting equipment. However, the Republican party insisted on Federal Photo ID for the first time as a condition to vote, which SCOTUS has upheld, but did leave room for interpretation for future challengers.
What are the two supreme court cases that helped to undermine the VRA and what did they change?
Shelby County v. Holder has struck down Section 5 of the VRA. It had required pre-clearance to states and local governments with a history of discrimination to obtain approval from either the Us department of Justice or federal court before making changes in voting procedures. But was ruled unconstitutional because it was based on 40 year old data and they said that the country had changed to not be as discriminatory. And the second undercut to the VRA was Brnovich v. DNC which further limited the ability of minority groups to challenge voting restrictions under the federal VRA act.
What did Rucho v. Common Cause do?
The ruling held that federal courts have no authority to police partisan gerrymandering = there is no federal gerrymandering to correct legislative maps that give an unfair advantage to either political party even if that advantage is extreme. They are leaving it to Congress and the States to have authority over.
What are the three things that we can do to reduce partisan rancor and provide sufficient confidence that America’s election system works?
One, Legalized barriers to voting must be eliminated. (Parties need to want to compromise and transparency and accountability are paramount to restoring confidence in the democratic process).
Two, digital ballots should be made open to the public and three, recount laws need updating.
