Political Participation and Elections

Question 1

Political Models of Voting Behavior

Answer 1

Rational Choice - based on what is perceived to be in the citizen’s individual interest
Retrospective Voting - the decision of whether a party of candidate in power should be reelected based on recent history or performance
Prospective Voting - based on the potential performance of a party or candidate if they are elected
Party-Line Voting - when an individual votes for a candidate from one political party for all political officess

Question 2

Political Parties

Answer 2

groups of like-minded representatives that wish to pursue similar legislative goals.

Question 3

US Major Political Parties

Answer 3

Democrats and Republicans (bipartisan system (2 party))

Question 4

Party Characteristics

Answer 4

• serve as intermediaries between the people and the government
• made up of grassroots members, activist members, and leaderships
• organized to raise money, present positions on policy, and get their candidates to office
• were created outside the Constitution
• develop a party platform

Question 5

Party Platform

Answer 5

a list of goals that outlines the party’s positions on both issues and priorities

Question 6

Purpose of Political Parties

Answer 6

get candidates elected into office

Question 7

Primary Elections

Answer 7

an election by the political parties to nominate their candidates for the General Election ballot.

Question 8

Decline in Parties

Answer 8

as American are more likely to consider candidates, it is less likely for a party to completely dominate each brand. more Americans are independent and modern candidates are relying less on their party to help support them

Question 9

Party Coalitions

Answer 9

A combination of groups of people who work together to achieve a political goal.

Question 10

Democrats tend to be

Answer 10

MORE willing to spend money on social welfare programs, government money on public education, grant tax relief, support reproductive justice, unionization.

LESS willing to spend on defense, use funds to enable certain students to attend private religious schools, private ownership of assault

Question 11

Republicans tend to be

Answer 11

LESS willing to spend money on social welfare programs, government money on public education, support reproductive justice, unionization.

MORE willing to grant tax relief, spend on defense, use funds to enable certain students to attend private religious schools, private ownership of assault

Question 12

Party realignment

Answer 12

when coalitions making up the two parties fall apart. rare (only in war or depression)

Question 13

Critical Election

Answer 13

when a new party comes to dominate politics

Question 14

Dealignment

Answer 14

party members becoming disaffected as a result of some policy position taken by the party. they join no political party and vote for the candidate rather than the party.

Question 15

Third Parties

Answer 15

parties that are occasionally formed but are not at the level of a major party. represent constituencies that don’t align with the 2 major parties (aka splinter/bolter parties)

Question 16

Doctrinal Parties

Answer 16

third parties representing an ideology considered to radical by the main parties (Socialist Party, Libertarian Party)

Question 17

Single Issue Party

Answer 17

formed to promote one principle

Question 18

Independent candidates

Answer 18

run WITHOUT party affiliation. (NOT third party candidates)

Question 19

Failure of Third Parties

Answer 19

American political system designed to support only 2 major parties. third parties don’t have the name of support to get money and therefore can’t receive much votes. their platform issues are often incorporated into the Republican or Democratic Party. voters are drawn away from candidate who are less likely to succeed.

Question 20

Interest groups

Answer 20

organizations dedicated to a particular political goal(s). members educate voters and office holders about an issue, lobby on behalf of an issue, draft legislation, and mobilize members to work with government to achieve their goals.

Question 21

Lobby

Answer 21

interest groups trying to influence legislators

Question 22

Categories of Interest Groups

Answer 22

Economic Groups - formed to promote and protect members’ economic interests, represent interests of the business people

Public Interest Groups - nonprofit organization that are generally organized around a well-defined set of public policy issues

Government Interest Groups - states, cities, and other localities maintain lobbying organizations in the nation’s capital

Question 23

How Interest Groups Influence Government

Answer 23

• Direct lobbying: meet privately with government officials to suggest legislation, etc
• Testifying before Congress
• Socializing
• Political donations: financially support candidates and parties that support their causes
• Endorsements: groups announce their support for candidates and rate them
• Court Acts: file class action law suits, amicus curiae briefs (friend of court) so that judges can consider them
• Rallying their membership: rallies, engage in grassroots campaigning by contacting members
• Propaganda

Question 24

Limits on Lobbying

Answer 24

laws (but you must consider if they violate A1 free speech)

Question 25

Influence Peddling

Answer 25

the practice of using personal friendships and inside information to get political advantage. many laws are being created to prevent this

Question 26

PACs

Answer 26

political action committees: a private group that raises and distributes funds for use in election campaigns.

Question 27

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA 1974)

Answer 27

allowed corporations, unions, and trade associations to form PACs as a means of raising campaign funds.

Question 28

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002)

Answer 28

regulated campaign finance and PAC donations by prohibiting unregulated contributions to national political parties

Question 29

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

Answer 29

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 had previously banned corporations from independent political spending and direct contributions to campaigns or political parties. In 2008, Citizens United was not allowed to show an anti-Hillary Clinton movie.
Held corporations should be considered people and therefore their funding of “independent political expenditures cannot be limited.” This is considered a form of political speech, which is protected by the free speech portion of the First Amendment. This led to the development of Super PACS and a significant increase in the amount of money contributed to political campaigns

Question 30

Hard Money

Answer 30

tightly regulated contributions to candidates

Question 31

Soft Money

Answer 31

unregulated, unlimited contributions to political parties for general party building activities

Question 32

Super PACs

Answer 32

committees that may receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions and other PACs for the purpose of financing independent expenditures and other independent political activity.

Question 33

527 Groups

Answer 33

tax-exempt organization that promotes a political agenda, although they cannot expressively advocate for/against a specific candidate. they are usually not regulated by the FEC (federal election commission). not subject to the same contribution limits as PACs.

Question 34

Incumbent Advantage

Answer 34

1. representatives who run for reelection win 90% of the time
2. while incumbent senator have a great electoral advantage, house incumbents have an even greater advantage. the senator must run in the entire state while the house representative run in their home district which is usually 1 party due to gerrymandering

Question 35

Election Cycle

Answer 35

Nominations - parties choose their candidates for general elections
General Elections - the voters decide who will hold elective office

Question 36

Types of primaries

Answer 36

• Closed primary: most common. voting is restricted to registered members of a political party, voters may only vote for candidates in their declared party
• Open Primary: voters may only in one party’s primary, but they can choose which primary.
• Blanket Primary: same procedure as general elections. voters note for one candidate per office of either party

Question 37

Primary Elections

Answer 37

• voting for the presidential nominee
• the candidate who receives a plurality (greatest number of votes but not more than half the total votes) or majority (more than half) is the winner
• voters also choose delegates pledged to a particular presidential candidate who attended party’s national convention

Question 38

Runoff Primary

Answer 38

if no candidate receives the required votes to win

Question 39

Choosing delegates to attend party national convention

Answer 39

• in primary election, voters choose them
• Democratic Party also grants automatic delegate status to many elected party leaders (superdelegates)
• Republican Party doesn’t have superdelegates but has the McGovern-Fraser Commission

Question 40

McGovern-Fraser Commission

Answer 40

recommends delegates be represented by the proportion of their population in each state

Question 41

Presidential Election

Answer 41

election when the president is chosen

Question 42

Midterm Election

Answer 42

elections that occur between presidential elections

Question 43

Nomination

Answer 43

many officials receive nomination (endorsement) because of their extensive background in government (senator, governor, etc). sometimes, major parties will pursue a candidate with little government experience but those who are popular

Question 44

First Steps Towards Nomination

Answer 44

those considering running for presidency: seek support among policy organizations, donors (elections are expensive), meet with potential donors, establishing PACs to raise funds, and increase their public profile (schedule public appearances to attract media)

Question 45

Nomination Process Steps

Answer 45

1. 2 years before presidential election, candidates begin preparation for primary election: seek support from party organizations, campaign for endorsements, seek financial aid and establish PACs to raise funs
2. the year before the first primary, candidate increase their public profile by scheduling public appearance to attract media coverage: those who don’t raise enough money are forced out the race
3. Candidates begin to assemble campaign personnel to help manage campaign (advisors, consultants, lawyers)
4. Primary season begins in the presidential election year

Question 46

Financing Campaigns

Answer 46

candidates MUST be able to raise money. the federal government funds the general election campaigns of the two major presidential candidates is the candidates agree not to accept and spend other donations. many Americans believe that the current finance system corrupts government,

Question 47

Federal Matching Funds

Answer 47

primary candidates who receive +10% of the vote in an election may apply. they double all campaign contributions of >$250 but must agree to obey federal spending limits

Question 48

Primary Season

Answer 48

candidates participate in debates, campaign in states, choreograph positive media events.

Question 49

Early Primaries

Answer 49

very important. they provide a great boost to the campaigns of whoever wins, increasing media exposures and making fundraising easier. those who perform poorly in early primaries usually have to drop out the race.

Question 50

Super Tuesday

Answer 50

many states hold their primaries on the same day in early March

Question 51

Front-loading

Answer 51

states moving primaries forward to influence which candidates win nominations and press candidates to succeed early

Question 52

National Convention

Answer 52

after the primary season ends, both parties hold national conventions to confirm their nominee. many conventions also have battles over the party platform.

Question 53

Brokered Conventions

Answer 53

conventions in which no candidate has received pledge of a majority of convention delegated, conventions decide who nominee will be

Question 54

Purpose of national convention

Answer 54

unify the party. primaries can damage each party since candidates attack each other.

Question 55

Impact of Conventions on General Election Results

Answer 55

normally, conventions help the candidate and cause a rise in public approval ratings (post-convention bump)

Question 56

Key Differences in Primaries and General Elections

Answer 56

Primaries - candidates run against members of their own party, focusing on subtler differences between them
General - candidates emphasize the general policy and philosophical differences between the party

Question 57

Electoral College

Answer 57

created by the Constitution. Each state is given the number of electors of their federal legislators (senators + representatives). winner of the presidential election wins all the state’s electors (winner-take-all system). large states VERY important

Question 58

Candidates devote their time to ___ states

Answer 58

swing states (states in which polling indicates a close race)

Question 59

Media Influence on Elections

Answer 59

News Media: provides daily campaign info, and concentrates more on the “RACE”

Campaign Advertisements: candidates attempt to build a positive image and belittle their opponents though negative advertising

Question 60

Voter Turnout

Answer 60

how many voters actually come and vote (very low for midterms)

Question 61

The likelihood that an individual will corresponds closely to their _______

Answer 61

level of education (more educated = more likely to votes)

Question 62

Voter Turnout influenced by

Answer 62

Level of Education
How close the vote is (if they know who will win anyway, why bother)
Legislation

Question 63

Mandate

Answer 63

clear message

Question 64

Media Report on Election Day

Answer 64

Election results
Results of Exit Polls and what they mean