Political Participation and Elections Flashcards
Political Models of Voting Behavior
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
Political Parties
groups of like-minded representatives that wish to pursue similar legislative goals.
US Major Political Parties
Democrats and Republicans (bipartisan system (2 party))
Party Characteristics
- 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
Party Platform
a list of goals that outlines the party’s positions on both issues and priorities
Purpose of Political Parties
get candidates elected into office
Primary Elections
an election by the political parties to nominate their candidates for the General Election ballot.
Decline in Parties
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
Party Coalitions
A combination of groups of people who work together to achieve a political goal.
Democrats tend to be
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
Republicans tend to be
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
Party realignment
when coalitions making up the two parties fall apart. rare (only in war or depression)
Critical Election
when a new party comes to dominate politics
Dealignment
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.
Third Parties
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)
Doctrinal Parties
third parties representing an ideology considered to radical by the main parties (Socialist Party, Libertarian Party)
Single Issue Party
formed to promote one principle
Independent candidates
run WITHOUT party affiliation. (NOT third party candidates)
Failure of Third Parties
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.
Interest groups
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.
Lobby
interest groups trying to influence legislators
Categories of Interest Groups
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
How Interest Groups Influence Government
- 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
Limits on Lobbying
laws (but you must consider if they violate A1 free speech)
Influence Peddling
the practice of using personal friendships and inside information to get political advantage. many laws are being created to prevent this
PACs
political action committees: a private group that raises and distributes funds for use in election campaigns.
Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA 1974)
allowed corporations, unions, and trade associations to form PACs as a means of raising campaign funds.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002)
regulated campaign finance and PAC donations by prohibiting unregulated contributions to national political parties
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
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
Hard Money
tightly regulated contributions to candidates
Soft Money
unregulated, unlimited contributions to political parties for general party building activities
Super PACs
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.
527 Groups
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.
Incumbent Advantage
- representatives who run for reelection win 90% of the time
- 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
Election Cycle
Nominations - parties choose their candidates for general elections
General Elections - the voters decide who will hold elective office
Types of primaries
- 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
Primary Elections
- 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
Runoff Primary
if no candidate receives the required votes to win
Choosing delegates to attend party national convention
- 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
McGovern-Fraser Commission
recommends delegates be represented by the proportion of their population in each state
Presidential Election
election when the president is chosen
Midterm Election
elections that occur between presidential elections
Nomination
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
First Steps Towards Nomination
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)
Nomination Process Steps
- 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
- 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
- Candidates begin to assemble campaign personnel to help manage campaign (advisors, consultants, lawyers)
- Primary season begins in the presidential election year
Financing Campaigns
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,
Federal Matching Funds
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
Primary Season
candidates participate in debates, campaign in states, choreograph positive media events.
Early Primaries
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.
Super Tuesday
many states hold their primaries on the same day in early March
Front-loading
states moving primaries forward to influence which candidates win nominations and press candidates to succeed early
National Convention
after the primary season ends, both parties hold national conventions to confirm their nominee. many conventions also have battles over the party platform.
Brokered Conventions
conventions in which no candidate has received pledge of a majority of convention delegated, conventions decide who nominee will be
Purpose of national convention
unify the party. primaries can damage each party since candidates attack each other.
Impact of Conventions on General Election Results
normally, conventions help the candidate and cause a rise in public approval ratings (post-convention bump)
Key Differences in Primaries and General Elections
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
Electoral College
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
Candidates devote their time to ___ states
swing states (states in which polling indicates a close race)
Media Influence on Elections
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
Voter Turnout
how many voters actually come and vote (very low for midterms)
The likelihood that an individual will corresponds closely to their _______
level of education (more educated = more likely to votes)
Voter Turnout influenced by
Level of Education
How close the vote is (if they know who will win anyway, why bother)
Legislation
Mandate
clear message
Media Report on Election Day
Election results
Results of Exit Polls and what they mean
