Unit 5 Flashcards
State government is in charge
The Constitution left states in control of elections
Federal elections
1870
Race can’t be a barrier to vote
15th amendment
Direct election of senators
Gives citizens more power and can choose senators
17th amendment
Gave women the right to vote
19th amendment
Banned the use of poll taxes
24th amendment
1965
Lowered the voting age to 18
26th amendment
-rational choice voting
-retrospective voting
-prospective voting
-party - line voting
Structural barriers to voting
A person who votes for a candidate whose policies benefit the voter
Rational choice voting
*Backwards voting
Based on how the party has done in the past
Retrospective voting
*Forward voting
Based on who you believe will handle the most important issues better
Prospective voting
*Supporting a party
Voting for candidates from the same party for all public offices
Party-line voting
-party identification is the best indicator
-political ideology
-candidate characteristics
-contemporary political issues
Voter choice
A person’s belief that they can influence government and politics
Political efficacy
Connect people to get to the government and the government to the people
Linkage institutions
Focus on candidates as individuals, rather than party indifference
Candidate-centered politics
A dramatic shift in party loyalty
Critical election
Dramatic, long-lasting shifts in party affiliation
-many people change political parties
Party realignment
A big region of the of the nation switches political parties
Regional realignment
Decline in party identification and loyalty
-people leave their parties and become independents
Party dealignment
Candidates are less reliant on the political party for money and are more independent to do as they wish
Campaign finance law
Organization that attempts to influence public policy
Interest groups
*Persuade political leaders to support the groups position
- testify at committee hearings
- draft legislation
- pressure legislators/ threaten fundraising support
Lobbyists/lobbying
People who benefit from a group’s efforts without joining
Free rider problem
Broad-based efforts to achieve major policy changes
Social movements
Residents can vote in either party’s primary
Open primary
Only registered party members can vote
-ex. In Florida you have to register as one party in order to vote in primaries
Closed primary
A meeting of party members to choose a candidate
(Iowa)
Caucus
Winner of the presidential office will officially take office as president
General elections
-Set out to limit amount of money involved in politics
-banned “soft money”
-soft money: contributions to a political party-building purposes, unlimited & unregulated
-“Stand by your Ad”: made people put their name with their ads
-banned direct contributions from corporations to candidates/campaigns
Bipartisan campaign reform act of 2002 (BCRA)
Supreme Court overruled BCRA including the ban on soft money
- ruled BCRA violated 1st amendment
-political spendings is a form of protected speech
-corporations can’t give money directly to a candidate
-have to create a super PAC
-led to significant increase in money to campaigns
Citizens United v.s Federal Elections Commission (F.E.C) (2010) (Supreme Court case)
Private, usually set up by an interest group to raise money to elect a candidate
Political Action Committee (PAC)
*Independent-expenditure-only committee
-corporations can give unlimited amount of money
Super PAC
The process through which information is filtered for dissemination
Gatekeeper
The idea of investigative journalism
-reporters uncover problems to make sure things are being properly done in government
-scrutinize and investigate politicians and government
Watchdog
Focuses on public opinion polls
-citizens may be less informed instead of talking about issues, they focus on the poll
-may lead to bandwagon effect- people might end up voting for whoever is winning
Horse race journalism
Many seek out sources that appeal to their personal beliefs
-continuously getting our beliefs reinforced instead of being challenged on our viewpoints
Ideologically oriented news programming
