Amendments

14th Amendement

• Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., including formerly enslaved people

• Citizenship, Due Process, and Equal Protection

15th Amendment

• Granted African American men the right to vote

• Prohibits the states and the federal government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race

17th Amendment

• Changed the practice for electing Senators from a vote by state legislatures to a direct vote by the people

• Established the popular election of U.S. Senators

• Previously Senators were selected in indirectly through state legislatures.

19th Amendment

• Granted women the right to vote

• Prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex

• The amendment was the culmination of the women’s suffrage movement in the United States, which fought at both state and national levels to achieve the vote

24th Amendement

• Eliminated poll taxes, a structural barrier ot voting

• Prohibits the states and the federal government from requiring payment for poll tax when voting

• Souther states adopted poll taxes in laws as a measure to prevent African Americans and poor people from voting.

26th Amendment

• Lowered the voting age to 18

• Prohibits the states and the federal government form using age as a reason for denying the right to vote to citizens who are at least 18 years old.

Voting Rights act of 1965

• Banned literacy tests and other obstacles to vote

Models of Voting

Rational Choice Voting

• Individuals who based their decisions on what is perceived to be in their best interest

Retrospective Voting

• Individuals who decide whether the party or candidate in power should be reelected based on the recent past

• Voting for or against a candidate/party in office because of how things have gone in the recent past (looking back)

• Looking back; vote based on how the incumbent party has done

Prospective Voting

• Individuals who vote based on predictions of how a paraty or candidates of how a party or candidate will perform in the future

• Voting based on predictions of how a party or candidate will perform in the future (looking forward)

Straight ticket voting

• Individuals who vote for all the candidates from one political party on a ballot

• Supporting a party by voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices across the ballot

Political Efficacy: The belief that an individual’s participation will or will not make a difference

Structural barriers: Laws and regulations that prevent people from voting or make it diffcult for people to vote

• State voter registration laws

• State procedures on how, ehn and where to vote

• Voter ID laws

• Voter Registration laws

  • Variations in state voter registration laws and procedures can influence voter turnout

Factors Influence Voting Choice

• Party identification and ideological orientation

• Candidate Characteristics

• Contemporary Political Issues

• Religious beliefs or affiation

• Age

• Gender

• Race and Ethnicity

• Demographic Characteristics

Linkage Institutions

Channels that allow individuals to communicate their preferences to policymakers

• Political Parties

• Elections

• Media

• Interest Groups

Political Party

• Organization that seeks political power by electing memerbs to office

  • Primary purpose

    • Gain power by winning elections

  • Secondary purpose

    • Influence public policy

Function of Political Parties

Recruit Candidates

• Find people intersted in running for public office

Nominate and Support Candidates

• Nominate and support candidates

Campaign Management

• Includeing fundraising and media strategy

Educate the Electorate About the Issues and Candidates

• Inform citizens and encourage voters to participate in the election

Mobilize

• Mobilizing citizens with registration and get out the vote efforts

• Ensure that supporters actually make it to the polls and vote

Create Committee and party leadership in legislatures

• The organization of Congress and state legislature

Establish a Party Platform

• Written list of political beliefs and policy goals

Unity and Linkage

Divided Governement

• Condition in which one political party controls the presidency and the other controls one or both house of Congress

How have parties changed and adapted?

Candidate Centered Campaigns

• Focus on the characteristics of the candidate and not on the party

Changes to the Primary System

• Reforms to the primary system have weakened the role of party leaders in nominating candidates

Appealing to Demographics

Tracking and Targeting Voters with Technology

The Structure of Parties has been influenced by:

• Critical Elections

  • Elections in which there is a realignment of political party support among voters

• Campaign Finance Law

  • Increase in private campaign contributions to candidates and PACs has allowed candidates to be morew independent of the party

• Changes in communications and data management technology

  • Parties use communication technology and voter data management to disseminate, control, and clarify political messages to enhance outreach and mobilization efforts.

Two-Party System

• A result of tradition and election policies

• NOT in the Constitution

Third Parties

• A political party organized as opposition to the existing parties in a two-party system.

Structural Barriers to Third-Party Success

• In comparison to proportional system, winner-take-all voting districts serve as a structural barrier

• Winner-take-all voting advantages the two party system

• Plurality system-Candidate with most vote wins(Even if less than 50%)

• Single-member districts

  • One representative is elected in each district

  • Makes it difficult for third party candidates to get enough votes

• Ballot requirement-Fees, petition signatures required to appear on ballots

Informal barriers to Third Party Success

• The incorporation of third-party agendas into platforms of major political parties serves as a barrier to third-party and independent candidates success

Interest Group

• Organized individuals that try to influence public policies

How interest groups Influence Public Policy

• Educating voters and office holders

• Lobbying

  • To persuade political leaders to support the group’s position

• Drafting legislation

• Mobilize membership to apply pressure and work with legislators and government agencies

• Interest groups may also file an amicus curiae brief

  • A written document submitted as a “friend of the court” to provide additional information for justices to consider when reviewing a case

• Raise funds and awareness

• Endorse candidates

• Advertise

• Organize protests

Iron Triangle

• policy-making relationship among the congressional committees, the bureaucratic agencies, and interest groups.

interest group influence may be impacted by:

• Inequality of political and economic resources

• Unequal access to decision makers

• Free rider problem

• some interst groups, such as AARP, have large memberships, and are able to mobilize those members, and possess access to large financial resources

• Some interst groups have more direct and frequent access to important people in the policymaking process

• Free riders area individuals who benefit from the work of an interset group without providing financial support

Single-issue groups

• Interest groups that focus advocacy on one topic.

The process and outcomes in U.S. presidential elections are affected by:

• Primary Election

  • Election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election

  • Voting process to elect candidates

• Closed Primary

  • A primary election in which only a party’s registered voters are eligible to vote

• Open Primary

  • election in which redients can vote in either party’s primary

• Caucus

  • Closed meetings of party members to select candidates or decide policy

• National Party Convention

  • Party gathering to officially nominate the presidential and vice-presidential candidates

• General election

  • Election in which voters decide which candidates will fill elective public offices

• Electoral College

  • The people who represent each state and officially elect the president

  • States can choose how they allocate their electors; most states use winner-take-all system

Incumbent

• Current office holder

Incumbency Advantage Phenomenon

• Tendency of current office holders to win re-election over challengers

The benefits and drawbacks of modern campaigns are represented by:

• Dependence on professional consultants

  • Experts hired by a campaign to develop media strategy, fundraise, research m and conduct polling

• Rising campaign costs and intensive fundraising efforst

• Duration of election cycles

  • The U.S. has long extended election cycles

• Impact of and reliance on social media for campaign communication and fundraising

Campaign Finance

All funds that are raised and spent in order to promote candidates, parties or polices in an election

Hard Money

• Contributions directly to candidates Soft Money

• Unregulated mo3ney funneled by individuals and interest groups through political parties and PACs Political Action Committee (PAC)

• An organization that raises money privately to help elect candidates and influence policy Independent Expenditures

• Money spent to support a candidate, but not contributed to the candidate or party

Bipartisan Campaign Reform act of 2002

• Attempt to ban soft money

• Attempt to reduce attack ads with the “stand by Your Ad” provision

Citizen United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)*

• Political spending by corporations, association, and labor unions is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment

Agenda Setting

Agenda setting takes place when traditional news media, new communication technologies, and advances in social media influence how citizens routinely acquire political information

Horse Race Coverage of Elections

The media’s use of polling results to convey popular levels of trust and confidence in government can affect elections by turning such events into “horse races” based more on popularity and factors other than qualifications and platform of candidates

Media’s Role as a Watchdog

Investigative Journalism

• Reporters examine and scrutinize public officials, business, and public policy to find illegal and immoral activities

Political commentary

Analysis, support or criticism that is relevant to politics

Changing Media

Partisan news

• biased/ideological news coverage

The nature of democratic debate and the level of politcal knowledge among citizens is impacted by:

• Increased media choice

• Ideologically oriented programming

• Consumer-driven media outlets that reinforce existing beliefs

• Uncertainty over the credibility of news sources and information