[ 10.3 ] Voting Trends

Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice Who Votes? Education: More education = more likely to vote. Age: Older = more likely to go vote. Race: Caucasian = more likely to go vote. BUT, other ethnicities are higher with comparable education. Gender: Female = more likely to go vote.

Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice Who Votes? (continued) Marital Status: Married = more likely to go vote. Mobility: Don’t move = more likely to go vote. Union Membership: Union member = more likely to go vote.

Influences on Voters and Voting Behavior

Family #1 influence of political attitude Very strong correlation for Political Party support

Gender Examples More men support military More women consider sexual harassment a serious problem Since ’60s, women vote Dem more than men, and vice versa Not as significant of an indicator as marriage (married vs. unmarried)

Social Class “Blue collar” (Laborer) typically Democrat “White collar” (Businessmen) typically Republican Relationship is becoming less clear

Geographic Region Example East and West Coasts – more liberal Mid-West – more conservative Urban - liberal South – 1870-1950s - Democrat “Solid South” but today they are primarily social conservatives White Southerner always less liberal

Voting Based on Political Party Party affiliation arguably the primary determinant for a voter Straight-ticket Split-ticket

Voting Based on the Issues Prospective Voting Vote based on information of issues and candidates Retrospective Voting Vote based on past events whether successful or failed

Voting Based on the Campaign Allows voters to judge a candidate’s character and values

Congressional Elections Held every two years on even-numbered years Mid-Term Elections aka Off-Year Elections held between presidential elections Low voter turnout Incumbents - currently holding office Generally win elections due to low voter turn out, success in office, or good campaigning, duck responsiblity Coattail Effect Weak or less known candidates win based on success of popular presidential candidate through party affiliation NO FEDERAL FUNDING

Presidential Elections Held every four years—more competitive Two major parties receive federal funding in general election Phases of Presidential Candidacy: Getting mentioned Primaries and Caucuses Nominating Conventions General Election Electoral College

The Influence of Mass Media Setting the agenda and framing Other Factors That Influence Political Attitudes and Actions The Influence of Mass Media Setting the agenda and framing Opinion Leaders- the political elite Historic Events and Public Policy

The Role of Mass Media Use of mobile devices is a growing trend for teens today. Analyze Graphs Which type of media access is used by the largest percentage of teens?

Functions of Interest Groups Awareness and Education on Issues Linkage Between People and Government Provide Information to Government to Enhance Public Policy Promote Political Participation

What Are Interest Groups? Political parties and interest groups have more differences than similarities. Analyze Charts Based on the information shown, why do you think interest groups are sometimes criticized?

Lobbying/Lobbyists Paid representatives of an interest group Provide data and information to influence policymakers Testify in committees and executive agencies D.C. street home to numerous lobby firms

How Groups Try to Shape Policy Litigation: Interest groups can file amicus curiae briefs in court cases to support their position.

Processes Used By Interest Groups—The Direct Approach Organizations track total contributions and top recipients of contributions to inform the public. Analyze Charts What patterns do you see in the companies making the top contributions?

[ 11.1 ] Political Parties and What They Do

The Three Components of the Party Party Components The Party Organization: Those who run and control the party machinery. The Party in the Electorate Those who always or almost always vote for party candidates. The Party in Government Those who hold office in the government.

The Meaning of Party Tasks of the Parties Parties Pick Candidates Parties Run Campaigns Parties Give Cues to Voters Parties Articulate Policies Parties Coordinate Policymaking

The Two-Party System A political party logo is a symbol that represents the entire party. The Republicans and Democrats have adopted the elephant and the donkey respectively to represent their parties.

What Americans Value: Political Ideologies Liberals: Less military spending Opposed to prayer in schools Favor affirmative action Tax the rich more Solve the problems that cause crime Conservatives: More military spending Support prayer in schools Oppose affirmative action Keep taxes low Should stop “coddling criminals” From Table 6.3

Why a Two-Party System? The Historical Basis. The nation started out with two-parties: the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Force of Tradition. America has a two-party system because it always has had one. Minor parties, lacking wide political support, have never made a successful showing, so people are reluctant to support them. The Electoral System. Certain features of government, such as single-member districts, are designed to favor two major parties. Ideological Consensus. Most Americans have a general agreement on fundamental matters. Conditions that would spark several strong rival parties do not exist in the United States.

“Grass Roots” American Government “Grass Roots” – parties can also reach the voters personally and “get-out-the-vote” on a local level Local party leaders have more influence on voters than national leaders

Why Minor Parties Are Important Minor parties play several important roles: “Spoiler Role” Minor party candidates can pull decisive votes away from one of the major parties’ candidates, especially if the minor party candidate is from a splinter party. Critic Minor parties, especially single-issue parties, often take stands on and draw attention to controversial issues that the major parties would prefer to ignore. Innovator Often, minor parties will draw attention to important issues and propose innovative solutions to problems. If these proposals gain popular support, they are often integrated into the platforms of the two major parties.

Figure 9.1 Decline in Party Identification, 1952-2004 Replace with jpeg, p. 195 Source: American National Election Studies, November 2005, table 2A.1. Copyright © 2011 Cengage

National Convention Held every 4 years Each state sends a number of delegates to represent their state at the convention Delegates nominates the party’s Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates (Primary Purpose) Adopts the parties rules and writes the party’s platform

RNC (Republican National Convention)

DNC (Democratic National Convention)

National Convention Platform: a statement of the party’s principles, beliefs, and positions on vital issues Plank: individual parts of the platform

Primary Elections Primary election: an election in which people select party members to run in the general election

Competing for Delegates The Nomination Game Competing for Delegates Nomination game is an elimination contest Goal is to win a majority of delegates’ support at the national party convention, or the supreme power within each of the parties

Competing for Delegates The Nomination Game Competing for Delegates The Caucus Road Caucus: meetings of state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national convention Organized like a pyramid from local precincts to the state’s convention The Iowa caucus is first and most important.

Evaluation of the Primary Voter turnout for primary and general elections for selected States in a presidential election year is compared.Analyze Graphs What information can you learn from studying the chart?

So Let’s Review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_95I_1rZiIs http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/primary-calendar-and-results.html?_r=1

Presidential Primaries Significance of Primary Timing- front-loading primaries

Political Action Committees (PAC’s)- Type of interest groups-campaign for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, legislation. Give to at least 5 federal candidates Must report expenditures Give most $ to congressional candidates

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) enforces: limits on campaign contributions limits on campaign expenditures

527: Swift Boat Veterans for Truth 527 Organizations Designed to permit the kind of soft money expenditures once made by political parties They can spend their money on politics so long as they do not coordinate with a candidate or lobby directly for that person 527: Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.