Elections, Parties and Interest Groups Wilson chapters 9, 10, and 11 Elections, Parties and Interest Groups

Let’s start with elections Presidential vs Congressional races: Presidential races are more competitive but in either, the incumbent usually wins!!! Also presidential races are closer in the final voting Smaller turnout in congressional races means the candidate must appeal to the party voter!! Members of congress can do things the pres. Can’t such as claiming direct help for the people of the state such as job programs Members of congress can claim they are not part of the “Washington mess” Let’s start with elections

Coattails?? Lots of incumbants get reelected to Congress for the last three reasons on the previous slide It used to be that the president of your party would almost automatically mean you’d get elected if he was popular – but not so much any more

How to be the President First you have to be “mentioned” in the media It takes a lot of WORK!!! Come from various backgrounds including governors, senators, members of congress or war hero’s You need money, lots of money and a lot comes from PACs. Individuals can only give $2000 while a PAC can give $5000. To get matching funds you must get donations from 20 different states…confusing?? It gets worse…

More Mr. or Mrs. President You need a huge organization of fundraisers, lawyers, secretaries, advertising, accountants and volunteers!!! You also need advisors and someone to write papers and speeches What about campaign strategy: Tone: positive or negative Theme: a simple appealing idea to repeat Timing: focus on primaries or the convention Target: who to aim at, those who change vote perhaps or certain groups like farmers…

How about Congress???? First, how many to elect?? It depends on the size of the state, districts and their shapes Congress decided in 1911 to set the House at 435 seats and in 1929 to reapportion every 10 years… So some states lose seats while others gain District boundaries are always redrawn to “cheat” the system – called malapportionment and gerrymandering

Okay, now let’s get elected First you need signatures and then win the “primary” Once elected you quickly learn to take care of your constituents by ensuring you do what they want Congressional members are trustees and delegates Delegates want to be reelected more than anything – and will do whatever it takes Trustees tend to look at bigger picture that has fewer implications for their home district

Qualifications for all the jobs House of Representatives 25 years old – citizen for 7 years – live in state Senator 30 years old – citizen for 9 years – live in state President 35 years old – born in USA

Primary vs general campaigns Primary elections choose a parties candidates – sort of like the “playoffs” General elections pick the winners who will actually hold office – the “championship” Very different group of voters and helpers You must “rally the troops” for each primary – reaching for the extremes of your party then often back off in the general election People who get involved in primaries are the “hard core” political activists!!!

Campaign issues Position issues: opposing viewpoints usually along partisan lines (security, defense, abortion, gay marriage) Valence issues: viewpoints in which the public is united and rival candidates follow similar positions hoping to gain popular support - as if they were on the same side as the public (social security, welfare)

Role of the media Name recognition from TV spots and even news (low cost and “reliable”) Debates usually only advantage to challenger - performance is huge (Reagan, Kennedy) Careful not to “slip up” so rely on stock speeches and proven themes for applause Internet great for direct mail campaigns So worried about reelection that campaigning and government are linked together - candidates need media consultants to succeed

Show me the $$$$$$$$ Presidential primaries - public and private $$ with federal matching funds for donations over $250 per individual Presidential general elections all public money totaling $74 million in 2004 Congressional elections are mostly private $$ Up to $2000 per individual and $5000 for PACs

Rules about $$$$$$ Watergate and illegal donations in 1972 created 1974 Campaign Reform law and FEC Set limit then of $1000 per individual Guidelines for PACs Guidelines for public funding of elections Loopholes 1Soft money is unlimited as long as it’s given to a political party 2PACs can spend as much as they want as long as it’s not coordinated with a candidate

More recent changes Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2000 created 3 big changes!!! 1.Banned soft money to national parties from corporations and unions 2.Raised individual limit to $ Sharply restricted independent expenditures - groups can’t use their own money in an ad referring to a specific candidate 30 days before a primary and 60 days before a general election (positive or negative ads)

Court challenges and 527s The previous act was immediately challenged in court as a violation of free speech but the Supreme Court upheld the new laws Both parties have 527 organizations that can spend “soft money” like before and can spend their money on politics as long as they don’t lobby directly for a specific person or coordinate with a candidate 527s raised and spent $333 million in 2004

Money and winning Presidential candidates all get federal money During peacetime three key factors: 1.Party affiliation 2.Economy (called pocketbook voting) 3.Candidates character can’t forget VP candidates role, religion, and the media I WIN, I WIN

Who decides who wins??? Party affiliation? Republicans vote more than Democrats and are more “wed” to their party More independents vote Republican Issues (economy) or strong principles (abortion) judging the incumbents' performance, and timing of elections (midterm or not) The campaign – negative or positive, core values and character, themes over detailed issues (single issue voters vote in blocks) A winning coalition – loyalty to a party, specific ethnic or religious voters, volume of voters

A little election history Broad election trends: – very competitive among parties – Republicans dominant – Democrats dominant now – changed hands frequently Public policy has remained pretty much the same and pace of change has been moderate thanks to the Constitution!!! Elections are important but tend to be voter judgments of the president and congress Political parties have less sway over voters

Hey, let’s party… A party is a group that seeks to put a “label” on a candidate for purposes of identification Political parties also provide a structured organization and a set of leaders for both candidates and the public!! Actually, parties have become weaker over the last few decades – more independent voters and ticket splitting

Parties here and there In Europe, political parties are very strong with very loyal voters In the US, with a decentralized government, parties don’t have the same power – They are closely watched and regulated by state and federal laws and… Candidates are chosen in primaries, NOT by the party leadership. Just imagine if the Republicans or Democrats TOLD us who we’d get to vote for!! I think NOT!!!

The Rise and Fall of the Party Founding Father’s didn’t like them – factions!!! Once reason they were created was the need to reach more voters in the early 1800s Also the beginning of national party conventions allowing more local control (Jacksonian Period)

Civil War Dominance of the Republicans due to Civil War Even afterwards, the country divided itself into sections – south, north, west By late 1800s most states were dominated by one party with factions within each party (progressive “mugwumps” for example) Some changes by 1900 – voter registration, no business/party alliances, civil service reform and progressive ideas like initiative and referendums

Party changes Party realignment – times of sharp shift in opinions of those who support a certain party Most obvious – Civil War, economic issues of late 1800s, Depression Parties have declined a lot between Split-ticket voting has increased dramatically – people NOT voting along party lines only One reason for split ticket is that candidates are listed by office, not party affiliation like in late 1800s

Party role and Conventions Party structure has changed in last 25 National Conventions part of this change – read this section carefully!! (pages ) Shift of power in country – Democrats to north and west, Republicans to south and southwest Dems seem to favor big states (Cal, NY) while Reps seem to favor “loyal” states (Mi, Fl) Dems represent leftist wing of the liberal middle class while Reps represent traditional middle class, more conservative

The two party system Why just two main parties??? First of all, rare among nations these days In US, the two are very evenly balanced, but not locally!!! Winner take all system of Electoral College one reason for only two parties Only two broad coalitions work State laws make getting another party on the ballot very difficult

Third parties and their role “Ideological” parties – comprehensive, radical view, most enduring (Libertarians, Socialists) “One-issue” parties – address only one item and avoid the others (Free Soil, Prohibition) “Economic Protest” parties – regional, economic only (Populist, Greenback) “Factional” parties – split from a major party, usually over a presidential candidate (Bull Moose) Surprisingly not had more over social issues like war, civil rights, environment (Green)

Almost done with partying… First of all, third parties have little chance of winning, but they can screw things up for the major parties by taking votes (Ross Perot, Ralph Nadar) It is thought that third parties develop the ideas that major parties adopt and… that they have had a great influence on public policy Ross Perot Ralph Nadar

Last party slide (thank goodness!!) Parties play a role in nominating a president Delegates come from the party – sometimes from the extremes of the party and candidates often play to the ideological extremes missing the “rank and file” members of the party And delegates pick those candidates that appeal to them, often to the detriment of the election (Dems have won more congressional seats since 1968 but done poorly in presidential elections as their choices are often out of touch with the average voter!!!) (superdelegates…know them)

Interest Groups A lot of differences among Americans has led the proliferation of interest groups Long history of them, see text pages Huge variety of issues including abolition, prohibition, gun rights, farm issues, religious associations, environmental groups, political reform, balanced budget, businesses, unions, even older Americans… Remember – PACs and interest groups are interchangeable

Definition An interest group is defined as: any organization that seeks to influence public policy through LOBBYING Two types – institutional and membership Institutional - deals with individuals or organizations representing other organizations such as: business firms and unions Membership – deals with social, business, veteran, charitable, religious issues Americans join groups more than Europeans and this may be due to a sense of civic duty

Why join an interest group? Feel a part of the political process, pleasure, companionship (NAACP, League of Women Voters, PTO, American Legion) (called Solidarity) Material incentives - money, things, services (farm organizations, AARP) Common goals – passion about an issue, common ideology, public interest, protection (ACLU, NRA)

Social movement and funding Interest groups have long been involved in a variety of social movements such as: abolition, the environment, feminism, and unions Funding for interest groups comes from 3 sources: 1.Foundation grants 2.Federal grants and contracts – not for lobbying but for projects 3.Direct mail – but expensive

What else do they do? Well, interest groups can be biased… People of wealth more likely to join them – and influence them… Business/professional groups have more $ than those representing minorities or consumers How about the info they provide? Interest groups are there to provide information to members as well as legislators They target (or lobby) those undecided legislators or other government officials

Money and PACs Money is the least effective way of influencing politicians Still, incumbents get the most PAC money Labor PACs give to Democrats Business PACs tend to split their money PAC money may influence politics in different ways like access to a candidate or committee action – also may become more influential on certain issues (called “client politics”)

The “Revolving Door” Here’s an interesting phenomenon?? Many people leave public office, get hired by a PAC and then return to Washington to lobby. It can happen over and over again (Donald Rumsfeld for example). This can lead to a conflict of interest and an unfair manipulation of government agencies (FDA)

Last slide (YEAH!!!) PACs have certain protections including the First Amendment Some regulations define “lobbying” and control the money flow Tax codes modified to stop some “non-profits” from lobbying or risk losing their status And, finally, new campaign finance laws limit the amount of $$ a person can give to a PAC You made it – next comes Congress but only after SPRING BREAK!!!!!