US Government - Ch. 18

What is the goal of FECA? (Federal Election Campaign Act)

- (Federal Election Campaign Act) Limit campaign spending and also reduce the influence of large donors

What is the job of the FEC (Federal Election Commission) and when was it created?

- (Federal Election Commission) was created in 1975 to administer federal election laws

24th Amendment

- 1964 - outlawed tax in national elections - It wasn't outlawed in state elections until 1966 supreme court decision (Harper v.s. Virginia board of election)

15th amendment

- (Ratified in 1870) - provided that no state could deprive any citizen of the right to vote depending on their race, color, or previous condition of servitude - This amendment was the first time the US Constitution made/enforced rules to the other states about who they must allow to vote

Literacy test

- (Until the 1960s) many states required citizens to pass a literacy test in order to qualify to vote - White voters were judged literate if they could write their name while African Americans were required to do more such as explaining a complicated part of the state or national constitution

Summarize how each of the following can influence voters and voter turnout: Personal background of voters

- (family, age, education, religion, occupation, income level, where they live, and general outlook on life) - An older (68 year old) senior citizen might favor a candidate who offers an increase in social security payments while a younger (23 year old) voter might not want more money deducted from their paycheck for social security and vote against this candidate - In other words, they would vote for who would benefit themselves most at the time. - Also, geography can affect people. People who live in cities may be more likely to vote for a candidate who wants to invest in public transportation than people who live in rural areas. All different aspects combined make it hard to predict how people will vote.

What happened to the Voting Rights Act in 2006? In 2013?

- 2006 = Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. The vote was nearly unanimous and bipartisan. (Lawmakers determined that racial discrimination in voting was still present in many areas after reviewing thousands of pages of evidence.) ----UNTIL 2013 the Voting Rights Act still placed special regulations on states with a history of voter discrimination. Those states had to ask permission from the federal government before changing any of their voting laws---- In 2013 in Shelby Co. v. Holder the supreme court ruled that the formula Congress used to determine which states had to follow these special regulations was unconstitutional because the formula was based on discrimination in place over 40 years ago. The court said that congress needed to develop a new way to decide which state and local governments would have all changes to their voting laws reviewed by the federal government.

BCRA

- Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act; banned soft money

Summarize how each of the following can influence voters and voter turnout: Candidate Image

- Candidates do their best to portray strong and trustworthy leaders while also making their opponent appear weak, and appeal to what they believe voters value. - Voters might look for business leaders, people with government experience, someone with a fresh face and perspective, have military experience, state history of living/working in a certain state, strong academic accomplishments, someone with close values that value their own Issues - Voters want to vote for a candidate that has the same stance on issues as them. While the internet helps a lot with this, some voters still aren't informed about all the issues in a campaign. Mostly they are concerned with issues that directly affect them. - Very big ones are social security, health care, taxes, education, affirmative action, abortion, gun rights, environment

What are the 4 reasons why people don't vote described in the book?

- Complicated registration practices (burden of registering is entirely on the citizen) - changing role of political parties (parties used to be very involved with helping people find jobs and interact with government agencies but without these close connections they might not be as successful in their voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts) - number of elections (US has twice as many national elections as other western democracies and even more at state and local level and even more like governors/school board/etc. This requires a lot of time and attention) - requiring voters to present voter ID

What are midterm elections?

- Congressional elections held in the middle of a president's term

How did the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v FEC influence campaign financing?

- Court case ruled that non coordinating groups producing political "issue" advertisements can receive unlimited donations - was extended to state elections - This logic also struck down Montana law of banning corporations from making donations to groups advocating for or against a candidate. It influences with the financing goes and how it is spent

What was the goal of the Voting Rights Acts?

- Fight for voting laws that would prohibit discrimination - Regulate state controlled election procedures - Broaden federal role in elections

19th amendment

- Gave women the right to vote - Women no longer faced cultural or legal barriers to voting that many African Americans were forced to hurdle well into the mid-twentieth century

What is the difference between hard money and soft money?

- Hard money is direct contributions to a candidate's political campaign - Soft money is money raised by a political party for general purpose / money not designated for a candidate.

Poll tax

- It was usually a dollar or two and had to be payed for not just the current year but previous unpaid years as well - This was a burden for poor people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds - On top of this the taxes had to be paid well before the election and they had to present a receipt at the election which barred thousands of African Americans from voting.

26th amendment

- Lowered the voting age to 18 in every state - More than 10 million citizens between the age of 18 and 21 gained the right to vote

Who spent more money in 2012, Barack Obama or John McCain? Why?

- Obama spent more money because he elected not to receive funding but McCain did. **(Federal Election Campaign Act says that they can help you get funding but you can only spend so much. But, you don't have to use it so if you don't want it you can spend as much as you want but you have to get it yourself)

Describe the arguments against term limits.

- Opponents (against) say more experience an elected leader has in office then the better he/she can do their job, corruption can occur just as easily in a system with term limits and that if voters think someone has been in office too long or has too much power they can choose another candidate in the next election

24th amendment

- Outlawed poll tax in national elections

PAC

- Political Action Committee

What is the difference between a PAC and a Super PAC?

- Political Action Committee = an organization formed to collect money and provide financial support for political candidates - Super Political Action Committee = a political action committee that does not coordinate with election campaigns and thus is eligible to receive unlimited donations

How are campaign strategies influenced by the Electoral College?

- Presidential candidates need 270 of the 538 available electoral votes to win an election - in most cases if the candidate wins the popular vote in a state they also receive all of that states electoral college votes. Therefore, candidates must appeal to a broad range of voters in different states and might spend a lot of time campaigning in states where polls show a tight race

Grandfather clause

- Provided that only voters whose grandfathers had voted before 1867 could vote without paying a tex or passing a test. - In 1915 the Supreme Court declared the Grandfather Clause unconstitutional (with Guinn v.s. United States)

How can the U.S. increase voter turnout?

- Shift election day from tuesday to saturday or sunday (make it more accessible) - leave polls open for several days and longer hours - have a national registration so people's registrations would follow them to a new state

Summarize how each of the following can influence voters and voter turnout: Party loyalty

- Strong party voters select their party's candidates regardless of the specific issues or candidates in any given election and generally vote a straight party ticket (a ticket where a voter has selected candidates of his or own party only) - Weak party voters are more likely to switch their vote based on the issues or candidates at hand. - People who choose not to identify with a specific party are known as independent voters, and they factor importantly in presidential elections because strong party voters from both major parties tend to balance eachother out. **Candidates sometimes try to tailor their messages to attract independent voters because of this.

Describe the arguments for term limits.

- Supporters (for) say reduce corruption, eliminate the advantages incumbent candidates have in reelection campaigns, reduce burden of campaigning on people in elected positions

What happens to voter participation when political propaganda becomes obviously misleading?

- Voter participation can reduce and go down because voters become skeptical and weary of candidates

How do television and social media play a role in campaigns?

- Watching television is the main way that many citizens find out about candidates and their stances on issues. It also is a very very big part of how candidates stay in the public consciousness. - Social media can make it easier to spread word out and be active among supporters and voters. - Websites make it easier for individual donors to give and the campaigns can fundraise. Targeted advertising is popular and easier with the internet and campaigns can appeal to specific people with specific values and interests by finding out what products they use, things they search for, groups they belong to, topics that they follow. - Social media is also cost-effective

How was voting restricted around the time of the American Revolution?

- Women, most African Americans, and white males who didn't own property or pay taxes couldn't vote - In some colonies, only members of the dominant religious group could vote. **(Only 5-6% of the population could vote.)

SuperPAC

- a political action committee that does not coordinate with election campaigns and thus is eligible to receive unlimited donations

What did the BCRA do? (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act)

- banned Soft Money transactions and prohibited PACs, unions, and corporations from running issue ads that specifically supported or denounced a national candidate within 30 days of a primary election and 60 days of a general election

Hard Money

- direct to candidates - limit of $2700 per election cycle

Soft Money

- doesn't have hard money limits - usually given to political parties for "party building activities"

What does the term suffrage mean?

The right to vote