Introduction to American Politics Unit 3

Miranda v. Arizona

Supreme Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police.

Plessy v. Ferguson

"separate but equal" doctrine supreme court upheld the constitutionally of jim crow laws

Roe v. Wade

(1973) legalized abortion on the basis of a woman's right to privacy

Ending the Presidential-Debate duopoly by Larry Diamond

-Duopoly puts too much emphasis on two candidates -Supports a third party, will make parties more responsive + competitive -Duopoly limits scope of debates -Integrating third parties into debates

The Civil Rights Movement

-Efforts by blacks to force an end to Jim Crow. Appealed to Northern whites

Democracy Denied by John Nichols

-Electoral College in undemocratic because it doesn't match the popular vote -Gives some states more power -National Popular vote compact--give electoral votes to popular vote winner

How to Cure the Electoral College by Arnold Barnett and Edward Kaplan

-Electoral vote equivalents (EQVs) -Votes awarded in proportion to state popular vote -Big + small states will still be important -Compromise

In Defense of the Electoral College by Richard A. Posner

-Ensure winner has absolute majority -Definitive outcome Requires national appeal -Swing states have more incentive to be informed -Gives big states more importance

Why are parties useful

-Get citizens involved -Narrow the range of alternatives so there are meaningful choices -Parties can coordinate the actions of government so they can get shit done

German Lessons by Clay Risen

-Having a two party system dichotomizes policy issues, making it easier to choose -Casts a wide net -Parties have to compromise -Two party system is able to get big things done

"In defense of the New Hampshire (and other primaries)" by Trent Spicer

-IA and NH have "better citizens" - higher primary turnout -Brings importance to issues at a national level by extending the period of debate

In Defense of the Electoral College by Allen Guelzo and James Hulme

-Importance of institutionalism in federal system -EC is symbol and implementation of federalism -Founders invented it so it must be great

Impact of TV on politics

-Increased focus on personality and image -Increased scandal -Candidate message filtered through reporters -Importance of debates Nixon v. Kenendy

How is the electoral college undemocratic

-Indirect election -Advantages some states over others -Possible for Pres to lose popular vote

Drawbacks of abolishing the electoral college

-Large city bias -Ignore rural areas -Candidate with lots of regional support can win (ignore parts of nation)

Why do we live under the tyranny of Iowa and New Hampshire by Paul Waldman

-NH and IA are not representative of the rest of the country -Favors candidates who "schmooze" - appeal to the elite

A third party won't fix what's broken in American Politics by Ezra Klein

-Needs to be more across-party cooperation -Introducing a third party won't solve polarization (blocking legislation on both sides) -Creates gridlock along the lines of a third party -Fractures support of party it aligns with most -Third party will just realign with the party that it agrees with the most ideologically

Are we witnessing the end of the two party system? by Stephen Weese

-People vote against worst candidate instead of for the best candidate -Trapped in binary system because of winner-take-all -Plurality of American population is more moderate than what the parties represent -People want another party option

How did Southern states circumvent the 15th amendment

-Poll Taxes -Literacy Test -White Primaries

The invisible primary has begun by Bill Schneider

-Predicts outcome of election - if you don't do well in the invisible primary you won't do well in the election - not always the case -- Invisible primaries influenced by money, support, media coverage -Contest is (generally) between populist v progressive

Three Color Lines

-Public Segregation (broken w/ Civil Rights Movement) -Economic Subordination and opportunity restriction (equal employment, quality education, residential integration) (Affirmative action) -White acceptance of blacks in intimate friends and associations (not broken at all)

How do the the Democrats beat Trump in 2020 by Spencer Bokat-Lindell

-Some candidates are too far left -Most voters prefer more moderate Dem than "uber-liberal"

Democratic Party Nomination Reforms History

-Sought to make nomination process more democratic -State parties could select national convention delegates in one of two ways -Rise of primaries

Why is the presidential nomination process unrepresentative

1. Bias towards higher income and education level 2. Bias towards more ideologically extreme positions.

first-past-the-post elections

A British term for elections conducted in single-member districts that award victory to the candidate with the most votes.

Political Action Committee (PAC)

A committee set up by a corporation, labor union, or interest group that raises and spends campaign money from voluntary donations. Can have unlimited money/ run crazy ads

Gideon v. Wainwright

A person who cannot afford an attorney may have one appointed by the government

Critical election

An election when significant groups of voters change their traditional patterns of party loyalty.

Why do party coalitions change

Because issues change!

Brown v. Board

Began the process of desegregating schools. Established that the federal government has a role in ensuring equal rights

Individual-level bias w/ interest groups

Biased towards upper-class people

Iowa and New Hampshire facts

Candidate and Media emphasis, also get more spending. First because of laws and everyone else lets them be. Create momentum (Buttigieg strategy)

Current Presidential Nomination Process

Candidates still formally nominated at national conventions but are known in advance from elections. Delegate system

History of Presidential Nominations

Congressional caucuses -> National Conventions -> Presidential Primaries

Citizens United v. Federal Election Comission

Corporations have free speech rights under the First Amendment. Struck down political spending laws

2016 election

Democratic establishment wanted Hillary but Republicans didn't want Trump. Trump tapped into grassroots anti-establishment movement

How does the Electoral College work today?

Each state gets # of House members and # of senators. Winner-take-all

party-centered campaigns

Election campaigns and other political processes in which political parties, not individual candidates, hold most of the initiative and influence. (Hillary)

Cons of a multiparty system

Election won't determine who controls the government. Ex. Germany

Closed primaries

Elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party's candidates, thus encouraging greater party loyalty. Ex. New York

open primaries

Elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests. Ex. Michigan

What reinforces the two party system?

Electoral college is the main reason. Also election practices and psychological advantages

Griswold v. Connecticut

Established that there is an implied right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution. We get birth control!

Mapp v. Ohio

Established the exclusionary rule was applicable to the states (evidence seized illegally cannot be used in court)

Constituency-level bias w/ interest groups

Far more interested in representing corporations and businesses

United States v. Windsor

Federal government must provide benefits to legally married same-sex couples

Party change history

Federalists vs Jeffersonians Republicans. THEN Jacksonians form Democratic Party. Democrats vs Whigs. THEN Whigs and Dems split and Republican party comes to power and then Dems and Repubs switch bases.

Sherbert v. Verner

First amendment gives freedom to practice religion -> can't make 7th day adventists work on saturdays

Snyder v. Phelps

First amendment protects speech even if it causes intentional emotional distress.

Pros of a multiparty system

Greater representation (true from single ideology sprectrum and those with mixed positions)

The New York Times v United States

If the government wishes to censor information before it is printed or published, it must be proven in court that the information will endanger national security.

What the founding fathers intended the electoral college to be

Indirect presidential election. Electors voted not based on what their constituents wanted.

Key linkage institutions in a pluralist democracy

Interest Groups -> Democracy lies in organized groups of citizens competing with each other to influence government

Jim Crow Laws

Kept blacks from voting. Unequal employment, segregated schools, segregated public accomidations

Key linkage institution in a majoritarian democracy

Political parties -> majority will be represented in gov by strong and different parties

Civil Rights

Positive government action to ensure equal rights

Tinker v. Des Moines

Students have the right to symbolic speech at school as long as it is not disruptive

Palko v. Connecticut

Provided test for determining which parts of Bill of Rights should be federalized - those which are implicitly or explicitly necessary for liberty to exist.

Why did the Democrats and the Republicans switch bases?

Republicans begin to appeal to wealthy after FDR and Dems appeal to poor/minority groups. Then Dems took over civil rights in the 60s. Got Woke

Extension of suffrage to Southern African Americans

Smith v. Allwright - outlawed white primary -24th amendement (no poll tax) -Voting Rights Act of 1965 (no literacy tests)

Lawrence and Garner v. Texas

Sodomy Laws were overturned because people have a right to sexual privacy in their homes.

Lemon v. Kurtzman

The 1971 Supreme Court decision that established that aid to church-related schools must (1) have a secular legislative purpose; (2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; and (3) not foster excessive government entanglement with religion.

Cohen v. California

The First Amendment, as applied through the Fourteenth, prohibits states from making the public display of a single four-letter expletive a criminal offense, without a more specific and compelling reason than a general tendency to disturb the peace. Court of Appeal of California reversed.

front loading primaries

The practice of moving presidential primary elections to the early part of the campaign to maximize the impact of these primaries on the nomination. Basically what IA and NH do

Government works slowly when...

There is divided control

Government works quickly when...

There is unified party control

How was the electoral college changed

Through state law and the 12th amendement

New York Times v. Sullivan

To libel a public figure, there must be "actual malice"

District of Columbia v. Heller

U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm

Invisible primary

Year or two before Iowa caucus. Amount of donations and media attention

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

a bipartisan federal agency of six members that oversees the financing of national election campaigns

What is a political party

a group of persons who seek to control government through the winning of elections and the holding of public office

Electoral Dealignment

a lessening of the importance of party loyalties in voting decisions

modified closed primary

a primary election that allows individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents to vote in their primaries and for which offices. Ex North Carolina. Basically closed but they can change parties on election day.

responsible party government

a set of principles formalizing the ideal role of parties in a majoritarian democracy

congressional campaign committee

an organization maintained by a political party to raise funds to support its own candidates in congressional elections

candidate-oriented strategy

depends on the candidate's perceived personal qualities, such as experience, leadership ability, integrity, independence, and trustworthiness. Trump

Schneck v. US

established the 'clear and present danger' test

Differences between parties and interest groups

parties influence government through electoral process, run candidates for office. Broad support interest only support candidates, do not run candidates, parties generate support for broad range of topics, interest group just one

modified open primaries

primary elections that entitle independent voters to vote in a party's primary. Ex Indiana. States get to choose if non-registered bros can vote

Bradenburg v. Ohio

protected freedom of speech politically; KKK member can say whatever he wants as long as there's no clear and present danger

issue-oriented strategy

seeks support from groups that feel strongly about various policies. (Bernie -> anti-wall street or Cruz -> Christian nutjob)

electoral realignment

the change in voting patterns that occurs after a critical election

proportional representation

the system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that party wins in an election

Majority representation

the system by which one office, contested by two or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes