POLS 206 Exam #3

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Random sampling/non-random sampling (how does it work/ why is it important)

Random sampling= one in which every person in target population has an equal chance of being a poll respondent... this is a fundamental requirement for representatives

Party in government

elected and appointed officeholders at the national, state, and local levels who are considered representatives of the party Often use their powers to pursue common policies

Party Organization

refers to more or less professional party officials and workers, including those who hold a party office ( convention delegates and national, state, and country party chairs and party committee members) and party activists (professional campaign consultants, financial donors, and unpaid volunteers) who provide a variety of essential resources to the party organization and candidates mostly during elections

Campaigns and Elections: Citizens United vs. FEC

repealed laws that had prohibited unions and corporations from engaging in independent expenditures 60 days before the general election Went back to the "soft" $ system- unions and corporations can spend unlimited amount of $, as long as they were "uncoordinated" with campaign Gave rise to Super pacs/527/soft money because SC allowed them to "express advocacy" (can say, vote for/ vote against)

Campaigns and Elections: Soft money vs. hard money (what is this/ how does this work?)

"Hard" money: Self Individual contributors PACs (political action committee) Parties Hard money is subject to campaign finance and federal election committee rules (cap on money) "Softy" money Independent groups 527 groups Soft money is unlimited, not regulated, independent expenditure Super- PACS Money raised by parties and PACs without any restrictions or limits Can not be used to explicitly promote or defeat a candidate but can be used for party building activities, registration drives, Get out the Vote

Campaigns and Elections: Incumbency advantages (Examples of/why should we care?)

#1 of Americans and political knowledge: Incumbents create institutions to solidify their advantage Norm of Universalism (pork/ perquisites of office/ committees) Concern is that incumbents have manipulated the system and insulate themselves from electoral retribution

Campaigns and Elections: Baker vs. Carr

1962 case in which the SC overturned the political question doctrine, holding that legislative apportionment was a justiciable issue that courts had jurisdiction to hear and decide

Campaigns and Elections: Wesberry vs. Sanders

1964 Case in which the S.C. invalidated unequal congressional districts saying that all legislative districts must contain about equal numbers of people. Ruling is popularly known as the principle of one person, one vote

Campaigns and Elections: Important functions of National Convention

1. Choose Pres. and VP that can balance each other and gain voters 2. adopt a platform which is the central policy document of party 3. promote party unity 4. present a favorable image on national TV 5. adopt rules that govern the party

4 Major contributions political parties make in democratic governments

1. Facilitate participation of large numbers of people (aggregating interests, simplifying alternatives, and stimulate interest in politics) 2. Promote government responsiveness 3.Promote government accountability 4. Promote stability and the peaceful resolution of conflict

Public Opinon: 2 Contradictory interpretations of Americans and political knowledge

1. Incumbents manipulate 2. Accountability occurs through strategic decision- making

Campaign and Elections: 3 Methods of Nominating candidates

1. Legislative Caucus 2. Conventions 3. Direct Primaries

Political parties in terms of three distinct elements associated with different activities

1. Party in the electorate 2. Party in government 3. Party organization

3 Proposals to reform Electoral College

1. Proportional Plan= would divide each states electoral votes in proportion to the division of population vote ( candidate gets 60% of pop. vote would get 60% electoral vote) 2. District Plan= what Maine and Nebraska use... allocates one electoral vote to pres. candidate who receives a plurality in house district; the states remaining two electoral votes go to the candidate who wins a plurality state wide 3. Direct popular election plan= abolish E.C. and permits voters to chose president directly

Voting: What are the factors that enhance/diminish a person's likelihood of participating?

1. Socioeconomic status 2. Psychological Engagement 3. Broader political and social context 4. Resources needed to participate 5. Group characteristics

Campaigns and Elections: Front loading consequences

1. To have any chance of success; candidate must be familiar with relevant laws and selection methods of all 50 states-- requires pol. expertise/ time/ money 2. Candidates need to raise a lot of $$ early... absence of money guarantees lost 3. Shortened time "degrades campaign quality"

Campaigns and Elections: 3 types of primary elections used to nominate congress

1. closed primaries (half of states do this) 2. open primaries 3. nonpartisan blanket primary= all candidates regardless of party run in the same primary election, candidate who gets majority of primary vote wins the office/ if no candidate gains majority, top two voters face off in G.E.

Campaigns and Elections: 4 Phases of Pres. nomination campaigns

1. invisible primary 2. initial contests 3. mist clearing 4. convention

Examples of WTA manufacturing majorities

1984 Election Reagan won 97.6% ECV But only 58.8% of popular vote (p.v.) nationally (to Mondale's 40.6%) 1992 Election Clinton won 68.8% ECVs But only 43.3% of p.v. nationally (to Bush's 37.4% and Perots 19%) 2000 Election Bush won 50.4% ECVs But only 47.9% of p.v. nationally (to Gores 48.4%) Don't need a majority of the popular vote nationally, or even the most popular votes nationally to be declared president All that matters is that you win a majority of the ECVs—which is determined by popular vote of each state

Pendleton Act

= Instituted civil service reform: citizens had to take civil service exam and jobs were given by merit When under the machine system: Patronage, government controlled by machine and party loyalty is what got you a job Implications: Citizens didn't have to be loyal to the machine to be awarded a government job, do not get any benefit for voting for party Party loyalty eroded Voter turnout dropped

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Biased Samples

= group that does not accurately represent the target population... provides inaccurate estimate of true opinion and attitude of target population Straw polls/ man on the street polls= polls based on non-random samples... interviews and mail-in surveys placed in magazines (listeners are asked to call/text/ vote online in response to a question) EX: Literacy Digest poll in 1936-- what is wrong with this procedure? Only the richest had phones and cars (Great Depression) Rich are more likely to be Republican Results suggest that Landon would win in landslide

Australian Ballot

= the government would print election ballots and voters could vote in secret When under the Machine system- parties printed their own ballots, could monitor how citizens voted and ballots would list only their party machined candidates, which prevented voters from splitting their tickets Implications: Voters didn't have to worry about retaliation for being unfaithful to the party Voters could split their tickets Meant the party machines could no longer control large blocks of voters Promoted candidates to cultivated personal constituency

Campaigns and Elections: Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain- Feingold Act) (Major components of this law/ law establish)

Act to address the soft money problem: BCRA (McCain-Feingold Act) passed in 2002 and banned soft money outright and restricted "issue ads" run immediately before an election. Law also raised limits on hard money contributions during each election cycle to $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for PACS

Campaigns and Elections: Redistricting

After each reapportionment, state legislature must redraw congressional district lines to accommodate changes in the number of seats and to reflect population shifts within the state

Campaigns and Elections: Nominating Candidates #3: Direct Primary

Allows voters to choose party nominees for public office Primary laws vary state to state: Closed= only registered party members may vote in the party's primary (EX: dems regs and Reps regs) voters who register as individual can only vote in G.E. Open= allow all reg. voters (Dems/Reps/Ind..) to vote in primary Direct primaries increase the influence of rank-and file voters at expense of party leaders Shift in power away from party leaders is less in closed than in open To win a party's nominee= candidate must get support of a majority of delegate at the convention

Voting: Paradox of participation

Based from the rational choice Model.. the question is not why so few people vote but why so many bother to voted when it does not appear rational to do so (act of voting is a public good and a collective action problem) Solving the P.O.P.: Rational choice suggest voters gain utility not just from the outcome of voting but also from the act of voting... if you believe voting is important civic duty... it becomes a goal regardless of the outcome Voting is low-cost/low-reward so doesn't take much to convince people

Campaigns and Elections: Uncompetitive congressional races (what are some sources of uncompetitive races?)

Anything that makes the race lopsided: lopsided from one party to another/ incumbent vs challengers Incumbent advantages: pork barrel, prerequisites in office/ committees Gerrymandering: drawing of district lines ins such a way as to help or hinder the electoral prospects of a specific political interest Attract weak challengers= common with House incumbents who have challengers who have no political experience

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Core American Values (what are the core value Americans agree upon?)

At the basic level, relatively homogeneous Broad support for core values: Individual liberty/freedom (Bill of Rights--> freedom of speech, assembly, and religion) Capitalism--> free enterprise without obstruction from government Political equality--> equal access to the political system, universal voting rights, equality under the law (equality of access)/ Less supportive of substantive equality (equality of outcomes) Rule of Law--> Constitution and democratic institutions are legitimate... but differ on how these values should be balanced

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Elements of public opinion (how can it be characterized?)

Basic elements of Public Opinion: 1. direction 2. Stability 3. Intensity 4. Salience Elements of P.O. must come together in particular way to provide government with clear signal on what is expected... on most issues one or more elements missing

Third parties (what don't we have more parties in the U.S.)

Because of WTA and Duveger's law Even though 3rd parties never win, they create an effect on the other two major parties... they can take away crucial votes from the main candidates and thus reshaping policy orientation of the major which adopt minor parties ideas as a way to attract more voters

Campaigns and Elections: 4 Phases of Pres. nomination campaigns-- #3

Begins after the 2 initial contests but does not have precise duration Characterized by a reduction in uncertainty as weaker candidates are sifted out in the contests that occur in the following weeks Attention focuses on 2-3 major contenders Super Tuesday= day early in March when several states hold their primaries--> this has shorten the mist clearing phase

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: What are the major threats to a survey's validity?

Biased Samples Question Wording/Framing

Campaigns and Elections: Campaign Finance Reform Pros and Cons

Buckley: creates soft money Citizens United: creates Super Pacs Both are unlimited amounts of money to support one candidate and undermine the other Proponents say: Money is a megaphone Voices of ordinary Americans are not heard MCs are responsive to special interest groups, not their voters Critics say: Hindered grass-roots involvements Infringed on 1st Amendment rights Protected entrenched incumbents

Party Machines (who were these/ what resources did they use to create party loyalty)

Citizens have a negative perception of party machines, however they demonstrate how strong parties work Late 19th Century: rapid industrialization and immigration... parties needed loyal voters and immigrants needed help assimilating Every city had a party machine who was responsible for building a network of relationships on behalf of the party All the machines asked was to be rewarded on election day with votes for his party (controlled votes) Machines controlled candidates and politicians in office It was a self-replicating process

Campaigns and Elections: Presidential public financing system (How does this work?)

Component of FECA that's still intact but only applies to Pres. (not house or senate) 2 options: Primary nomination General election To qualify primary financing: raise $5000 in $250 increments in 20 states To qualify for general election financing: Must be the major party nominee If candidate qualifies: has choice to accept or reject public funding for either of the 2 tracks If accept to primary: Government will match $for the # you raise (have to abide to a spending cap of $30 M for primary) If accept for general election: Government will give candidate a grant of $85 M (cannot spend more than the grant) If decline (which they can, Obama did and both candidates in 2012 and 2016 election did) then they are no beholden to spending limits but still have to adhere for "hard money" contribution limits

Campaigns and Elections: 4 Phases of Pres. nomination campaigns-- #4

Composed of the delegates selected in the states primaries and causcus Is the supreme government authority of party Convention meets for 4 days to nominate candidates for Pres. and VP and to conduct other party businesses Both media and public have become disinterested and cynical towards national convention (just a big marketing device) Convention has become a body that legitimizes the decision about the pres. nominee made by the delegates gather

Campaigns and Elections: McCutchen vs. FEC

Court struck down overall limits on "hard money" contributions by individuals-- was a plurality opinion and coalition of 5 in agreement about the outcomes (but 1 of 5 felt Court should strike down all contribution outcomes) Since BCRA, individuals could contribute $2, 600 to a candidate, for a maximum of $48,000 Court struck down the overall limit of how many candidates you can contribute to, but preserved the $2,600 per candidate

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Delegate Model vs. Trustee system

D.M.= holds that the job of elected officials is not to act independently (making decisions they think is best) but job is to translate views of majority Critics had argues that this is naïve and dangerous T.S.= public officials expected to be experts on issues and make decisions they believe to be in public interest (whether or not supported by P.O.) Believes P.O. is too ill informed and bias to make decisions... inconsistent with founding fathers vision

Why would these E.C. reforms not work?

Direct popular election plan= requires amending the constitution (2/3 vote H and S/ ratification) Proposal plan= would have created no majority outcomes in 6 out of 13 elections District plan= prevents equal weighting of votes Neither proposal or district plan would correct violation of political equality only popular election plan would ensure democratic results

Electoral college: What are some implications of the Electoral College (WTA) for... The party system? (why don't we have more than 2 parties?)

Duverger's Law= WTA system encourages the formation of just 2 parties 3rd parties may appear in one election, but they'll quickly disappear 3rd party candidates will arise occasionally, but they will disappear after 1-2 elections Strategic Merging (graph of election results) leads into Strategic Voting: Voters come to realizes that there is no chance that 3rd party candidate will win the election (b/c of WTA) Instead of "throwing away" their vote, they'll cast their ballot for their 2nd preferred candidate, to prevent their least preferred choice from winning

Electoral college: What are some implications of the Electoral College (WTA) for... where candidates campaign?

E.C. can violate political equality because it over represents small states and under represents larger states Sparsely populated states are over represented by electoral college-- every state gets @ least ECVs regardless of population size But because of WTA system, candidates have an incentive to focus on states with large blocks of ECV, as well as "swing states" (more ECV= more attention)

Electoral college: How does it work?

Each state has as many ECV as it has senators and M.C.s The minimum is 3 while the highest is 55 (California) TX= 36 MC + 2 Senators= 38 ECV Total # of electoral votes is 538= 100 senators and 435 House + 3 votes for D.C. (D.C. votes past in 23 amendment) In Nov., voters are voting on which party's slate of electors will win the right to cast the state's electoral votes Then, electors meet in respective state capitol in DEC and cast separate vote for Pres. and VP (separate votes past in 12 amendment)

Voting: Formal requirements of who is eligible to vote?

Education/Age/Income/ Being married/ Occupational status/ Political engagement and selective benefits Selective benefits: people vote when they think they can get something out of it EX: Material benefit (seniors, small business owners, homeowners) Solidary benefit: Social groups transmit political information through conversation (social pressure to vote, and transmitting information incidentally, you don't need to do outside research) Purposive benefit: Contributing to a cause you believe in, demonstrate your commitment to democratic ideals, it's your civic duty

Parties solve collective action problem

Even if people are rationally ignorant and don't pay close attention to politics... parties can manufacture accountability at the nation level: Alert people to the stakes involved/mobilize supporters/ simplify choices/ lower information costs/ promote participation/ enable people to vote their political interests This is all possible if parties are strong (not just taking positions, but hold politicians accountable in that party)

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Margin of error (what does this mean/how does it vary)

Expresses the upper and lower bounds of the results (EX: Obama's approval rating= 48% with M.O.E of +/- 3%... means actual approval is between 51 and 45%) M.O.E. is inversely related to the sample size, size of random sample determines how large the margin error is (larger the random sample... smaller the margin of error) M.O.E means that pinpoint precession about public opinion is unlikely, even a well-constructed poll can show only the likely range of P.O.

Founding Fathers and Electoral college

F.F. weary of the enlightenment of the public and direct democracy... feared that state legislatures would elect the favorite from their state & pres. needed enough support to govern whole country

Campaigns and Elections: Federal Elections Commission (What does it do?)

FECA created the Federal Election Commission Composed of 6 members nominated by the Presidents and confirmed by senate 6 year terms- 3 Dems and 3 Reps (many are former MCS/ party chairs) Known as "Captive agency" "Toothless tiger" Budget and power are under the control of those who they are supposed to regulate (the last thing MCs want is a fully empowered FEC) Slow on enforcement and prone to deadlock due to its bipartisan (2/3 vote needed to take action)

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Agents of political socializations (what are they/how do you work?)

Family Education Peer Groups Media Socio-Economic Status Race Gender

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Agent of P.S.- Family and Education

Family= most influential agent in shaping individual political attitudes/ becomes less monopolistic as people get older Education= play more of a central role in reinforcing the broader set of beliefs (teach kids to salute and recite pledge and flag)/ play direct role in opinion formation due to all different backgrounds in one area/ people often change attitude in college

Madisonian model

Favored dispersal of government power: separate instituions sharing power, checks and balances... saw people as self-interested and it would prevent the majority rule BUT parties help to solve collective action problems

Voting: Is it rational for people to vote? Why/Why not

Government is responsible to broad currents of P.O.-- suggest people do not have to vote to have government respond to their preferences Increasing turnout will not necessarily make a difference in election outcomes.. voting expresses the will of only a portion of the people and government policy favors those who participate Rational to people to vote based on Rational Choice Theory-- if it is rational to them then it is

P.O. Elements: Intensity

How strongly people hold the attitudes and beliefs Low intensity= makes P.O. less stable; more people willing to change minds if not strongly attached to one point of view High intensity= P.O. issues where large number of people have strong view are more stable. Firm to their beliefs and resistant to arguments from other side

Campaigns and Elections: 4 Phases of Pres. nomination campaigns-- #2

Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary= 1st official contests that begin process of choosing conventions delegates Only important because they are first (both # of delegates is small and not demographic diverse) Provide 1st major opportunity for candidates to generate some favorable national publicity and establish momentum for future contests (also gets rid of weak candidates) perceived winner= not necessarily who finishes first but who does better than expected

Campaigns and Elections: Soft Money controversies

Issue advocacy: As they work for a candidate and against another Do not explicitly say "vote for" or "vote against" but could say anything else Parties, corporations, interest groups, unions spent millions on issues advertising that often had a clear campaign purpose-- avoided regulation by not specifically urging a vote for or against a candidate

Campaigns and Elections: #2 of contradictory of Americans and Political knowledge

Just because Americans lack basic knowledge doesn't mean that electoral accountability doesn't occur (paying attention is public good) Political elites (incumbents/ challengers/ and campaign contributors) act strategically, based on expectations of who the winner is going to be (reputation is private good) Incumbents run when they expect to win, and retire when they expect to lose High quality challengers contest when they sense the incumbent is vulnerable and run when the seat is open Donors want to put "smart" money on the winner, and as a consequence will reinforce the advantages of the front runner EX: if incumbent is embroiled in a scandal, he'll attract a HQ challenger.... donors carefully watch the election (don't want to waste $) therefore they'll contribute to expected winner... voters vote for the "strongest" candidate

Campaigns and Elections: Federal Election Campaign Act (major components of this law/ law establish)

Key Provisions of FECA: Public financing of presidential campaigns and overall expenditure limits Contributions limits for candidate who accept public financing Public disclosure requirements Creation of the FEC to enforce law Was established after the Watergate scandal

Progressive era reforms (what were these/what were some of the consequences of these reforms)

Late 19th to early 20th century all this changed Progressives viewed machines as corrupt and anti-democratic Reforms: Australian ballot Pendleton act Direct primary All three cases affected voting turn out dropped and parties were weakened

Campaigns and Elections: FECA- portion of this law have been upheld/struck down by the SC

Major provisions of FECA: 1. Caps on self-financing 2. Caps on total amount campaign could spend 3. Prohibits independent expenditures All three were struck down with Buckley vs. Valeo Allowed unions and corporations to form PACS Reporting requirements for all contributions over $250 Capped the amount of $ individuals, parties, and PACS could contribute to a campaign (the hard $) Partial public funding for presidential elections

Voting: Compare voter turnout rates in US vs other western democracies What accounts for these differences

Most other advanced democratic nations have much higher voting tun out rate (53% for US) because US have more barriers to voting than in other countries (many western democracies have automatic or compulsory registration) Barriers: Too many elections Elections held of Tuesdays Registration difficulties (if you move you have to re-register/ fail to vote SOS office can remove you from the registration rolls seen as an individual responsibility) Two Party System limits the amount of choices

Campaigns and Elections: Multimember vs. Single member district

Multimember= method of selecting representatives in which more than one person is chosen to represent a single constituency Single member= method of selecting representatives in which the people in a district select a single representative Since 1842, federal law has required representatives to be elected from single member districts

Campaigns and Elections: Nominating Candidates #2: Conventions

National party convention= Nomination method in which delegates selected from each state attend a national party meeting to choose the party's candidate for Pres. and VP Disillusionment with convention began to grow early 20th century

Campaigns and Elections: 527 Groups (who are these/ where did they come from?)

Non- profit organizations that use money for issue advocacy to promote/defeat a candidate (EX: Righttochange.com/moveon.org) Are exempt from paying income taxes They played a big role in recent presidential elections: They made more controversial statements than the candidate/campaign was willing to make Exaggerate the facts, play on citizen's fears, use strong imagery, stir up emotions

Characteristic of strong parties

Parties must have a coherent program to guide their actions after the election (coherent and distinct from other parties) Candidates must compete for voters on basis of the party platform (not just the basis of 435 localized interests) Parties must have resources to discipline members for being unfaithful to party (Ultimate inducement is ties to candidates' ability to get elected and reelected Concentration of power so that voters can assign responsibility (dispersal of power destroy responsibility) U.S. parties as of know are usually weak ... they will always be weaker than in parliamentary systems (because U.S. parties cannot regulate who runs a Dem. or Rep)

How do you become an elector?

Parties select them in state party conventions or through appointment by state party leaders Usually activists for the presidential candidate Possibility for "faithless" electors (rare- and don't effect outcome) -- Happened in 2004, casted ballot to John Edwards instead of John Kerrey -- electors may vote for different person intentionally or accidentally; or may not vote all in protest

Types of Party Systems

One-party system: representatives of a single political party hold all or almost all the major offices in government (not democratic) Multiparty systems: most contemporary democracies, three or more parties effectively compete for political offices, and no single party can win sole control of the government Two-party system: only 2 political parties have a realistic change of winning control over a significant # of major political offices

History of Parties

Organizations who seek to win control of government through elections (factions/teams to get their own policy inactive) Even though parties are the ultimate political faction, and the framers despised factions, they were the 1st organizers of the parties (federalists/ Democratic-Republican)

Campaigns and Elections: has BCRA been effective?

Overall not effective in limiting the influence of soft $ in campaigns Law contained plenty of loopholes in 2004/2008 election, especially when Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission was ruled:

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Agents of P.S.- Peer Groups and Media

Peer Groups= can be influenced by peers from formal and non formal networks (church/clubs/ethnic groups)/ influence of pol. attitudes depends on how salient political concerns are with group/ reference groups= groups that influence the pol. attitudes of non-group members (EX: white liberals identifying with NAACP) Media= internet has become increasingly important tool for political partisan/ can shape P.O. in negative ways (more distant and cynical of gov.-- makes people less likely to vote)

Campaigns and Elections: 4 Phases of Pres. nomination campaigns-- #1

Period between the election of Pres and the 1st official contests to pick the next one During this period, potential candidates decided whether to enter the race (begin raising funds/putting together org. etc) Serves to sort out and begin solidifying the field of serious contenders Chief criteria for assessing strength: money, standing in the polls and endorsements

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Where do political beliefs come from?

Political socialization= Knowledge of formal institutions a processes of government.... develop political attitudes towards actors, parties, and issues

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Why can't P.O. serve as competent guide for public policy?

Push Pull= deliberately feeds respondents misleading info and leading questions in order to "push" them into favoring a particular candidate if the response is not what survey wants to hear; they lead up with following question to push them back to favorable candidate again

Direct Primary

Rank and file voter responsible for nominating candidates for the general election through a primary vote When under Machine system: Party bosses nominated candidates for the general election in smoke filled rooms (caucuses) Implications: Candidates did not need the blessing of the party to run and win Candidates stopped aligning themselves with machines Elections become more candidate-centered

Voting: Rational ignorance Is it rational for people to be informed? Why/Why not?

Rational Ignorance: Gathering information may help you make an informed choice, but doing this is costly What's the probability that your informed choice will matter to the outcome? Both predicts that it is irrational for people to voted and become educated about politics

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Question Wording/Framing

Respondents can be led to express opinions based on wording of a question Frames the issues (loaded question), but may not reflect the public's genuine sentiment, because sentiment depends on framing Questions can be framed in a way to make the response manipulative Insturmentation= process of designing survey questions... involves wording of questions and how they are structured/ many surveys rely on closed ended or multiple choice questions

Campaigns and elections: Buckley vs. Valeo

S.C. ruled that overall spending limits violated individuals' 1st Amendment free speech rights: Court ruled that wealthy candidates have the right to spend as much of their own money as they wish on their campaigns Limits on contributions and expenditures of candidates who accept public funds were ruled constitutionally acceptable SO court upheld restrictions on size of of campaign contributions (hard $) but this opened the door to the "soft money loophole"

Campaigns and Elections: Strategic decision- making in producing electoral accountability (role of incumbents, challengers, donors?)

Strategic incumbents: Incumbents get out of races they expect to lose, and run when they expect to win Strategic challengers: run when open seat elections due to strategic retirements or races when the incumbent is vulnerable due to: War/ redistricting/ adverse economic conditions/ missteps or scandal of incumbent/ local political tides/ presidential popularity/ first term incumbent Quality of challengers is greater in these races (only about 10% of congressional races) Strategic donors: electoral prospects influence the decisions of campaign contributors/ donors give money to the expect winner/ want to buys access to winner... buy giving money to the expected winner, campaign donors reinforce the advantages of the incumbent and the disadvantages of the challenger

Party Convergence (what does this mean/why does this obtain)

Strategy of convergence: parties converge on the ideological median (they will moved to the center and moderate themselves.. in order to attract the majority of voters who are moderate so not too left or right) This causes problems for voters who cannot distinguish between the parties Because of the WTA system, there will always be a tension between choice and representation

Campaigns and elections: Strong vs weak potential candidates

Strong= don't want to jeopardize their current office, name recognition and money... they act strategically Weak= have nothing to lose... run regardless of whether the incumbent is strong or weak

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Confidence level (what does this mean?)

The chance, measured in percent that the results of a survey will fall within the boundaries set by the margin of error 95% C.L. means that there is a 95% chance that the true P.O. falls within boundaries set by the M.O.E This means 5% probability that true opinion falls outside that range

P.O. Elements: Stability

The likelihood of changes in the direction of P.O. (EX: strong pro-life and pro-choice attitude have remained stable in U.S. population for last quarter of century) On other issues ; stability and direction of P.O. shifts based on new info and experiences (EX: gay marriage-- now that S.C. made it legal P.O. support grew)

Campaigns and Elections: Reapportionment

The process of adjusting the number of House seats among the states based on population shifts Over last several decades, population has been shifting away from the Northeast and Midwest to South and West

P.O. Elements Salience

The prominence and visibility of an issues and how important that issue is to public (important=salient) Salient and intensity differ= some have intense views on abortion, but many view economic problems as more important to daily life Media attention is what helps gain salience on an issue (EX: healthcare was salient when Clinton made it a legs. priority)

Voting: Resources bias How do the costs of participation influence the substances of what's communicated to elected officials?

Those who have the resources to participate: 1. Free time after work/household duties/ school 2. Money 3. Civic skills, such as communication and organizational abilities Bias in politically relevant resources, lead to a bias in participation Politicians only hear the voice of those who participate, which produces a bias in representation The electorate is not representative of the population As the cost of participatory activity increases, the bias increases

Electoral college: What are some implications of the Electoral College (WTA) for... majority outcomes?

When electors meet in Dec.-- they open and count votes in joint session of Congress in January To win.. have to win absolute Majority (270 our of 538) If NO pres. candidate receives majority --> the house, voting by states, chooses pres. among top 3 candidates Each state receives 1 vote and candidate must receive 26 votes to win If NO VP receives majority--> senate, voting as individual, elects VP from among 2 highest candidates... must receive 51 votes The candidate with the most popular votes (Plurality) in state gets to send their electors to state capitol... which means the candidate wins ALL of the states ECV Because candidates only need to be the plurality popular vote winner in the state to win all the states ECV, WTA manufactures majorities

P.O. Elements: Direction

Whether P.O. is positive or negative about given issues some issues= no clear direction (EX: abortion) which gives no clear signal to P.O.

Voting: Who votes? Formal (institutional) barriers to voting? When/how were the barriers lowered?

Who Votes: Over the age of 18/ a U.S. citizen/ mentally sane/ a non-felon Previous barriers to voting: African Americans-- 15th Amendment prohibiting discrimination based upon race, but discrimination persisted until the 24th Amendment and Voting Rights Act in 1965 Women-- 19th Amendment Young people-- 26th Amendment

Voting: Changes in the rates of participation across time

Why voting turnout has declined: 1. elements of the political system 2. individual desire and ability to participate

Campaign and Elections: Nominating Candidates: #1 Legislative Caucus

caucus= meeting of members of a political party Caucus used for smaller, local elections (local offices/state legs/etc.) Legs. Caucus= members of the party in government chose candidates for offices representing larger constituencies (pres. and VP) Problems with Legs. Caucus= violated sep. of powers/ did not represent elements of the party in states where the party had lost/ party activists who were not members of congress had no voice in choosing the party's nominee for pres

Party in the elctorate

consists of ordinary citizens who identify with the party and who usually support the party's candidates with votes and occasionally with campaign contributions

Campaigns and Elections: Frontleading

states leapfrog their primaries and caucuses to earlier dates in the delegate selection process in effort to gain more influence in choice of Pres. nominee Crams the selection of a disproportionate # of delegate into a few weeks at the beginning

Political Parties: Duverger's laws (what does this say/how does this work)

tendency for the single-member district plurality system to favor a two party system Single-member district plurality= a winner takes all system/ selecting representatives dived into separate election districts and voters in each district choose one representatives... candidate in each district with a plurality of the vote wins the seat Duverger's laws (WTA idea) hinders the development of third parties... with proportional representation each candidate gets the percent of votes that they received, but WTA it is majority gets all

Public Opinion/ Political Socialization: Political Participation

translation of a personal preference into a voluntary action designed to influence public policy is a process of turning an opinion into a direct contribution to the process of determining who gets what involves= voting, writing letters, joining an interest groups Problem with participation= not everyone participates equally... only indicate what those who participate want