TOPIC #3 POLITICAL BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS

REMINDER SATURDAY’S REVIEW SESSION STARTS AT 12:30!

THEORIES OF GOVERNMENT• A. Pluralism

• B. Elite and Class Theory

• C. Hyperpluralism

The process by which one acquires their political orientation and beliefs

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION, CONTINUED• Family

• The most important agent of socialization

• Kids usually end up voting like their parents

• Mostly informal

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION, CONTINUED• Mass Media

• The “New” parent

• Elementary school kids spend more time watching T.V. than in school.

• Don’t watch political coverage

• New media – Internet, social media

• Has the growth of media options helped create fragmentation?

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION, CONTINUED• School

• In the U.S. public schools promote basic values like loyalty and democracy, not a specific ideology.

Political culture are the beliefs a people have about

the role and purpose of government

AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE

POLITICAL CULTURE, CONTINUED• Equality

• Legal – Americans believe in equal treatment under the law and freedom from discrimination

• Sources of legal equality include the 14 th Amendment, legislation such as the Civil Rights Act (1964), the Voting Rights Act (1965), Title IX

POLITICAL CULTURE, CONTINUED• Equality, continued

• Political – The right to participate in the political system by running for office, voting, or engage in other forms of political participation

• Political equality has been expanded by the 15 th, 19th, 26th Amendments as well as the Voting Rights Act (1965)

POLITICAL CULTURE, CONTINUED• Rights

• Freedom of Speech

• Most support in theory, but are often intolerant in practice.

• Fringe groups often targeted – like Communists during the Cold War

POLITICAL CULTURE, CONTINUED• Rights, continued

• Freedom of Religion

• Increased tolerance during the 20th century

• Anti-Catholic bias declined – JFK

• Some groups still targeted – Muslims

• Religious Right tends to be intolerant of non-Christian belief.

THE POLITICS OF VOTING

VOTER TURNOUT• Comparison to Other Countries

• The U.S. has one of the lowest voter turnout rates among industrialized democracies.

• Below 50% in 1996, 55% in 2004, and 62% in 2008

• Turnout is even lower in midterm elections

• 36% - lowest since 1942

VOTER TURNOUT• Reasons for low voter turnout

• Voting is not mandatory.

• Voter fatigue

• Party dealignment

• Weaker parties (less mobilization, etc)

• Declining trust in government

• Increase in minority groups and young voters

• Larger electorate

• NOT ACCEPTABLE – Apathy, cynicism, loss of efficacy

DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS THAT AFFECT VOTER TURNOUT

• Demographics – characteristics that can be used to divide a population into smaller groups

• Important demographic factors in the United States that impact voter turnout include:

DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS THAT AFFECT VOTER TURNOUT

• Age

• Older voters have greater turnout.

• Education

• The more educated one is the more likely they are to vote

• Region

• The area of a country someone lives in has no significant impact of voter turnout.

DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS THAT AFFECT VOTER TURNOUT, CONT.

• Income• The more someone earns, the more likely they are to vote.

• Gender• Women are more likely to vote than men.

• Race – BE CAREFUL• When adjusted for other factors (income, education, etc.)

minorities have a higher voter turnout than whites.• Political Efficacy - Not a demographic characteristic, but citizens

with a high political efficacy vote more often. Political efficacy is the sense that your participation is important and makes a difference.

SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION• Considering all elections at all levels of government, which of the

following best describes electoral behavior in the United States?

• (A) Primary elections tend to elicit a higher voter turnout than do general elections.

• (B) The majority of the electorate does not vote in most elections.

• (C) Voter turnout plays an insignificant role in election outcomes.

• (D) Adult citizens under the age of 30 tend to have the highest rate of voter turnout.

• (E) Voters with strong party identification vote less regularly than do independents.

• Age

• Americans tend to get more conservative as they age

• Education

• Evidence used to show that the more education one had the more liberal they were. Evidence is not at strong today

• Region

• Rural and Southern voters tend to be more conservative; Urban, West coast and Northeasterners tend to be more liberal

• Income

• Working class Americans tend to be more liberal.

HOW PEOPLE VOTE (LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE)

• Race – Again BE CAREFUL

• African-Americans and Latinos tend to vote liberal (Latinos less so) while Asians tend to be more conservative.

• Gender

• Women are overwhelmingly liberal

• This is referred to as the gender gap

• Party Identification

• Even though the numbers of party identifiers has decreased it is the best predictor of how someone will vote.

• 2008

• 39% Independent

• 32% Democrat

• 26% Republican

HOW PEOPLE VOTE (LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE)

TYPES OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

VOTING• Voting is the most common form of political participation in the

U.S.

• It is easy to study and quantify.

• Litigation

• Contact public officials

• Contact the media

• Work on campaigns

• Work on voter registration drives

• Contribute money

• Run for office

• Hold office

• Political discussion

• Join a political organization

• Protest

• NOT Violence

OTHER FORMS OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

DECLINE OF TRUST AND CONFIDENCE IN THE

GOVERNMENT

LESS TRUST SINCE THE 1950S

• Reasons

• Vietnam

• Watergate

• Iran-Contra

• Clinton-Lewinsky

DIVIDED GOVERNMENT• Divided government

• Since 1968, government institutions have often been controlled by different parties.

• More Partisanship

• Decline of the middle

• Political moderates are starting to be frozen out

• Politicians appeal to the base

• Congress more polarized now than anytime since the Civil War

DIVIDED GOVERNMENT, CONTINUED

• Results

• Frustration

• Slows the confirmation process

• Gridlock

ROLE OF MONEY IN POLITICS• Candidates spend too much time fundraising

• Increased power of interest groups and lobbyists (Abramoff Scandal)

• Keeps good people from running

• Perception of wasteful spending

CONSEQUENCES OF THE DECLINE OF TRUST

• More protest

• Decline in voting

• Increase in the number of independents

• Non-partisan community action

• APATHY does not count!

NOMINATIONS AND CAMPAIGNS

PRIMARIES AND CAUCUSES• Primaries

• More common than caucuses (38/50 states)

• New Hampshire is the 1st primary

• Primaries weaken party control

• Increase in the number of primaries one result of the 1968 Democratic National Convention

• Increase the number of people involved in choosing the candidate – greater citizen input.

• Got rid of backroom deals and weakened party bosses

PRIMARIES AND CAUCUSES, CONTINUED

• Primaries, continued

• Primary voters more affluent, educated, and ideological than general election voters.

• Open vs. Closed Primaries

• Caucuses

• More participatory

• Iowa holds the first caucuses

CONVENTIONS• Conventions

• Held in the summer before the presidential election

• Mostly a reward for loyal party supporters

• Delegates again more educated, affluent, and ideological than the average voter

• McGovern-Fraser Commission

• Increased the number of female and minority delegates to the Democratic convention

• The Democratic Party later added superdelegates to give party leaders greater control over the nomination process.

ELECTIONS• Primaries and caucuses are nominating elections – they are the

process used to select candidates for the general election

• A general election is the election in which voters select which candidate they actually want to serve in each office.

ELECTIONS• How the votes are counted –

Presidential election

• Electoral College forces presidential candidates to compete in “swing states”

• These are states that are competitive and have relatively large populations

• Winner Take All System helps create swing states

• Electoral College does give more weight to smaller states because of the 3 vote guarantee.

ELECTIONS, CONTINUED• Elections in the U.S. are First-Past-the-Post/Single-Member

District contests

• Members of Congress represent a specific geographic area

• Winners do NOT need a majority, only a plurality in order to win

• This marginalizes third parties in American politics

• Candidates only need a plurality to win, not a majority

SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE

• An electoral system based on single-member districts is usually characterized by• (A) strong, centralized political parties and a weak executive• (B) higher rates of voter turnout than are common in other

systems• (C) legislative representation of each party in proportion to

the number of votes it receives• (D) domination of the legislature by two political parties• (E) ideological rather than mass-based parties

ELECTIONS, CONTINUED• Incumbents enjoy a huge advantage in winning elections

• Advantage is greater in the House than the Senate

ELECTIONS, CONTINUED• Congressional Districts

• Reapportionment

• Dividing the 435 House seats amongst the 50 states. Every state is guaranteed one seat.

• Redistricting

• District boundaries are drawn by state legislatures

• Usually done every 10 years after the census

• Gerrymandering is drawing districts to give one party an advantage over the other

SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE

• Congressional district boundaries are usually redrawn every ten years by the

• (A) Bureau of the Census

• (B) state legislatures

• (C) President

• (D) House Rules Committee

• (E) Federal Elections Commission

ELECTIONS, CONTINUED• Congressional Districts, continued

• The SCOTUS has created some basic rules about redistricting

• Districts should be roughly equal in population

• Districts should be “compact and contiguous”

• Race can be a factor but not the primary factor

• Should keep “communities of interest” together

SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE

• Which of the following is generally true of gerrymandering of congressional districts?

• (A) It results in more Democrats being elected in the House.

• (B) It results in more Republicans being elected to the House.

• (C) It guarantees that all minority parties will be equally represented.

• (D) It creates districts that favor one political party over another.

• (E) It violates the principle of one-person, one-vote.

ELECTIONS, CONTINUED• Congressional Districts, continued

• In districts with large numbers of non-English speakers, voting materials must be provided in native languages according to the Voting Rights Act (1965)

ELECTIONS, CONTINUED• Critical Elections

• Critical Elections result in party realignment

• Realignment is when the basic supporters of a party have changed

• For example, the South used to be controlled by the Democrats. Today it is solidly Republican

• Proof of long term shifts rather than “nature of the times” shifts.

• Some critical elections include 1932 and 1968

SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE

• The concept of “critical elections” is most closely associated with• (A) the electoral college process• (B) elections during wartime• (C) the nomination process• (D) economic recession• (E) party realignment

MONEY AND CAMPAIGNING

FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT (1974)

• Created the Federal Election Commission (FEC)

• In charge of administering campaign finance laws

• Led by a bipartisan commission

• Requires disclosure

• Candidates must file quarterly reports detailing where the money came from and where it went

• Political Action Committees (PACs)

• PACs are a tool to track union and corporate donations

• A PAC can contribute $5000/candidate per cycle

• The number of PACs has grown tremendously over the past 30 years

SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE• Which of the following is a correct statement about political action

committees (PAC’s)?

• (A) The number of PAC’s has remained stable over the past decade.

• (B) Most PAC money is distributed to challengers in an effort to unseat hostile incumbents.

• (C) The amount of money that a PAC can contribute directly to an individual candidate is limited by law

• (D) PAC’s are illegal in most states.

• (E) PAC’s rarely attempt to influence legislation through lobbying activities.

FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT (1974), CONTINUED

• Created Matching funds for presidential campaigns

• Once a presidential candidate reaches certain thresholds, the federal government will match funds raised by that candidate

• If a candidate took federal money, they agreed to federal limits

• Recent candidates have not accepted federal funding

• Limited hard money contributions to $1000

• Did not address soft money

• Soft money was money donated to parties for GOTV and grass-roots campaigns

BUCKLEY V. VALEO (1976)• SCOTUS ruled that an individual could spend as much of their

own money on their political campaign.

• SCOTUS said is was a free speech issue

• Spending independent of campaigns by outside groups, usually known as 527s, is also protected as free speech

• Circumvented the ban on soft money – spent $254 million in 2008

• These are called independent expenditures

THE BIPARTISAN CAMPAIGN REFORM ACT (MCCAIN-FEINGOLD) 2002

• Eliminated soft money – money donated to parties was now capped.

• Was meant to create a more level playing field

• Required more disclosure and transparency

• Raised the limit on hard money to $2000

• Indexed for inflation

CITIZENS UNITED VS. F.E.C.

• Citizens United v. F.E.C. overturned many provisions of McCain-Feingold (BCRA)

• One of the most basic ideas to emerge from the decision is that corporations and unions have First Amendment speech protections. This decision has allowed unions and corporations to spend more in political campaigns– esp. independent expenditures.

• Facilitated the creation of Super PACs

SAMPLE FRQ – 2011• Nominees for the presidency of the two major parties are chosen by delegates at national

conventions. How these delegates are chosen varies across states and between the political parties.

• a. Define each of the following methods used by states to choose delegates to party conventions.

• Open primary

• Caucus

• b. Republican Party rules permit winner-take-all primaries. Describe one consequence of this rule for the Republican nomination process.

• c. The Democratic Party has used superdelegates in the presidential nominating process since 1984. Explain why the use of superdelegates increases the influence of party leaders in the Democratic nomination process.

• d. Explain why a candidate’s strategy to win the nomination is often different from the strategy developed to win the general election.

SAMPLE FRQ – 2011• 5 points

• Part (a): 2 points

• One point is earned for a correct definition of open primary: a primary election in which any voter can cast a ballot in any party’s primary.

• One point is earned for a correct definition of caucus: a meeting or gathering of members of a political party where members deliberate and choose from the list of those seeking the presidential nomination.

SAMPLE FRQ – 2011• 5 points

• Part (b): 1 point

• One point is earned for an acceptable consequence for a winner-take-all primary, which can include the following:

• Shortens the timeframe for candidates wrapping up the nomination.

• Affects strategic decisions (e.g., allocation of funds, time).

• Advantages those with more prominence or better name recognition early in the process.

SAMPLE FRQ – 2011

• Part (c): 1 point

• One point is earned for an acceptable explanation of how superdelegates increase the power of party leaders, which can include the following:

• Party leaders are now assured a role in the nomination process, regardless of which candidate they support.

• Party leaders can cast the deciding vote in close nomination contests.

• Superdelegates are unpledged and therefore can change their minds on candidates as the process unfolds.

SAMPLE FRQ – 2011

• Part (d): 1 point

• One point is earned for an acceptable explanation for why campaign strategies often differ between primary and general elections, which can include the following:

• The electorate in the primary election is different from the electorate in the general election.

• A candidate’s opponents in the primary are fellow partisans, whereas opponents in the general election are from other parties.

• There are differences in financing, media coverage and current events leading up to the general election.