POLITICAL BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS THIS POWERPOINT IS AVAILABLE

POLITICAL BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS THIS POWERPOINT IS AVAILABLE AT MRSINGHCCHS. WEEBLY. COM/APUS-GOVERNMENT-REVIEW. HTML

THEORIES OF GOVERNMENT • A. Pluralism • B. Elite and Class Theory • C. Hyperpluralism

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION The process by which one acquires their political orientation and beliefs

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. • In other political systems, socialization in schools is much more overt.

AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE Political culture are the beliefs a people have about the role and purpose of government

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, 19 th, 26 th 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 20 th century • 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, 58% in 2012 • Turnout is even lower in midterm elections • 2010=40%

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

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:

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

THAT AFFECT VOTER TURNOUT • 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.

(LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE) • 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.

(LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE) • Race – Again BE CAREFUL • African-Americans and Latinos tend to vote liberal (Latinos less so). • 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. • 2012 • 38% Independent • 32% Democrat • 27% Republican

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.

OTHER FORMS OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION • Litigation • Hold office • Contact public officials • Political discussion • Contact the media • Join a political organization • Work on campaigns • Work on voter registration drives • Contribute money • Run for office • Protest • NOT Violence

DECLINE OF TRUST AND CONFIDENCE IN THE GOVERNMENT

LESS TRUST SINCE THE 1950 S • 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 1 st 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 • Mc. Govern-Fraser Commission • Increased the number of female and minority delegates to the Democratic convention • The Democratic Party later added superdelegates to give part 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 • 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 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 • Created limits on how much could be given to a candidate – hard money • 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

INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES • Spending independent of campaigns by outside groups, usually known as 527 s, 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 (MCCAINFEINGOLD) 2002 • Eliminated soft money – money given to parties is now subject to limits - $32, 400 • 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 - $2600 in 2013 -2014

THE BIPARTISAN CAMPAIGN REFORM ACT (MCCAIN-FEINGOLD) 2002, CONTINUED • Limits on independent expenditures • Could not identify a candidate for federal office 60 days prior to general election • Corporation or unions could not use general funds to pay for independent expenditures • These restrictions were overturned by Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

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.