Notes no. 5

 ₍˄·͈༝·͈˄₎◞ ̑̑ೃ࿔ ǝpıɹ ɓuol ɐ ǝq oʇ ɓuıoɓ sı sıɥ⊥

∘ ─── ♡ ༉─── ∘

Political Culture 

• The commonly shared beliefs, values, and norms about the gov. 
• Common characteristics of democracy 
• Liberty 
• Individualism/Rugged Individualism - the belief of being able to do things on your own 
• Equality 
• Equality of opportunity more than equality of result 
• false consciousness 
• Capitalism v. equality 
• Government attempts to solve this issue with reform programs
• Democracy 
• Civic duties 
• people have obligations to the state (ex. paying taxes)
• Distrust of government 
• Since the 1960s (Vietnam War/Watergate) the distrust grew 
• Political efficacy 
• Political Tolerance 
  
• Pragmatism
• Justice 
• Belied in the rule of law, not men 

Ideology and Public Policy 

• We tend to develop our ideology based on family 
• As the older, we get more of our personal values become an influence 
• Political ideology plays a significantly smaller role in the United State

Ideological Views

• Liberalism 
• Classical Liberalism (18th century) 
• Government...
• should be limited 
• a threat to liberty 
• shouldn't be active, only act when necessary 
• the main goal is to protect property 
• Modern Liberalism (20th Century) 
• Role of government = more active in our lives
• Corporation viewed as the chief threat to liberty
• strong central government to offset the problems caused by capitalism
• must protect the society
• Neo-Liberals 
• Less likely to depend on government to solve society’s problems
• government's role should not be as expansive (new Deal)
• Democratic Leadership Council was formed to make an effort to combat society’s inequities without overly involving the government
• supports welfare reform, nationalized healthcare, and tax breaks to the poor
• Conservatism 
• Essentially classical liberalism
• Gained strength since the late 1970s
• Focus on reversing America’s dependence on government
• Strong supporters of tax cuts
• Neoconservatives and the New Right
• Emphasize social issues like prayer in schools
• Foreign Policy
• Very aggressive when dealing with foreign threats such as terrorism and are supportive of intervention
• Compassionate Conservatism
• more moderate brand of conservatism
• Socialism 
• Means of production, distribution, and exchange are controlled by the government
• strong in Western Europe
• Not so popular in the US
• Libertarianism
• A blending of Classical Liberalism and Conservatism

Public Opinion 

• Types of Publics 
• Elites
• Own a disproportionate amount of political resources
• Attentive
• active interest in government and politics
• Mass 
• little interest in government and politics
• Types of Opinions 
• Stable – changes very little
• Fluid – frequently changing
• Latent – dormant but may be aroused (ex. terrorism)
• Intense – strongly held
• Non-intense – the “balanced” opinion
• Salient – personal 
• Consensus – shared by 75% 
• Polarized – shared by less than 75%
• Measurement of Public Opinion 
• Elections 
• Straw polls
• News reporters interview the voters to gain insight of the progression of the election 
• Scientific/Structured Polls
• Use of Polls 
• Informing the public, the candidates, office-holders
• Making election-night projections through the use of “exit polls”
• Abuse of Polls 
• Horse Race mentality
• Candidates and officeholders pander to the whims of the public
• Early projections from exit polls may hinder voter turnout
• Public Awareness and Interests in Politics 
• Not considered important to most citizens (mass public)

𝓟𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓵 𝓢𝓸𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷

Political Socialization

• People acquiring their political beliefs 
• The different influences:
• School
• Religion
• Race 
• White - conservative
• Black - liberal 
• Hispanics - usually more liberal but has been shifting 
• Asians - whatever benefits
• Income 
• Opinion Leaders
• Mass Media 
• Gender
• Women - democrats
• Men - Republicans 
• Differing View 
• sex-sensitive issues
• Cross Pressure 

𝓥𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓽

Voter Turnout 

• Historical qualifications for voting that has been eliminated 
• Religion (eliminated by state legislatures)
• Property (eliminated by state legislatures)
• Race (eliminated by 15th Amendment)
• Sex/Gender (eliminated by 19th Amendment)
• Income (eliminated by 24th Amendment banning poll tax)
• Literacy (eliminated by Voting Rights Act of 1965)
• Minimum age of 21 (eliminated by 26th Amendment)

Current Standards for Voting 

• Citizenship 
• Residency
• Registration 
• North Dakota doesn't require registration 

Voter Turnout pt.2

• The U.S traditionally has low voter turnout
• Reasons why: 
• The U.S does not impose penalties for not voting
• Other nations have automatic or same-day registration
• The U.S only as two parties voters don't feel close to their political party
• Institutional Barries 
• Registration
• Tried to solve with National Voter Registration Act of 1993
• Ballots are too long/too many issues
• Difficulties in obtaining absentee ballots
• Too many elections/voter fatigue
• young people have the lowest voter turnout
• Political Reasons
• Lack of political awareness
• Dissatisfaction with candidates, parties, politics 
• Lack of strong two-party competition
• Can't motivate voters
• Characteristics of those likely to vote
• Education level (the higher the more likely)
• Income level (the higher the more likely)
• Age (the older the more likely)
• Race 

Factors Affecting Voting Behavior 

• Geography
• Popular Presidency
• Time
• Political parties tend to hold power for several election cycles before the public demands change
• Political Party Identification
• The strongest predictor of voter behavior
• Straight ticket voting
• Voters vote for people of their political party regardless of the qualifications of the candidate
• Split ticket voting
• Voters choose candidates based on ability, name recognition, or other factors
• Demographics
• Sex
• Race 
• Social Class
• Religion 
• Issues
• Voting based on a specific agenda/personal hot point
• Candidate Appeal
• If the candidate is good looking/has a good image they will be picked

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓵𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼

Congresional Elections

• Single Member District System 
• Representation to Congress is based on state population figures
• the only person elected to office is the one with the most votes
• Commonly called the winner-take-all system
• Primary Elections
• Designed as a way of limiting power of Political Parties
• Types of Primary Elections 
• Closed
• Only registered party members may choose party candidates
• most states use this one
• Open
• Independent voters w/o particular party affiliation participate in the primary election
• This system poses a danger as it open the door for trickery
• Blanket “free love”
• Independent voters may mix and match choosing candidates from either party
• not used often 

Factors Affecting Outcomes of Congressional Elections

• Incumbency 
• Has the greatest influence on election results
• 90% reelection rate for Representatives of House
• 80% reelection rate for Senators
• The advantages of incumbency
• Franking Privilege
• ability to send out mailers for free
• Staff already in place
• Patronage
• ability to appoint people to certain positions
• Gerrymandering districts “safe-seats”
• Committee service to the district
• Name recognition
• Casework did for constituents
• Assisting people in the district who are having problems with a Federal government agency
• “Pork Barrel” projects for the district
• that bring government contracts into the district
• usually added at the end of a Congressional Bill that is likely to pass
• War Chest
• Money collected for the reelection campaign
• Money
• Types of Elections 
• Incumbent campaigns
• Least Competitive 
• Open seat
• most competitive 
• the seat is up for grabs
• House or Senate campaigns
• Gerrymandering does not occur
• Midterm elections
• the party of the President loses seats
• Coattail Effect
• the popular political party leader can bring in votes for other members of his/her party
• In modern terms, this would be called "carrying"
• Media 
• How the media covers a candidate can alter the outcome of an election
• Like Clinton and Snapchat 
• Party Affiliation 
• Voters typically stay loyal to their party or whatever is popular 
• Campaign Consultants
• Professional campaign managers that learn the system
• Technology 
• Mass media is reshaping elections

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓟𝓪𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓟𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓬𝔂

• ”Invisible Primary”
• The attempt to line up supporters and cut deals in order to assure their nomination
• Declaration of Candidacy
• formally declare their intention to run
• The Nomination Phase
• Party Conventions
• Local Caucuses: Formal meetings with party members in order to nominate for office
• Iowa State Caucus is the first of the campaign season
• Presidential Primaries 
• States choose candidates that will attend the national convention
• Proportional basis (Democrats)
• Winner-take-all-basis (Republicans)
• New Hampshire Primary: First primary of the season
• National Convention 
• Selection of Presidential Nominee
• The presidential nominee is typically decided well before
• the convention allows the candidate to work on his image
• Selection of Vice Presidential candidate
• usually selected by President 
• Develop Party Platform
• develop strategy
• Unification of the party
• Positives and Negatives of the presidential nominating system
• Pros
• Allows for voter participation along each step
• Highly representative
• Cons
• Low voter turnout
• Too lengthy of a process
• Candidates are not tested on skills
• Some states have more power than the other 

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓵𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓪𝓵 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓰𝓮

• Allotment of electoral votes to states
• Each state has as many electoral votes as it has members in Congress
• Selection of Electors
• up to each state to decide how to choose and appoint its electors
• representatives from each of the political parties are selected
• Winning of Electoral votes
• Candidates with the most popular votes win
• Electors meet in their state capitals in December to officially cast their ballots
• Winning the election
• The winning candidate must have a majority of the electoral votes (270) to win without contest
• If no majority then Congress picks
• Alternatives to Electoral College
• Direct election: Election based on popular vote
• District system: All states would follow the electoral system of Maine and Nebraska
• 2 votes to the winner of the state
• 1 vote for each district won by popular election 
• Proportional systems: Candidates earn the same percentage of electoral votes as they win in the popular vote
• Keep Electoral Votes but abolish the electors themselves

𝓒𝓪𝓶𝓹𝓪𝓲𝓰𝓷 𝓕𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮

• No government subsidies or Congressional Campaigns 
• No spending limits on Congressional races (Buckley v. Valeo)
• No limitations on independent expenditures
• Parties are weakened since presidential election funds go to the candidates

♡˗ˏ✎(“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 / 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧” ― 𝘒𝘪𝘮 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘫𝘰𝘰𝘯 )*ೃ˚  :;