5.1 Journal

Should we make voting mandatory to ensure that the will of the people is truly being enacted by the government?

Unit 5: Political Participation

5.1 Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior

5.1 Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior

Redefining “We the People”

• Franchise / Suffrage: the right to vote
• Disenfranchisement: taking away the right to vote

5.1 Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior

• An Expanding Electorate
• Initially voting was only given to white property owners, but over time suffrage expanded.
• 17th Amendment: popular elections for Senators (overturned the elite democracy set up by the founders)

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Suffrage Amendments – What do they deal with?

15th Amendment — R___ Protections

17th Amendment — E________ of S_________

19th Amendment — W_______ Vote

23rd Amendment — ____ Gets Electoral Votes

24th Amendment — No P_____ T_____

26th Amendment — A_____ L______ to E_____________

5.1 Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior

• Suffrage by Constitutional Amendments
• 15th Amendment: Citizens shall not be denied the right to vote due to race, color, or previous condition of servitude
• 19th Amendment: Citizens shall not be denied the right to vote by the states or U.S. on account of sex
• 23rd Amendment: D.C. shall be given electoral votes, no less than the smallest state
• 24th Amendment: Citizens shall not be denied the right to vote by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other taxes
• 26th Amendment: Citizens 18 years or older shall not be denied the right to vote on account of age

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5.1 Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior

• Methods to Prevent African American Voting
• Literacy tests: proving you can read to be able to vote (outlawed by the Voting Rights Act)
• Grandfather Clause: allowed people to register to vote only if their grandfather could vote (prevented African Americans from voting; ruled unconstitutional in 1915)
• White Primary: primary elections were limited to white people, as segregation allowed them to have white-only political groups (ruled unconstitutional in 1944)

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5.1 Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior

• Laws Protecting Suffrage
• Civil Rights Act of 1964: limited race-based literacy tests
• Voting Rights Act of 1965: outlawed literacy tests altogether and required states with a history of low black voter turnout to get preclearance: permission from the Department of Justice to change their voting laws

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5.1 Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior

Voting Models

• Rational-Choice Voting: voting based on how policies will benefit your life; rational-choice voters have analyzed and consciously decided to support certain policies (these voters don’t get pulled in to the culture wars)
• Retrospective Voting: looking backward to consider a candidate’s record, as well as the condition (so in a time of an economic downturn, they would vote out the incumbent)
• Prospective Voting: voting based on what you think the candidate / ballot initiative might do
• Party-Line Voting: voting solely based on the political party, not on individual candidates

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ASSIGNMENT:

5.1 Packet

Chapter 15 Vocabulary

5.2 Journal

What election do you think will be the first that you vote in? Why?

5.2 Voter Turnout

5.2 Voter Turnout

Influences on Voter Turnout

• State and Local Administration of Elections
• Voter Registration: creating a list of eligible voters; in most states, you must register within 30 days of the election in order to be a valid voter
• Precincts: a small geographic area of about 500-1,000 voters who are assigned to vote in the same polling place: the location people go to in order to vote

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5.2 Voter Turnout

5.2 Voter Turnout

• Government Policies and Voter Participation
• National Voter Registration Act (1993) / Motor-Voter Law: enforced standardized methods of voter registration, mail-in registration, ability to register at government buildings (such as the DMV)
• Greatly increased the number of registered voters�

5.2 Voter Turnout

• Federal Response to the 2000 Election
• The 2000 election was very controversial as a number of ballots were ruled ineligible in Florida due to how the cards were punched. As a result, Congress decided to make some changes
• Help America Vote Act: required states to update their voting and election management, including requiring electronic vote counting (fed gov helped fund this); it also helped people with disabilities vote and made voting easier to understand

2000 Presidential Election Ballot Issues

5.2 Voter Turnout

• Voter Registration
• Voter Registration: the process of creating a list of eligible voters; after registration, each person is given one location that they are able to vote at, minimizing the potential for voter fraud
• People denied the right to register to vote: people in prison at the time of the election (except for 2 states), people who have committed serious crimes (depending on the state), people in mental institutions, people under 18 years old
• Some states allow registration on the day of the election.
• Nearly 40 states allow registering to vote online.
• In some states people are automatically registered (in a variety of ways)

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5.2 Voter Turnout

• Types of Ballots
• Americans use the Australian Ballot: must be printed / distributed at the public’s expense (taxes), must show all qualifying candidates names, must be available only at polling places, and completed in private
• Provisional Ballots: if you go to the wrong polling place (if you recently moved, for example), since you are not on the voting rolls for that location, they will have you fill out a provisional ballot and officials will investigate to ensure that voter fraud isn’t happening
• Absentee Ballots: ballots filled out for people who cannot vote in person
• Some states allow absentee ballots with no excuse, making it easier to vote; this also makes it easier to administer the vote (shorter lines)

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5.2 Voter Turnout

• Voter ID Laws
• Some states require voters to present ID at the time of voting, however there is a debate as to whether this is a poll tax since IDs cost money. Some states have taken to providing free ID cards to those who cannot afford them.
• Conservatives say the ID laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud
• Liberals say that it is unconstitutional and used to prevent the poor and minorities (who are less likely to have government-issued IDs) from voting
• SCOTUS has not ruled on this issue

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5.2 Voter Turnout

Voting and Nonvoting

• Voter Turnout: the number of voters who actually cast votes as a percentage of the voting age
• Voting-Eligible Population: citizens over the age of 18 who are eligible to vote
• Voting-Age Population: everyone over the age of 18 (including non-citizens and those unable to vote)
• Voter Apathy: not caring about the election
• Political Efficacy: the feeling that your vote makes a difference

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Political Efficacy

5.2 Voter Turnout

Factors Influencing Voter Choice

• Many groups vote similarly depending on their personal demographics; these groups that vote similarly are referred to as a voting bloc (The Millenial Vote, The Women Vote, The Latinx Vote)

5.2 Voter Turnout

Factors Influencing Voter Choice

• Gender
• Gender Gap: the difference in political views between men and women and how these differences are expressed in the voting booth (more women vote; they lean more liberal if single)

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• Age
• Elderly people tend to vote at higher rates than any other group and are more conservative
• Young people are beginning to get more politically active (46% in 2016) and are more liberal

5.2 Voter Turnout

Factors Influencing Voter Choice

• Race & Ethnicity
• African American voting is increasing and their support continues to go primarily to the Democratic Party ever since the New Deal, then the Civil Rights Movement
• Latinx Americans vote at lower rates than African Americans and whites, but they are the fastest growing minority group so both parties are vying for their support; (generally more liberal, but not Cubans)
• Asian Americans vote at a moderate rate and while traditionally voted conservatively, but are moving left

5.2 Voter Turnout

Factors Influencing Voter Choice

• Religious Affiliation
• Evangelical Christians are a strong voting bloc for Republicans; they are frequently referred to as “the religious right”; they are generally very strongly conservative on social issues
• Catholics are generally split, even though they historically voted Democratic
• Jewish people generally vote for the Democratic party in pretty large numbers, but there’s currently a battle going on between the parties for their support (primarily over the issue of Israel)

5.2 Voter Turnout

Factors Influencing Voter Choice

• Business, Labor, and Unions
• Business owners and leaders tend to vote conservative based on their dislike of regulation and the supply-side economic plans put forth by Republicans
• Unions tend to vote with the Democrats, though union membership is faltering and they’re not the huge voting bloc that they once were

ASSIGNMENT:

Chapter 15 Review (MCQ 1-6 & SAQ #2)

NOTE: do not wait on the SAQ, we will review it first thing next class

5.3-5.4 Journal

Would you ever vote for a third party candidate? Why or why not?

5.3 Political Parties

5.3 Political Parties

Linking People to Government

• Political parties are sometimes referred to as Linkage Institutions — a structure within a society that connects the people to the government
• Other linkage institutions are interest groups, elections, and the media

​

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5.3 Political Parties

Impact on Voters and Policy

• Political parties do the following:
• Mobilize and educate voters
• Create platforms that define their ideas and goals
• Recruit candidates and manage their campaigns
• Fundraising for candidates
• Govern in hopes of implementing their desired public policy

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5.3 Political Parties

• Impact on Voters
• Parties inspire voters, work to get voters more involved in politics, remind them to vote for their candidates (robocalls), advertise for candidates, recruit candidates, etc.
• Party Platform: a written list of beliefs and political goals put out by the political parties
• Conventions: official party events held every four years before the presidential election; conventions officially nominate their party’s candidates, develop their party platform, rally the base, etc.

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5.3 Political Parties

• Fundraising & Media Strategy
• Campaigns work hard to fundraise, but they frequently get support from their political party as well. Local or federal Democratic or Republican candidates might get funding from local or federal Dem / Repub organizations
• Local / State / Community Political Organizations can give up to $5,000 to candidates’ campaigns, and the national party can give $5,000 more, but they can’t spend money on ads like PACs do

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5.3 Political Parties

• National Party Structure
• In the legislature, both parties have committees which have hundreds of employees and a network dedicated to helping the party to win elections and pass legislation they support
• Democratic National Committee (DNC): Democratic National Committee
• Republican National Committee (RNC): Republican National Committee�
• Each party has a national chairperson, who is the chief strategist and spokesperson. They appear on tv to support the party, guide the party’s daily operations, build up membership, raise money, recruit people for office, convince people�

5.3 Political Parties

• Congressional Committees
• National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)
• National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)
• Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)
• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)

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5.4 Political Parties Change

5.4 How and Why Political Parties Change and Adapt

Party Changes and Adaptations

• Candidate-Centered Campaigns
• Historically, people voted more for parties, but in modern times, candidates are generally more important, with swing-voters becoming more common.

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5.4 How and Why Political Parties Change and Adapt

• Appeals to Coalitions
• In the Democratic Party specifically, there have been many fights about who controls the party. The Convention in 1968 put the old-guard machine-politics, with Humphry (who hadn’t run in any primaries) taking the nomination instead of McCarthy, who was supported more by young people and political outsiders.
• Dems have superdelegates: former mayors, presidents, and other party leaders who could vote for the convention candidate unbeholden to a state or constituency; they recently got rid of many of their powers

5.4 How and Why Political Parties Change and Adapt

• Changes Influencing Party Structure
• Party Realignment: changes in underlying electoral forces due to changes in party identification (see chart)
• Critical Elections: elections that reveal sharp, lasting changes to loyalties in political parties
• Party Dealignment: people leaving the party to become independents or stop voting

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5.4 How and Why Political Parties Change and Adapt

ASSIGNMENT:

PACKET 5.3-5.4 PARTY PLATFORMS & REALIGNMENT

NO 5.5 Journal

Let’s Review Chapter 15: SAQ 2

5.5 Third-Party Politics

5.5 Third-Party Politics

Third-Party and Independent Candidates

• Minor Parties / Third Parties: political parties that are not the major parties

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• Why Third Parties Form
• Ideological Parties: Socialist Party / Libertarian Party
• Splinter Parties: Bull Moose Party / Tea Party
• Economic Protest Party: Populist Party / Tea Party
• Single-Issue Parties: Prohibition Party / Green Party

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• Modern Third Parties
• Presidential Runs by 3rd Parties: Ross Perot (United We Stand); Ralph Nader (Green); Pat Buchanan (Reform); Gary Johnson (Libertarian); Jill Stein (Green)

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5.5 Third-Party Politics

Barriers to Third-Party Success

• Single-Member Districts:
• each congressional district only has one representative, so there is no benefit to coming in second or third; this limits the ability of third parties to get traction; in European democracies, there is proportional representation by political party (voters choose parties, not candidates)�

5.5 Third-Party Politics

Barriers to Third-Party Success

• Money
• Major parties have operations to raise money and have financial and media connections that third parties don’t generally have.
• Third parties can get government funding for their campaign, but they need to have win a certain percent of vote in the prior election to qualify. Additionally, the government funded campaign is much smaller than what major parties are able to raise for their campaigns.
• Ballot access is also an issue. There is usually a process of getting thousands of signatures of registered voters and paying a fee just to show up on the ballot in a given state. To run for president, you would need to get on the ballot in most / all states.�

5.5 Third-Party Politics

Barriers to Third-Party Success

• Incorporation of Third-Party Agendas:
• Third Parties may not win a lot of elections, but they do help change the debate by pushing for positions that are out of the mainstream of the other political parties. This can result in the major party taking that issue as their own, making the third party’s position useless

5.5 Third-Party Politics

Barriers to Third-Party Success

• Winner-Take-All
• Voting for the POTUS means there’s a lot of pressure on third parties not to join the race because they may split the vote (like Nader did to Democrats in 2000)
• In addition, even if third-party candidates get 30% in every state, due to winner-take-all voting, they would get zero electoral votes, making it impossible to win.

ASSIGNMENT:

3rd Party Politics

5.6 Journal

Would you rather have a welfare system that helped 10,000 too many people or 10,000 too few? You have to choose.

5.6 Interest Groups Influencing Policy Making

5.6 Interest Groups Influencing Policy Making

Benefits of Interest Groups

• Pluralism: the theory that all interests are and should be free to compete for influence in the government; the outcome of this competition is compromise and moderation
• Interest groups allow for diverse policies and goals to be promoted
• Interest groups put pressure on elected officials to promote their cause to earn support

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5.6 Interest Groups Influencing Policy Making

Drawbacks of Interest Groups

• Interest groups can wield tremendous influence on politicians, which can result in politicians catering to the big-money interests rather than the interests of their constituents
• Hyperpluralism: A state in which many groups or factions are so strong that a government is unable to function.
• Free-Rider Problem: someone who would not choose to pay for a certain good or service, but who would get the benefits of it anyway if it were provided as a public good

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5.6 Interest Groups Influencing Policy Making

Iron Triangles and Issue Networks

• Iron Triangles: A close relationship between an agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group
• Issue Networks: A network of people in Washington, D.C.-based interest groups, on congressional staff, in universities and think tanks, and in the mass media, who regularly discuss and advocate public policies.

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5.6 Interest Groups Influencing Policy Making

Exerting Influence

• Lobbying: A strategy by which organized interests seek to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of the legislature.
• Lobbyists work to develop relationships with powerful politicians in order to gain influence�
• 501(c)3 Organizations: A tax code classification that applies to most interest groups; this designation makes donations to the group tax-deductible but limits the group's political activities.�
• 501 (c)4 Organizations: nonprofit organizations operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, including lobbying or engaging in political campaigning

5.6 Interest Groups Influencing Policy Making

Exerting Influence

• Endorsements: an act of giving one's public approval or support to someone or something
• Grassroots lobbying: Efforts by groups to influence elected officials indirectly, by influencing constituents.
• Framing: Organizations attempt to frame issues in certain ways to encourage public support or opposition (i.e. the estate tax is labeled a “death tax”; tighter fuel emissions would result in smaller “unsafe” cars)

ASSIGNMENT:

Interest Groups Benefits / Drawbacks & Research

5.7 Journal

If you could be the head of one interest group, what would it be, and why? (Research if you need to)

The Madagascar Aye Aye

5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes

5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes

Growth of Interest Groups

• The power of interest groups has generally grown over the course of U.S. history.
• Labor unions were one of the first bottom-up interest group pushes (late 1800s).
• In response to unions, businesses began sending more lobbyists to Washington.
• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is one of the most influential business interest groups.

5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes

• Social movements also result in interest groups:
• The Progressive Era ushered in interest groups to push for prohibition, for gender and race equality, etc.
• The Civil Rights Movement used interest groups to push their cause, like the NAACP, SNCC, CORE & the SCLC
• The Women’s Movement in the 1960s used interest groups such as NOW & NARAL
• The Environmental Movement in the 1960s used interest groups such as the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, and the Audubon Society

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5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes

Groups and Members

• Institutional Groups:
• Intergovernmental Lobby: An interest group made up of mayors, governors, and other state and local officials who depend on federal funds (US Conference of Mayors)
• Professional Associations: Groups of individuals who share a common profession and are often organized for common political purposes related to that profession (ABA, AMA)
• Think Tanks: a nongovernmental organization that seeks to influence public policy through research and education (American Enterprise Institute)�

5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes

• Professional Organizations:
• Interest groups with clear organization and hierarchy, paid membership, etc. (NAACP, NRA, AARP)
• Upper Class Bias: Though annual membership fees in most interest groups are modest, critics argue that the trend results in policies that favor higher socioeconomic classes.
• Public Interest Groups: an organization that supports causes that affect the lives of Americans in general (pushing for the 26th Amendment, reforms to auto safety, etc.)

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5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes

• Single-Issue and Ideological Groups
• Some groups are focused on just one issue, such as the NRA (guns) or AARP (retired people)
• Ideological Groups: political organizations that attract members by appealing to their political convictions or principles (NOW, NAACP, BLM)
• The American Civil Liberties Union fights to support the free speech, religion, etc. rights of Americans. They played a part in lawsuits that outlawed school-sponsored prayer (Engel), ended interracial marriage prohibitions (Loving v Virginia), pushed for free speech in public schools (Tinker), preventing prior restraint (NYT v US), free speech on the internet (Reno v ACLU), and overturning laws against same-sex intimacy (Lawrence v Texas)

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5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes

Interest Group Pressure on Political Parties

• Republicans:
• One historical example of interest groups on political parties was Republican’s shifting perspective on the ERA. They had supported it as early as the 40s, but with the group STOP ERA in the 70s, Republicans began opposing the idea.
• Another example is the rise of the Tea Party movement after the election of President Obama. This offshoot of the Republican party helped to elect more conservative members to congress. �
• Democrats:
• The NAACP push for Civil Rights in the 1960s pushed Dems to the left on race issues.
• The interest group NOW (National Organization for Women) also pushed the Democrats on gender equality.

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5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes

Ethics and Reform

• Scandals: there have been many scandals over the power of interest groups and what can amount to bribery
• Recent Reform: the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act was passed in 2007 which banned gifts to members of Congress or their staff from registered lobbyists; it also restricted travel paid for by outside groups
• Revolving Door: Employment cycle in which individuals who work for governmental agencies that regulate interests eventually end up working for interest groups or businesses with the same policy concern

ASSIGNMENT:

Chapter 17 Review

5.8 Journal

My uncle has a political belief that you should always just vote against the incumbent (person currently in office) to make sure politicians don’t get too comfortable and actually try to improve the nation, not just keep their jobs. Do you agree or disagree with this approach? Why?

5.8 Electing a President

5.8 Electing a President

Road to the White House

• Invisible Primary: unofficial process of floating the idea that of running for office to see public reaction
• Incumbent: the person currently holding office
• Incumbent Advantage Phenomenon: ability to use the tools of office to support reelection

5.8 Electing a President

• Primaries and Caucuses
• Types of Primaries (New Hampshire is historically the first Primary, making it very important)
• Closed Primary: voters can only vote in primaries for the political party they’re registered for
• Open Primary: any voter can vote in any primary regardless of party
• Blanket Primary: primary where you can vote for either political party in one election, so you could split your ticket and vote for Republicans in some races and Democrats in others, then they take the tops candidate from each party for the general election

5.8 Electing a President

• Primaries and Caucuses
• Caucuses
• Caucuses: party members meet in large locations and discuss candidates, then vote; it’s much more informal, and it’s a commitment (usually around 2 hours), and the voting is essentially done in public
• Caucuses are rare, with the biggest one in Iowa because it is early in the election season

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• Super Tuesday
• Super Tuesday: a few weeks after Iowa and New Hampshire, many states hold primaries on the same day, called Super Tuesday.

5.8 Electing a President

• Party Conventions
• Party Conventions are less dramatic in modern times because, due to primaries / caucuses, the parties generally know who their nominee is before the Convention.
• At conventions, all the states send delegates to represent the state. In some states, the delegates must vote in the way that their state did (pledged delegates), but in other states, the delegates technically have independence

5.8 Electing a President

• The General Election
• General Election: the process of officially electing officials (choosing between the primary winners)
• General Election Season begins after the primaries
• Swing States: states that sometimes go Republican & sometimes Democratic (MI, N.C., OH, etc.)

5.8 Electing a President

• The General Election
• Electoral College: process of electing the president through the gathering of electors, awarded to candidates who win individual states (in some states, electors are proportionally divided, but not most)
• Each state gets the same number of electors (electoral votes) as they do congressional representatives (435 + 100 + 3 = 538 Total)
• 23rd Amendment: Gave DC electoral votes not to be fewer than the smallest state (3 votes)
• The candidate who gets 270 electoral votes wins the presidency; in a tie, the House decides from the top three candidates. In a tie, the Senate chooses the V.P.
• Electors in all states do not have to vote for who their state voted for; they are called faithless electors

5.9 Congressional Elections

5.9 Congressional Elections

Congressional Elections

• Midterm Elections
• Midterm Elections: Congressional elections that are NOT the same year as POTUS elections (i.e. 2018, 2022)
• They get much less attention because POTUS isn’t being elected
• Midterms are frequently used by pundits as a way of viewing approval of the president. Frequently, if a Republican president was elected, the following midterm election is going to swing toward the Democrats, and vice versa, as a way of the population counteracting the loss of the presidential election
• In contrast, during presidential elections, members of the party of the president frequently succeed in the presidential election; this is called the coattail effect (i.e., in 2016, Trump (R) won the election, as well as many swing states / swing seats which went to Republicans

5.9 Congressional Elections

• Benefits of Incumbency
• House incumbents win 90% of elections due to many benefits of being in office:
• Name recognition
• Campaign funding is easier
• Party organizations typically support the incumbent
• Incumbents have connections to voters through outreach / support

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5.9 Congressional Elections

• Districts & Primaries
• US Congressional districts are frequently drawn in a gerrymandered way which gives a benefit to a specific political party. This makes general elections much less competitive, but puts a lot of focus on primary elections.
• In the past 25 years, the number of “safe seats” has increased dramatically, allowing for more extreme politicians to be elected, leading to increased gridlock in Congress.

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ASSIGNMENT:

Chapter 18 Work – Elections

5.10 Journal

You’re running for president. What are the three pillars of your candidacy?

5.10 Modern Campaigns

5.10 Modern Campaigns

Campaign Organization

• Candidate’s Committee
• Candidates typically form a committee of advisors and support staff. On large campaigns this can consist of hundred of people, and in local elections it is more likely to be a handful of friends and family members.

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5.10 Modern Campaigns

• Party Organizations
• The official Democratic and Republican parties sometimes get involved in local primary or general elections, and sometimes they choose to stay out. It depends entirely on the circumstances.
• Getting support from local or national political party offices can be a massive benefit to people running for office due to the typical financial / media support that comes with it.
• Political parties typically support incumbents in primary elections.
• The party organizations also make decisions about where to put resources to challenge what might be a swing seat in the House or Senate. Recently, the Republican party has focused on supporting state legislatures.

5.10 Modern Campaigns

• Outside Groups
• Political Action Committees (PACs) and interest groups do a lot of work in attempting to influence elections.

5.10 Modern Campaigns

• Fundraising
• Few candidates finance their own campaign; most rely on the party organization and individual donors.
• How much money a candidate has is referred to as their war chest.
• Candidates spend around ¼-½ of their campaign time trying to raise money through phone calls and fundraisers. To get people to donate, they will host fundraisers where celebrities or politicians will come and speak on their behalf.
• Senate candidates generally are able to raise more money because there is only 2 for each state, though this is dwarfed by Presidential campaigns.
• In modern times, most campaign donations are given over the internet.

5.10 Modern Campaigns

• Publicly Funded Campaigns
• Candidates can choose to get their campaign partially funded by the federal government, but that puts limits on how much of their own money they can spend on the election, so most candidates don’t take it
• For Third Party candidates, if the candidate from the party in the prior election received 5 percent of the vote, they can get ___________________________________________________ as well (rare)

5.10 Modern Campaigns

Campaign Strategies

• Professional Consultants
• People who specialize in running campaigns have carved out jobs as political consultants. These people are hired by the political party or by a specific campaign as campaign managers, PR directors, fundraisers, advertising specialists, pollsters, organizers, social media consultants, etc.

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5.10 Modern Campaigns

• Showcasing the Candidate
• In order to ensure candidates are appealing to votes, they engage in a lot of polling. This can help candidates determine what words, phrases, images, etc. resonate with the voters.
• Candidates then attempt to get exposure through television (appearances and advertisements), radio, social media, large gatherings, etc.
• Most campaigns are divided into three segments: biography, issues, and attack
• Debates are used in most elections to showcase the candidates though in many races, the incumbent will avoid debates as they have little to gain and a lot to lose
• Not all candidates will be eligible for debates; it is typically dependent on showing a certain level of support through polls leading up to the debates

Wild Campaign Ads

5.11 Campaign Finance

5.11 Campaign Finance

Campaign Finance

• Campaign Finance Laws
• Federal Election Commission (FEC): monitors and enforces campaign funding laws; it also created the legal definition of Political Action Committees
• Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA): (1971) tightened reporting requirements and limited candidates’ campaign expenditures.
• Limited an individual’s contributions to $1,000 per election
• Limited a candidate’s contributions to their campaign to $50,000 per election
• Defined and regulated donations of PACs
• Created a public fund to assist viable presidential candidates

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5.11 Campaign Finance

• Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold): (2002) banned soft money contributions to the national parties, increased limits on hard money donations (with inflation increases); prohibited trade unions and labor organizations from paying for electioneering on tv or radio within 60 days of an election and 30 days of a primary
• Hard Money: money directly given to a candidate, which can be traced and regulated
• Soft Money: money to a party or interest group, which are not tracked

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5.11 Campaign Finance

CORE SCOTUS CASE: Citizens United v FEC (2010):

• The case ruled (5–4) that laws that prevented corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds for independent “electioneering communications” (political advertising) violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech; in doing this, the court was equating election spending with free speech, and holding that corporations and unions had the right of free speech / spending
• This deemed many provisions of BCRA unconstitutional

5.11 Campaign Finance

• Impact of Citizens United
• This allowed outside / soft money groups to make ads right up until an election, allowed for unlimited contributions to Super PACs from individuals and other organizations; it is not tracked by the FEC and is called dark money
• After this case was decided, organizations and wealthy individuals began spending hundreds of millions on elections, both to Democrats and Republicans�

5.11 Campaign Finance

Types of PACs

• Connected PAC: are funded separately from an organization’s treasury, through donations from members; this is how unions and corporations can contribute to campaigns; they can donate directly to candidates PACs
• Nonconnected PAC: these PACs have no sponsoring organization and are usually smaller, and formed around concern about a single issue; they get funding from the general public; they can donate directly to candidates
• Leadership PACs: formed by current or former elected officials; can donate directly to candidates
• Super PACs: created after Citizens United, these PACs collect from anyone including corporations, unions, and individuals; they are limited in that they cannot coordinate with candidates

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ASSIGNMENT:

Citizens United v FEC

Chapter 19 Review

5.12 Journal

Where do you get your news? Is it trustworthy? What news organizations are NOT trustworthy?

5.12 The Media

5.12 The Media

Media as a Linkage Institution

• The press, and media in general, links Americans to their government. This can be done in a variety of ways.
• Traditional Media: traditional media is generally made up of newspapers and news bureaus which are offices for gathering and distributing news
• Investigative Reporting: becoming common in the Progressive Era, investigative reporting is the process of using journalists to dive deep into a specific subject and inform the public about things like political or corporate corruption
• National Political News: several large outlets cover national news, which can be covered from a liberal or conservative perspective:
• Liberal: The Nation, The New Republic, The Progressive, Mother Jones, MSNBC
• Conservative: National Review, The Washington Times, American Spectator, Fox News, OAN

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5.12 The Media

Media as a Linkage Institution

• Cable News: in the 1990s, 24-hour news became a reality with CNN. This changed American consumption of political news from perhaps an hour or two in the evening to constant discussion of politics
• Talk Radio: talk radio plays a big part in political discourse, especially for conservatives
• Social Media: social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, etc. have become some of the most important sources of news in the modern era, but many argue this causes a lot of problems regarding reliability

Media Roles

Scorekeeping

Gatekeeping

Watchdog

5.12 The Media

Roles and Influence

• Keeping Score
• Leading up to, and during elections, reporters frequently cover the constant ups and downs of campaigns. This is called horse race journalism.
• Horse race journalism leads to focusing on public opinion polls, sometimes called the scorekeeper role of journalism, and they frequently neglect actual substantive differences between candidates
• Horse race and scorekeeper journalism lead to many political contests turning into popularity contests rather than decision-making based on intricate policy positions / platforms

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5.12 The Media

• Gatekeeper / Gatekeeping
• Media institutions decide what issues to cover and what to ignore. This is the gatekeeper role of the media. If they outright ignore a candidate, chances are that candidate will fall in the polls. By giving more attention to a candidate, even if it’s negative attention, they are building up that candidate’s name recognition
• Consider also, the MeToo movement, which resulted in media coverage of abuses of power by well-established men, which was a topic that was off-limits for most of the history of media

5.12 The Media

• Digging for Truth / Watchdog
• Media’s watchdog role refers to their function of keeping an eye on the government and reporting on corruption, scandal, inefficiency, etc.
• Freedom of press allows media to have an adversarial role to the government, however, the desire for access to government officials, interviews, etc. can complicate this position

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5.13 Changing Media

Media and the Three Branches

• Political Reporting: most political reporting is in the vein of describing what is happening in Washington, but it can also include investigative reporting, politician profiles, op-eds (opinion pieces), hit pieces, and policy / court changes
• Reporters and news organizations sometimes have a political agenda or ideology they’re pushing, and that will influence how they cover the news.
• The use of sound bites—small snippets of a larger conversation or speech—can be used to simplify a politician's message or to take things out of context and use it dishonestly

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5.13 Changing Media

• Congress & Press Coverage: Most news organizations have at least one Capitol Hill correspondent to cover the daily ongoings of congress. In the late 70s, C-SPAN was created as a nonprofit organization to cover Congress, committee hearings, think tanks, public meetings, and political rallies

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• Presidents & Press Coverage: news covers the president on a fairly consistent basis, covering their policy agenda, their personal life before and during their service, travel, etc. JFK first developed a positive relationship with television media in the early 60s, but the Nixon administration’s controversies led to a more adversarial relationship with media
• The president has a full-time press secretary who informs groups of the media regarding the goings on of the White House, but presidents also often have press briefings as well

5.13 Changing Media

• Courts & Press Coverage: news cover crime, lawsuits, and court decisions on a regular basis. The 6th Amendment requires public trials, meaning journalists can attend trials. While cameras are allowed at most local and state courts, most federal courts do not allow cameras. The SCOTUS does not allow cameras.

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• Political Analysis: journalists and others providing opinions of political issues are generally engaging in political analysis. Politicians sometimes write op-eds for newspapers on political issues, explaining their position

5.13 Changing Media

• Political Commentary: Editorials (op-eds) appear in newspapers and in televised media. Over time, the distinction between journalistic reporting and commentary has blended, making it difficult to apply journalistic standards of objectivity; most news viewers cannot tell the difference between “news statements” and opinions
• Opinionated reporting has increased political viewership, making millions for powerful media organizations, so any changes to that system will be very difficult

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5.13 Changing Media

Media Ownership and Bias

• Narrowcasting: the tendency of media outlets to cover politics in a specific way to ensure viewership of a specific demographic (Fox News aims for conservatives; MSNBC aims for liberals)
• In the past there was a Fairness Doctrine—a federal policy that required broadcasters to give equal time to opposing viewpoints—but that ended in 1987.

5.13 Changing Media

• Media Ownership
• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates electronic media and has authority over content of radio, television, wire services, and satellite broadcasts; it also works to prevent monopolies
• People generally watch political coverage that confirms their personal beliefs, and networks cater to that

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• Media Bias
• Media generally has been criticized from the right for being liberal since the 1970s when the press uncovered lies by the Nixon administration. Studies have shown that reporters are more likely to be Democrats.
• In modern times, conservative media publish negative stories on liberal politics, and vice versa, making it difficult for anyone to truly get the full picture

5.13 Changing Media

Media and Democratic Debate

• Increased Media Choices
• In the last few decades, the number of television channels and media outlets has exploded, which can result in more information for people interested in politics, but can also result in narrowcasting and a growing gap in political knowledge

5.13 Changing Media

Media and Democratic Debate

• Ideologically Oriented Programming
• Some political coverage attempts to stay neutral to attract a wide variety of audience, while others cater to the audience and find information that confirms what they already believe, known as confirmation bias

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• Consumer-Driven Media and Technology
• Consumer-Driven Media: It is important to remember that media organizations, social media, etc. are profit-making businesses so it is in their best interest to do what they can to get and keep people’s attention

ASSIGNMENT:

Citizens United v FEC

Chapter 19 Review