Chapter 10: Elections and Voting Behavior How American Elections Work A Tale of Three Elections Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions The Last Battle: The Electoral College Understanding Elections and Voting Behavior Summary

How American Elections Work LO 10.1: Distinguish the types of elections in the United States. Functions of Elections – _______________ political activity – Make it possible for most political participation to be channeled through the electoral process. – Regular access to political power – Leaders can be replaced. – ______________ – Fair and free way of selecting political leaders. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman

How American Elections Work Three Kinds of Elections – ________________ elections – Voters select party nominees. – _______________ elections – Between the nominees of the parties. – Elections on specific policy questions – Voters make (______________ petition) or ratify (_________________) legislation. LO 10.1 To Learning Objectives

A Tale of Three Elections LO 10.2: Trace the evolution of the American electoral process from 1800 to the present. 1800: The First Electoral __________ of Power 1896: A Bitter Fight Over __________ Interests 2008: An Election About Change To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman

A Tale of Three Elections 1800: The First Electoral Transition of Power – _____ primaries, conventions, or speeches. – Campaigns focused not on voters but on state legislatures who chose electors. – After many votes in the House, the presidency was transferred to Jefferson peacefully. LO 10.2 To Learning Objectives

A Tale of Three Elections 1896: A Bitter Fight Over Economic Interests – Democrats’ main issue was unlimited coinage of _____________. – Bryan won the Democratic Party nomination with speeches about the virtues of silver. – McKinley won the election and the Republicans regained majority status. To Learning Objectives LO 10.2

A Tale of Three Elections 2008: An Election About Change – Obama’s main _________ was changing the health care system to extend coverage to everyone. – McCain’s main issue was making changes to improve the __________ and the financial institutions. – Obama won and became the 1 st African-American president. To Learning Objectives LO 10.2

Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice Suffrage – The ________ right to vote, in the United States gradually extended to virtually all citizens over the age of 18. LO 10.3 To Learning Objectives

Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice Deciding Whether to Vote – Anthony Downs – People who see policy ________ between the parties are more likely to vote. – Political ___________ – Belief that one’s vote does matter and can actually make a difference. – Civic Duty – Belief that a citizen should vote to support democratic government. To Learning Objectives LO 10.3

Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice Registering to Vote – Voter Registration – A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register __________ to voting. – ___________ Voter Act – A 1993 act that requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for their driver’s license. To Learning Objectives LO 10.3

Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice Who Votes? – Education – People with a _________ than average education vote more than people with less education. – Age – _______________ people vote more than younger people. – Race – Racial minorities are usually ________________ among voters relative to their share of the citizenry. To Learning Objectives LO 10.3

Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice Who Votes? – Gender – Women participate in elections ________ than men do. – Marital status – Married people vote ________ than unmarried people. – Government employment – Workers for the government vote __________ than people who have jobs in the in private sector. To Learning Objectives LO 10.3

Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice Who Votes? – Possessing several of these traits (being elderly, well educated, and married) ________ significantly to one’s likelihood of voting. – __________________, being young, poorly educated, and single is likely to add up to a very low probability of voting. To Learning Objectives LO 10.3

How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions Mandate Theory of Elections – The idea that the winning candidate has a ______________ from the ____________ to carry out his or her platforms and politics. – Politicians like the theory better than political scientists do. LO 10.4 To Learning Objectives

How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions Party Identification – People still generally vote for a party that they __________________ with. – Parties’ hold on voters declined in the 1960s and 1970s with rise of candidate-centered politics. – Many ____________________ voters make an individual voting decision and are up for grabs each election. To Learning Objectives LO 10.4

How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions Candidate Evaluations: How Americans See the Candidates – 3 most important dimensions of candidate image are _________, reliability, and competence. – ___________ plays a role in voting when a candidate is perceived to be incompetent or dishonest. To Learning Objectives LO 10.4

How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions ___________ Voting – Electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters’ policy preferences and where the candidates stand on policy issues. To Learning Objectives LO 10.4

The Last Battle: The Electoral College LO 10.5: Evaluate the fairness of the Electoral College system for choosing the president. Electoral College – A unique American institution, created by the Constitution, providing for the selection of the president by electors. – Less populated states are __________________. – Winner-_____________-all concentrates campaigns on close states. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman

The Last Battle: The Electoral College How Electoral College Works – Electoral votes for each state ___________ its members in _____________. – 48 states use winner-take-all system (not Maine and Nebraska). – State electors vote in December following the November election. – January – Congress counts votes. – House of Representatives picks president if no majority vote. LO 10.5 To Learning Objectives

The Last Battle: The Electoral College Important Electoral College – The _____________ populated states are overrepresented because states get 2 electors for the ____________ regardless of population. – Winner-take-all means candidates will focus on winning the states where the polls show that there appears to be a close contest. To Learning Objectives LO 10.5

Understanding Elections and Voting Behavior Democracy and Elections – The _____________ the policy differences between candidates, the more likely voters will be able to steer government policy by their choices. – _________________ voting – Voters cast a vote based on what a candidate has done for them lately. LO 10.6 To Learning Objectives

Understanding Elections and Voting Behavior Elections and the Scope of Government – Elections generally ___________ government policies and power. – Voters feel they are sending a message to government to accomplish something. – So the government _____________ to fill the needs of the voters. To Learning Objectives LO 10.6