Campaigns and voting behavior Chapter 9

Deciding whether to vote Legitimacy: The people’s belief that the government has the right to rule Political Efficacy: The belief that one’s political participation really matters. Civic Duty: The belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should always vote.

Who votes? Age Income Education Marriage Caucasian Female Union Member Government Worker Northerner

Registration requirements and voter turnout Turnout is impacted by: Voter ID requirements Mail in ballots Same day registration Early voting Ballot length State ballot issues

Voter Behavior models Rational Choice Voting-voting for your best interests Retrospective Voting-voting based on the recent past Prospective Voting-voting based on predictions about the future Party-line Voting-voting for all of the candidates for one party

Expanding Suffrage 1800s (States Actions) – Removed religious qualifications, eliminated property ownership and tax payment qualifications. 15th Amendment – Protected citizens from being denied the right to vote based on race or color (1870) 19th Amendment – Women given the right to vote (1920) Civil Rights Acts (1957, 1960 & 1964) – Commission to looking voter discrimination, voting referees, forbid the use of voter registration or literacy requirement in a discriminatory manner 23rd Amendment – Residents of DC can vote for president (1961) 24th Amendment – Eliminated poll tax (1964) Voting Rights Act of 1965 – Made the 15th Amendment effective, must apply to ALL elections, preclearance (no new laws can dilute the voting rights of minorities) 26th Amendment – Lowered voting age to 18 (1971) Motor Voter Act (1993) – Register to vote when applying for driver’s license

Getting the Party’s Nomination Caucus: Meetings of party members used to select delegates and nominees. Organized like a pyramid Iowa is first

Getting the Party’s Nomination Open primaries allow party members and non affiliated voters to vote. Closed primaries allow only party members to vote. New Hampshire is first

Front Loading When a state holds its primary early to capitalize on media attention.

Choosing Convention Delegates The McGovern Fraser Commission in 1968 wrote new rules to increase the number of female and minority delegates in the Democratic Party Superdelegates are awarded seats based on the office they hold, such as being a member of Congress. They bring experience and represent the party elite.

Campaigns

Changes over time Basic Components (p. 301) Becoming more technology-driven Paid advertising vs. earned (free) media Basic Components (p. 301) Campaign manager - Pollsters Fundraising - Press secretary Counsel/attorneys - Plan logistics and outreach Media consultants Campaign staff Research staff and policy advisors

Money and the political dialogue Campaign contributions – money given directly to a candidate or party. Must be reported to the FEC Independent expenditures – money given to groups to express political views which may aid a campaign but CANNOT coordinate with the campaign

1. Federal election campaign act of 1974 2. Pacs 3. Buckley v 1. Federal election campaign act of 1974 2. Pacs 3. Buckley v. Valeo (1976) 4. bipartisan campaign reform act of 2002 (Mccain Feingold) 5. Independent Organizations: 527s & 501(c) 6. Citizens United v. Fec (2010) 7. Super Pacs

Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974 Federal Election Commission: administers campaign finance laws for federal elections. Public financing of presidential elections (matching funds) Limited spending & required disclosure Limited contributions to campaigns

Political Action Committees Created by law in 1974 to allow corporations, labor unions and others to donate money to campaigns.

Buckley v. valeo (1976) The Supreme Court struck down the provision that limited the amount an individual could spend on his or her own campaign.

Bipartisan campaign finance reform act (McCain Feingold) Set limits of $2000 for individual contributions and $5000 for PACs, indexed for inflation. Banned independent ads 30 days before primaries and 60 days before a general election

Independent organizations 527s are independent organizations that run ads that are not sponsored by a political party or a candidate. 501(c) groups allow donors to remain anonymous. They cannot spent more than half of their funds on political activities.

Citizens united v. fec (2010) 527s and 501(c) groups are considered to be persons under the law, with free speech rights. The 30 and 60 day limits on ads were ruled to be unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment.

Superpacs Super PACS may engage in unlimited spending independent of candidate and parties. They can raise funds from corporations, unions, and other groups without limits.

Does money buy elections? www.opensecrets.org