Campaigns and Elections Chapter Seven Campaigns and Elections

What is the best way to calculate the rate at which Americans vote? Enduring Questions What is the best way to calculate the rate at which Americans vote? What factors chiefly influence who wins a presidential election? Can federal laws keep big money out of political campaigns? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

U.S. has more elections but lower overall voting Introduction U.S. has more elections but lower overall voting U.S. has weak political parties and many offices to fill Voter participation higher in parliamentary democracies How best do you achieve democracy? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Political Participation Individuals select different forms of participation, often reflecting their social and educational characteristics Why people participate—and don’t participate Who participates? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Historical Voting Patterns The rise of the American electorate Voting turnout Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Explaining and Improving Turnout Registered voters do vote Problem: Several reasons why eligible voters not registered Attempted reform Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Table 7.1: Two Ways of Calculating Voter Turnout, Here and Abroad Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Most campaigning intensely personalistic Assembling a staff Strategy Political Campaigns Most campaigning intensely personalistic Assembling a staff Four distinct groups of workers Strategy Is television is an efficient means of reaching voters? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Campaigns Do campaigns make a difference? Three reasons why Democrats do not always win despite their numeric advantage Private polls contracted by the candidates Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Campaigns (Cont’d) Campaigns are more significant when they provide a larger share of voter information Single-issue groups Campaigns and passage of time allow voters to see more, learn more about candidates Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

How to Win the Presidential Election Political party affiliations The state of the economy has great influence on how independents vote The character of the candidate – is he “presidential”? Issues less important than these three factors Congressional elections somewhat different Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Table 7.3: Party Voting in Presidential Elections Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Party decline is occurring, however Election Outcomes Party realignments Party decline is occurring, however A winning coalition Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Unnumbered Figure 7.1: Office-Bloc Ballot for the 2000 Presidential Election This office-bloc ballot groups candidates of all parties by office, thereby making it harder to cast a straight party vote. Other ballots, such as the party- column ballot, group candidates by party, which makes it easier to vote a straight party ticket by putting an X in the appropriate place on the ballot (or pulling the party lever on a voting machine). P.185 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Table 7.4: Percentage of Various Groups Saying They Voted for the Democratic Presidential Candidate, 1960–2000 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Modern Technology and Political Campaigns Effect of media most significant when few other sources of information Television, radio, newspapers Computers used to target particular audiences Are today’s voters manipulated? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Where does the money come from? Elections and Money Impact of money Where does the money come from? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Elections on Policy Are elections meaningless? Elections can signal dramatic change Periods of consolidation may make elections appear unimportant Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Elections on Policy (Cont’d) Kind of campaign needed to win affects kind of people willing to run Current election system rewards certain people Prior governing experience not necessarily required Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Reconsidering the Enduring Questions What is the best way to calculate the rate at which Americans vote? What factors chiefly influence who wins a presidential election? Can federal laws keep big money out of political campaigns? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.