Media Phrases On the record: the name of the interviewee can be mentioned and anything he or she said can be quoted in the story Off the record: info provided can’t be printed On background: substance of the interview can be published and quoted but the official source can’t be named (ex.-a senior White House aide) On deep background: not even an indirect resource is used in a story Shield laws: protect journalists from having to reveal their sources Trial balloon: politicians give a story to the press to gauge the public’s reaction Leak: unauthorized release of info to the press

Answers to A Cooperative Quiz BW on 3/31 1. C 2. C 3. D 4. D 5. D 6. B 7. D 8. C 9. C 10. B

Today’s BW Straight-ticket voting is voting for candidates from the same party in an election Split-ticket voting is voting for candidates from different parties in an election.

Political Parties: The Party in Gov’t Coalition: a group of individuals with a common interest upon which every political party depends What parties have done and promise to do influence who join its coalition Parties and politicians generally act on their campaign promises (see its importance for re-election) There are some cases where that did not happen. Ex- LBJ in ‘64 election 2000 Party Platform on pg. 248

Party Eras Party Eras: historical periods in which a majority of votes cling to the party in power Critical Election: an electoral “earthquake” where new issues and new coalitions emerge Party Realignment: the displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election Pgs in your textbook outline the important Party Eras in US History

Party Eras 1968-Present: The Era of Divided Gov’t One party controls the White House and another controls Congress, either all or in part. Reasons for divided gov’t: Party dealignment: disengagement of people from parties, evidence shows shrinking party affiliation and more people regarding themselves as independents

Third Parties or Minor Parties Third Parties are electoral contenders other than the two parties and who rarely win elections

Four Types of Minor Parties Ideological parties are based on certain social, economic, or political ideas. Single-Issue parties focus on one public policy matter. Economic Protest parties appear during tough financial times. Splinter parties are parties that have broken away from one of the major parties.

Third Parties Third parties are sometimes accused of playing the “spoiler role” in elections. This means they have a strong candidate who pulls votes away from one of the two major parties and it weakens that party’s ability to win the election.

Third Parties in America Libertarian Party: favors minimal gov’t regulation in the economy, strong civil liberties, minimal intervention in foreign policy and regulation of border migration Green Party: committed to environmental causes, non-violence, and grassroots organizing. Constitution Party: strong belief in federalism and non-intervention by the gov’t but against abortion and illegal immigration Peace and Freedom Party: advocates free education and abortion, concerned with racial equality and feminism

Why the two-party system remains in the US? There are several reasons for this in the U.S.: tradition, electoral system favors the two-party system because nearly all U.S. elections are single-member elections and the winner is whoever receives a plurality of the votes, much of U.S. election law was created in a bipartisan way by the two major parties, and most voters tend to not vote for minor party candidates.