1. Electoral & Media

2. Quickwrite…
“Any American who cannot bother to vote and who thinks that a single vote does not matter is letting America down.”
– Marian Wright Edelman (1992)
Do you believe this is true? Why or why not? In a democracy, where people have a choice, do you believe that people have the right not to vote?

3. The Nominating Process
Nomination: Naming of person seeking office
Self-Announcement
Caucus: Select group that nominates
Convention
Direct Primary
Open: Anyone can vote regardless of party
Closed: Only party members can vote
Petition
Primary vs General Election
Nonpartisan Election
No party labels; EX: school board, city office

5. Opened vs Closed Primary
Good: Independents can vote, Voters not forced to make party declaration
Bad: “raid” primary, undercuts party loyalty
Closed:
Good: Cannot “raid” primary, candidates responsive to party/platform/members
Bad: Ballot not secret, excludes independents

8. Elections Administered by states
Super Tuesday: Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November
Congressional & Presidential Elections

9. Precincts & Ballots Precinct: Voting district
Sample ballots distributed ahead of time
Ballot
Printed at public expense
Lists candidates in election
Given out only at polls, one per person
Marked in secret

10. Automated Voting Mechanical machines outdated New electronic machines
Punch card ballots elimination due to Florida issues in 2000 election b/t Bush & Gore
Touch screen applications
Paper ballots counted by computers

11. E-Voting
Quickwrite: Do you believe that voting via Internet is a good idea?
What are the benefits?
What are the downfalls? Obstacles?

12. Sources of Funding Private Public Small amount contributors, $5-$10
Wealthy families/individuals
Candidates themselves
PACS (Political Action Committee): interest group financial backing
Fundraisers
Public
Subsidy: Public funding that a candidate chooses to have, but has limits/strings attached

14. Campaign Spending Presidential race: currently $2.5 Billion
Congressional race: currently $1.5 Billion
Laws in place to limit money use in federal campaigns

15. Federal Election Commission
Disclosure requirements
No cash gifts over $100
No foreign donation
Contributions must be recorded
Limits on Contributions
An Individual:
$2600 per candidate, $32,400 to national party, $10,000 to state/local party committee, $5,000 to any other political committee
$48K limit to all candidates, $74,600 limit PACS/party
PAC Contribution

16. To each candidate or candidate committee per election
To national party committee per calendar year
To state, district & local party committee per calendar year
To any other political committee per calendar year
Special Limits
Individual may give
$2,600
$32,400
$10,000 (combined limit)
$5,000
$123,200 overall biennial limit:
$48,600 to all candidates
$74,600 to all PACs and parties
National Party Committee may give
No limit
$45,400 to Senate candidate per campaign
State, District & Local Party Committee may give
$5,000 (combined limit)
PAC (multicandidate) may give
$15,000
PAC (not multicandidate) may give
Campaign Committee
$2,000

17. Federal Election Commission
Congress tried to limit spending w/FEC
Supreme Court ruled that limits inhibit free speech; “Money is Speech”

19. Public Funding of Presidential Candidate
Spending limits if candidate accepts FEC $
$37.3 Million preconvention limit, $74.6 Million general election limit, $15 Million limit on party’s national committee
This would DRASTICALLY alter spending habits
Major parties never take FEC money as a result.

20. Hard Money vs Soft Money
Hard Money donations regulated by FEC
Soft Money donations were not regulated
Funds given to party organization
“Party-Building Activities”
Candidate recruitment, voter registration, issue drives
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
Cannot contribute soft money to party, but you can to other ‘political groups’

21. Soft Money Ad Example
Candidate X runs an ad that says, "I am a good person. Candidate Y is a bad person. Vote for me on election day." Because of the "Vote for me..." portion, this is a political ad, which must be paid for with "hard money."
Candidate Y runs an ad that says, "Candidate X has a record that includes awful things. If these awful things continue, people will come to your house, steal your money and shoot your dog. Be sure to vote on election day." Because the ad "educates" people on an issue and doesn't tell them to vote for a particular candidate, it's party building, and can be paid for by soft money.

23. Media

24. Quickwrite…
“When you control opinion, as corporate America controls opinion in the United States by owning the media, you can make the masses believe almost anything you want, and you can guide them as you please.” – Gore Vidal Do you believe that the Media controls and is able to alter public opinion and shape people’s ideas? From a scale from 1 through 10 (10 being the highest), how influential is the Media? Why do you think that is?

27. Public Opinion
Public Opinion: Beliefs held by a significant # of people about gov’t/politics
Public Affairs: Issues related to politics/policies

28. Factors on Public Opinion
Family
Age, Race, Income, Occupation, Residency, Gender
Schools
Mass Media
Internet, Newspapers/Magazines, Television, Radio
Peer Groups
Friends, Classmates, Co-workers, Community
Opinion Leaders
Historic Events

30. How To Measure Public Opinion
Election Results
Interest Groups
Media
Personal Contacts
Ex: ing/Mailing Congress
Polls
Straw Poll: Same question, large # of people

31. Polling Process 1. Defining the population to be polled
2. Select a Sample from your population
3. Prepare valid questions
4. Interview your Sample representatives
5. Analyze/Report your findings

33. Media Sources Television Radio Newspapers Magazines
CBS, ABC, NBC control 90% of programming for 700 local stations; 45% of television viewing
Comedy Shows w/news
Radio
Talk Radio; National Public Radio (NPR)
Newspapers
Magazines
Internet (including social media)

35. Public Agenda Media’s influences agenda
Gets people interested in certain topics
Which gets politicians involved w/those topics

38. Quickwrite
“Multinational corporations do control. They control the politicians. They control the media. They control the pattern of consumption, entertainment, thinking. They're destroying the planet and laying the foundation for violent outbursts and racial division.” – Jerry Brown, CA Governor
Do you feel that this statement is accurate? Why or why not? How does the media “control” politicians and how are they supposedly destroying the planet?