1.  Time Magazine – “Campaign Inflation” 1. Describe the growth of campaign spending since the mid- 1980’s. 2. What is another name for the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002? 3. What happened in 2010 that dismantled BCRA & encouraged even more campaign spending? Please put your answers to The Choice 2008 in the bin.

2.  Elections & Campaigns, Political Parties, Interest Groups

3. 

4. Objectives/ Agenda  Examine primary and general elections.  Review ballot measures.  Explore voting trends & identify impacts on elections. Agenda 1. Slide notes 2. Elections and Campaign CW 3. HW- Brooks article

5.  Provide means for selecting political leaders  Make elected officials accountable for their actions  Important part of political participation for citizens  Legitimize positions of power in the political system  Dates for national elections for Pres/VP & Congress are set by local and state governments

6.  Role of “Head of state” & “Head of gov” are given to one person  Executive is directly elected by the people  Checks and Balances  Separation of Powers  Countries: U.S., Nigeria, Mexico  Parliamentary Sovereignty  “Head of state” vs. “Head of gov”  Majority party in the legislature elects the Executive  No separation between legislature and executive  Country: United Kingdom PresidentialParliamentary

7. USA  In US, elections have 2 crucial phases: getting nominated & getting elected  Both require individual effort on the part of the candidate Europe  In Europe, the political party decides who will be allowed to run & puts the candidates’ names on the ballot

8.  More Competitive o Winner usually gets less votes -- 55% or less  Larger voter turn out  Rely on mass media to reach voters  Incumbent Presidents are often held responsible for whatever goes wrong  Term limits = 2 after FDR  Less Competitive o Winner usually gets over 60% of the vote  Smaller voter turnout  Closer contact w/district’s voters  Even incumbent Congressmen can “run against Washington”  No term limits  Mike Gravel - Rock - - YouTube Mike Gravel - Rock - - YouTube PresidentialCongressional

9.  Based on “The Choice 2008”, what are the key steps in running for President?

10.  Getting “mentioned” by the media  Money  Organization/PACs  Strategy, Tone, Timing, Targets & Themes  Presidential Primary – part of nominating process for Pres & VP candidates o Convention  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fy-uhxiXcE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fy-uhxiXcE

11.  The Real Cost of a Presidential Campaign: Presidential Prices - Bloomberg The Real Cost of a Presidential Campaign: Presidential Prices - Bloomberg

12.  The problems of malapportionment & gerrymandering  Selected as the candidate for the party - win the primary  The effect of coattails?  Staying in office & the incumbency advantage

13. 1.Where do we see the biggest + changes? 2.Where do we see the biggest – changes? 3.What are some reasons why this is happening? 4.What does this mean for congressional candidates?

14.  Primaries: o Voters are ideological – appeal to the party base o Mobilizes activists who will give money, volunteer, attend caucuses o Ex: Iowa Caucus o Anatomy of a Caucus | Video - ABC News Anatomy of a Caucus | Video - ABC News  Gen’l Campaign: o Appeal to the center

16.  Open: Anyone can elect the party’s candidate  Closed: Requires registration in the party to elect the party’s candidate  Blanket: Vote for candidates of either party on one ballot  Run-off: If no candidate gets a majority of the vote in the primary, the top two candidates go have runoff primary to determine winner

17.  Which type of primary would allow choosing a Republican for one office and a Democrat for another?  Which primary is “exclusive”?  Which primary is “inclusive”?  Which primary is held after the first primary?

18.  Referendum: Determine whether citizens support an action by their states/locality.  Recall: Vote on whether to “recall” an official before the end of the term. o Different from impeachment o Ex: California Gov Gray Davis was replaced w/Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003

19. 1. Political party affiliation 2. State of the Economy 3. Character of the candidate  Which group normally decides the elections?  How do the economy and character affect elections?  What is the clothespin vote?

20.  Major shifts in coalition that supports one or both parties  New issue cuts across existing party divisions replacing old issues formerly making up the base  Partisanship: Loyalty to the party? o “split ticket” voting  New voters o Youth, immigrants, economy

21.  How did party realignment occur in: o 1860 o 1896 o 1932 o 1980  Realigning elections = “Critical Elections” or “electoral earthquakes”

22.  More people identify as Democrats BUT … o Democrats are less loyal to the party o GOP does better among independents o Republicans have higher turnout

23.  Hispanics o Cubans?  African Americans  Jews  Catholics  Southerners  Union members  Business people  Poor people

24. Prospective Voters  Examine the how rival candidates view issues we care about  Vote for the person we think has the best ideas  Requires info about candidates & issues  Time consuming – “political junkies” & activists  Position Issues Retrospective Voters  Looking at how thing have gone in the recent past & if happy, then vote FOR the incumbent party or if unhappy, vote AGAINST  Doesn’t require a lot of info  Decides most elections!

25.  What factors contribute to voter turnout, when is it highest? lowest? Why?  What is the most common criterion that people use when voting for a presidential candidate?

26.  Elections & Campaigns Crossword  HW: Brooks: “One Nation Slightly Divisable” & RQs