1. Campaigns, Elections, and Mass Media
Unit 4

2. Nominations
Definition: the official endorsements of candidates for office by political parties
What is necessary for a candidate to win the nomination?
Momentum
Money
Media attention
Strategy

3. Competing for Delegates
Caucus
Primary
Frontloading

4. Competing for Delegates
Evaluating the Primary/Caucus System
Disproportionate attention to early ones
Prominent politicians do not run.
Money plays too big a role.
Participation in primaries and caucuses is low and unrepresentative; 20 percent vote in primaries.
The system gives too much power to the media.

5. The Nomination Game

6. The Campaign
Why did the primary/caucus system change the role of national conventions?
Why is the media a deciding factor in who gets elected?
Who is involved in a campaign “organization”?

7. Money and Campaigning The Maze of Campaign Finance Reforms
Federal Election Campaign Act (1974)
Created the FEC and Presidential Election Campaign Fund
Provided partial public financing for presidential primaries
Provided full public financing for major party candidates in the general election
Required full disclosure and limited contributions

8. Money and Campaigning The Maze of Campaign Finance Reforms
What is “soft money”?
The McCain-Feingold Act (2002) banned soft money, increased amount of individual contributions, and limited “issue ads.”
What are “527s”?

9. Money and Campaigning The Proliferation of PACs
Political Action Committees (PACs): created by law in 1974 to allow corporations, labor unions and other interest groups to donate money to campaigns
PACs donate to candidates who support their issue.
What is the “doctrine of sufficiency”?

10. The Impact of Campaigns
Campaigns have three effects on voters:
Reinforcement, Activation, Conversion
Why are campaigns sometimes ineffective at changing the outcome of elections?
Selective perception
Party identification
Incumbency advantage

11. Understanding Nominations and Campaigns
Does the nomination and campaign process promote democracy?
Do campaigns lead to an increased scope of government?
Candidates make numerous promises, especially to state and local interests.
Hard for politicians to promise to cut size of government

12. How American Elections Work
Three types of elections:
Select party nominees (primary elections)
Select officeholders (general elections)
Select options on specific policies
Referendum
Initiative

13. Voter Apathy Downs voting theory Political Efficacy Civic Duty
Voter registration/Motor Voter Act

14. Who Votes? Education – Most important factor Age Race Gender
Marital Status
Union Membership
Cumulative effect

15. How Americans Vote Mandate Theory of Elections Party Identification
Candidate Image

16. How Americans Vote Policy Voting
Basing your vote choice on issue preferences and where the candidates stand on policy issues
Unlikely to occur because:
Candidates ambiguous
“Horse race journalism” dominates
How does the primary system serve to increase policy voting?

17. How the Electoral College Works
# of votes based on congressional representation
Winner-take-all system dominant in states
Electors vote in December, reported in January
If no candidate gets a majority (270 votes), the House of Representatives votes for president (1 vote/state)

18. Small States Dominant?

19. Understanding Elections and Voting Behavior
How do elections promote democracy?
How do elections impact the scope of government?

20. Mass Media Politics How has technology changed politics?
Why has the process of image making become more important since the 1970s?

21. Print Media Why is Print Media in decline? Newspapers and magazines
Pecking order among newspapers
New York Times has largest impact

22. Broadcast Media How did Broadcast Media change politics?
Brought government and politics into peoples’ homes
Politicians’ appearance and mannerisms more important

23. Broadcast Media
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates the use of airwaves in three ways:
Prevent near monopoly control of market
Reviews performance of stations
Issues fair treatment rules for politicians
Narrowcasting: media programming on cable TV or Internet that is focused on one topic and aimed at a particular audience, e.g., C-SPAN
Cable News Channels report on news as it happens and offer choices

24. The Internet as News Source
The Impact of the Internet
Internet is purposive—people choose what to learn about
Why is the purposive nature of Internet a concern for our democracy?

25. Media Ownership
How does private control of media outlets and the dependence on ad revenues endanger journalistic integrity?
Massive conglomerates account for over four-fifths of the nation’s daily newspaper circulation
Six companies own most of the broadcast media in this country

26. Reporting the News Finding the News Beats Trial Balloons
Presenting the News
Sound Bites: short video clips
Less time devoted to covering political candidates
Interesting pictures, negative reporting

27. The News and Public Opinion
How does television news shape public opinion? The policy agenda?
What is the theory of political entrepreneurship?

28. Understanding the Mass Media
How does media promote democracy?
How does media impact the scope of government?
How has media helped to increase the relative importance of the presidency?