-- Political Participation - Mobilize/Educate Voters ❋ they contact local citizens to encourage them to vote for their candidate ❋ they educate voters on important issues in the world Impact of Political Parties Create Platforms Get Candidates + Campaign ❋ each party creates a list of beliefs and political goals ❋ some candidates may be flexible and not support all parts of the platform Initiatives Ballot Measures Referendums Recalls when citizens put their own law on the ballot when voters can vote to repeal an unpopular law vote to fire an official in the middle of the term ❋ they look for candidates that are popular and have strong financial resources ❋ they then endorse and support that candidate Govern ❋ if the candidate wins, they will govern with the interests of their party in mind ❋ they will support laws that align with the party platform Connected AC’s P Nonconnected Super funded by donations of members of an org. not sponsored, these form around a specific issue get more money if they don’t directly help a candidate Required Court Case Citizens United vs. FEC . . . ❋ congress passed BCRA, which states that corporations can’t use their own money on campaigns ❋ Citizens United was a company that wanted to create a movie attacking Hillary Clinton, but the FEC said it violated BCRA ❋ they brought it to the Supreme Court ❋ the Court had to decide if BCRA violated the rights given by the first amendment ❋ they ruled in favor of Citizens United and chose to strike down parts of BCRA ❋ the Court stated that the first amendment gave corporations the right to express their views by donating to campaigns ❋ the ruling allowed companies to donate money to candidates in order to influence the outcome of elections Road to Presidency Party Conventions General Election Primaries ❋ used to determine which candidate will represent a party in the general election ❋ closed primary: voters declare their party affiliation before voting, so they can only vote for a person in that party ❋ open primary: voters declare party affiliation on voting day, so they vote for a person in their party of choice ❋ blanket primary: voters can vote for multiple candidates in multiple parties ❋ caucuses: voters meetup and debate before choosing a candidate as a group ❋ states choose delegates to go to party convention ❋ they vote the same way citizens in the state voted ❋ so people usually know who wins the primaries before the convention actually take place ❋ one candidate from each party go head-to-head ❋ sometimes there are third party candidates, but they don’t have a chance to win ❋ some states vote for the same party every election ❋ swing states: when the state chooses candidates from different parties each election ❋ candidates campaign and spend more on swing states Interest Groups Single-Issue Groups Organizations Intergov. Groups ❋ created for broad or specific interests ❋ try to get laws passed that are related to their issue ❋ ex. NAACP, NRA ❋ created for specific interests ❋ try to get laws passed that are related to their issue ❋ ex. NRA, AARP ❋ gov.-associated interest groups ❋ gov. workers come together to get laws passed that help them ❋ ex. NL of Cities Electoral College ❋ each state gets the same amount of delegates as they do reps. in Congress ❋ most states have a winner take all system where all the electors from a state vote for one candidate, specifically the one that won their state ❋ Nebraska and Maine split their electoral votes based on who won each individual district Professional Assoc. Corporations ❋ created to help white-collar jobs ❋ they push for laws that help create successful business ❋ ex. ABA, AMA ❋ consist of think tanks, which are research institutions with specific goals ❋ try to get Congress to deregulate . .
