Unit III: Political Participation
Advanced Placement
Government and Politics
Chapter 5 : Public Opinion
• The views of many people on subjects of
politics and government
– Hard to define
– Many diverse “publics”
– So many opinions…hard to quantify
– Opinion on most issues is
• Uninformed; we have no idea what is being asked
• Unstable; changes based on new data, news, etc…
• Sensitive to how question is asked
Sources of Public Opinion
• Family
– Political affiliation almost totally a factor of parents
– Policy preferences not related to party/parents
– Political ideology communicated from parents
• Religion
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Catholics more liberal
Protestants more conservative
Jewish most liberal
Theories as to why?
• Immigrant experiences
• Content of religions
More Sources of Public Opinion
• Gender
– Women more likely to be Republican/Conservative
after 1950’s
– Women more likely to be Democrats since 1980’s
– Shift due to changing party positions on gendersensitive issues like:
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War
gun control
Pornography
Prohibition
Abortion
Etc…
Even More Sources of Public Opinion
• Schooling/Education/Information
– College students more liberal than population
• Even more liberal at prestigious schools
• Social science teachers/students most liberal
• Younger faculty most liberal
– Extends beyond college due to increasing political
participation
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Not college at all, personal traits
Exposure to more information, viewpoints, cultures, etc…
Liberalism of professors, materials, textbooks, etc…
Effect has increased as more people attend college
Changes in Public Opinion
• Social Class
– Working Class v. Upper Class
– More important in 1950’s on issues like
unemployment, education, housing, welfare
– Less important in 1960’s on issues like poverty,
health care, Vietnam, jobs
– Determination of party affiliation,
liberal/conservative identity now caused less by
economic issues
Race and Ethnicity
• Has become more important on issues like busing,
home sales, death penalty, defense, and welfare
• African-Americans are most consistently liberal
racial/ethnic group in US
• Hispanic-Americans less liberal on issues like abortion,
welfare, death penalty, crime prevention, etc…
(depends greatly on family’s original country of origin)
• Asian-Americans more likely to be conservative
Geographic Region
• Affect political attitudes; Southern and Northern Americans
disagree on many issues
• Regional differences greater on non-economic issues
• South used to be “Solid South” (Democratic until 1980)
• Southern lifestyle different
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More accommodating to business
Less supportive of labor (unions)
Gave greater support to 3rd parties (G. Wallace, R. Perot, etc…)
Opposed to income-redistribution plans
• Southerners more conservative socially
• Becoming less loyal to Democratic Party
• Only Presidential candidate that could have won w/out
South was LBJ since 1940
Political Ideology
• The philosophical differences between people
regarding governmental policies and issues
• Most citizens display little and know less
• Many people do not have strong
predispositions to any one ideology
• View that people have inconsistent opinions is
arbitrary and assumes all liberals/
conservatives share identical views
Political Ideology
• Liberalism: philosophy that government
should do more to regulate the economy and
have less involvement in people’s personal
choices
• Conservatism: philosophy that government
should do more to regulate people’s personal
behavior and less regulation of the economy
FDR’s “Liberalism”
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New Deal=Liberal
Government intervention in the economy
Social welfare programs
Helping labor gain power
Increase the size/power of the middle class
Some equalization of wealth and opportunity
Opponents to FDR called themselves
Conservatives
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Free markets rather than regulated
State’s rights rather than national supremacy
Self-reliance; gov can’t do it all!
Less equalization of wealth
Less support of labor
Individual choice/opportunity
Etc…
Four Categories to Compare Liberal
and Conservative
• Economic Policy
Liberals
Conservatives
Jobs for all
Get your own job
Subsidized medical care
Pay for your own medical care
Tax the rich!
Don’t tax the rich (or middle!)
Civil Rights
Liberals
Conservatives
Desegregation by force
Let people choose for themselves
Equal opportunity regulated by GOV
Let businesses decide for themselves who
to hire
Strict enforcement of Civil Rights Acts
Let consumers use their buying power to
force companies to hire; no quotas!
Public/Private Conduct
Liberals
Conservatives
Tolerance of demonstration
Law and order; clear the streets
Legalize marijuana
Arrest pot heads!
Eliminate causes of crime (poverty)
Lock ‘em up (or execute ‘em)
Foreign Policy
Liberals
Conservatives
Arms control/reduction
Invest in more and better weapons
End aid to Contras, Iraq, Afghanistan,
…
Help all our “friends” and take out our
enemies!
Force US businesses out of nations
like South Africa, Somalia, Venezuela,
etc…
Business is business. Make more, sell more,
higher profits!
Analyzing Consistency
• Pure Liberal: tax the rich, regulate business, and
leave my personal life alone.
• Pure Conservative: “Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax
that guy behind the tree.” Strom Thurmond, Sen. SC.
Leave the economy alone, control the behavior of “bad”
people.
• Libertarian: Leave me and the economy alone!
• Populist: Government should regulate everything
and tax everyone! (except me!)
Chapter 6: Voting!
• The problem of Non-Voting:
– Alleged American Problem: people don’t vote
– It appears that fewer Americans (%) vote
compared to other nations
– 50% of Americans vote; 90%+ vote in Europe
– Argentina has 100% turnout!
– Comparison is skewed:
• Compare our % of voting age people who vote to their
% of registered voters who vote
• Makes a 34% difference in the statistics
Common Explanation: Apathy!
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Not real source for problem
Real problem in US is the REGISTRATION RATE!
Most who register will vote
How can we get people to vote?
– Attempts:
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Motor Voter Act
Get Out The Vote
Vote or Die
Choose or Lose
Etc…
Proposed Solution: Get out the Vote
• Won’t work; need to register first
• Need a way to get more people to register
• Apathy towards voting is not the issue
Apathy not only cause of nonregistration
• Why won’t people register???
– May not care about politics/civic duty
– Burden is on the individual
– More “costly” to register (time, effort, etc…)
– Americans are reasonably satisfied w/ gov’t
– Fear of looking stupid (not sure how)
– Language barriers
– Lack of information/education
Voting is not the only way to
participate
• Join civic organization (Lion’s Club, Rotary, Knights of
Columbus, Masons, etc…)
• Support movement (gun control, abortion rights,
immigration, flag burning, etc…)
• Write Congressman
• “fight city hall” (protest)
• Join interest group (NRA, AARP, ACLU, etc…)
• Contribute to campaign (time, money, talent)
• Take part in political party activities
• Express opinion (talk radio, blog, tweet, etc…)
• Run for office yourself
• Etc…
Movement Towards Universal Suffrage
• Originally, most voter requirements left to State
(except: Most Numerous House Rule)
• Lots of variation from State to State on who was
eligible to vote
• In beginning few could vote because of
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Age
Race
Religion
Property ownership
Taxes
gender
Constitutional Amendments, Laws,
Supreme Court Decisions Changed from
State to Federal Control
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15th amendment: race
17th amendment: Senators
19th amendment: Gender
23rd amendment: Washington, D.C.
24th amendment: poll tax
26th amendment: 18+ year olds voting rights
1842 law requiring House to be elected by District not
State-wide
• Laws requiring all federal elections to be held on same
day in every State
Voting Rights for African-Americans
and other Minorities
• 15th amendment made ineffective by Supreme
Court
• Southern States attempts to disfranchise voters:
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Literacy tests
Poll tax
White primaries
Grandfather clauses
Gerrymandering
Violence/intimidation
Women’s Suffrage
• Western States allowed women to vote by mid
1870’s
• 19th Amendment 1920
• No major change in the outcome of elections
has resulted from women voting
• WHY not?
Youth Vote
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Voting Rights Act of 1970
26th Amendment 1971
Low turnout
No support for any one party
Now have national standards on most
aspects of voting
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Age
Residency
Registration
Citizenship
Voter Turnout
• A real decline in turnout does exist (except 2008/2012)
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Decline in popular interest
Less competitive parties
Same old people running (except Obama)
No “real” issues of interest to the majority
Lots of other things to do
Etc…
Decline in turnout is more apparent
than real
• Induced by a more honest count of ballots
• Voter fraud was more commonplace before 1980
• Parties used to print all the ballots (mark them
too)
• No secret ballots (cast vote publically)
• Parties controlled count (padding)
• Parties used “floaters” and “repeaters” to
increase turnout
Most scholars see a real decline in
turnout
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After 1890, registration more difficult
Longer residency requirements (up to 1 yr)
“Australian Ballot” adopted
Aliens no longer able to vote
Racial discrimination
Educational requirements to vote (some
States)
• Register much longer in advance of election
Who can participate in politics?
• Forms of Participation:
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Inactives (do nothing!)
Voting Specialists (only vote)
Campaigners (vote and volunteer)
Communalists (work on civic issues w/in community;
write to congressmen, vote, but don’t like parties)
– Parochial Participants: (don’t vote, stay out of
elections and civic organizations, but will contact
politicians about issues)]
– Complete Activists: (do it all! Vote, campaign, join
parties, in civic organizations, protest, write letters,
etc…)
What influences participation?
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Family (Mom and Pop are #1!)
Education (on politics)
Age
Race/ethnicity
Smaller factors
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Larger population of young people and minorities
Decreasing effectiveness of parties
Remaining impediments to registration
Apathy: feeling that elections/vote doesn’t matter
Chapter 7 Political Parties
Political Parties:
• Definition: a group of people who seek to
control government by winning elections and
holding office
• Exist in 3 arenas:
– Label in minds of voter
– Organizations that recruit and campaign
– Set of leaders that try to control gov/agenda
Decentralization of Parties
• Results from:
– Federal system
– Locally based party system
– Primary elections select candidates
– Separate elections for Congress and President
Weaknesses of American Parties
• Institutional and legal factors
– Fund-raising laws
– Spending limits
– Free speech/Fairness Doctrine
• American political culture
– Parties unimportant to most Americans
– Parties are separate from the rest of our lives
* Most Americans are independents!
Political Party History
• The “Founding” Period (1789-1824
– Framers opposed parties or factions
– Washington warns against them in farewell address
– Policy and elections disputes (Hamilton v. Jefferson) and legitimacy of
gov
– Federalists (Hamilton/Adams) and Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson)
– Weak party structure
• Experimental system
• No past to tie to
• Political leaders are not professional politicians
• Federalists have limited base (rich!)
• Mostly made up of local notables w. no national following
• Participation was limited
• No representation on clear economic issues
Jacksonian Era (1824-1861)
• Political participation become mass phenomenon
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More voters available (population grew, fewer restrictions)
Party system built from bottom up (local to national)
Abandonment of Presidential Caucuses
Party Convention developed to nominate presidential
candidates
Civil War and Sectionalism (1861-1911)
• Jacksonian system could not survive slavery issue
• Democrats and Whigs split over slavery, new parties emerged
• Republican Party emerges as dominant national party due to:
– Lincoln’s Election
– Civil War
– Bryan’s nomination by the Democrats in 1896
• 1896-1930 North will be solidly Republican; South will be
solidly Democrat
• One party States developed, dividing by factions
• Factions especially strong among Republicans:
– Stalwarts (Old Guard)
– Mugwumps, Progressives, Reformers
The Era of Reform (1912-1948ish)
• Progressives supported measures to curtail partisan
power
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Primary elections
Non-partisan elections
Opposed business-party alliances
Stricter voter registration requirements
Civil service reforms
Initiative and referendum
• Effects of Progressivism
– Reduced the worst forms of political corruption
– Weakened all political parties
National Parties Today (1948-NOW!)
• Two Kinds of party structures
– Democrats : Fractional or factional party
– Republicans: organized party (run like a business)
• Structural similarities
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National Convention
National Committee
Congressional Campaign Committee
National Chairman(woman)
• Appear to be controlled top down
– Not true
– At every level (local, County, State, National) organization does
whatever it wants.
– No real national control
The Two Party System
• A political system in which two major parties
dominate.
• Only 15 of 131 nations have
• Two parties are evenly balanced nationally, but
have local loyalties
• Why is 2 party system for permanent in US?
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Plurality system: Winner Take ALL!
Single-member Districts for US HoR
State election laws (like TX)
Opinion of workers/US Citizens who prefer it
Minor or Third Parties
• Smaller political associations that rarely win in
national or State elections
• Types of:
– Ideological (Nazi, Communist, Worker World, etc)
– Single-issue (Right to Life, Green, Know-nothing)
– Economic Protest(Greenback, United We Stand
American)
– Splinter (Bull-Moose, Dixiecrats, Populists)
Roles of Third Party
• Spoiler: take enough votes away from major
party candidate to “spoil” their victory
• Innovator: bring new idea to debate
• Critic: criticize BOTH major parties
Political Party Finance
• “Money is the Mother’s Milk of Politics”
• Golden Rule of Politics: “He with the most
gold, RULES!”
Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neal
Presidential Campaign Finance
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Total spent in 2012: $5.3 Billion
Obama: $1.4 Billion
Romney: $1.37 Billion
Independent Expenditures: $1.27 Billion
Parties: $1.26 Billion
– Source: Open Secrets
Sources of $
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Federal Matching Funds (Pres only)
Federal Lump Sum Grants (Congress only)
Family or Self (Mr. Romney)
Individual Small Donors ($25-50) biggest source
in 2008
• Political Parties
• Fund-raisers: concerts, dinners ($30,000 to eat w/
Obama’s), cocktail parties, Bar-b-ques, picnics,
fish fries, auctions, etc…
Functions of Parties
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Nomination
Informer-stimulator
Bonding Agent
Governmental
Watchdog
Chapter 8: Elections
Road to the White House
or
10 Steps to be PREZ!
#1: Create campaign organization and “test the
waters” . Start raising big $
#2: Self-announce at least a year before the
Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary
Good idea to announce on Larry King, Oprah,
or other talk show(sorry Oprah, Larry King is still #1)
#3: Prepare for primaries and caucuses
-what’s your strategy?
-what’s your message?
-do you want to “front load?
-should you skip NH and IA? (think Guiliani!)
Why are New Hampshire and Iowa the keys to
your future success or failure?
Iowa Caucus
#4: Choose your message/strategy for getting the
most delegates.
Should you focus on California? Texas? NY?
Mid-west ? South?
How long will your $ hold out?
Where should you visit?
Where should you buy ad time?
#5: Win the most primaries (or the biggest) so
you can get the most delegates to the
National Convention.
* Democrats also have Super Delegates!
#6: Control the Convention!
-Control Platform options
-Choose your own VP
-Select speakers
#7: Win the General Election in November!
Winner Take ALL System: win a plurality of
popular votes in a State and get ALL of the
States Electoral Votes!
Need 270 of 538 to be the winner
You need to win the BIG States!
#8: Win the majority of Electoral Votes in
December (270 of 538)
If no one gets 270:
House chooses the Prez
Senate chooses the VP
#9: Inauguration: Noon on January 20th at the
U.S. Capital
Do NOT be late! Your V-P is inaugurated first.
#10: Move into the White House (and good
luck!) You might need it.
Types of Primary Elections
• Open: you may choose which party’s primary
you want to vote in on election day
• Closed: must register to vote as a party
member and can only vote in their primary
• Blanket: you can vote for one candidate from
each party for each office
• Run-off: no one got a majority of votes in the
primary, so top 3 will try again!
How will you get your message/image
to the voters?
• #1: TV Ads
• Internet (websites, e-mail, mass mail-outs,
Twitter, U Tube, etc…)
• Talk shows (Larry King Live, Oprah, Leno, etc)
• Debates (only about 24% watched last time)
• Direct mail campaigns
• Public Appearances
• Infomercials
• Etc…
Money!
• Where will you get over a Billion $ to be Prez?
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Self
Regular people ($25-100)
Fat Cats
PACs (Political Action Committees)
The Party
Lobbyists
Family
The Fund Raiser
Etc…
FEC Rules as of 2012 from McCainFeingold Act Amendments
• Individuals may give
– $2,000 to any candidate per election
– $25,000 to any national party
– $10,000 to a local party committee
– $5,000 to any PAC
– Total Individual Spending:
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$95,000 each 2year cycle (campaign spending)
$37,500 to all candidates
$57,500 national parties
$37,500 to PACs
Disclosure Requirements
• Everyone must provide a periodic accounting
of donations and spending to FEC. (except
Super PACs)
• Any donation of over $200 must be disclosed
by name, SS#, and home address
Prohibited Donations
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Corporations
Labor Unions
Federal Government Contractors
Non-citizens
No one may make a donation in another’s
name
• No one may make a cash contribution over
$100
Independent Expenditures
• Unlimited Spending!
• Communication that expressly advocates the
election or defeat of a clearly identified
candidate which is made completely
independently of any candidates campaign or
party.
• Disclosure requirements for the sources of the
funds are required.
Corporations/Labor Unions
• Cannot donate
• Cannot create independent ads
• Can form a PAC
Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission 2010
• Campaign Reform Act was declared to be
unconstitutional restriction of free speech
• Corporations and Labor Unions were denied their
free speech rights since Congress outlaw their
campaign contributions to any political activity
• Corporations and Labor Unions are still forbidden
from giving DIRECT contributions to
candidates/campaigns (Super PACs!)
• Disclosure Requirements were upheld
Political Parties
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May raise funds directly for candidates
Must meet disclosure requirements
Must meet spending limitations
May use unlimited amount of $ for “party
building” or “voter information drives”
Presidential Election Campaign Fund
Act
• Fund comes from the voluntary contributions
of US citizens when they check the box on
their tax return
– Primary Matching Funds (up to $30.91 M)
– General Election Fund (up to $61.82 M)
– Party Convention Grants($12.36 M)
– Your party must have gotten at least 2% of the
national vote in the previous presidential election
to qualify for matching funds
Soft Money
• Unlimited contributions spent on ISSUE ADS
– Cannot mention a candidate by name
– Must carry the name of the party or group
sponsoring the ad
– Was banned in McCain-Feingold Act
– ACLU, AFL-CIO, and NRA filed suit in Supreme
Court
– Claimed violated free speech rights
– They won! Soft money is currently legal without
restrictions on amount spent
Buckley V. Valeo
• Campaign $ is a form of FREE SPEECH
• Congress can limit the amount of donations
since they are a form of indirect speech
• My money spent on my ad: cannot be limited
since my money= Direct Speech
Chapter 9: Interest Groups
Roles of Interest Groups
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Provide information
Testify before Congress
Write Bills
Rally public support for issues
Represent members’ views
Raise money for supportive candidates
through PAC’s
• LOBBY!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is a lobbyist?
• One who seeks to influence a member of
Congress or the Executive Branch about the
passage, failure, or implementation of
legislation/.
What is Lobbying?
What does a Lobbyist DO?
• Try to get your Representatives, Senators, or
members of the Executive Branch to respond
to the interests of the people the lobbyist
represents.
Why do lobbyists have such an
unsavory reputation?
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Too much influence in policy-making
Donations have the appearance of bribes
Great access to the political process
Some use unethical practices
Appear biased
Don’t always act in the public’s interest
SCANDALS!
Techniques used by Lobbyists
• Polite persuasion (#2)
• Gathering and submitting data to Congress or
Bureaucracy
• Letter writing campaigns
• The Wine and Dine
• The FUND RAISER (#1)
• Junkets (fun field trips for Congress to go to
exotic location to “study” stuff)
• Subtle threats
• Etc…
Legislation Regulating Lobbying in
Washington, D.C.
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Lobbyists and Gov Officials must disclose donations and “gifts”
Junkets must be disclosed by both sides
Fund-raisers held in the District cannot have open bar
All food and drink served at a “reception” fund-raiser in DC must be
consumed standing up
No gift of more than $1 can be given to members of Congress by
Lobbyists
Lobbyists can take members of Congress to a meal or event twice a
year for $50 per person
There is no legal limit on gifts to Staff! (some members of Congress
do have limits for their employees- John McCain, Russ Feingold,
etc…)
Old-friend Exception
Iron Triangles
• Unbreakable links between :
– Congressional Committees (Armed Services)
– Interest Groups (those representing military
contractors)
– Federal Agencies (the Pentagon)
Iron Triangles
• Interest groups generally begin the process.
They ask Congress to create a program, fund
research, etc…
• Congressional Committee staff want to
increase their jurisdiction/budget
• Federal agency staff want to increase their
budgets, responsibilities, and justify their own
job or need for additional staff
Iron Triangles
• Each of the three groups has an unbreakable
link to the others
• All are co-dependant
• Personnel and information flow between the
three groups
Chapter 10: The Media
“The Watchdog of Democracy”
–Thomas Jefferson
I would rather have a free press than freedom of
religion”
-Thomas Jefferson
Media’s Impact on Campaigns and
Elections
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Campaign Costs
Paid Media V. Free Media
Requirements for coverage (“If it bleeds, it leads!”)
Sound Bites (30-60 seconds)
Scripted Events
Photo Ops
Role of the Debates
Damage Control
Spin
Negative Campaigning
Use of “spin doctors” (consultants)
Determining what is newsworthy
Attack Dogs (Carville, Matlin, Limbaugh, etc…)
Relationship between media and politicians (symbiotic)
Three Functions of Media
• Report what happened (w/out bias)
• Investigate accusations/scandals
• Act as a Watchdog on Government
Politicians USE the Media
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Control of the message
Use of staff
Use of “trial balloons”
Use of polls
Scripted events
Photo ops
Sound bites
Media USE Politicians
• 24 hours news cycle requires they have something to
report…ANYTHING!
• Reporters cultivate relationships with politicians to get the
scoop
• Paparazzi-style “journalism”
• “gotcha” news
• 30-60 second stories
• Focus on personality, not issues(too complex)
• Photo ops
• Look for the oops
• “create” news (?)
• Etc…
The Relationship between the people
and the media
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Selective Attention (change the channel)
Hyper-democracy (so many choices!)
Believability
Skepticism and cynicism
Impact on voter turnout
Is the media biased?
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YES! All humans are to some degree.
Liberal?
Conservative?
Just a perception?
Laws governing the Media and politics
• Libel: untrue and hurtful in print
• Slander: untrue and hurtful verbally
– Public Person Exception: must show actual damage and intent
• Obscenity : define in Miller V. California;
3 part test
a. prurient interests
b. depicts or describes in a patently offensive manner an
illegal sexual act
c. has no social, political, scientific, medical, artistic value
• Equal Time
• Right of Reply: when a claim is made about you, your right to
respond
• Political Editorializing: must give equal time to other side of the
issue
The END!
FRQ’s
1. Minor Parties
a. Identify
b. Why don’t they ever win?
c. How do they contribute to the political system?
FRQ’s
2. Why is it difficult for Congress to pass
comprehensive campaign finance reform?
a. identify
b. Buckley v. Valeo
c. soft money
d. incumbency advantages
remember to identify and explain!
FRQ’s
3. Why have campaigns become more
“Candidate-centered”?
a. identify
b. how has the media contributed to this?
c. how have candidates used the media to
make the campaigns more candidatecentered?
FRQ’s
4. Pick one of the major parties and:
– Identify it
– Identify major characteristics of it
– Relationship to interest groups
– Relationship to American History
– How it adapted to societal changes
– Relationship to 3rd parties
FRQ’s
5. Struggle for universal suffrage:
a. identify it
b. relate it to:
-15th amendment
-grandfather clause
-white primaries
-19th amendment
-24th amendment
-etc…
FRQ’s
6. America’s voter turnout problem
a. identify it
b. explain why stats are inaccurate
c. explain real issue
d. explain how States have tried to resolve the
issue