UNIT 3 KEY CONCEPTS
Chapters 9-12
PART I: CHAPTERS 9-10
1. WHAT IS A CRITICISM OF
GERRYMANDERING?
 It is used to give a major advantage to one party over the other. Allows for a
party to win more House seats despite having fewer overall votes in that
state. Some say redistricting should be left to a nonpartisan commission
2. WHAT LIMITS HAS THE SUPREME COURT
PLACED ON GERRYMANDERING?
 Districts can’t be drawn based only on race; lines must be contiguous; can’t
dilute minority voting strength, must be of equal size
3. WHAT ARE THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE
TWO PARTIES?
 Democrat: Women, minorities, Northeastern, labor union member, Younger &
older (old because of social programs: Social Security, Medicare)
 Republican: Men, white, southern, middle-aged, religious, higher income
4. WHY DO STATES ENGAGE IN FRONTLOADING?
 Earlier primaries receive more attention, both from media and candidates, are
seen as more important than later primaries because one candidate often has
a large lead by later primaries, therefore early primaries are influential
5. IDENTIFY THE MAIN GOAL OF POLITICAL
PARTIES.
 Primary goal: gain power by winning elections; secondary goal: influence
public policy
6. HOW DO POLITICAL PARTIES INFLUENCE
ELECTIONS?
 Recruit and nominate candidates, fund candidates’ campaigns,
support/advertise for candidates, provide a cue for voters to identify with, get
out the vote
7. WHY ARE POLITICAL PARTIES GETTING
WEAKER?
 Rise of primary system, rise of interest groups, candidate-centered politics,
increase in PACs and Super PACs.
8. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF PRIMARIES?
 To allow a party to nominate a candidate for the general election.
9. HOW HAS THE RISE OF THE PRIMARY SYSTEM
MADE THE UNITED STATES MORE
DEMOCRATIC?
 In the past, candidates were selected by party leaders, but now people are
given more power because they can choose not only who wins the general
election, but also who the candidate from their preferred party will be
10. BRIEFLY IDENTIFY THE MAIN
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRIMARY SYSTEM.
 Early states are more important. (Iowa is first; they have a caucus).
Primary/caucus voters tend to be more ideological than general election
voters. When a candidate wins a state, technically they win delegates.
Delegates are party members who will go to the national convention & cast
votes that technically nominate a candidate. There is a specific number of
delegates needed to win. Some states apportion their delegates on a winnertake-all basis, other states on a proportional basis. (Democrats are more
closely associated with proportional and Republicans with winner-take-all, but
recently Republicans are shifting to proportional as well). There are open and
closed primaries. Open allow a voter to declare which party’s primary she
would like to vote in while closed primaries require that all voters must be
registered party members.
11. MAKE A LIST OF INCUMBENCY
ADVANTAGES FOR CONGRESSMEN.
 Franking privilege, most PAC money goes to incumbents, more media
exposure, name recognition, campaigning experience, casework,
redistricting/gerrymandered districts
12. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN NO CANDIDATE WINS
A MAJORITY IN THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE?
 Decided by the House, each state receives one vote
13. IDENTIFY FEDERAL CAMPAIGN
REGULATIONS.
 Individuals can give up to $2,500, PACs can give up to $5,000, no limit on soft
money/independent expenditures, no limit on amount of own money a
candidate can spend,
14. COMPARE DELEGATES TO AVERAGE
CITIZEN.
 More ideological/partisan, higher education/income
15. HOW DOES THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
AFFECT CANDIDATES’ STRATEGIES?
 Focus on states that are competitive and have a large number of electoral
votes aka swing states or battleground states
16. IDENTIFY THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE
ELECTORAL COLLEGE.
 538 total votes, 270 to win. Most states are winner-take-all, so whoever wins
the most votes (plurality) in a state wins all of that state’s electoral votes.
Popular vote doesn’t matter.
17. IDENTIFY DIFFERENCES IN STRATEGY
DURING PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND GENERAL
ELECTION.
 In primaries candidates focus on ideological/partisan voters, in general
elections focus on moderate/independent voters
18. TYPICALLY, WHO IS IN CHARGE OF
CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING?
 State legislatures
19. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A
PLURALITY SYSTEM AND A MAJORITY SYSTEM?
WHICH ONE DOES THE US HAVE?
 Plurality: candidate with the most votes wins. Majority: candidate with over
50% of the votes wins. The US has a plurality system. Seats in Congress are
won simply by winning more votes than any other candidate. Presidential
winners often have won less than 50% of the popular vote (they do however
need to win a majority of the electoral college).
20. IDENTIFY BARRIERS TO THIRD PARTY
SUCCESS.
 Plurality system, winner-take-all electoral college, single-member districts,
ballot requirements, media attention
21. IDENTIFY CHANGES TO OUR ELECTORAL
SYSTEM THAT WOULD ENCOURAGE THE
GROWTH OF THIRD PARTIES.
 If we had runoff elections, proportional representation in Congress,
proportional representation in electoral college, multi-member districts it
would greatly benefit third parties
22. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PARTY
REALIGNMENT AND DEALIGNMENT?
 Realignment: long-lasting shift in party loyalty from one party to the other,
occur very rarely (1800, 1860, 1932); dealignment: lack of partisan
identification (leaving one party and becoming independent). The US is
currently experiencing a party dealignment.
23. HOW DOES USE OF SUPERDELEGATES
INCREASE THE INFLUENCE OF DEMOCRATIC
PARTY LEADERS?
 Allows elected Democrats and party leaders to automatically be delegates at
the National Convention. They may vote for any candidate they like since their
votes cannot be won. Makes the Democratic primary less democratic. Since
superdelegates can vote for any candidate, in a close nomination battle (like in
2008 Obama vs. Clinton) they could hypothetically vote against the leading
candidate from the primaries and vote for the other candidate, which would
be significantly taking power away from the people (in this case voting
Democrats). More realistically, superdelegates can come out and publicly
endorse a candidate which can serve as a cue to voters that a candidate does
or does not have support of the party leaders, which can help/hurt them in the
primaries.
24. WHAT ARE SOME CAUSES OF PARTY
POLARIZATION?
 Clear party differences on issues, gerrymandering, more ideological voters in
primaries and congressional elections, rise of interest groups & PACs funding
more ideological candidates.
25. HOW DOES PARTY POLARIZATION AFFECT
THE DECISIONS OF CONGRESSMEN?
 More gridlock: fewer bills passed, tougher confirmation, more filibusters, lack
of compromise, sharp increase in party-line voting
26. WHAT IS THE BEST PREDICTOR OF HOW
A PERSON WILL VOTE?
 Partisan identification
27. WHY DOES THE UNITED STATES HAVE A
TWO PARTY SYSTEM?
 Tradition. There is no legal requirement that we have a two party system, in
fact the Constitution makes no mention of parties at all. However, things like
Plurality system, winner-take-all electoral college, single-member districts,
ballot requirements, media attention, and fundraising advantages greatly
favor the two-party system, creating major obstacles for third parties.
28. WHAT IS A CONSEQUENCE OF WINNERTAKE-ALL PRIMARIES?
 One candidate generally can reach the number of delegates need to win more
quickly.
PART II: CHAPTERS 11-12
1. WHAT DOES THE MEDIA FOCUS ON
DURING ELECTION COVERAGE?
 Day-to-day campaign activities, new polls, drama
2. WHAT ROLE DOES THE MEDIA PLAY IN
AGENDA SETTING?
 Media can influence what issues the public thinks are important, the public
then demands action, so the issue gets placed on the government’s list of
issues that must be addressed
3. WHAT IS THE PRIMARY WAY THE MEDIA
INFLUENCES PUBLIC OPINION?
 Makes issues appear more/less important
4. DESCRIBE THE WAY INTEREST GROUPS
ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE CONGRESS AND THE
EXECUTIVE BRANCH.
 Lobbying, provide information to congressmen, testify before Congressional
hearings, iron triangles, issue networks
5. IDENTIFY TWO WAYS INTEREST GROUPS
ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE THE SUPREME COURT.
 Litigation and filing amicus curiae briefs
6. EXPLAIN WHY LITIGATION IS A USEFUL
TOOL FOR INTEREST GROUPS.
 Allows them to challenge a law that already exists that they believe is
unconstitutional. Courts aren’t supposed to be concerned with public opinion,
so even if the law is popular, they are only concerned with its constitutionality.
Litigation is often the most successful option for interest groups in civil rights
issues rather than attempting to lobby Congress or the executive branch.
7. IDENTIFY OTHER ACTIVITIES AND
TACTICS OF INTEREST GROUPS.
 Organize protests, create PACs and make campaign contributions, endorse
candidates, get out the vote, advertisements
8. WHAT ARE THE ACTIVITIES OF
LOBBYISTS?
 Provide information, lobbyists are policy specialists, congressmen are policy
generalists
9. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN POLITICAL
PARTIES AND INTEREST GROUPS?
 Parties nominate candidates for office, have a broad platform with positions
on lots of things, goal is to win elections so they appeal to as many people as
possible. Interest groups typically have specific position on one single issue of
importance, other issues are irrelevant
10. CONSEQUENCE OF MEDIA
CONSOLIDATION?
 News reports become more similar, less diverse.
11. HOW CAN THE MEDIA AID OR LIMIT
INTEREST GROUP EFFORTS?
 By giving or not giving attention. By reporting positively or negatively about
their activities/position
12. GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF
INTEREST GROUPS
 Must register with government, report earnings, ban on gifts to members of
Congress, limit on revolving door
13. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A PAC? WHAT DO
PACS DO WITH THE MONEY THEY RAISE?
 Purpose: to raise money to support a candidate or campaign. PACs spend the
money to support the candidate/campaign, but do not give the money directly
to the candidate. (Limit is $5,000 directly to a candidate) However, they can
make unlimited independent expenditures (soft money).
14. WHAT GROUP OF PEOPLE TENDS TO BE
OVERREPRESENTED BY INTEREST
GROUPS/PACS?
 Wealthy, big businesses, top industry leaders