chapter 13 voting and elections pearson education, inc. © 2008 american government: continuity and...
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Chapter 13
Voting and Elections
Pearson Education, Inc. © 2008
American Government: Continuity and Change9th Editionto accompany Comprehensive, Alternate, Texas, and Essentials Editions
O’Connor and Sabato
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Voting Behavior Conventional political participation
Political participation that attempts to influence the political process through well-accepted, often moderate forms of persuasion
Unconventional political participation Political participation that attempts to
influence the political process through unusual or extreme measures, such as protests, boycotts, and picketing
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Patterns in Voter TurnoutTurnout: the proportion of the voting-age public that votes
40% of the eligible adult population votes 25% are occasional voters 35% rarely vote
Education: Voters tend to be more educated Income: More voters have higher incomes Age: Younger people vote less Gender: Women vote at the same rate or slightly higher
rate than men Race and Ethnicity:
Whites vote more regularly than African Americans – related to income and educational differences in the two groups
Hispanics vote less than African Americans Have potential to wield much influence given their increasing
size Interest in politics: Those interested in politics vote more
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Why Is Voter Turnout So Low?
Too Busy Difficulty of Registration Difficulty of Absentee Voting Number of Elections Voter Attitudes Weakened Influence of Political
Parties
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Efforts to Improve Voter Turnout
Easier Registration and Absentee Voting Make Election Day a Holiday Strengthen Parties Other suggestions
Holding fewer elections Proportional representation system for congressional
elections Saturday or Sunday election day Making voting mandatory Tax credits Election weeks rather than election days Internet voting
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Does Low Turnout Matter? Some argue it is a not a critical problem
Based on belief that preferences of nonvoters are not much different from those who do vote
So…results would be the same regardless Nonvoting is voluntary Nonvoting driven by acceptance of the status
quo Others believe it is a problem
Voters do not represent nonvoters Social make-up and attitudes of nonvoters today
are significantly different from those of voters Tend to be low income, younger, blue collar, less
educated and more heavily minority
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Patterns in Vote Choice Party Identification
Most powerful predictor voter behavior Ticket-splitting: voting for candidates of different parties for various offices in
the same election Race and Ethnicity
Whites increased tendency to vote Republican African Americans vote overwhelmingly for Democrats Hispanics also tend to identify with and vote for Democrats
Kerry 53 percent; Bush 44 percent Asian Americans less monolithic
Women today more likely to support Democratic candidates Gender gap varies by election
Poor vote more often for Democrats; wealthier for Republicans Ideology related closely to vote choice
Conservatives for Republicans Liberals for Democrats
Issues Retrospective judgment Prospective judgment
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Purposes of Elections Regular free elections
guarantee mass political action enable citizens to influence the actions of their
government
Popular election confers on a government the legitimacy that it can achieve no other way
Regular elections also ensure that government is accountable to the people it serves
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Purposes of Elections Electorate
Citizens eligible to vote Mandate:
A command, indicated by an electorate’s voters, for the elected officials to carry out their platforms
Sometimes the claim of a mandate is suspect because voters are not so much endorsing one candidate as rejecting the other
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Kinds of Elections Primary Elections:
Election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election. Closed primary: a primary election in which only a party’s
registered voters are eligible to vote Open primary: a primary in which party members,
independents, and sometimes members of the other party are allowed to vote
Crossover voting: participation in the primary of a party with which the voter is not affiliated
Raiding: An organized attempt by voters of one party to influence the primary results of the other party
Runoff primary: a second primary election between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes in the first primary
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General Elections
General elections are those in which voters decide which candidates will actually fill elective public offices
Held at many levels. Contests between the candidates of
opposing parties
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Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Initiative
An election that allows citizens to propose legislation and submit it to the state electorate for popular vote
Referendum An election whereby the state legislature
submits proposed legislation to the state’s voters for approval
Recall Voters can remove an incumbent from office by
popular vote Are very rare
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Presidential Elections
Primary elections or caucuses are used to elect national convention delegates which choose the nominee Winner-take-all primary Proportional representation primary Caucus
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Primaries v. Caucuses Over years, trend has been to use primaries rather than
caucuses to choose delegates Caucus is the oldest, most party-oriented method of choosing
delegates to the national conventions Arguments for primaries
More democratic More representative A rigorous test for the candidate
Arguments for caucuses Caucus participants more informed; more interactive and
informative Unfair scheduling affects outcomes Frontloading (being first in the primary calendar) gives some
primary states an advantage Frontloading is the tendency to choose an early date on the
primary schedule
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The Party Conventions Out-of-power party holds its convention
first, in late July, followed in mid-August by party holding the presidency
Conventions were decision-making body in the 19th century
Today the convention is fundamentally different Nominations settled well in advance of the
convention
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The Party Conventions: Delegate Selections Unit Rule
A traditional party practice under which the majority of a state delegation can force the minority to vote for its candidate Abolished by the Democrats
New Democratic party rule decrees that state’s delegates be chosen in proportion to the votes cast in its primary or caucus. (30% of votes = 30% delegates from that state) – proportional allocation
Superdelegates Delegate slot to the Democratic Party’s national
convention that is reserved for an elected party official Some rules originating in Democratic Party have been
enacted as state laws thus applying them to the Republican Party as well.
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National Convention: National Candidates and Issues
Political perceptions and loyalties of voters are not influenced largely by national candidates and issues Diminished the power of state and local party
leaders at the convention.
Issues are more important to the new, issue-oriented party activists than to the party professionals
Party professionals no longer have monopoly on managing party affairs
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National Conventions: The News Media
Changing nature of coverage No prime time coverage on some days Extending coverage on the final day of
each convention Reflects change in political culture
More interest in the candidates themselves Convention still generates much
coverage for the party
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The Electoral College Representatives of each state who
cast the final ballots that actually elect a president
Total number of electors for each state equal to the number of senators and representatives that a state has in the U.S. Congress
District of Columbia is given 3 electoral votes
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The Electoral College Result of compromise between:
Selection by Congress versus direct popular election
Three essentials to understanding the design of the Electoral College: Constructed to work without political parties Constructed to cover both the nominating and
electing phases of presidential selection Constructed to produce a nonpartisan president
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The Electoral College in the 19th Century
12th Amendment (1804) Attempt to remedy the confusion between the
selection of vice presidents and presidents that emerged in the election 1800
Provided for separate elections for each office, with each elector having only one vote to cast for each
In event of a tie, the election still went to the House
Top three candidates go to House Each state House delegation casts one vote
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The Electoral College in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
Electoral college crises At times a candidate can win the Electoral
College vote without having won the popular vote
Reapportionment matters Representation of states in the Electoral College
is altered every ten years to reflect population shifts
Recent reapportionment has favored the Republicans
With the exception of California, George W. Bush carried all of the states that gained seats in 2000
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The Electoral College Reconsidered
Popular Vote Congressional District Plan Keep the College, Abolish the Electors
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Congressional Elections Very different from presidential elections
Lesser known candidates, more difficulty getting media attention
Incumbency Advantage Staff support Media and travel The “Scare-off” effect Redistricting/Gerrymandering
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Congressional Elections
When incumbents lose it is generally due to: Redistricting
Gerrymandering Scandals Presidential Coattails
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Midterm Congressional Elections
Election takes place in the middle of a presidential term President’s party usually loses seats in midterms Tendency for voters to punish the president’s party
more severely in the sixth year of an eight year presidency - 6th year itch Retrospective voting Senate elections less inclined to the 6th year itch
2002 midterm elections were a remarkable exception Bush picked up seats in the House and Senate
2006 midterm elections
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Reforming the Electoral Process
Focus on the Electoral College Other areas
Nomination Regional primaries
Campaign Finance Reform Online Voting Voting by Mail Modernizing the Ballot
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