Political Participation
Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections
50-60%
Public Opinion Polls
survey of public opinion from a particular sample.
Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.
Primary Elections
Both major political parties of the U.S. officially nominate their candidate for President at their respective national conventions, the primaries are the process by which the parties determine their nominee.
What are the effects of age on voting preferences?
Young voters tend to be more liberal, older voters tend to be more conservative.
What are some techniques politicians and interest groups use to drive political change?
Mass Media, Mass Mailing, Litigation, Lobbying, Protest
Voter Turnout in Midterm Elections
~40%
Divided Government
When control of the executive branch and the legislative branch is split between two parties
Gerrymandering
Practice intended to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries.
What are the effects of gender on voting preferences?
Generally, women are relatively divided, however recently women have been voting in favor of Democratic nominees
What is hard money?
Donations to political campaigns that are very limited and heavily monitored by the government to be sure they are not excessive
Conventional Political Participation
relatively routine political behavior that uses institutional channels and is acceptable to the dominant culture
Includes: voting, running for office, petition
What are some primary sources of divide in the US?
Gender, Ideology, Sexual Orientation, Religion, Age, Class (wealth), Race
Congressional reapportionment
Reapportionment is the process by which seats in the United States House of Representatives are distributed among the 50 states according to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census.
What are the effects of class/wealth on voting preferences?
Upper class tends to be more conservative, lower class tends to be more liberal
What is soft money?
Anonymous donations made to political campaigns that are unmonitored and unlimited. Heavily limited by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)
Unconventional Political Participation
political participation that attempts to influence the political process through unusual or extreme measures.
Includes: Protests, boycotts, and civil disobedience
Political Cleavages
Groups of people that tend to always vote one way or another with consistent ideological views
congressional redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries
What are the effects of sexual orientation on voting preferences?
Members of the LGBTQ community tend to be more liberal.
What is a 527 Organization?
A political group organized under section 527 of the IRS Code that may accept and spend unlimited amounts of money on election activities so long as they follow specified limits.
Political Socialization
"process by which individuals learn and frequently internalize a political lens framing their perceptions of how power is arranged and how the world around them is (and should be) organized; those perceptions, in turn, shape and define individuals' definitions of who they are and how they should behave in the political and economic institutions in which they live."
Family is the greatest influence on political socialization
Gender Gap
The differences between women and men, especially as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic attainments or attitudes. (women vote more than men, but I’m not really sure if that’s what tanner wants)
Motor Voter Act
The law advances voting rights in the United States by requiring state governments to offer voter registration opportunities to any eligible person who applies for or renews a driver's license or applies for public assistance. The law requires states to register applicants that use a federal voter registration form to apply, and prohibits states from removing registered voters from the voter rolls unless certain criteria are met.
What are the effects of religion on voting preferences?
Especially in southern states, religion(aka Protestant/Evangelical Christianity) has a very strong connotation in gaining public support and is heavily tied with policies on abortion and gay rights
What did BCRA (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act) do?
BCRA limits issue advocacy by providing a new and more realistic definition of electioneering communications, requires greater disclosure by those funding broadcast electioneering ads, and restores the ban on corporations and unions using generalized funds