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American Government

American Government. Chapter 9 Campaigns, Elections, and the Media. Running for Office. Funding, funding, funding Money needed to tour the country, esp states with early primaries

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American Government

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  1. American Government Chapter 9 Campaigns, Elections, and the Media

  2. Running for Office • Funding, funding, funding • Money needed to tour the country, esp states with early primaries • Presidential Primary- a statewide election of delegates to a political party’s national convention, held to determine a party’s presidential nominee • Who runs for office? Two types, those who choose it for themselves and those who are recruited • For certain offices, there are restrictions (see pg. 290) • Do the people who run for office accurately represent the diversity of the American public? • Diversity is increasing though, women and minorities on the rise

  3. Modern Campaigns • Focus more on individual candidates than whole parties now • Why? • Fewer people identify with parties • Political consultant- a paid professional hired to devise a campaign strategy and manage a campaign • Winner-takes-all system makes elections competitive and require a tough strategy that maximizes a candidate’s chances of winning • Candidate visibility and appeal • The use of opinion polls • Focus groups to target sectors of the population

  4. Campaign Financing • Presidential campaigning in 2008 cost 2.4 billion • As you move down levels in the government, you pay less and less for a campaign because of duration of the term as well as required visibility • Corrupt Practices Acts- a series of legislation attempting to limit and regulate the size and sources of campaign funds and expenditures • Way to get around this, form a PAC: a committee set up by and representing a corporation, labor union, or interest group which raises and gives political campaign donations (see p 297) • Other loopholes allowed for soft money- unregulated campaign contributions • Issue advocacy another way to get around regulations- advertising paid for by interest groups that focuses on an issue without mentioning the election • Major reform in 2002, McCain-Feingold Act: banned soft money, limited ads against candidates by interest groups, etc.

  5. Running for President • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok_VQ8I7g6I&feature=fvw • Have to win the primaries first, then win the national election • There are two types of primaries, it depends on which state you live in, 1. winner takes all, 2. proportional • Republicans used the 1st, Dems the 2nd in 2008 which is why it took so long to determine an official nominee • How you are allowed to vote is also different depending on the state • Closed primary- the voter is limited to choosing candidates of the party of which he/she is a registered member (an attempt for each party to nominate the strongest candidate without sabotage) • Open primary- any registered voter may vote, but only for one party • Blanket primary- can cross party line (AK and LA)

  6. Running for President • Front-loading the primaries- moving primaries up in date to maximize their impact on the nomination (Iowa, NH in Jan) • Why is winning the early primaries important? Labeled the front-runner • McCain was quickly labeled the front-runner • This is causing problems because certain states are able to influence the outcomes of the primaries more than others- a rotating system of which primaries are early has been proposed

  7. The Electoral College • Does your vote count directly in a presidential election? • Voters actually vote for electors, members of the Electoral College which selects the president and vice-president • Originally intended to protect the executive from the “excitable masses” • Each state chooses its own electors, which is equal to its number of senators plus its number of representatives. Total number is 538 (100 senators, 435 reps, 3 for the district of Columbia) • Is it possible for a candidate to win the presidency without winning the popular vote? Yes, it has happened 4 times! Electors are not required to vote along party line which means upset victories can happen. • Criticisms: winner takes all in each state, bigger states have an advantage overall but small states are actually more represented (CA, one vote for every half a million voters, WY, one for every 164,000), hotly contested states will also receive more campaigning than others • But abolishing the College would require an official Constitutional Amendment which is unlikely • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCjWPo70XZY&feature=related

  8. How are Elections Conducted? • Every state must use an Australian ballot- a secret ballot prepared, distributed, and counted by the government using tax money • 2 types: 1. office-block: groups candidates by the title of the office they are seeking 2. party-column: candidates are arranged by party label http://www.cvilleok.com/2006NovNews/2006kNov07SampleBallot.jpg • The party-column ballot especially produces a coattail effect: one popular candidate will increase the success of other candidates on the same ticket • Voting by mail (absentee ballots) • Voter fraud (people voting more than once, phony registrations, improper use of absentee ballots) • Voter id requirements: varies by state, tough question of stopping fraud but making sure that every one can vote • Even the equipment used has come under scrutiny (FL, 2000)

  9. Voter Turnout • The percentage of citizens taking part in the election process • In 2008, 213 million people were eligible to vote • Only 130 million actually did (61%) • True or false: more people vote in presidential elections than midterm elections • 2006, voter turnout was 40% • At the local level, it is even worse (25% and lower) even though each person’s vote counts more than in a bigger election and the voter is more directly affected by the results • What do you think? Does low turnout indicate general satisfaction? Or laziness? Or not being educated about the issues? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hum8ucsX_y8

  10. Who Votes? • Age- the older you are, the more likely you are to vote • Education- the more educated you are, the more likely you are to vote • Race/ethnicity- 51.6% of Caucasians vote, compared with 30-40% for people of other descent (2008 changed this) • Income- the higher the income, the more likely a person is to vote • Competition- if there competition in a state, the voters are more likely to turn out

  11. Restrictions on Voting • Originally a voter needed to own property • States could originally decide who could vote • 15th amendment (1870) extended the vote to black males (but not full access until 1960s) • 19th Amendment (1920) for women • 26th Amendment (1971) for 18-year-olds • Who may not vote now? Felons, inmates, noncitizens, the mentally incompetent, minors

  12. More on Voting • Need to have completed voter registration- the entry of a person’s name onto the list of eligible voters • You must be able to prove: citizenship, age, and residency • One problem is that registration must often be done well in advance of an election (not in WI though) • Party issues as well- 1/5 of the US voting-age population is unregistered, of these more are Democrats than are Republicans • Is registration really necessary? Is it stopping people from voting?

  13. The media and voting • 90% + of all Americans get their news from tv • Print still gets information out • Internet as a growing resource of information • Mass media has 6 functions in the US: • Entertainment • Reporting the news • Identifying public problems and setting the public agenda • Political socialization of new generations • Providing a political forum (spark communication and debate) • Making profits (media are usually privately owned, exception of public tv and NPR)

  14. Modern Media • In 1960s, only 11 minutes a day was devoted to national news, now it is available 24/7 and even the main networks devote about 3 hours • Might not get the whole picture with tv news • Sound bites • Relying on images • Limited time available for a story • CNN effect- we know immediately when something happens and leaders have to make a decision right away

  15. The Media and Elections • Political advertising- 2008 total spent: 3 billion dollars • Negative “attack” ads • Is there anything good about attack ads? What’s bad about them? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ocngIAeXjQ&feature=related • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBLPCwEmgVs • Role of televised debates • Also social networking, like MyBarackObama.com, blogging, and podcasting as new ways to get out your opinion

  16. Other Considerations • Media outlets are owned- GE owns NBC, Disney owns ABC, etc • Very few independent outlets left • National news is more profitable than local news because it reaches a larger audience • May lead to a decline in democratic debate if a few companies own all the media • Censorship- the 1st Amendment only goes so far (i.e. Janet Jackson at the 2004 SuperBowl) • Media Bias • This does concern liberal/conservative, but the news reported is not inherently religious • Media can be conservative when reporting economics but liberal when reporting social issues (exceptions: FOX, talk radio) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHKzS5Zl6mY • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIW8LUko_nA&feature=related • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6CSix3Dy04&feature=related

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