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Voting II. 3/29/2012. Clearly Communicated Learning Objectives in Written Form. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: identify and explain the role of formal and informal institutions and their effect on policy.
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Voting II 3/29/2012
Clearly Communicated Learning Objectives in Written Form • Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: • identify and explain the role of formal and informal institutions and their effect on policy. • to understand and interpret the United States Constitution and apply it to present policy dilemmas. • to assess the 2010 and 2012 elections without resorting to partisan bickering.
Office Hours and Readings • Chapter 4 (pp. 110-129) • Chapter 5 • Office Hours • Today 11-2 • Monday 10-2
Three Big Things Who Votes
Age and Voting • Older People vote more • Why • Curvilinear relationship!
Education and Voting • This is a linear relationship • Why do better educated people vote more?
Income and Voting • Wealthy people vote at higher Rates • Related to education • Lower Information Costs
Other Factors • Partisanship • Previous Voting History
Why Young People Don’t Vote • Are Unfamiliar with the system- • Are one step above Gypsies • Have less formal and political education
Low Social Capital • Writings of Robert Putnam • Are not connected to the community • As a Result, have low interest in politics
High and low stimulus elections: The Saw-tooth Pattern Turnout in Recent Elections
Presidential elections • Why Higher • saw-tooth pattern
Voter Turnout in 2008 • 130 Million voted, 61% which was the highest rate since 1968 • Where was turnout up? • Best States • Worst States
People expected more Voters in 2008 • Only slightly higher than 2004 • 18-29 year olds did not increase greatly as a % • Why No increase?
Turnout in 2010 • Very Similar to 2006 • A Smaller Electorate than 2008 • 42% overall
Low Motivation from The Left • Every Democratic Group claimed responsibility for President Obama’s Victory • Supporters wanted immediate policy change on their issue
Who Voted? • GOP was more energized • More conservative • Older • Whiter
Groups most likely to vote Democratic stayed at home, and enabled the GOP to win at all levels
What is Political Opinion • those opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed -- V.O. Key • Why do politicians Follow it?
How We Learn about Politics Political socialization
Political Socialization • The process of learning about political issues and forming opinions • How we learn about politics • Same as religion, culture and language.
We Learn the Apollo American Creed • Freedom • Equality • Support for the System
The Family • We spend tons of time with them • The more time, the more influence
Why Family is Important • Socio-economic status • Primacy Principle • Structuring Principle • It Ebbs as we get older
What We Take out of it: Party ID • We often get our parents partisanship • Values
What about Schools • Teach the status quo • Correlate with our parents • Ritualizes Nationalism
The First Things We Learn • Little kids confuse political and religious authority • The Flag is Good
Early Childhood • The President • Police • Neither can do wrong
Later On • We learn more concepts • Government as civics lesson • We get more cynical
Off To College • The Percentage of people going to college continues to rise • College often correlates with parents SES
The Role of Peers • Often Reinforce our Parents views • We do not tend to discuss politics • Our friends often share our SES and values
Work Peers • We work with people like us • They share our SES • Our views are unlikely to change
The Mass Media and Political Socialization • We Receive a lot of information • Not all of it sticks • Those who could learn the most, watch the least
So What often shapes our views • Projection • Adoption • Partisanship