Chapter 10

1. Chapter 10 VOTING AND ELECTIONS

2. Elections and Democracy • Democratic control • Elections are essential for democratic politics. • Elections are the principal means by which popular sovereignty and majority rule are supposed to work. • Can elections ensure that governments will do what the people want?

3. Three theories of ways in which two-party elections of representatives could or should lead to democratic control of government • Responsible party government — based on the idea of elections providing a real choice, or alternative • Electoral competition — both parties should compete for votes by taking the most popular positions that they can • Electoral reward and punishment (also called retrospective voting) — people vote for the incumbents when times are good and against them when times are bad

4. Imperfect electoral democracy • Each of these three processes of democratic control works to some extent. • None of them works well enough to guarantee perfectly democratic outcomes. • All three acting together also cannot ensure democracy.

5. Political Participation • Political participation refers to political activity by individual citizens. • Unconventional participation — includes activities such as demonstrations and boycotts • Conventional participation — includes activities such as voting, writing letters, contacting officials, giving money

6. Expansion of the franchise • The franchise was quite restricted in the early years of the United States. • The expansion of the right to vote has been one of the most important developments in the political history of the United States. • Direct partisan elections

7. The vanishing electorate • Suffrage expanded to more groups during the first century of American history, and larger and larger proportions voted. • Voter turnout rate in the U.S. is very low compared with other modern industrialized countries. • The ideal of political equality is violated by low rates of voter turnout.

8. Barriers to Voting • Causes of low voter turnout • Registration • Lack of attractive choices • Changes in eligibility rules • Alienation and apathy about politics that many Americans felt after the 1960s • Lack of voter mobilization by political parties and the failure of both parties to register low-income citizens

9. Campaigning Involvement • Despite low voter turnout levels, Americans are more likely than people in other countries to participate actively in campaigns. • Areas of involvement • Contact officials • Give money • Attend meetings • Attend political rallies • Work actively in a campaign organization

10. Who Participates? • Characteristics of voters and nonvoters • There is class bias in voting and other forms of political participation. • Some statistical analyses indicate that the crucial factor in voter turnout is the level of formal education. • Income level may be more important than education in affecting who actually votes.

11. Does It Matter Who Votes? • Two contrasting points of view • The rate of participation is unimportant because the preferences of those who vote are similar to those who do not vote. • A low voter turnout rate may be a positive factor since more educated people vote. • Nonvoters are clearly different from voters. • How participation can make a change • Broader participation would increase popular sovereignty and political equality.

12. Campaigning for Office • Contending for a presidential nomination • Characteristics of nominees — who has a chance? • Getting started • Primaries and caucuses • Momentum • How to win — factors that affect candidates’ success in gaining delegate support • National conventions

13. Nomination Politics and Democracy • Incumbents • The autumn campaign • The fall campaign traditionally began on Labor Day, but now tends to start right after the conventions or earlier. • Campaign organizations set up in each state • Intense money raising, combined with a new round of public financing • Media blitz • Focus groups • Voter registration and voter turnout campaigns • Informing voters

14. Money and Elections • Presidential campaigns cost enormous amounts of money. • The cost has increased rapidly over time. • Campaign spending may not look so big when compared with corporate advertising. • The source of campaign money is far more problematic for democracy than the cost of presidential elections. • Where does the money come from? • Does money talk?

15. How Voters Decide • The way in which people make their voting decisions affects how elections contribute to democratic control of government. • Parties, candidates, and issues all have substantial effects on how people vote. • Social characteristics and party loyalties • Candidates • Issues

16. The Electoral College • When voting for president, American voters are actually voting for a slate of electors who have promised to support the candidate. • Almost all states now have winner-take-all systems. • For most practical purposes, the electoral college system works in much the same way as if Americans chose their presidents by direct popular vote. • Consequences of the electoral college system

17. Do Elections Matter? • In terms of the responsible party government theory... • Republicans tend to be more conservative than Democrats on a number of economic and social issues. • This provides voters with a measure of democratic control by enabling them to detect differences and make choices.

18. Voters exercise control in the electoral competition theory by either reelecting successful incumbents or defeating unsuccessful officeholders. • Elections force parties to compete by nominating centrist candidates and by taking similar popular positions. • U.S. elections help make the public’s voice heard, but political equality is damaged by providing more political influence to some types of people than to others.