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Chapter 8

Chapter 8. Campaigns and Elections. Enduring questions about elections. Basic purposes in democracies? How do U.S. election laws compare? Consequences of our election laws? Major factors influencing the public’s vote choices? “Normal” elections versus “critical” elections?

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Chapter 8

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  1. Chapter 8 Campaigns and Elections

  2. Enduring questions about elections • Basic purposes in democracies? • How do U.S. election laws compare? • Consequences of our election laws? • Major factors influencing the public’s vote choices? • “Normal” elections versus “critical” elections? • How polarized are: • the U.S public? • our elected officials?

  3. 1) What are the two basic purposes of elections in a democracy? • Mandate • Safeguard • Two external safeguards • Free, fair, frequent, & competitive elections • A pluralist rather than a polarized society • Three internal safeguards • Division of power by levels • Separation of powers by branches • Overlapping (shared or concurrent) powers across both levels and branches

  4. 2) How do U.S. election laws compareto those in other democracies? • Number of political parties • Number & frequency of elections • Unitary v. federal • Parliamentary v. presidential • Primary v. general • Number of offices on the ballot • Short v. long • Cost of running for public office

  5. 3) What are the consequencesof our election laws? Political elites Polarization Fundraising chores Representativeness • Mass public • Political trust • Political efficacy • Party identification • Turnout • Issue publics • Political trust • Political efficacy • Party identification • Turnout

  6. 4) What influencesthe public’s vote choices? • Long-term factors • Ideology • Party id. • Age • Gender • Class • Region • Race/ethnicity • Religion • Short-term factors • Candidate evaluations • Competency • Honesty • Issue attitudes • Salience • Policy preference

  7. Two economy issues and the incumbent party’s presidential vote Federal Debt Personal Income

  8. 5) What are the consequences of “normal-vote” & “critical” elections? • Definitions • “Normal-vote” elections • “Critical” elections • Political-party systems or eras • Examples of Party Eras • 1788 Founding • 1824 De-alignment • 1860 Civil War & Reconstruction • 1896 Industrial Revolution • 1932 New Deal • 1968 De-alignment • 2004 ??

  9. Presidential voting in fourpolitical-party eras in the U.S. 1876 2000 1888

  10. 6) How polarized was the 2008presidential vote? Electoral-vote winner by state Popular-vote winner by county http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/

  11. 6) How polarized was the 2008presidential vote? Popular-vote division by county weighted by county’s population size Popular-vote division by county http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/

  12. How polarized is Congress?

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