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Chapter 10
VOTING AND ELECTIONS
The Contested 2000 Presidential Election
In 2000, George W. Bush won in the Electoral
College, with 271 votes compared Al Gore’s 267.
Yet Gore won in the popular vote, with 500,000
more votes than Bush.
Although many Americans thought that the election
outcome was unfair, most accepted the legitimacy of
the Bush Presidency.
Although the final tally was thus highly charged, the
actual campaign was lackluster.
both candidates clung to centrist and nonideological themes, striving to capture the
“median voter”
Elections and Democracy
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?
Theories of democratic two-party
control of government
Prospective (or Responsible party) voting model
Theory: voters decide what government will do in the near
future by choosing one or another responsible party (a party
that takes a clear stand on the issues and enacts them as
policy)
Problems:
American parties may not behave as “responsible parties”
voters may actually be choosing the “less unpopular” stand
rather than the one that they prefer (as the public does not
choose the party platforms)
Electoral Competition Voting Model
Theory: parties seeking votes move toward the median
voter or the center of the political spectrum
Problems: voters must consider nothing but the issues
and must know exactly where the parties stand
Still, electoral competition is probably one of the main
reasons that government policy is significantly
influenced by public opinion.
Retrospective (or Reward and Punishment)
Voting Model
Theory: voters look back at the performance of a party in
power and cast ballots on the basis of how well it did in
office
Problems:
often, an incumbent’s record is mixed
no guarantee that future leaders will be better
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.
Each requires more unified political parties than we
have.
Money givers, activists, and leaders of organized
groups have more influence than do ordinary citizens.
American Elections in
Comparative Perspective
The U.S. has more elections than any other
democratic nation.
Elections in the U.S. are separate and
independent from one another.
Elections fill government positions that have
fixed terms of office.
National (and state-wide) elections are held on a
fixed date.
Elections in the U.S. are almost always based on
“first past the post.”
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
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
Low Voting Turnout
During the first century of American history,
suffrage expanded to more groups, and larger
and larger proportions voted.
Since then, voting rates have declined
dramatically.
The ideal of political equality is violated by
low rates of voter turnout.
Causes of low voter turnout
Barriers to voting
Registration
Non-holiday election day
Lack of attractive choices
Alienation
Lack of voter mobilization by political parties (eg.,
failure of both parties to register low-income
citizens)
Increase in the number of people who are ineligible
to vote (eg., recent immigrants and convicted felons)
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
Who Participates?
Income
Education
Race and ethnicity
Age
Gender
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.
Participation can make a change.
Broader participation would increase popular
sovereignty and political equality.
Campaigning for Office
Contending for a Presidential nomination
Characteristics of nominees — who has a
chance?
Getting started
Primaries and caucuses
National conventions
 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
issues
past performance
personal characteristics
Nomination Politics
and Democracy
Crucial role of party activists and money
givers
Incumbents
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?
Government subsidies
PACs
soft money
Does money talk?
Role in nomination process
Role in policy formation
Special interests of money givers
Result: political inequality
How Voters Decide
Parties, candidates, and issues all have substantial
effects on how people vote.
Social characteristics
Party loyalties
Candidates
Issues
retrospective voting
the economy
foreign policy
new issues
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.
 The “college” of electors from the different states never
meets; instead the winning slates are sent to D.C.
 Consequences of the electoral college system
 magnifies the popular support of the winner
 may let the less popular candidate win (1876, 1888, 2000)
 discourages third parties
Voting, Elections, and Democracy
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.