Download Why Elections?

Why Elections?
Understanding the Importance and
Basics of Elections in American
Government
A Few Key Terms We Should
Understand Before Moving Forward
• Campaign: the effort taken to win votes in an election
• Election: a mechanism for making collective decisions
– Assumes a campaign will be held beforehand
• Citizen: an individual who has both rights and
responsibilities in a country
• Politics: process of deciding who gets what, when, and
how without resorting to violence
• Constitution: blueprint of the American government;
establishes the foundation for American law
Functions of Elections
1. Choosing public officials
–
Provides a voice to citizens in
government
Can also choose who will run
for office (primary) and can
remove people from office
(recall)
–
2. Ensuring accountability
–
Elected representatives must
answer to those they represent
•
•
Trustee Model: elected officials
act on behalf of their constituents
Delegate Model: elected officials
act in place of their constituents
Functions of Elections Continued
3. Influencing the direction of policy
–
Weak Form: elected officials react to
popular demands to increase chance of
reelection
•
–
Strong Form: candidates are elected
based on their proposed agenda
•
–
Voters have influence, but not control
Once elected, claim they have a mandate to
govern
Initiatives/referendum: citizens vote on
legislation
4. Granting legitimacy to government
–
–
Help determine who the rightful
occupant of an office is
Maintains the rule of law; lack of
violence over transfer of power
Elections and Themes of
American Government
1. Federalism: states vary in their rules and processes,
thus creating different scenarios
–
Federal (national) government has limited control
2. Popular Sovereignty: elected officials are chosen and
held responsible by the people
3. Separation of Powers: since we elect members of
government in different elections at different times,
no single election can fully determine policy
4. Limited Government: government officials are limited
in their power and elections have constitutional
restrictions, thus reelection is not guaranteed
Elections as an Institution
• Has a set of rules
– Laws passed by Congress (examples: Voting Rights Act,
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act)
– Constitution
• Can be reformed
– Has evolved over time
• More constitutional amendments deal with elections than
any other subject!
• Has structures (Electoral College, Federal Election
Commission)
Elections as a Process
• Elections are fluid
– Depends on the
actions/decisions of
political actors (voters,
candidates, media, etc.)
• Where to campaign? What
issues to speak on?
• Changes in rules shape
who gets elected
• Elections are shaped by
current events
– Role of the “October
Surprise”
Voter and Voter Behavior
• What do I mean by Voter behavior ?
The Right to Vote
• History of Voting Rights
• Framers of the Constitution purposely left the
power to set suffrage qualifications to each
state.
• **Suffrage – Means the right to vote.
• **Franchise – Same meaning as Suffrage.
B.
Expansion of the Electorate
1. 1789 Restricted to white male property
owners. (Actually only 1 in 15 white males even
qualified to vote)
2. Today, the size of the American electorate
is in the potential voting population (Around
216 million)
C.
Two Determining Factors in History
• 1. A gradual elimination of several
restrictions based on such factors as religious
belief, property ownership, tax payment, race
and sex.
• 2. The original idea that states had the
reserved power over voting privileges – now
gradually given to the federal government
Extending Suffrage: Five stages
• II. Power to Set Voting Qualifications
• A. Suffrage qualifications – Reserved power
to the states – Constitution places 5
restrictions on how the states can use that
power.
1.
Same voters to vote in all elections
2.
No state can deprive any person the right to
vote on the account of race, color, previous
condition of servitude.
(15th Amendment)
3.
No state can deprive any person the right to
vote on account of sex. (19th Amendment)
4.
No State can require payment of any tax as a
condition to voting privileges
(24th Amendment)
5. No Person can be deprived of voting who
is at least the age of 18 years old.
•
(26th Amendment)
• **Literacy can never be a qualification to
vote.**
•
• **A poll tax can never be required to pay in
order to vote**
III. Voter Behavior
• A. Factors That Influence Voters- What affect
voter behavior has social and economic ties:
•
• B. Voters personal characteristics – age,
income, occupation, education, religion,etc..
1.
•
•
•
•
Income and Occupation –
*Below 15,000 a year tend to vote Democrat
*15,000 – 30,000 Democrat
*30,000 – 50,000 Split down the middle.
*50,000 and above tend to vote Republican
2. Education
•
•
•
•
*College educated – tend to vote Rep.
*White Collar – tend to vote Rep.
*Blue Collar – tend to vote Democrat
*High School Grads – Democrat
3. Gender
• *Women generally vote for Democrats
• **Although the statistics of gender voting are
not a clear picture.
• **Men and women are usually split on issues
like health care, abortion, and other social
welfare matters
• *Older voter tend to vote Democrat
– Participation
I. Public Opinion – aggregate of attitudes and opinions of
individuals on a significant issue.
A. Survey research. Is public opinion a reliable guide for
lawmaking? Problems:
1. Public knowledge of politics (next slide)
2. “Halo Effect” – people will lie in accordance with socially
acceptable answers.
3. Inconsistencies – e.g. lower taxes and more spending
4. Instability – different responses at different times
5. Salience – people concentrate on a handful of issues
considered important in their own lives.
Some Reasons People Do Not Vote
• Feel confident in the
•
stability of the system
•
• Difficult to register
•
• Difficult to get off work to •
vote
• Voting lines are too long •
• Cynical about politics and •
politicians
• Feel their vote doesn’t
count much
Forgot to vote
Too busy
Bad weather conditions
Inconvenient polling
location
Transportation problems
Did not understand
absentee ballot
II. Political Socialization – process by which individuals obtain their
beliefs about political values, beliefs and opinions.
A. Sources of socialization:
•
Family – children usually take on their parents party
identification. *If parents are different, which one?
•
School –
–
Civic norms: salute the flag, civics, “good citizenship” values
–
How to think
–
Worldviews – one’s basic beliefs about ultimate reality, truth
and knowledge, ethics, and origins/destiny shapes their
political attitudes.
•
Generational effects – historical events may shape political
opinion. (great depression).
•
Media influence – tells us what to think about
III. Ideology and Opinion
•
Can we predict political opinion based upon self-described
ideologies?
For the most part, YES.
IV. Demographics and Opinion
A. Gender
•
Women appear to be more passive on issues involving use of
force (i.e. war, death penalty, gun control). Women do not have
significantly different opinions on non-force issues like abortion
and domestic gender roles.
•
Gender Gap: Women = more likely to be Democratic (as of 80s).
(Next Slide)
B. Religion: Protestants and Catholics more likely to identify as
moderates or conservatives than liberals; Jews more likely to
identify as liberals. But Protestant Evangelicals are the most
supportive voting block for Republicans.
IV. Individual Participation in Politics
A. Securing the right to vote (suffrage)
1. Elimination of Property Qualifications (1800-1840)
2. Fifteenth Amendment (1870) – black male suffrage
3. Continued denial of voting rights (1870-1964)
a. “white primary” – Democratic party primary elections in many
southern counties in the early part of the twentieth century that
excluded black people from voting.
b. Literacy tests – all were required to pass (which few people
could) difficult tests involving complex legal documents.
4. Civil Rights Act/VRA (1964-65) – abolished unequal registration
requirements
5. 24th amendment – abolished poll taxes (a price to get registered
6. 19th amendment – women suffrage (1920)
7. 26th amendment (1971) – eighteen year old suffrage or voting rights
8. National Voter Registration act (1993) – “Moter voter” – can register
when you get your drivers license.
VI. Turnout (TO=#voting/#eligible)
A. Turnout since 1960 (next slide)
B. Why is it low?
1. Rational Voter (Anthony Downs) – is it really rational to vote?
•
your vote does not matter practically. It is never decisive over an
election’s outcome.
•
the costs of voting (registration, weather, driving, lines…) are to
many much greater than the benefits (the probability that your
vote will be decisive + any good feelings you get from it).
Vote=Costs – Benefits + (intrinsic rewards)
2. Registration Burdens
•
registration typically occurs during times of low political interest.
•
85% of registered voters turnout, while 50% of eligible voters
vote.
•
Registration is supposed to prevent voter fraud
C. What causes it to increase or decrease?
• Intense political competition
• Political Alienation – when people feel that they
are incapable of affecting the political process
they are less likely to vote (this has happened
since Watergate, 70s)
• Intensity – extremists or ideologues are more
likely to vote (this is why candidates are typically
more extreme sounding during primaries and
more centrist sounding during general elections)
• Education: Most important; Income; Age (all are
positively related; next slide)
D. Explaining the Recent Decrease in Turnout in the U.S.
•
Despite the relaxation of voter registration requirements, voter
turnout has still not improved significantly.
Why?
•
Trust in Government and Efficacy Beliefs are down
•
Expansion of the electorate (18 year olds are less likely to vote)
•
Decline of Party Strength and Organization
•
Voter Mobility Up
E. Comparative Voting: The U.S. is near the bottom of voter turnout
compared to other Western Democracies
•
Many include only registered voters
•
Many require voting
VII. Is Low Voter Turnout Bad?
•
George Will (Elitism) – Nonvoters are more likely to be
of lower socioeconomic class (less informed/educated).
Do we want the “ignorant” voting? Many of the
founding fathers sympathized with this argument (fear
of BOTH “tyranny of the king AND tyranny of the
majority or masses).
•
What if nonvoting is a political statement being
expressed in a democracy?
1. Expressing indifference between candidates or
general satisfaction with status quo.
2. Groups my abstain in order to send an electoral
message to a party (“Stop taking us for granted”)