Voting and Voting Behavior

Franchise- right to vote (not every american has always the franchise extended to them)
At first only white landed males had power to vote—1830s universal all white male were
given the power to vote (when states removed propery requirements for voting) and then
slowly through constitutional amendments all americans could vote.

Franchise(right to vote) Amendments

15th: Recognized the right of black men to vote
19th: Recongized the right of women to vote
23rd: Granted residens of Washinton D.C the right to vote(was prohibited to them by
constituion)
24th: Abolished poll taxes (A method that stubborn Southern states used to keep Black
people from voting)
26th: lowered the voting age to 18 (happened when US government was sending young
men by large numbers to die in Vietname War and 18 year olds wanted to vote on that)
17th: made it so the people voted their senators in (Another amendment let people vote
directly for senators instead of state legislatures choosing them)

Voting Models
Rational Choice Model
Vote based on what benefits(self-interest) them most after learning about the issues and
candidates.
Retrospective Model (looking backwards)
Votes based on the politician’s past performance—if they did a good job, they get the
vote
Prospective Model (looking forward → oppostie of retrospective model)
Votes based on the potential future the candidate might be able to bring (This voter thinks
about how the candidate’s promises or plans will affect their life after the election)
Party-Line Voting
Means that a person will just vote for all candidates who are members of their preferred
party

Four determining factors who shows up at the polls and who does not
1)Structural Barriers (to voting) → ex) some states require a government issued ID in
order to vote. (Usually republican favor this law because they argue it reduces the
possibility of voter fraud. Democrats however argue that it disqualifies those who do not
have IDs)
Some states put barries (like voting) and others try to remove as may as possible (by
encouraging voting by mail& same day voter registration)

2)Political efficacy
Is a citizen’s sense of whether or not their vote can make a difference. ex) 1st case:
suppose a republican lives in New York, a state that as awhole has voted democratic so
voting may not change anything so the voter may not feel that their vote has any power.
2nd case: if a candidate they voted for turned out to be no more than a turd in a suit while
they were in office

3)Type of Election
If its a presidential election alot more vote compared to if its congressional election and
even less vote on state and country levels.

4)demographics
*in general*
Gender: if we divide the population by gender, women tend to vote in higher numbers for
democrats and men for republicans.
Age: if we divide the population by age then the youngest vote in fewer number than the
oldest voters(and the youngest voters when they do turnout vote democratic candidates
and older Republican).
Religion: if we divide the voting population by religion. Evangelical Christians, mostly
white, are a strong Republican voting group, partly due to the party’s stance against Roe
v. Wade. Jews are a smaller group but vote at higher rates and mostly vote Democrats

Party Identification
Plays a big role in how people vote. Like if somebody publicany identifies with a party,
they almost inariable vote for candidates of that party.
Candidate Characteristics
Sometimes people are persuaded to vote for a candidate because they seem honest and
likeable and trustworthy
Contemporary political issus
ex) because the vietnam war was such a colssal mess and the government turn out to be
lying about all sorts of things that influence people, to kick the republicans out of office
and bring in democrats

Political Parties As Linkage Institutions

Political parties, interest groups, elections, and the media are all called linkage
institutions—they connect people to the government.

Linkage Institution- is a structure that connects people to their government or the political
process
The effects of voters having access to these linkage institutions is ithelps voters influence
government decisions by making sure policymakers hear what the public wants and
expects.
*focus on poltical parties*
What is a political party? An orgnaization bound by ideological beliefs that put forward
candidates for election
What do they do? They help choose who runs in elections and draw voting maps to help
their party win

Leadership Structure of Poltical Party

National Chairperson runs the party (even if a popular candidate, a representative of the
party, acts more like the face of the party to the public)
Subcommitties
Both Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee have
subcommittees that work on piecing together the party platform
What do paties actually do?
●​ Parties help get voters involved and teach them about the issues and candidates.
○​ Each party’s biggest goal is to win elections (this means parties work hard
to get their supporters to vote. They organize voter registration drives, give
rides to people who can’t get to the polls, and contact voters by phone, text,
email, or in person to encourage them and explain why their candidate is a
good choice)
●​ Responsible for creating their party platform → which are formal set of principles
and policy goals written and advocated by the party (basically they say if you vote
for us these are the policies you are going to get)
○​ Republican Party Platform aligns mainly with Conservative ideology so
there will be things like lower taxes and emphasis on national security
○​ Democratic Party Platform aligns mainly with liberal ideology so there will
be things like minority rights and public welfare services
●​ Responible for candidate recruitment
 ○​ Party Leadership are always looking for strong candidates to run for office,
usually people with funding(money) and a clean background.
○​ Once they find candidates, parties run their campaigns by raising money
and using media strategies to attract as many voters as possible.

Why Political Parties Change Over Time and Adapt to Changing Social Realities
(the reasons behind the changes)

1. Shift from Party-Centered to Candidate-Centered​

In the past, the political party was the main focus, and the candidate was secondary.
Now, the candidate is the central figure, and the party plays a smaller role. This shift has
happened due to several factors:

2. New Media Technology​

With the rise of new technology, candidates can now communicate directly with their
supporters, allowing them to build a personal following. Social media, TV, and other
communication methods allow candidates to stand out and present themselves without
relying heavily on the party.

3. Party Realignment​
A realignment occurs when large groups of voters move from one party to another. This
can happen after significant losses in elections, signaling that the party’s ideas are no
longer aligned with what voters want. For example, when Franklin Roosevelt (Democrat)
defeated Herbert Hoover (Republican) by a wide margin in the 1932 and 1936 elections,
it showed a shift in voter preferences.

How Political Parties Change Over Time and Adapt to Changing Social Realities
(the methods through which parties adapt)

4. Changes in Campaign Finance Laws​

Since the 1970s, campaign finance laws and Supreme Court decisions have changed the
rules for how much money can be legally donated to candidates and parties. These
changes have allowed candidates to raise more money independently, which reduces the
control that the party has over funding.

5. Advances in Communication and Data Technology​

As technology has advanced, political parties have started using more detailed
demographic analysis. This helps them understand voters' characteristics like race,
gender, age, and religion, allowing them to adjust their policies or messages accordingly.
Psychographic analysis, which looks at voters' personalities, goals, and desires, is also
now widely used. Parties collect this data through online habits and shopping patterns,
then use it to refine the candidate’s image and message to appeal to a wider group of
voters.

Third parties in political system

US operates as a two party system making it difficult for third parties and independent
parties to ever win elections (two main reasons why third party struggle to win election)

1.​ In most states, the candidate with the most votes gets all the electoral votes.​
(Except Nebraska and Maine, which split theirs.) This makes it very hard for
third-party candidates to win, since they rarely get a majority. Many people also
avoid voting for them, thinking it’s a wasted vote. Alternative to this system is
called proportional voting. In the U.S., each district has one winner—the candidate
with the most votes, even if there are many running.In contrast, many European
countries use proportional voting, where parties (40% vote → 40% seats) get
seats based on the percentage of votes they receive. That system helps third-party
candidates, but it’s not used in the U.S.
2.​

Why do third parties exit at all in the system? (like if they have no chance of winning
why do they even try?)

Third parties often highlight issues ignored by major parties. If enough people support
their ideas, a major party may adopt those policies, making the third party less
necessary—but still impactful. ex→ In the late 1800s, the Populist Party pushed for
unlimited silver coinage to help farmers. The Democrats adopted this idea, and many
farmers shifted their support to them.

Interest Groups As Linkage Institutions

Another kind of institutional commitment
Interest groups tend to form around single issues ex → workers rights, single
demographics, retired people
Cheif goal of interest group is to persuade policy makers to pass legislation that aligns
with the groups interests
One of the way they do this through lobbying
Lobbyist are basically representatives of these interest groups who meet with lawmkers
and inform them about the potential benefits and pitfalls of passing certain legislation
Since many lobbyist form around single issue these lobbtists are often policy experts who
can help policymakers understand the impact of certain legislation.

Interest have staff who work to draft legislation that they then present to representatives,
and they work to educate the public on their issue. Ex → of working to educate: the
public mothers against drunk driving or madd. Madd commericals about the dangers of
drunk driving, maximum legal blood alcohol content is 0.08, is because of Madd’s
lobbying work
Members of congressional committees are especially helped by interest groups who both
provide them with policy information and provide no small amount of campaign
donations if the representative is sympathetic to the groups goal

Issue Network- An issue network is a temporary alliance of different interest groups that
work together on a shared concern. Ex → Religious and civic groups might disagree on
same-sex marriage, but they may unite to support healthcare for poor children.

Interest groups can strongly influence politics, but how effective they are depends on a
few key factors.

1.​ Funding: groups with more funding have much more power and much greater
access to policymaker than those with less funding. Ex → National Rifle
Association (NRA) has cash pouring out of its barrel boys that means alots of
policy makeers definitely want to hear from them
2.​ Free Rider Problem: when a larger group benefits from the efforts of an interest
group than are members of the groups (Even though group members fund the
effort, the laws they push for can help many people beyond just the group). Ex →
if the AARP helps get favorable legislation passed to help retired folks, then the
law benefits all retired persons but it was the effort and funding of the AARP and
its members that made that benefit possible to everyone

Social movements and protest movements also working towards certain policu outcomes
They have similar goals to interest groups, such as overturning or establishing new
policy. These movements typically dont have the official hierarchical structure like
interest groups so compared to interest groups they are more citizen driven movements.
Ex → civil rights movement, recent social movements & protest movements: black lives
matter, occupy wall street, tea party.

Each of these movements often engage in civil disobedience in order to draw attention to
some injustice. They lack funding like interest groups but they can influence policy. Ex
→ The biggest achievements of the civil rights movement included the Civil Rights Act
of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the LGBTQ rights movement gained the
vicotry in the Obergefell v Hodges decision.

Elections and Campaign Finance

Most complex electoral process → Presidential Elections

Process of Presidential Elections

Steps

1.​ Picking Representative from a Party: Candidate must win state primary elections
or caucuses in order to earn the party’s nomination
a.​ In order to win the party’s nomination candidate must win a majority of
delegates votes at the party’s national convention
2.​ General Election: where the candidate for each party fights for votes in order to
become the president. (they do debates travel for speeches etc)
3.​ Electoral college: each state appoints a number of electors(Electors are usually
chosen by their respective political parties before the general election. Typically
political party members, loyal to the party's candidate, but they are not
automatically part of Congress) that corresponds to the number of seats that state
has in congress. Its up to the state to determine how theyre going to appoint those
electors. Ex → in georgia they have 14 representatives in the house and like
everybody else 2 senators meaning: 16 electors and those are the people who vote
for the president

Why have a general elections if public is not directly voting for the president? Because
electors almost always vote along the lines of the popular vote. In some cases though they
vote against the popular vote giving them the title of faithless electors. In general though
if the people of the state vote for a democrat, then the electors are going to vote for the
democrat. *In the winner-takes-all system, the candidate with the most popular votes in a
state wins all of its electoral votes*

Primary Elections: states hold primary elections where members of the party decide
which candidate they want to represent them. *2 kinds of primaries*

Closed Primary: Voters have to choose a candidate from their own registered party. Ex →
Nevada has a closed primary—if someone registers as a Republican, they can only vote
for Republican candidates in the primary.

Open Primary (opposite of closed): Voters may cast a ballot(is what you use to vote; a
piece of paper or an electronic form, where voters mark their choice in an election) for a
candidate of any party regardless of which party they are from.

However some states use caucuses instead of primary elections

The difference between the two is that primary voting happens at the state level by secret
ballot, while caucuses happen at more local level, and voting is far more public.

However outcome of the two is same: a particular candidate is nominated for the party.
Just the process is slightly different.

Incumbency Advantage: the incumbent is the candidate who is already in office and is
running for another term. Ex → 2020 election donald trump had already served for four
years and was running another four years. Meaning he was the incumbent.

Political scientist say that the incumbent has significant advantage when getting
reelected. The reasons for that → 1) The incumbent is already known—they’ve been
president for 4 years and have (hopefully) proven they can do the job 2) The incumbent
can use their public platform to convince Americans to vote for them again 3) The
incumbent already has many donors to help fund their campaign.

The Electoral College system has raised questions about fairness. In the 2016 election,
Hillary Clinton won 3 million more popular votes than Donald Trump, but Trump won
the presidency by securing more electoral votes. Critics argue this is unfair, but
supporters of the Electoral College say it stops big cities, which tend to be more liberal,
from having too much influence over the votes of people in smaller, rural areas.
Congressional elections

House of Representatives: all seats up for election every two years up for elections

Senate: ⅓ of seats up for election every two years up fpr elections

Midterm elections are congressional elections that happen halfway through the
presidential election cycle. So there was presidential election in 2020, meaning there will
be a midterm congressional election in 2022.

Congressional elections have less voters than presidential elections. Reasons being:

Because presidential elections is really between two candidates making it much easier for
voters to organize their thoughts about two than it is to do their for multiple congressional
candidates. In congressional election the incumbent advantage is even more strong.
Reasoning being:

Incumbents have established donor networks and dedicated staff to help them with
campaigns but probably the most significant is name recognition. A voter is more likely
to vote for a name they recognize.

Gerrymandered districts are redrawn to favor incumbents, making it easier for them to
stay in office and harder for new challengers to win. Since the majority parties are the
ones who draw districts resulting them to draw them to their advantage, making it very
hard for incumbents to lose their seats.

Campaign

Most important factor in a campaign is money. Candidates spent a great deal of time
raising funds for their run for office. Rare candidate who is able to finance his or her own
campaign. So instead of that they rely on party funding, individual donors and
organizations like political aciton committees.

A candidate’s ability to raise funds is typically a good indicator for his or her chances at
winning an election.

Candidates hire experts to run their campaigns, including a manager, Public relations
specialist, fundraising team, and social media consultant. These people ensure the
candidate's message is clear, make the opponent look bad, and help the candidate do well
in debates.

Social media has changed political campaigns. Barack Obama was the first to use it fully,
targeting specific groups with messages based on demographic and psychographic data.
His campaign raised huge amounts of money through social media and persuaded enough
people to elect him in 2008 and again in 2012.
The last sentence means that states try to hold their primary elections earlier than others
because the states that go first in the election process often get more visitors, including
media and campaign-related tourism. This brings in more money for the local economy,
such as through hotel bookings, restaurants, and events. As a result states compete to hold
their primaries first because the early states get more tourists and money from media and
campaign events, which has made the election season longer.

Ex → in 2015 joe biden was asked if he would run for president in 2016 election. He said
no because it was too late to start campaigning and that was 384 days before the election.
In his mind starting over a year from election left him with no chances of winning.

Campaign Finance

There are laws about campaign contributions because money’s role in politics is often
debated. People can give money directly to candidates, but this is limited. They can also
give to parties or interest groups. However, the biggest contributors are Political Action
Committees (PACs), which raise money to influence voters to support their preferred
candidates.

Types of PACs (Political Action Committees)

1.​ Connected PAC

●​ Made by businesses or unions.​

●​ Can only collect money from their members.​

●​ Can give limited money directly to candidates.​

2.​ Non-Connected PAC

●​ Made by individuals or groups, not linked to a company or union.​

●​ Focused on specific issues like gun rights or women’s rights.​

●​ Also can give limited money directly to candidates.

3.​ Super PAC
●​ Can be made by anyone.​

●​ Can raise and spend unlimited money.​

●​ Cannot give money directly to candidates.​

●​ Cannot work directly with a candidate or campaign.​

●​ Often used to pay for ads that support or attack candidates.

A key early step in setting rules for campaign money was creating the Federal Election
Commission (FEC) in 1974. The law that set up the FEC also stated that people cannot
donate more than $1,000 to a candidate, and political action committees cannot donate
more than $5,000 to a candidate in each election.

In 1975, the law was challenged in a Supreme Court case called Buckley v. Valeo. The
argument was that limiting how much money people can give to political candidates
violated the First Amendment's right to free speech. But the Court disagreed and kept the
law in place, saying that without limits on campaign donations, fair elections would be
almost impossible.

But people found a way around this

Types of donations

Hard Money: Funds that are directly donated to a candidate’s campaign and hard money
was restricted by the law. Ex → if you take money out of your bank account and send it
to X candidate, that is example of hard money and you’ll be confined by the law
regarding how much i can give.

Soft Money: indicates funds donated not to a candidate, but to a party or interest group to
help a candidate win. Who can then buy advertising or whater to help a candidate win
and soft money was not restricted by the law

To close these loopholes, Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)
in 2002. This law raised the limit on hard money donations and tried to reduce the use of
soft money. One part of the law, called the “Stand by Your Ad” provision, required
candidates to include a clear statement in their ads—like “I’m [name], and I approve this
message.” But the BCRA didn’t end the debate over campaign finance. The issue came
up again in 2010.

Required court case:

Citizens United v Federal Election Commision → tThe argument was that the BCRA’s
limits violated free speech. Supporters of this view said that if a corporation or group
wants to spend money to support a candidate, they should be allowed to do so without
limits—because in politics, spending money is like expressing your opinion. This time,
the Court agreed. It ruled that limiting this kind of spending did violate free speech. As a
result, the Court decided that political spending by corporations, unions, and other groups
is protected under the First Amendment.

This is important because if corporations can spend unlimited money on politics, the
wealthiest ones will have the loudest voices. That means a small part of the
population—those with a lot of money—can shape the political conversation. And that’s
at the heart of the ongoing debate.
Media As a Linkage Instituion
Media is the ones that hold the government responsible to the people because of that they
are known as watchdog agency.
In this way, the media act as a linkage institution—whether through traditional outlets
like newspapers or through social media. By reporting on what the government does, the
media influence how citizens get involved in politics.

Media in America has taken many different forms throughout history.

In the beginning of the Republic, most people got their news from newspapers. Later it
was radio and people could hear political debates from home. Then television replaced
radio to give americans reports about what their government was up to. TV played a huge
role in people’s deep mistrust of government during the Vietname War.

The government was saying one thing to the public while reporters on the ground in
Vietname were telling a different story of defeat and slaughter and then social media cam
along and again changed the way americans digest the news.

This was a big change because these platforms aren’t part of traditional news outlets, so
sharing and reporting became more grassroots. However, traditional media have adapted
by building strong presences on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Significant in history of media is rise of investigative journalism during the progressive

era.

Investigative Journalism: upton sinclair his book the jungle provided an in-depth
investigation on the profoundly unsanitary conditions in meatpacking plants. When this
book hit the shelves americans were horrified at what they read, so horrified, in fact, that
they put pressure on congress to address those issues. And they did— as a result of
Sinclair’s expose, congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and Media Inspections
Act.

The media can’t cover everything happening each day—there’s simply too much. So the
stories they choose to report shape what the public sees as important. This is called the
media’s gatekeeping role. It can influence elections, especially when the media focus
heavily on the competition between candidates. They often highlight public opinion polls
and track who's winning or losing, with numbers that can change daily. This creates a
focus on the candidates themselves—like a popularity contest—rather than on their
detailed policy ideas. This kind of coverage is known as horse race journalism

Major changes in the media that have occurred more recently.

1980s something called fairness doctrine mandares that the media provide equal airtime
to opposing opinions on major policy issues.

In the late 1980s, the Fairness Doctrine was ended. After that, news networks and radio
hosts—like Rush Limbaugh—started sharing news with a strong political bias. Who
owns a media company also affects how the news is told. Since cable news networks are
for-profit businesses, they focus on stories that attract the most viewers and clicks. As
political bias in the media has grown, these networks have changed their content to match
their audiences. For example, CNN usually appeals to liberals, while Fox News appeals
to conservatives.

Both networks say they’re showing the facts in a fair and balanced way, but it can be
confusing for people who can’t tell there’s a political bias. Also, when people keep going
to the same news sources, they often end up in an echo chamber—only hearing
information that supports what they already believe.

People often say all media outlets are biased—but how can we measure that?​

One way is by looking at the political views of reporters.​

●​ Studies show that for the past 50 years, most journalists have leaned Democratic.​

●​ But this only tells us about the journalists, not the actual news content.​

A better way is to study how the news is reported.​

●​ Some studies show liberal reporters often present Democrats as cooperative and
Republicans as stubborn.​

●​ Conservative media often show Republicans as defending American values and

Democrats as threatening those values.