Participation / Elections

Political Science 1100, Introduction to American Politics, September 21, 2009

Participation in Politics

How do Americans Participate in Politics?

A. There are some kinds of political participation
we take for granted, such as

voting

contacting public officials (calling, writing, e-mailing)

petitioning

participating in political organizations
(political parties, interest groups)

lobbying

campaign contributions

protesting

B. There are some kinds of political participation
we'd like to overlook, but they occur sometimes anyway

Political Corruption: Bribes, Extortion, Kickbacks, Patronage

Violence

2. Who Participates?

-- Generally, political participation is very limited

-- Middle class people are more involved than others

-- Poor people are less involved than others

3. American Government Was Designed

to Control Participation

VOTING AND ELECTIONS

1. THE IDEAL FOR AMERICAN ELECTIONS: PROSPECTIVE VOTING

PROSPECTIVE VOTING

Under Ideal Circumstances,
Rational Voters Cast Prospective Votes For the Candidates That Offer Policies They Prefer

2. THE REALITY OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS: American Circumstances are far from idea.

Turnout tends to be Low

Those who turnout are not perfectly representative of voting age adults.

Four Reasons that Voters Choose One Candidate Over Another

a. Party Identification

b. The Image Of The Candidates

c. Candidates' Stands On Major Issues

d. Incumbents' Actual Performance Affects Outcomes

In Reality, we tend to cast Retrospective Votes: We Tend To

Reelect Incumbents When There Is Peace And Prosperity
To Elect Challengers When We Feel Threatened And Experience Personal Economic Hardship

Retrospective voting is particularly important in voting for President

POLITICAL PARTIES

1. Why do we have political parties?

- Ask James Madison - Why did he help create America's first political party?

    - to build coalitions of

                (1) legislators and other public officials,

(2) candidates running for public office and

(3) voters who would vote for candidates for public office.

2. The Reality of American Political Parties: The Two Party System

A. Why Do We Have A Two Party System?

1) History: We've Always Had Two

     Since the 1850s, the Democratic and Republican Parties have
     dominated American Politics

2) Party Identification: People Tend To Stick With One Party

3) Consensus on Basic Ideals

B. Why Does The Two Party System Persist?

Single Member, Plurality Elections Make It Difficult for 3rd Parties

The rules make it hard for "Third" Parties to sustain electoral success

C. Are the Parties Different?

In some ways, yes - platforms, coalitions, policy performance

In some ways, no - American values, background of officeholders.

3. Party Shifts

A. How the Republican Party Won the South

1) Before World War II, the "Solid" South voted overwhelmingly Democratic

2) How Civil Rights Split the Democrats

The career of Strom Thurmond

B. How the Democratic Party won the Northeast