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42 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is the most common form of political participation in the U.S?
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voting
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What is suffrage?
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Suffrage is the right to vote.
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What 2 major trends have marked the development of suffrage?
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1)restrictive requirements to votes have been eliminated
2) transfer of authority from states to the federal government. |
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Why was the progressive movement of the early 20th century so important to voting in the United States?
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The progressive movement came up w/ mechanisms that increased direct voter participation in the political process: direct primary, recall, referendum, initiative.
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What is direct primary?
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The citizens get to nominate political candidates.
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What is recall?
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It is when citizens removes an official from office before his/her term expires.
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What does referendum do?
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It lets people vote directly on proposed state laws, "propositions."
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What does initiative do?
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Initiative lets voters propose their own laws.
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Do recall, referendum, and initiative exist at the national or state level?
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They only exist at the state level.
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U.S. voters can elect how many NATIONAL office holders?
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President and VP.
Senators and HR are elected w/in states. |
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How is voter turnout in the U.S. compared to other countries?
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Not as high.Boo.
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How is voter turnout in the U.S. compared to previous years?
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Not as high.
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Why has voter turnout decreased?
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1)26th amendment introduced more voters, but a lot of these young 18 year old voters arn't hyped up to vote.
2) political parties can't mobilize voters 3) people think that both parties and their candidates are too similar so there is no reason to vote in favor of one over the other. 4) people don't trust government as much, esp. after Watergate. 5) Apathy 6) People are satisfied with the way things are. 7) Lack of political efficacy. People don't think one vote will make a difference. 8) voters move around a lot so they don't feel like they "belong" to any one place. 9) States have different registration process, so those who move around think its too much of a hassle to register again every time they move. |
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What does the Motor Voter Law/National Voter Registration Act of 1995 do?
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It makes it easier for voters to register to vote by letting them register when they get their drivers license and such.
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What is the most important factor that impacts one's likelihood of voting?
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EDUCATION. More educated people are more likely to vote.
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Name the factors (11) that influence someone's likelihood to vote.
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1) Education
2) Occupation, Income 3) Age 4) Race 5) Gender 6) Religion 7) Marital Status 8) Union Membership 9) Community work: people who are involved in their communities are more likely to vote. 10) Party identification 11) Geography- people who live in states where close elections occur often are more likely to vote than people who life in states dominated by one party. |
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What are the three types of elections?
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Primaries (pick out one candidate from each party) --> General election (pick out the winner)
Special elections are held when voters have to decide on something before the primary or the general election. Usually these elections are held to fill a vacancy in the Senate. |
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What are the four kinds of primaries?
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closed, open, blanket, runoff.
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What is a closed primary?
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Only voters registered in the party can choose the candidate. Separate primaries are held by each political party.
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What is an open primary?
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Voters can vote for candidates of either party whether or not they belong to that party.
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What is a blanket primary?
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voters can vote for candidates of either party and for different offices too: i.e. voting for a Repub. for one office and a Democrat for another. This is only done in Alaska and Washington.
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What is a runoff primary?
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A runoff primary is when no candidate gets a majority of the votes, so the have to face each other in a runoff (another voting round).
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When are presidential elections held?
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The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
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How often are Congressional elections held?
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Congressional elections are held every 2 years. Off year elections (mid term ones) occur between presidential election years.
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What happens during the coattail effect?
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During presidential election years, the popularity of the presidential candidate who wins creates a "coattail effect" by getting candidates from his office into Congress.
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What is the process line of a presidential election?
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Exploration: person decides whether or not to run, Announcement: candidate goes to a press conference to announce running and asks for the party's nomination.
Presidential primaries and caucuses: Iowa does a caucus instead of a primary, but every other state does a primary. Voters vote in the primary and party DELEGATES are sent to the convention to support the winner of the primary election. Nominating Convention: In the summer prior to the general election the convention picks out the party's candidate and makes the party platform. General election Electoral College |
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How does the electoral college vote?
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People cast votes (pop vote) for electors. Then each state sends electors to vote for candidates in the general election.
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How many electoral votes does Washington DC have?
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three
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How many electors from the electoral college are there in the U.S?
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538
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How many votes does a candidate have to get to win?
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At least 270
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What happens if no presidential candidate gets the majority vote from the electoral college?
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The HR chooses the president from the top three candidates.
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What happens if no VP candidates gets the majority vote from the electoral college?
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The Senate chooses the VP from the top 2 candidates.
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What are the five types of elections?
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Maintaining elections, deviating elections, critical elections, realigning elections, dealigning elections.
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What happens during a maintaining election?
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the traditional majority party maintains power.
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What is a deviating election?
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the minority party gains power, but only temporarily.
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What is a critical election?
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A critical election is when there is a sharp change in voting patterns (usually due to changing social and economic conditions).
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What is a realigning election?
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the minority party wins by building permanent new members. In essence, the minority party of yesterday becomes the majority party of today.
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What is a dealigning election?
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It is when a party's significance decreases because party members are less loyal and there is more independents and split ticket voting.
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What did the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971 do?
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It regulated campaign finances by...
1) limiting how much campaign money could be spent on advertisements 2) making campaigns disclose how much money they get and spend 3) limiting the amount of money a candidate can donate to his own campaign. |
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What did the Federal Election Act of 1974 do?
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It created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to enforce the act. It also est. public financing for presidential candidates in primaries and the general election. It furthered placed limits on campaign contributions.
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What did the 1976 S.C. case Buckley v. Valeo decide?
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The case decided that spending limits est. by the FECA Amendments of 1974 were unconstitutional, ruling that those restrictions were in violation of the first Amendment's guarantees of freedom of expression.
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What did the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002 do?
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It banned the use of soft money in federal campaigns and increased the 1974 limits on individual and group contributions to candidates.
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