Democracy and participation

Question 1

ACLU

Answer 1

Civil rights IG. Litigation, lobbying, advocacy and education
Somewhat successful-hand in legalising gay marriage 2016, overturned NC harsh voter-suppression laws 2016. Unsuccessful in reversing ban on trans people serving in military
Sided more w/ left despite in the past looking at both sides of argument
Pluralism-defend ever persons rights and liberties
Non political
More powerful than UK-many strike downs or adjustment of laws, wider variety of methods and access points

Question 2

NRA

Answer 2

Gun rights advocacy. Lobbying/teach safety, public/single interest
Money to back candidates to protect legislation on gun rights. Media campaigns
Elitism-$250mn budget through donors-sig adv compared to other groups
Lobby congress and make donations esp to republicans. PVG
More powerful-huge impact on decisions. UK PF rarely have such a sig and consistent impact and have to work far harder on doing so. Parties in US need IGs for funding and support. No Uk comparison-far too big

Question 3

NAACP

Answer 3

Civil rights interest group
Lobbying, peaceful protest, success-civil rights act
Pluralism-inclusive, diverse, for people and a cause rather than interest of rich
Early 20th century supported Republican and founder was one.
Non party political
More sign in US-more powerful, change law w/o Parliament via Supreme Court and public opinion, $20mn budget assists them in creating multiple laws

Question 4

PACs

Answer 4

Umbrella orgs that collect money from lobby groups who are concerned w/ some issue, sole purpose to raise campaign funds and spend them
4000 US
Legal intermediary (avoid limits on direct contribution). Federal Election campaign Act 1971 max dono $5k to candidates
Spend as much as they wish on candidate indirectly-funding advertising that supports a candidate or opposes alt candidate
Super PACs-electoral politics. Activity indy of any candidate and op indy
Exert inf over elections w/o limits
Federal elections since 2010-$3bn spent
3500 big donors outspent 7mn small donors

Question 5

1850s-60s Republicans

Answer 5

Anti-slavery expansion
Popular in north (powerful in northern states)
Abolished slavery
Civil Rights Act 1866

Question 6

1870s Republicans

Answer 6

Govt spending makes northern businessmen rich who take a leading role in party
South resisting racial reforms so ended up giving up in the south
‘Did enough’ for black citizens, emphasise other issues instead

Question 7

1920s Republicans

Answer 7

Oppose big govt
Party of big business

Question 8

1960s Republicans

Answer 8

Oppose civil rights act-expanding govt power too much
Black voters move to democrats
White southern voters who were staunch democrats move to republicans

Question 9

1980s Republicans

Answer 9

Reagan
Lower taxes, traditional family values, business issues

Question 10

2010s Republicans

Answer 10

Hispanic immigration-illegal and legal
Anti immigration (hispanics backing obama). Party for white people in non white country
Bipartisan immigration bid 2013
Trump’s wall, opp to immigration. Appealed to traditional Republican voters

Question 11

Republican beliefs

Answer 11

Party of equal opportunity
Trickle down/free market economics
Don’t believe in many social services
Conservative on social issues
Military

Question 12

Different types of conservatives w/in Republicans

Answer 12

Not all republicans identify as fully consi esp in NE and W
Compassionate-use conservative beliefs to try imp lives of those who feel abandoned/neglected by govt and society
Social-conservative on social issues e.g gay marriage and abortion (Religion)
Fiscal-want to reduce national debt, budget deficit and govt spending

Question 13

Trump: Republicans

Answer 13

Post-ideological candidate as he wasn’t a traditional conservative like Senator Cruz nor traditional moderate like 2012 candidate Mitt Romney
Former democrat. 2/3 of $500mn went to democrats. Donated x4 to Clinton’s. LGBTQ+ rights supporter. Liberal
MAGA, xenophobia, blocked muslims, ‘big lie’

Question 14

Democrats 1820s

Answer 14

Jackson won 1828 in landslide. Indian Removal Act 1830, party of white supremacy

Question 15

Democrats 1840s

Answer 15

Manifest Destiny-white superiority and supremacy

Question 16

Democrats 1860s

Answer 16

Pro slavery in civil war due to stronghold south. Limit govt intervention on behalf of black citizens, abuse of their rights

Question 17

Democrats 1912

Answer 17

Wilson Progressivism (govt intervention to progress society)

Question 18

Democrats 1930s

Answer 18

FDR ‘New Deal’

Question 19

Democrats 1960s

Answer 19

Pro civil rights (progressive eg on race), demos had more superiority than white southerners who were against. Lost all inf in south due to voters backing Republicans. Gained in black voters

Question 20

Democrats 1980s-2000s

Answer 20

Influx of hispanics who voted democrats. 2008-first black presidents

Question 21

Democrat beliefs

Answer 21

Believe in power of govt to intervene and regulate
Open to societal change
Separation of church and state
Diplomatic co-op over military
Pro immigration
Stricter gun control

Question 22

Democrat ideology

Answer 22

Not all self-identify as liberal, esp in south
Some call themselves ‘moderate’ or ‘conservative’ demos
Many saw 2016 contest between Clinton and Sanders in terms of ideology: Clinton ‘moderate’, Sanders more liberal
Exit polls showed liberal democrats pref Clinton > sanders 53:46
Democrats saw Clinton as more likely of two to defeat Trump

Question 23

Democrats-Obama

Answer 23

Obamacare-healthcare is a right, Foundations for universal healthcare
Ended nuclear war w/ Iran, opened US up to Cuba for first time in half a century
First black president

Question 24

Party organisation

Answer 24

Org of US pol parties reflects federal structure of govt
Largely decentralised, org mainly at state level
Think of them as 50 state democrat and republican parties as well as a national committee for each party

Question 25

Developments in party org since 70s

Answer 25

No. factors led to strengthening of national party structure
New campaign finance laws resulted in money flowing to national parties and candidates rather than being raised by state/local parties->taking control of more ideological state/local parties
TV provided a medium thru which candidates could appeal directly to voters, cutting out state and local parties that had traditionally been the medium
Emergence of sophisticated op poll allowed candidates to directly hear what voters were saying
New tech allowed parties to set up sophisticated fundraising and direct mailing ops
Parties became more ideologically cohesive
National parties play larger role in recruitment and training of congressional candidates
Party org top-down not bottom-up

Question 26

Current state of play-party org

Answer 26

Each party has a national committee w/ offices in DC. Members are reps from 50 state parties
Headed by national chair-mostly anon bureaucrats who are seldom in public eye
National party cons-held in each presidential election year (every 4 years)
Also congressional party leadership w/ committees to oversee policy-making and campaigning

Question 27

Party policy

Answer 27

Inc spending on social welfare programmes-D
Gun control-D
High levels of defence spending-R
Stricter enviro controls-D
Stricter control on immi-R
Obamacare-D
Asymmetrical polarisation-further apart ideologically because rep becoming more conservative while democrats largely consistent
Republicans inc using fillibusters rather than working with demos to find common ground
Main dif is rep#s willingness to compromise pol process

Question 28

What do you need to be the US president?

Answer 28

Natural born citizen
US resident for at least 14 years
35 and over

Question 29

Stages of becoming the president

Answer 29

Meet criteria
Primaries and caucuses
Voted in as candidate, choose your VP. Done at national convention
Election
Electoral college

Question 30

Invisible primary

Answer 30

Period of time before primaries where candidates raise money and gather support from grassroots campaigns
Seek to create momentum and an air of inevitability, so that voting pop will get behind their candidacy
PACS/Super PACs more active as they have most freedom to co-ord w/ official campaigns
To ‘win’ candidates will typically have raised most money, have sizeable PAC and super PACs contributions and consistently polling ahead of rest of field
Frontrunners don’t always win nom. All about survival to get best chance of winning nom

Question 31

Primaries and caucuses

Answer 31

Select presidential candidate for both parties. Jan-June election yr
Primaries-mid to large states e.g NY. New and more pop technique that just involve voting for candidate. Any reg voter can vote in ‘open’ primaries, ‘closed’ ltd party members
Caucuses-small to mid pop states e.g Iowa. Make variety of pol decisions
At stake is a certain no. delegates who rep their states at national party cons. Candidate who receives maj of party dels win nom
Some rep primaries winner takes all-gets all delegates. Others work proportionally e.g Massachussets

Question 32

Iowa: Caucus

Answer 32

1st caucus
Low turnout (2012 Rep-2108 voters)
Turnout rep 90% white and caucuses tend to attract more ideological voters
Mixed rec in predicting eventual nom e.g Cruz won in 2016
Can be crucial (Obama defeated clinton 2008 demo)

Question 33

New Hampshire: first primary

Answer 33

Higher turnout (52%)
94% white, unrep
Poss to lose NH primary and win nom e.g Bush 2000, Dole 1996, Clinton 1992
Winning NH primary brings boost in terms of op poll no.s, media coverage, campaign finances

Question 34

Choosing a VP candidate

Answer 34

Now seen as Great Office of State
Joint ticket (elected alongside President)-stand on same platform to get elected in modern pols.
Strive for balanced ticket e.g exp, ideology, age, region e.g Biden is Obama’s VP
Presidential character McCain, VP Palin (younger, women)
Trump and Mike Pence to appeal to one type of voter
Chosen at national party con

Question 35

National party convention: informal and formal functions

Answer 35

Formal: choose candidate, VP candidate and decide on party platform
Informal: create party unity, excite party faithful and excite ordinary voters into voting for their candidate

Question 36

Are national party cons still important?

Answer 36

Yes: informal functions still imp e.g disunited party loses elections like Reps in 1992
No: nom known in adv, VP chosen by nom and not candidate, TV stations no longer air full cons and presence of spin in cons to make party look united

Question 37

Why did Trump lose 2020 election?

Answer 37

COVID-couldn’t hold rallies, any econ progress destroyed, mismanagement
Biden’s negative camp-supporters made him easy to mock, been president for 4 years and had broken promises (wall not built/clinton not in jail)
Voter fraud-excuse. Also 2016 ‘rigged’ by Russians turned voters away
Diminishing returns-pol style and slogans less effective as President
Limited support from ethnic minorities-young people/BAME voted for Biden. Played exclusively to white America 2016 but pop has become more diverse between elections
Campaign vid too negative-no mention of achievements (he had none)

Question 38

Why did Biden win the 2020 election?

Answer 38

Subtle neg campaign on Trump
Appeal to emotion and people e.g military son, patriotism
Some people just voted against Trump
Kept election on terms where he was right or had moral high ground
BAME vote e.g Obama VP, Kamala Harris VP
Appeal to nationalist Reps who didn’t like Trump
Had achievements, substance, experience (40yrs), connections, respect
COVID plan w/ immediate effect
Raw authentic honesty

Question 39

Role of media

Answer 39

Newspaper, TV, social media
Presidential and VP debates: style more imp, verbal gaffes costly, good sound bites helpful, potentially more dif for incumbents than challengers
4/8 last elections where candidate judged to have won debate gone on to win election

Question 40

Power of incumbency

Answer 40

Primary: usually no opp esp if they are still pop
Serious challengers rare but gen presage failure to win GE in fall e.g Reagan w/ incumbent Ford-lost to Carter. Buchanan 1992 posed sig primary challenge to Bush Sr who lost
Presidential: greater name rec and access to funds thru sponsors and donors. Est candidates likely to have sig donor base personally or thru party-easier to afford to run campaign
Track rec to defend-makes campaign focused on them and re enforces presidential image of incumbent
Re-election rates in Congress consistently >80% last 50 yrs

Question 41

Why did Trump win 2016?

Answer 41

Nationalist
High support from working-middle class white male voters and areas w/ higher mortality rates for middle age white people
$2bn free coverage beg campaign-Feb 2016. x2 Clinton
Won electoral college
Exploited Hilary’s husband and his failings e.g Monica Lewinsky affair
Obama-unpop w/ southern voters which Trump attacked e.g white lash
Attacked anything bad demos had done and made it Hilary’s fault
Ran as outsider candidate
Admitted his pol mistakes and carried on-honesty
Dominated campaign e.g targeted campaigns on FB
Deterred black boters
Guns
Name rec e.g Apprentice

Question 42

Why did Clinton lose 2016 election?

Answer 42

Declining approval ratings
FBI-improper use of priv email
Lost pivotal rust belt region
Russian govt interference
Uneasy+adversial relationship w/ media
Seen as ‘unfavourable’ by public
Won pop vote but not electoral college
Did not have black vote e.g unbalanced ticket
Out of touch-Washington Elite, - view of politicians. Lost young vote this way
Southern voters sexist
Association w/ Epsteins
Low turnout-benefits republicans who’s white ideological voters always turned up. BAME didn’t

Question 43

Electoral college

Answer 43

If no candidate wins 270 electoral votes, decision goes to House of Reps who vote to elect new president from top 3 candidates. Senate elects V from top 2 candidates
Only happened 1824-Adams won in reps after no maj of electoral college
Some states have laws that bind electors to pop vote. Others allow faithless electors

Question 44

Campaign finance

Answer 44

Very poorly reg until Federal Election Campaign Act 1972/74 and Bipartisan campaign reform act 2002. However SC repealed some parts
Campaign donations can go into 3 dif places: national parties, presi candidates and super PACs
3 main concerns: inf of donors, secrecy and in= of expenditure between candidates and parties

Question 45

Hard money

Answer 45

Contributed directly to candidate’s campaign and tightly reg and restricted for both indys and PACs
Individual limits: $2700 per election to federal candi: $5000 p/y PAC. $1000 to state/loc party, $33400 national party
PACs: $5k from indys and per election to candi committee ; $5k to another PAC. $5000 to state party comms, $15k national party
Enforced quite rigorously but loopholes successfully exploited thru PACs

Question 46

Soft money

Answer 46

Unreg donations to PP not subject to strict federal limits. Can come from any source-only restriction must be used for party-building activities
Term easily exploited and be spent on campaigns prom passage of laws, voter reg, issue ads
After Bipartisan reform act 2002-super PACs taken over much of spending that was prev done by PP
Leg concerning reg of soft money appeared before Congress in 1996 but killed off by a rep fillibuster

Question 47

PACs p2

Answer 47

Raise and spend money to elect or defeat pol candidates. Most connected to PPs and make contributions to their pref candidates
4000-> donate to super PACs
Can donate to as many PACs as you want, pooling money to inc inf
Spend as much as they want indirectly on candi and serve as legal intermediary to avoid limits on direct contributions

Question 48

Super PACs

Answer 48

Indy expenditure comms. Unlim and unrestricted raising and spending to advocate for/against candidate standing for elected office
Can’t don money directly to campaign+co-ord with their campaign
Req to disclose donor info to FEC every month during election yr and either monthly/semi-annually during non-election yrs
Raised $1.8bn in 2016. Mid terms 2018-$1.5bn
Small no people w/ inf have outside sway on elections
2000-$50mn. 2012-$1bn
75%-direct ad e.g TV
95% elections won by candidate who raised most money in 2012

Question 49

Federal election campaign act 1972/74

Answer 49

Individual contributions $1k
Corporation contributions $5k
No foreign donors
Candidate expenditure limited-$10mn primaries, $20mn GE
Prov matching funds for contributions up to $250
Est FEC
Impacts: indirect spending thru PACs, advantage nationalist reps (no foreign donors), candidate limit benefits democrats who raise less, quickly overturned

Question 50

Buckley v Valeo 1976

Answer 50

Spending money to influence elections is form of free speech
Upheld some federal limits on campaign contributions, held expenditure limits unconstitutional
Impacts: dif of codified constitution as founding fathers couldn’t predict amount of money in US pol today, people w/ better opps make more money->will have inf, benefit more RW party, long time before they consider changing it

Question 51

Bipartisan campaign reform act 2002

Answer 51

National party conventions banned from raising soft money
Labour unions/corps banned from funding ads directly
Fundraising on federal property forbidden
Indy contribution inc to $2.3k
Stand by your ad provision-approve ads made for them
Limits power of PACs
Impacts: less money coming thru national cons, super PACs, more hostile campaigns as they can directly go for their opponents, reduce power of cons and inc power of state parties as donors might go straight to them at expense of national parties

Question 52

Citizens united V FEC 2010

Answer 52

Pol spending protected speech under 1st amendment
Govt may not keep corps or unions from spending to support/denounce candidates in elections
Upheld bans on direct contribution to candidates
Impacts: no limit on super PACs spending, bipartisan act can be taken to SC again to overturn more aspects

Question 53

McCutcheon v FEC 2014

Answer 53

Federal aggregate limit $117k per election (total that can be spent on all candidates)
McCutcheon wanted to spend more
SC rules in favour-aggregate limit removed but indy contri limit kept ($2.6k)
Chief Justice Roberts swung court

Question 54

Voting behaviour: region

Answer 54

Pacific coast NE-Democrat. S/Mid W-Rep
More rural the area, more likely to be rep. More urban, more likely to be demo. Cities tend to have younger and larger proportions of ethnic minorities. Rural=older
Safe seats e.g Wyoming supported R in every presi election since 1968, Trump won 70% 2020
Key swing seats help decide elections e.g Florida (2000 election). Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania
Shift in regions as parties changed e.g Wyoming supported Wilson and FDR

Question 55

Voting behaviour: race/ethnicity

Answer 55

1/3 Hispanics voted Trump 2016-valence voting
Support from AA pop for D never fallen <83% e.g 94% Obama’s re-election 2012. Historic support for civil rights, racial equality, DACA, affirmative action, welfare (AA poorer), more diverse politicians. Turnout low for AA due to distrust in politicians
Vote divided among Hispanics because of religion and origins. Cubans support R for anti-communist/Castro policies (Left wing country), Mexicans and Puerto Ricans more likely to support D due to stance on immi

Question 56

Voting behaviour: religion

Answer 56

72% Christian 2017
Catholics-democrat. Many are Irish/Italian immi. Some vote for Rep over abortion. 2012-50% Obama
Jewish-Democrat heartland. 69% Obama 2012 and 79% Al Gore 2000. Minority and believe Demos do best to protect them and adv their interests
Protestant-80% R (stronghold) 2004/12. Rep=social conservatism, appeals to those w/ strong religious beliefs esp on gay marriage, capital punishment and abortions

Question 57

Voter behaviour: class

Answer 57

Upper-Rep (big business, for the rich, low taxes)
Middle-Demo. A lot are college education which are v LW and hold LW values
Lower/working-once voted Demo but now tend to vote Rep due to a general distrust in LW politicians and attraction to populist leaders
Upper/mid voters have higher turnout-in 2000 those living in places worth $75k+ 27% more likely to vote
Demos slowly winning back working class-29% 2020
Demos win because middle class more likely to vote and sway working class

Question 58

Voting behaviour: age

Answer 58

Narrow victories for R quite sig-ageing pop, more likely to vote
18-29 67-32% voted D-more committed to voting D. More LW and more decisive. More liberal society. More passionate and self identify when it comes to social policy. Only D are closest to rep young people-more partisan, think their world view is correct (more open mind#)
More divided amongst older people

Question 59

Voting behaviour: gender

Answer 59

2018/19-Men 50% R, 42% D. Women 56% D, 38% R
Women have slightly turnout rates than men historically e.g 2016-63% W to 59%M
Women more divided D-issues like abortion (party trying to protect it), more progressive/equality/trying to change things compared to oppression of R. However women who vote R probably do so because of religion
Men-R. Gender pay gap, party of big business and lower taxes, systematic inequality and partiarchy
Gender gap-dif in percentage of M and W voting for particular candidate. M-w=gap e.g Trump M-55 W-44=11. Can win with high or low gender gaps-cannot rely on winning certain percentage of each gender