Final Exam Flashcards
(38 cards)
What are the major strategic decisions faced by candidates?
- Goals of Campaign
- Target Key Potential Supporters
- Target Core Voters and Persuadables
- Tone and Media Strategy (predominantly tv campaign ads)
- Issues: How specific?
- How to finance?
• Sources and what is good money?
what factors explain voter behavior in presidential and congressional elections?
most are guided in vote by PARTY IDENTIFICATION
what advantages do incumbents have in re-election campaigns?
incumbents are well known and have large sums of money
what are critical realignments and why are they significant?
A dramatic change in the political system – these are important because this most likely means the dominant party has shifted, meaning a shift in the direction the government is headed.
do election results provide us with a clear understanding of what the public desires in public policy?
No because few choices offered, large “party of nonvoters”, and how issue specific was campaign?
what is relationship between elections and public policy?
- how parties and their platforms have public policy
- Public opinion produces change in the election, which produces a change in policy.
what groups are more likely to vote? less likely?
- Majority are between 65-74 years old; elders are much more likely to vote
- individuals with the ability to process information and explain politics and party, the more likely they are to vote
arguments for and against ‘red state/blue state’ or ‘culture war’ idea
Arguments for blue vs. red states: increased polarization in public opinion (i.e. abortion)
o Criticisms: vast majority have middle ground position in polarized issues; people with more extreme opinion are make more likely to be heard
overriding functions of political parties
- Bridging constitutional gaps (can help bridge gap)
- Very important to elections
- Allow public to represent interests better
- Can validate system by educating public and getting them to polls and making elections easier
how do parties improve power of public and working gov’t?
Parties offer means to public to get together and solve issue; get candidates to run and win with similar interests
structural obstacles facing third parties
- Structure of American elections (single member districts, first past-the-post, winner take all
- Ballot access
- Anti-fusion laws
- Fusion candidacies: can be listed on ballot more than once under different party labels
- Finances
- Political structure: is political structure an actual issue?
- Alternative means of issue influence: lobbying, litigation, etc.
- Alternative voting rules that might help minority parties
o Proportional representation system, preference voting, approval voting, cumulative voting
Behavioral obstacles facing third parties
- Voters: sit out this dance/wasting votes; very difficult for third party candidates
- Candidates: ambitious (not many say will run for 3rd party b/c know will win) OR option to run as major party candidate
- Opponents: stealing thunder: stole talking points from 3rd party/opponent even though wasn’t originally part of own campaign
- Media: not enough media coverage; most of attention they do get is about how going to lose
plurality system
winner take all elections
proportional representation system
getting rid of single member districts; an election system in which candidates are elected from multimember districts, with a party’s share of seats from a district being roughly proportional to their share of the popular vote
what factors make a significant third party performance more likely?
- Major party weakness
- Attractive 3rd party candidates: known entities, some national reputation, recognized through other work
- Weakening of usual constraints: alternative voting systems, ballot access laws have changed, lots of media attention
- Some third party ‘loyalists’—have pool of folks that have voted for 3rd party and survived to try it again
divided government
three branches of gov’t are all associated with different parties
external critiques of pluralism
- Some groups are not likely or able to organize
- Better off are better organized than others
- Rather than ‘fluid’, pluralism settles into cozy relationships btwn interests and gov’t
internal critiques of pluralism
pluralists did not look carefully enough at how interest groups are run internally/operated
- Often little accountability of leaders to followers; not run very democratically
- Power in these groups is often concentrated—highly controlled by leaders/elites
soft money
can be donated to a political party in general; much greater latitude to how political party can spend this; magic words test – if don’t outright say certain things, can get away with certain things and how money is spent
independent expenditures
not contributed to candidates, unlimited in amount; two ways: advertising about issues and electioneering
individual contributions
can directly give to federal candidates, national parties, state/local parties, PACs
what is bureaucracy?
both definitions
As a PROCESS: a form of organization, which is hierarchical to some extent, based on a division of labor, and typically governed by specific rules and procedures
As a THING: gov’t agencies and offices
negative features of bureaucracy
- Idea of principle-agent problem: the principle asks agent (Congress and President) to do something, but the agent (bureaucrats) has an incentive to not carry out the process in the most efficient way for the principle; related issue to slack: bureaucrats don’t work as hard as they could/don’t worry too much if they aren’t doing job because very hard to fire; drift or policy drift: when bureaucratic agency doesn’t carry out principle policy as wanted to
- Can be inefficient and more expensive than private business: red tape
- Difficult to measure how efficient bureaucracy is
positive features of bureaucracy
- implement regularity and fairness in dealing with public; minimizes street level bureaucrats
- make policy especially if law is vague
- know a lot about specific areas of policy – lots of expertise and knowledge
- resolve disputes through formalized bodies
- provide services the public seems to want: running social security; providing protection through police force; driving services; death services
