LINKAGE SYSTEMS Elections o Most obviously, elections determine who are leaders will be from a field of candidates.

. o But elections are also an important form of political participation, with voting being the most common form of American participation. o Elections give Americans an opportunity to replace leaders without overthrowing them, thus holding them accountable. o However, parties in the U.S. are not as important in elections as it is in other countries o Winner-Takes-All- In most American elections, the candidates with the most votes wins. The winner does not have to have a majority (more than 50%), but may only have a plurality, the largest number of votes o Deciding to announce, presidential primaries, convention- old time used to select members now its to nominate, campaigning o Congressional elections are private funding, presidential elections are private and public Political parties o Connect citizens to their government o Run candidates for political office o Inform the public about policies o Organizing the government o 1 party, 2 party, multi party Interest groups o An Interest group is an organization of people who enter the political process to try to achieve their shared goals. o Institutional Interests -Over 500 firms have lobbyists, public relations experts, and/or lawyers in Washington. Most of them represent business interests. Individual Interests- Individual Americans are much more likely to join religious and political associations than citizens of any other democracy. Many of the organizations they join are represented in Washington and lobby the government for favorable policies for their interests. o Interest Groups maybe divided broadly into three types: 1.) economic interests, 2.) consumer and public interests and 3.) equality and justice. o Interests groups employ four strategies for accomplishing their goals: lobbyingtrying to influence, electioneering- people to support/money, litigation- sue and appealing to the public for support

o Elitist Theory- Argues that just a few interest groups have most of the power. Pluralist Theory- They claim that interest groups benefit American democracy by bringing representation to all. Hyperpluralist Theory -They believe that there are too many groups which are trying to influence the political process, resulting in political chaos and contradiction among government policies. o Foundation grants-Are funds established usually by prominent families or corporations for philanthropy. Federal grants and contracts- Are not granted directly to organizations for lobbying purposes, but they may be given to support a project the organization supports. Direct solicitation- Most groups heavily rely on direct mail to solicit funds. o Size- larger less effective, intensity- more concentrated on one topic, financial resources- moneyyyy Media o Print media- newspapers and magazines, electronic media- tv and radio, the internet- the interwebs o Entertainment - Radio & television both emphasize entertainment, with primetime ratings for television often making or breaking the overall success of a network. o Agenda setting- One important source of political, social and economic power is the ability of the media to draw public attention to particular issues o Creation of political forums- Politicians have learned how to use the mass media to make important announcements or to encourage citizens to focus on their issues. o News reports- Reporting the news has been a major function of print media since the early 19th century, and newspapers and magazines remain an important source for people interested in simply finding out what is happening in the country. o Equal time rule - requires a station selling time for a candidate for office to make the same amount of time available for his/her opponent. Right of reply rule allows a person who is attacked on a broadcast the right to reply over that same station. This rule also applies where there is an endorsement of a candidates opponent in a broadcast. For many years there had been a fairness doctrine that required broadcasters to give time to opposing views if they broadcast a program giving one side of a controversial issue. o Politics uses media for advertising, news coverage, presidential debates

Primary systems o Closed primaries- primaries where you can only vote for the candidate which is on your voters registration, democratic only democrat o Open primaries- primaries where you can vote for either a democratic or republican

o Free love- can vote for both candidates or any, not restricted to only 1 vote Voter turn out o America- 50% o Europe- 80% and up What factors influence voter turnout? o Education- more educated more likely to vote o Religious involvement- church goes more likely to vote o Age- 18-24 year is lowest votes, old people high o Race and ethnicity- voting the same for all o Gender- female seem to be higher o Two party competition- more competitive more likely to vote Moter Voter Bill- register to vote when you get your liscence Difference between winner take all system and proportional system o Winner takes all system means the winner gets all the votes, representation. A proportional system allows if one candidate wins to only get that proportion related to votes get me? Candidate gets 50% vote gets half of representation o Which countries- US has winner take all, other countries have proportional o Impact- smaller political parties work to the advantage of smaller parties The critical years during which voter turnout declined across US were between o A- 1840-1964 o B- 1890- 1910 o C- 1930-1950 o D- 1980-2004 Difference between referendum, initiate, recall o Referendum- the practice of referring a measure proposed or passed by a legislature to the vote of the electorate for approval or rejection. Allow citizens to vote directly o Initiative- process by which citizens may petition to place a policy proposal on the ballot for public vote. o Recall- removal of a public official by popular vote What is ticket splitting? o Different parties on one ballot Winner take all in electoral college, except which 2 states? o Maine and nebraska Buckley v Valeo 1976- The Supreme Court also ruled that limiting the amount that a candidate could spend on his or her own campaign was unconstitutional. They stated that The candidate, no less than any other person, has a First Amendment right to engage in the discussion of public issues and vigorously and tirelessly to advocate his own election.

Baker v Carr 1962- A statute enacted in 1901 by the Tennessee legislature apportioned members of the state general assembly among the states 95 counties in accordance with the number of qualified voters in each county. Decades later, with the 1901 statute still in effect, substantial growth and a redistribution of the population resulted in an apportionment scheme that was arbitrary and capricious. Plaintiffs, arguing that their votes were thereby diluted, sued. Reynold v Sims 1964- This case was a challenge to the malapportionment of the Alabama legislature. The challengers claimed discrimination against voters in counties whose populations that had grown proportionally far more than others since the 1900 census. Wesberry v sanders 1964- A group of voters in Georgia charged that populations in various State legislative districts were so disparate as to violate Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution. They argued that in the selection of delegates one man's vote should be worth as much as another's. Harper v Virginia 1966- A Virginia law mandated the payment of a poll tax, not to exceed $1.50, in order for citizens to be eligible to vote. The constitutionality of the law was brought into question. Staten v Pike Bush v Gore 2000- Florida. After a series of challenges in the state courts, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a manual recount for voters cards to determine what hanging chads meant; there were a bunch of votes that didnt count that Gore wanted to be counted. However, there were different methods for doing the recount all across the state. Bush argued that this is unconstitutional because it violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses. Near v Minnesota 1931- Mr. Near published a newspaper in Minnesota called the Saturday Press, which reported certain questionable conduct by the local police and officials, and hinted at a perceived favoritism. An article claimed that the police were turning their heads to the criminal actions of a Jewish gangster. Minnesota enacted a statute that made the publication of malicious, scandalous and defamatory matters in the print media a public nuisance. Citizen United v FEC 2008- Whether section 441b of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act BCRA which criminalizes ads produced by corporations that expressly advocate for or against a candidate within 30 days of the primary elections and within 60 days of the general election is constitutional? The Supreme Court answered in the negative. The Government may not suppress political speech on the basis of the speakers corporate identity. New York times co v us 1971- publishing pentagon papers.ya. Political Action Commitees (PACs) o What are they? Private groups that raise and distribute funds for use in election campaigns, dont have to pay tax I think

o 1974 reform act- limited individual contributions, name, address, occupation, business of contributions over 100$, 1000 per candidate, 20000national party, 5000 to PAC o 1976 provision- allowed only 1 pac per interest group? PIGS- Public Interest Groups o Focus on common cause/ environmental causes Hard money- given to candidate/party directly Soft money- given to party, unspecified Political parties in Europe compared to US o In Europe theyre stronger and there are more President o 35 years old, live in US for 14 years Senator o 30 years old, atleast 9 years in US Representative o 25 years old, at least 7 years What is a caucas? o Members of a party go and choose who they are going to support Which level of government is in charge of the national election? o Local level What law was passed in 1854 that gave a state the right to determine if it wanted to be free/slave? o Kansas- Nebraska act :D Political Parties o Early years (1789-1824)- anti federalists and federalists, o 1800-1824 Democratic rebublicans o 1824-1861 1st democratic era o 1861-1933 1st republican era o 1933-1969 2nd democratic era o 1969- present divided government Party systems o 1 party system- only 1 party, communism? o 2 party system- 2 main parties that compete o Multiple party system- many multiple parties o Only time US had was during the Era of Good Feelings Party that dominated the civil war and the depression o Republicans Richard Nixons southern strategy o Try to bring the south to the republican side What is a lobbyist?

An attempt by a group to influence the policy process through persuasion of government officials What is the Christian Right Movement? o a powerful movement made up of a number of interest groups that offer virtually no member benefits to their members, growth depended on religious identifications and affirmation of their members. Shows the use of purposive benefits where selective benefits of group membership that emphasize the purpose and accomplishments of the group What is the revolving door? o A person in politics quits and decides to work as an interest group to lobby, use connections. Mancur Olson solution to collective action principle is selective o A- benefits o B- activities o C- membership o D- punishment What is an amicus curiae brief? o Friend of the court, individuals or groups who are not parties to a lawsuit but who seek to assist the court in reaching a decision by presenting additional briefs. What is microsofted in terms of interest groups? o Microsofted happens to interests that do not engage in extensive lobbying, Representative Bill Tauzin told Bill Gates to increase his lobbying expenditures so his company didnt get demonized What are the 3 major news magazines? o Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report What Supreme Court cases had to do with national security? o New York times co v US, Nixon stuff What 1898 company pushed war on the media? Man? o William Randolph Hearst singlehandedly pushed the United States into war with Spain in 1898 through his newspapers relentless coverage of the alleged brutality employed by spain to suppress a rebellion in cuba What is the FCC? Federal Communications Commission o Indecency- FCC allowed to regulate the content of the material, no bad words o Fairness doctrine- requirement for broadcasters who air programs on controversial issues to provide time for opposing views o Right to reply/rebuttal- giving individuals the right to have the opportunity to respond to personal attacks made on radio or tv during same time period o Equal time rule- requirement that broadcasters provide candidates for the same political office an equal opportunity to communicate their messages to the public