What is a political party? What are the major functions of political parties? Why does the United States have a two-party system? How do multiparty and one-party systems function and what are

their influences on government? How did the United States’ political parties originate? What are the three major periods of single-party domination? What characterizes the current era of government? Why does the United States have a two-party system? How do multiparty and one-party systems function and what are

their influences on government? What membership characteristics do American parties have? Why do the major parties have a decentralized structure? How does the national party machinery and the State and local

party machinery operate? What are the three components of the parties? What are the future possibilities for the major parties?

group of persons who seek to control govt by winning elections & holding office.

Republicans and DemocratsPrinciple, issue, or election oriented.

Nominate

Inform

BondAct as Watchdog

Govern

Political Party

Stemmed from Fed/A.F. debate. Evolved into the current system where party dominated due to issue.

Dem. (1800-1860)Rep. (1860-1932)Dem. (1932-1968)More independents now

Major reasons are Tradition and history- we have always had

two major parties in America. Ideology- Not all people believe the same

things. Our electoral system is designed around

two party politics.Party membership is based on

background, ideas, religion, education, location, occupation, income level, etc.

There has been an emergence of third parties, independents, and issue parties. TEA Party Green party

Reasons for this are The movement to ultra conservative/liberals The growth of the moderate movement. Outrage over the growth of government.

Spoiler- to take away votes from one of the other candidates during election.

Critic- to address some major issue that affects the public (immigration, taxes, etc.)

Innovator- to push the public to make a decision to solve some kind of problem (prohibition)

Decentralized due to lack of leadership.

The Growth of the “Moderate” movement.

Nomination process splinters party and pits members against one another.

The Party Organization:

Those who run and control the party machinery.The Party in the Electorate

Those who always or almost always vote for party candidates.The Party in Government

Those who hold office in the government.

What is the history of voting rights in the U.S.? Are there an constitutional restrictions on the States’ power to set

voting qualifications? How has the 15th Amendment granted the right to vote to

minorities? What civil rights legislation helped to solidify universal suffrage in

the U.S.? What are the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965? What groups vote more than others? How does voter turnout affect the electoral process? Why is the nominating process a critical first step in the election

process? What are self-announcement, the caucus, and the convention

nominating methods? Why is the direct primary the principal nominating method used

in the United States today? Why do some candidates use the petition as a nominating device?

Constitution sets the qualifications to the state.

Originally left to white property owning males.

The electorate now exceeds 200 million Americans.

Early 1800’s- Property ownership and tax payment qualifications wiped out by states.

Post Civil War- 15th Amendment made it illegal to disenfranchise based on race.

1920’s- Progressivism brought the 19th Amendment and gave women right to vote.

1960’s-The Voting Rights Act of 1965 guaranteed the right to vote for minorities. The 23rd Amendment (1961) granted citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote for presidential electors. The 24th Amendment (1964) eliminated the poll tax.

The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18.

Civil Rights Act of 1957

Created the United States Civil Rights Commission

Investigated and reported voter discrimination

Gave the Attorney General the power to require federal courts to issue orders to prevent any interference with a person’s right to vote

Civil Rights Act of 1960

Created federal voting referees who helped correct conditions to prevent voter discrimination

The Law More far-reaching than

the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 abolished the use of voter registration or a literacy requirement to discriminate against any voter.

Its enforcement relied on judicial action and the use of injunctions—court orders that either force or restrain specific acts.

The Aftermath The violent response

of civilians and police and state troopers to a voter registration drive mounted by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, Alabama showed that the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960 and 1964 were still not enough to ensure voter equality.

Provisions of VRA 65’ Abolished Poll Taxes Outlawed any kind of literacy test Mandated Preclearance Later Amendments established language

minority privileges.

In the last 10 years voting numbers have grown significantly.

Less than half of the registered voters turned out for 2000, 2008 saw record turn out.

Some people cannot vote for various reasons, such as physical or mental illness, unexpected travel, and resident alien citizenship status.

However, most nonvoters do not vote because voting is in some way inconvenient, they do not believe that their vote will make a difference,

or they distrust politics and political candidates.

Voter preferences can’t be predicted by just one sociological factor. Voter opinion is a combination of all of these factors and more. Education Income/Occupation Background Gender

Nonpartisan Primary

Candidates are not identified by party labels

Runoff Primary

If a required majority is not met, the two people with the most votes run again

Closed Primary

Only declared party members can vote.

Types of Direct Primaries

Open Primary

Any qualified voter can take part.

Blanket Primary

Qualified voters can vote for any candidate, regardless of party

How does the administration of elections in the United States make democracy work?

What role do precincts and polling places play in the election process?

In what ways can voters cast their ballots? What role do voting machines and other

innovations play in the election process? What are the issues raised by campaign spending? What are the various sources of campaign

funding? How do federal laws regulate campaign finance? What role does the Federal Election Commission

have in enforcing campaign finance laws? What loopholes exist in today’s campaign finance

laws?

Primarily controlled by States.Congress has power to set details of

presidential election. (1st Tues. in Nov.)

States determine the election of state and local officials.

Most states provide for absentee voting.

Precincts are voting districts. Small geographic areas that carry out elections. Have local boards.

Polling Places are the locations that voting takes place. Located in or near the precinct.

Voting was initially done orally. It was considered “manly” to speak out your vote without fear of reprisal.

Paper ballots began to be used in the mid-1800s. At first, people provided their own ballots. Then, political machines began to take advantage of the flexibility of the process to intimidate, buy, or manufacture votes.

In the late 1800s, ballot reforms cleaned up ballot fraud by supplying standardized, accurate ballots and mandating that voting be secret.

In 2004, candidates spent a total of $717 Million. Obama spent $734 M by himself in 2008.

Private and Public Sources of Campaign Money

Small contributors

Nonparty groups such as PACs

Wealthy supporters

Temporary fund-raising organizations

Candidates

Government subsidies

President Obama used technology to reach out to supporters. People transferred funds to his campaign via email, text, etc.

Early campaign regulations were created in 1907, but feebly enforced.

The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971 was passed to replaced the former, ineffective legislation.

The FECA Amendments of 1974 were passed in response to the Watergate scandal.

Buckley v. Valeo invalidated some of the measures in the FECA Amendments of 1974. Most significantly, it also stipulated that several of the limits that the 1974 amendments placed on spending only apply to candidates who accept campaign money from the government, not those who raise money independently.

The FECA Amendments of 1976 were passed in response to Buckley v. Valeo.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) enforces:

the timely disclosure of campaign finance information

limits on campaign contributions limits on campaign expenditures provisions for public funding of

presidential campaigns Chief Jst. Roberts overruled past

judgments by allowing unlimited corporate campaign spending.

Soft money—money given to State and local party organizations for “party-building activities” that is filtered to presidential or congressional campaigns. $500 million was given to campaigns in this way in 2000.

Independent campaign spending—a person unrelated and unconnected to a candidate or party can spend as much money as they want to benefit or work against candidates.

Issue ads—take a stand on certain issues in order to criticize or support a certain candidate without actually mentioning that person’s name.