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Chapter 8

Campaigns

and

Elections

Enduring questions about elections

1. Basic purposes in democracies?

2. How do U.S. election laws compare?

3. Consequences of our election laws?

4. Major factors influencing the public’s vote choices?

5. “Normal” elections versus “critical” elections?

6. How polarized are:– the U.S public?

– our elected officials?2

1) What are the two basic purposes of elections in a democracy?

1. Mandate

2. Safeguard– Two external safeguards

Free, fair, frequent, & competitive elections A pluralist rather than a polarized society

– Three internal safeguards Division of power by levels Separation of powers by branches Overlapping (shared or concurrent) powers across both

levels and branches3

2) How do U.S. election laws compareto those in other democracies?

Number of political parties Number & frequency of elections

– Unitary v. federal– Parliamentary v. presidential– Primary v. general

Number of offices on the ballot– Short v. long

Cost of running for public office4

3) What are the consequencesof our election laws?

Mass public– Political trust– Political efficacy– Party identification– Turnout

Issue publics– Political trust– Political efficacy– Party identification– Turnout

Political elites– Polarization– Fundraising chores– Representativeness

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4) What influencesthe public’s vote choices?

Long-term factors

1. Ideology

2. Party id.

3. Age

4. Gender

5. Class

6. Region

7. Race/ethnicity

8. Religion

Short-term factors

9. Candidate evaluations

a) Competency

b) Honesty

10. Issue attitudesa) Salience

b) Policy preference

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Two economy issues and the incumbent party’s presidential vote

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Federal Debt Personal Income

5) What are the consequences of “normal-vote” & “critical” elections?

Definitions

– “Normal-vote” elections

– “Critical” elections

– Political-party systems or eras

Examples of Party Eras

1. 1788 Founding

2. 1824 De-alignment

3. 1860 Civil War & Reconstruction

4. 1896 Industrial Revolution

5. 1932 New Deal

6. 1968 De-alignment

7. 2004 ??8

Presidential voting in fourpolitical-party eras in the U.S.

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1876

1888

2000

6) How polarized was the 2008presidential vote?

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Electoral-vote winner by state Popular-vote winner by county

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/

6) How polarized was the 2008presidential vote?

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Popular-vote division by county Popular-vote division by county

weighted by county’s population size

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/

How polarized is Congress?

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