Ways Citizens Directly Influence State & Local Government

• Initiative- provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote on a proposed statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment or ordinance.

• Referendum- citizens are able to accept or reject proposed state or local laws. – ½ the states have the ability to

bring a law back for a vote if there are enough signatures on a petition.

• Initiatives & referendums are put on the ballot at the next election.

• North Carolina does not permit state initiatives. Local initiatives and referendums have been permitted in cities since 1917.

Special Elections• Two-round system- used to elect a

single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate.

• If no candidate receives the required number of votes (usually 40-45% with a winning margin of 5-15%) – NC 40%

• The two candidates receiving the most votes, and a second round of voting occurs called a runoff election. Typical in primary elections.

• NC has this. Cost $6 million dollars for the most recent runoff election. Only a few voters even showed up.

Imagine an election to choose which food to eat for dessert. There are 25 people having dessert and four candidates: Ice Cream, Apple Pie, Fruit and Celery. Runoff voting is used to find the winner.

Round 1: In the first round of voting each diner votes for the one candidate they most prefer. The results are as follows:– Ice Cream: 10 votes – Apple Pie: 6 votes – Fruit: 8 votes – Celery: 1 vote

Round 2: No candidate has an absolute majority of votes (in this election that would be 13) so the two candidates with the most votes, Ice Cream and Fruit, proceed to a second round, while Apple Pie and Celery are eliminated. Because their favorite candidates have been eliminated Apple Pie and Celery supporters must now vote for one of the two remaining candidates. The sole Celery supporter is health conscious, so now gives his vote to Fruit. However Apple Pie supporters are split: 3 prefer Ice Cream and 3 vote for Fruit. Of those who supported Ice Cream and Fruit in the first round no-one decides to change their vote. The results of the second round are therefore:– Ice Cream: 13 – Fruit: 12

Result: Ice Cream now has an absolute majority so is declared the winner.

Possible Solution?

• Instant runoff- instead of voting for just one candidate you would rank the candidates instead which would prevent the need for a second runoff election.

Been a bad, bad, politician?

• Recall- voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended. Recalls, which are initiated when sufficient voters sign a petition.– Don’t worry NC politicians, there is no recall

system in NC.

Propaganda; How they get all those votes.

They spend what???

• 2012 Campaign• Obama’s grand total : $737,505,368.00• Romney’s grand total: $483,073,478.00• Total 2012 Campaign: $1,318,692,025.00

Testimonial

• Testimonials usually involve celebrities or other respected people endorsing, or officially supporting, a product or idea. The person giving the testimonial could be famous, knowledgeable about the product (such as a doctor talking about medicine), or just an ordinary person who claims the product has worked for them

• Bill Clinton

Bandwagon

“Jumping on the bandwagon” describes people choosing to go along with the rest of the crowd. Bandwagon propaganda creates the impression that there is widespread support for a thing or idea.

I like Ike

Name-Calling

Name-calling is exactly what it sounds like: using negative words and bad names to create fear and dislike for people, ideas, or institutions. Name-calling can be verbal or visual.

Some things never change

Glittering Generalities

This technique always shows the subject of the message in a positive light, but provides little or no information. Glittering generalities use simple, clever slogans that appeal to peoples’ emotions. These general statements are easy to remember but hard to verify because they offer no facts.

Card-Stacking

Card stacking uses facts and figures to show one side as positive and the other side as negative. The message shows only positive information about the person, product, or idea being promoted, and it shows only damaging information about the opposition or competition. This technique is designed to make you think you are hearing both sides. In reality, you are actually hearing only one perspective.

mac v PC

Plain-Folks

The plain folks technique is designed to send the message that a product or person is “just like you.” An advertiser will show an ordinary-looking person who vouches for how well a product works. Politicians have their picture taken visiting coffee shops, riding on tractors, and doing other things that everyday people do.

Romney family

Transfer

The transfer technique uses your feelings about one thing to get you to feel the same way about something else. Transfer can use a positive image to persuade you to like something or a negative image to persuade you to dislike something. The images might be symbolic, such as a flag standing for patriotism. They might be cute and lovable, such as a baby penguin.

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