+

Political Behavior:
Government By the People
+

Political
Parties

What are they?

What do they do?
Why should I care besides the exam?
+
Record number of Americans say
they're politically independent
 The two MAJOR parties
in the US:
the Republicans and
the Democrats

+ What is a political
party?
A political party is a
group of persons
who seek to control
Membership in a political party is
voluntary. In South Carolina you do government by
not declare a party affiliation. winning elections
and holding office.
+
What do political parties do?
■ Nominate Candidates—Recruit, choose, and present candidates
for public office.

■ Inform and Activate Supporters—Campaign, define issues, and

criticize other candidates. Parties share this function with the media
and interest groups.

■ Act as a Bonding Agent—Guarantee that their candidate is worthy

of the office and if not, they will not support in next election.

■ Govern—Members of government act according to their

partisanship, or firm allegiance to a party but the branches
(legislative and executive) should work together.

■ Act as a Watchdog—Parties that are out of power keep a close

eye on the actions of the party in power for a blunder to use against
them in the next election. “Throw the rascals out!”
+

What factors can influence party

membership?
+ Minor Party: one
of the less widely
supported parties
How many of these terms do
in the US
I really need to know?
Single Member
District: where
only one Pluralistic
candidate is Society: has
elected to several distinct
Multiparty: several major and
each office on cultures and
minor parties—usually less
the ballot. groups.
politically stable as governments
can fall apart if a coalition does. Consensus: a
One-Party System: dictatorships general
or when one party dominates. agreement on
fundamental
matters.
+
How many of these terms do
I really need to know?

Incumbent: the person

currently holding the office
Faction: groups that
dissent
Electorate: the people
eligible to vote
Sectionalism: devotion to
the interests of a particular
region
+
Types of Minor Parties
(Is the Tea Party a minor party?)

Ideological Parties Single-issue Parties

Those based on a particular set of Those that focus on a single
beliefs and having a public policy issue
comprehensive view of social,
economic, and political matters Example: Free Soil, Right to Life,
American
Example: Libertarian, Socialist

Economic Protest Parties Splinter Party

Those that protest economic Those that split away from one of
hard times, blaming perceived the major parties
enemies and disgust with the
major parties Example: “Bull Moose”
Example: Greenback, Populist Progressive Party
Why Minor Parties
Are Important
Minor parties play several
important roles:
“Spoiler Role”
Minor party candidates can pull
decisive votes away from one of the
major parties’ candidates, especially
if the minor party candidate is from a
splinter party.
+
Critic
Minor parties, especially single-issue
parties, often take stands on and
draw attention to controversial issues
that the major parties would prefer to
ignore.
Innovator
Often, minor parties will draw
attention to important issues and
propose innovative solutions to
problems. If these proposals gain
popular support, they are often
integrated into the platforms of the
two major parties.
+ Why are political parties decentralized in the US?
• Political parties in the United States reflect our federal system of
government.

• We elect people to national, state and local offices and because of

that, we have party structures at every level of government.

• The party out of power lacks a strong leader (no equivalent to

the president).

DNC & RNC

SCDP SCRP
+
What role does each of the Lara Trump &
following play in the Michael Whatley
national party machinery? GOP Co-Chairs

National Conventions
Every 4 years, the summer National
before the election Chairperson
Serves for a
Nominates candidates for
4-year term
President & Vice President
Adopts party rules and Leads the
platforms national
National Committee convention

Meets between the Directs party

Jamie Harrison,
Convention DNC Chair headquarters
Mainly responsible for
Works to
preparing for the next
strengthen the
convention party
+
What is the future of the “party
system” in the United States?
For Voters For Candidates
■ More people are unwilling to ■ Structural changes have increased
label themselves as conflict and disorganization within
parties
“Democrats” or “Republicans”
■ Changes in the technology of
■ Split-ticket voting—voting for campaigning, especially the use of
candidates of different parties television and the Internet, have
for different offices at the same made candidates more
election independent of the party
organization

■ The growth of single-issue

organizations provides candidates
with another source of financial
support
+
End of lecture 1
+

Voters and
Voter
Behavior

Why have there been SO many problems

with voting rights in our country?
Are we not a democracy?
+ Extending Suffrage
The expansion of the electorate to its present size
happened in five fairly distinct stages:
1. During the early 1800s, religious, property, and tax payment qualifications
were gradually eliminated so almost all white males could vote.
2. The 15th Amendment (1870) was intended to end race-based voting
permitting almost all males voting rights, but it was not enforced for blacks, so
black men were denied the vote.
3. In 1920, the 19th Amendment prohibited the denial of the right to vote
because of sex, so almost all adult men and women could vote, but again,
discrimination kept many from voting.
4. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s: means ALL adult men and women
can vote

■ 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.

5. The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18 so all men and
There are three factors
that States require
people to meet to be
eligible to vote.
Citizenship
Most States require United States
citizenship in order to vote.
+
Residence
One must be a legal resident of a
State to vote in elections. Most
States require residency for
minimum amounts of time in
order to vote in the State.
Age
The 26th Amendment requires
that no State set a minimum
voting age above 18.
+

15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment (1870)
declares that the right to vote cannot
be denied to any citizen of the
United States because of race, color,
or previous condition of servitude.
 Gerrymandering
+ The Drawing of
electoral district
lines to the
advantage of a
party or group
Civil Rights Act of
1964 abolished the
use of voter
How many of these terms do registration or a
literacy
I really need to know? requirement to
discriminate
The 24th Amendment Ended the Poll against any voter.
Tax
January 23, 1964 Voting Rights Act
Many Southern states adopted a poll
tax in the late 1800s. This meant that
even though the 15th Amendment gave
former slaves the right to vote, many
poor people, both blacks and whites,
did not have enough money to vote.
Take your literacy test here
 Infographics on voting
patterns

+ Now, for your infographic assignment. The

following slides are about voter turnout and
voting patterns.
Identify TWO facts about voter turnout from
EACH of the graphs and record them in your
notes. This assignment is worth 7 points on
your binder note score.
 #1
+
Voter Turnout Statistics:
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
+
Why People Do Not Vote:

■ 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.
+ Political socialization—studying political socialization, the
process by which people gain their political attitudes and
opinions, can be useful in predicting voting behavior
■ Voter preferences can’t be predicted by just one sociological factor.
Voter opinion is a combination of all of these factors and more.
+ Liberals and Conservatives
Don't Just Vote Differently
They Think Differently!
+ What political factors influence
voting?
*Voters’ perceptions of their party, the candidates, and the issues
significantly affects their voting.

Candidates and Issues Party Identification

■ Candidates and issues are ■ The loyalty of people to a

two short-term factors that particular political party is
the single most significant
can influence even the most and lasting predictor of how
loyal Democrat or a person will vote.
Republican. People may
vote out of their chosen Controversial Issues &
party if they dislike a Close Elections
candidate or the party’s ■ Voter turnout is higher if
stand on a particular issue. there is a controversial issue
on the ballot or a close
election is predicted.
 Ballot Fatigue: Political
+ Time-Zone Fallout:
The news media predicts
voters lose
patience and/or
Efficacy: the
sense that one
election winners when polls knowledge as has an influence
close in the East and they work their
or effect on
Midwest, resulting in lower way down a
voter turnout in the West ballot
politics
where the polls are still open
Independents: Split-Ticket Voting:
people who have voting for
How many of these terms do
no party candidates of more
I really need to know? affiliation or than one party in
identification an election
Gender Gap: the measurable differences
between the way women and men vote
+
End of lecture 2
+

The
Electoral
Process

Nominations, Elections
and Money
What is up with all the money in politics and
does Citizens United have anything to do with
it?
+

In the United States, the election

process occurs in two steps:
1. Nomination, in which the field of
candidates is narrowed (important
because establishes the choices for the
general election)
2. General election, the regularly
scheduled election where voters make the
final choice of officeholder
+
DEMOCRACY IS A COMMODITY
 Closed
+
How many of these terms do Primary
I really need to know? Only declared
party members
Direct Primary: citizens vote for can vote.
candidates directly—considered
more democratic than the old-style
conventions with party bosses. Blanket Primary Open Primary
Qualified voters Any qualified
Runoff Primary can vote for any voter can take
candidate, part
If a required majority is not met, the regardless of
two people with the most votes run party
again

Nonpartisan Primary

SC has this one

Candidates are not identified by
party labels (our city commission
and school board elections are this
type)
+
Criticisms of the Primary Process

■ Voters do not like having to declare a party preference in

closed primaries

■ Voters in open primaries complain about not being able to

express their choices for nominations in more than one party

■ Voters are often upset with the length of the ballot

■ Candidates seeking a nomination find the campaign process

to be costly

■ Primaries may cause a division within the party

■ The primary process gives the edge to the candidate whose

name is more familiar to uniformed voters
+
Precincts and Polling Places
Precincts Polling Places

■ A precinct is a voting district. ■ A polling place is where the

voters who live in a precinct
■ Precincts are the smallest go to vote.
geographic units used to carry
out elections. ■ It is located in or near each
precinct. Polling places are
■ A precinct election board supposed to be located
supervises the voting process conveniently for voters.
in each precinct.

South Carolina Election Commission

+
Office-Group and
Party-Column Ballots

o ne
as this
h
SC
 campaigns so
+

where does
expensive:

the money
Why are
political

go?
Presidential elections get the
largest share of campaign
money.
The cost of Congressional
campaigns keeps growing.
Television costs are the largest
single cost.
Radio, newspapers, campaign
literature/pamphlets, buttons,
travel and office space add to
the costs.
Technology adds costs to
modern campaigns.
Money helps candidates get
their message known.
 campaigns so
+

come from?
where does
expensive:

the money
Why are
political

Private and Public Sources of Campaign Money (only

US citizens can donate)

• Small donations from “regular” people

• Large donations from “wealthy” supporters
• Candidates can “self” fund
• Non-party groups like PACs (political action committees)
• Temporary funding groups (super PACS)
• Government subsidies (if they accept the strings
attached)
 Citizens United: What is it
and why do people care?
Corporations, unions and
issue advocacy
+ organizations may now
spend unlimited amounts
of money from their
treasuries on
independent political
expenditures in support
of or opposition to a
candidate.
Can you guess when rules changed so “independent expenditures” did not have
to report where their funds came from?
+ Terms to know about
campaign spending:
(All ads are required to say what organization paid for them)

■ Soft money—money given to ■ Independent campaign

State and local party spending—a person
organizations for unrelated and unconnected to
“party-building activities” that a candidate or party can
spend as much money as they
is filtered to presidential or
want to benefit or work against
congressional campaigns. candidates.
■ Ads paid for with “soft money”
will have a political party ■ Issue ads—take a stand on
name in them. certain issues in order to
criticize or support a certain
candidate without actually
mentioning that person’s
name.
+
The Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) enforces
for ALL elections:
■ the timely disclosure of campaign
finance information

■ limits on campaign contributions

■ limits on campaign expenditures

■ provisions for public funding of

presidential campaigns
+
End of lecture 3
+
Mass
Media
and Public
Opinion
Forming and Measuring Public
Opinion and the Media
What is up with all these polls? Can they all be
correct? Is the media really biased? And how can I
tell anyway?
+ What is Public Opinion?
Public opinion can be described as those attitudes
held by a significant number of people on matters of
government and politics.
■ Different Publics
■ The United States is made up of many groups,
or publics, who share common views.
■ Public Affairs
■ Public affairs are those events and issues that
concern the public at large. In its proper sense,
public opinion includes only those views that
relate to public affairs.
■ Public Opinions
■ More than one public opinion can exist at the
same time, because there are many publics. A
view or position must be expressed in the open
in order to be a public opinion.
+
The Political Spectrum

■ People who have similar opinions on

political issues are generally grouped
according to whether they are “left,”
“right,” or “center” on the political
spectrum.
+ Family and Education: Many factors influence our
political opinions and political socialization over the
course of a lifetime.

Family The Schools

■ Children first see the political ■ Children acquire political
world from within the family knowledge throughout their
and through the family’s eyes. time in the classroom.

■ The strong influence the family ■ Students are taught about

has on the development of political systems, patriotism,
political opinions is due to the and great Americans. Some
large amount of time children are even required to take a
spend with the family. course on government in high
school.
+
Other Factors Influencing Public
Opinion:
Mass Media Peer Groups
The mass media include those Peer groups are made up of
means of communication that
reach large, widely dispersed
the people with whom one
audiences (masses of people) regularly associates,
simultaneously. The mass media including friends,
has a huge effect on the formation classmates, neighbors, and
of public opinion. co-workers.

Opinion Leaders Historic Events

An opinion leader is any Historic events can have a
major impact on public
person who, for any reason, opinion. The Great Depression
has an unusually strong is one event that shaped the
influence on the views of political views and opinions of
others. a generation.
+

What trends do you see over time?

Why do you think that is so?
+
Measuring Public Opinion

Elections Interest Groups

• Candidates who win an • Interest groups are private
election are said to have a organizations whose
mandate, or a command from members share certain
the electorate, to carry out views and work to shape
campaign promises. In reality, public policy. Interest
however, election results are
groups are a chief means
by which public opinion is
seldom an accurate measure made known.
of public opinion.

The Media Personal Contacts

• The media are frequently • Public officials rely on
frequent and wide-ranging
described as “mirrors” as contacts with their
well as “molders” of constituents, such as
opinion. reading their mail,
answering calls, and
meeting people in public.
+ Public opinion is best measured by public opinion
polls, devices that attempt to collect information by
asking people questions.
Scientific Polling is the most accurate type of polling
Straw Votes
Defining the Universe: The universe is a term that means
the whole population that the poll aims to measure. ■ A straw vote is a method of polling
that seeks to read the public’s mind
Constructing a Sample: A sample is a representative simply by asking the same question
slice of the total universe. Most professional pollsters of a large number of people.
draw a random sample, also called a probability
sample. A quota sample is one that is deliberately ■ The straw-vote technique is highly
constructed to reflect several of the major characteristics unreliable, however.
of a given universe.

Preparing Valid Questions: The way in which questions

are worded is very important. Wording can affect the
reliability of any poll.

Interviewing: Pollsters communicate with the sample

respondents using various methods including
person-to-person interviews, telephone calls, and mail
surveys.

Reporting: Pollsters use computers to store and

manipulate data, which helps them analyze and report
the results of the poll.
 Electoral Politics

+ Today, television
allows candidates to
appeal directly to
the people, without
the help of a party
organization.

Candidates
regularly try to use
media coverage to
their advantage.

A medium is a means of communication; it transmits Newscasts featuring

information. Five major mass media are particularly candidates are
important in American politics: usually short,
1. Television sharply focused
2. Newspapers sound
The Role of Mass Media bites—snappy
3. Radio
reports that can be
4. Magazines aired in 30 to 45
5. Internet seconds.
+
End of lecture 4
+

Interest
Groups

What they are, different

types and how they work!
Do interest groups have too much power? Do
interest groups help or hurt or help our
political process? How do I get involved in an
issue I think is important?
+ 3 Ways interest groups are
different from political
parties!
Nominations Scope of Interest

■ Political parties are ■ Political parties concern

themselves with the whole range
responsible for the nominating of public affairs, while interest
process, while interest groups groups tend to focus on issues
hope to influence those that their members are
nominations. concerned about.

Primary Focus

■ Political parties are interested in

winning elections and controlling
government, while interest
groups are interested in
influencing the policies created
by government.
+ Valuable functions
of interest groups

1. Interest groups raise awareness of public

affairs, or issues that concern the people at large.
2. Interest groups represent people who share
attitudes rather than those who share geography.
3. Interest groups provide specialized information
to government agencies and legislators.
4. Interest groups are vehicles for political
participation.
5. Interest groups keep tabs on various public
agencies and officials.
6. Interest groups compete.
 Criticisms
of Interest Groups
• Some groups have an
influence far out of
proportion to their size
or importance.
• It can be difficult to tell
who or how many
+ people are served by a
group.
• Groups do not always
represent the views of
the people they claim
to speak for.
• In rare cases, groups
use tactics such as
bribery, threats, and so
on.
+
Types of interest groups: part 1
How come there are so many economic interest groups?

■ Economic: Business—represents ■ Economic: Trade—represents

general business interests specific businesses/industries

■ National Association of ■ American Trucking Association

Manufacturers NAM
■ American Banking Association
■ Chamber of Commerce of the
United States ■ National Restaurant Association

■ Economic: Labor—an ■ Economic: Agricultural—represents

organization of people who work farmers
in the same industry and
collectively bargain for better ■ National Cattleman’s Beef
pay and working conditions. Association

■ AFL-CIO ■ National Cotton Council

■ United Auto Workers ■ National Dairy Council

■ Fraternal Order of the Police

+ Types of interest groups: cont.
■ Economic: ■ Special Populations—represents
Professional—represents people people with characteristics in
who work in that profession
common
■ American Bar Association
■ NAACP
■ American Medical Association
■ AIM
■ National Education Association
■ NOW
■ Causes—most are groups that
support asingle issue ■ AARP
■ NRA
What can I do if I am
■ Right to Life Committee interested in joining
an interest group?
■ People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals PETA

■ American Civil Liberties Union

ACLU
+
Types of interest groups: cont.
■ A public-interest group is an
interest group that seeks to
■ Religious
institute certain public policies
■ Christian Coalition
that will benefit all or most of
the people in the country, even ■ Americans United for
if they do not belong. Separation of Church and State

■ Anti-Defamation League
+

Why do interest
groups try to shape
public opinion?
Interest groups reach out to the
public for these reasons:
1. To supply information in support of
the group’s interests
2. To build a positive image for the
group
3. To promote a particular public
policy
Lobbyists use several techniques: What do lobbyists do?
• They send articles, reports, and other +
information to officeholders. Lobbying is any activity by which a
group pressures legislators and
• They testify before legislative influences the legislative process.
committees. Lobbying carries beyond the
• They bring “grass-roots” pressures to legislature. It is brought into
bear through email, letters, or phone government agencies, the
calls from constituents. executive branch, and even the
courts.
• They rate candidates and publicize the
Nearly all, important organized
ratings. interest groups maintain lobbyists
• They make campaign contributions. in Washington, D.C.
 Wake up!
Don’t be a
sheep!

Propaganda!
+
Propaganda is a technique of persuasion aimed at influencing
individual or group behaviors.
▪ Its goal is to create a particular belief which may be true or false.
▪ Propaganda disregards information that does not support its
conclusion. It is not objective. It presents only one side of an
issue.
▪ Propaganda often relies on name-calling and inflammatory
labels.