Political Parties, Elections, and Elected Officials PDF

Political Parties, Elections, and Elected Officials Objective In this lesson, you will describe how elections and the party system play a role in the US political process; identify the impact of third-party candidates and the US Census results on US...

Political Parties, Elections, and Elected Officials Objective In this lesson, you will describe how elections and the party system play a role in the US political process; identify the impact of third-party candidates and the US Census results on US elections. Political Parties candidates Political parties arise from the organized efforts of office holders, _______________, activists, and voters to influence and control the government in a way that agrees with their common interests. In short, the goal of power the party is to attain __________ governing and have an impact on _______________ the country The 1992 presidential election provides a good example. Republican candidate and incumbent president George H. W. Bush competed against Democratic candidate Bill Clinton. A third candidate, Ross Perot, ran as independent an ___________________, without any political party affiliation. After a fierce political race, Bill Clinton won the election and became president. Perot, who spent millions of his own money, earned 19 percent of the vote (one of the most successsful recent independent campaigns), but didn't get any electoral votes, meaning he didn't win any states. Two-Party System For most of US history, the national political structure has featured a two-party system. Early on, there were Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, then the ___________ the _____________ Whigs and the Democrats, and finally the Republicans and the Democrats. parlimentary Multiple parties most commonly exist in ___________________ systems. percentage Seats in the legislature are delegated according to the __________________ of the vote that each party earned. winner take The United States, in contrast, uses a ____________-_________-all system where only the top vote getter gains office. single Another factor that reinforces the two-party system is that the United States has ____________-member districts, meaning that a given election district has only a single representative in the House (while two difficult senators represent each state). Furthermore, election laws make it ______________ for third-party candidates to even get listed on an election ballot. Functions of Political Parties Interestingly, some Founding Fathers did not approve of political parties. necessary Even today, parties are often viewed as an unfortunate but ________________ feature of US politics. Parties provide the essential bridge over the gap between people and government. nominate As one of their primary functions, parties _____________, or choose, candidates for political office. educate Parties serve other purposes as well. They help to ________________ the public about political issues and informed help citizens generate _______________ positions on important public policies. If a party isn't in the majority, checking it still serves a valuable function by overseeing and _____________ the power of the majority party. Party Structure The two major parties consist of local and state party organizations that are tied together at the national level by a national committee. The real power of the Democratic and Republican parties exists at grassroots the local, or ______________, level. The local parties organize ______________ recruit volunteers, hold party meetings, __________ delegates candidates, and raise money. They also select ______________ to send to the state and national party conventions, where they get to vote on important party decisions. National ______________ state political party leaders depend on ___________ local party leaders to organize and spread information to ___________ party leaders and activists in order to turn voters into supporters. Timeline: US Political Parties Structure 1. 1790: The nation's first political parties formed. 2. 1796: Washington warns against political parties. 3. 1800: Jefferson wins election and the Democratic-Republican party gained control in Congress. These Federalists victories spelled the end of the ________________ Party. slavery 4. 1828: Differing opinons, primarily around ___________, caused the Democratic-Republican party to split. Democrat Andrew Jackson won the 1828 presidential election as a __________________. Democratic 5. 1832: The ________________ party held the first ever presidential nomination convention. Republican 6. 1850: The ________________ Party formed in the North to support the elimination of slavery. Political 7. 1870: _____________ machines formed in urban areas –- providing jobs and services in exchange for votes. 8. 1932: New Deal Coalition forms. This New Deal platform Democratic Party's would form the modern _______________ working foundation as the party of the ____________ class. 9. 1964 – 1968: Republican candidate Barry Goldwater states' rejected the legacy of the New Deal and supported ____________ rights. He is often credited with the Republican resurgence of the conservative politics that became the foundation of the modern _______________ Party 10. 1992: Ross Perot runs a successful independent presidential campaign. 11. 2010 – 2011: Partisanship became more pronounced, with Deomcratic and Republican politicians sticking platforms strictly to their parties' ____________. Elections and Campaigns legitamacy and confirm that the government is regular elections give the government ______________ Free and __________ popular running with the consent of the people, upholding the American ideal of ______________ sovereignty. In the United States, elections occur regularly every two, four, or six years, depending on the position that is up for election. Because different positions are elected on different schedules, elections at some level of government occur every year. Primaries and General Elections primary The first stage of an election in the United States is a ______________. To win a place on the election ballot, a primary candidate must first win a _____________ election assuring the candidate a nomination by his or her party. general Once the parties have selected their candidates for various offices, each state holds a ____________ election. general In ________________ elections, voters decide which candidates will actually fill each public office. Presidential Campaigns Iowa The __________ caucuses get a great deal of media coverage because, since about 1972, they have been the election nation's first major event in the presidential _____________ process. In a modern presidential election campaign, politicians who decide to run for president have a long slog ahead intention of them. They first have to announce their _____________ to run, which is often done years in advance. This allows a candidate to start getting support for his or her campaign as early as possible. nomination At this early point, the campaign focuses largely on winning the _________________ at the national party primaries convention. Along the way, candidates have to win support in the states. Today, most states hold __________ to select the candidate they believe should be chosen as a nominee. The delegates who head to the party's national convention usually vote according to the results of their states' primaries. After securing the party nomination, candidates from opposing parties square off to earn votes. Elected Officials Presidential Elections four years. Also, the Twenty- Since they began in 1788, presidential elections have taken place every _______ 2 Second Amendment to the Constitution limits the president to _______ terms in office. As mandated by Article II of the US Constitution, presidential elections are not decided by a direct, popular Electoral ___________ vote. Instead, the ___________ College selects the next president of the United States. In this system, electors each state has a number of _____________ equal to the sum of its representation in Congress. In 48 states, Maine whoever wins the popular vote in that state wins all of the state's electors. The exceptions are __________ Nebraska which allocate some of their electors by ____________________. and ____________, Congressional district To prevail in the presidential election, a candidate needs an absolute majority of electoral votes, which is half 270 the total electoral votes plus one. With 538 electors, a candidate must receive at least ________ votes to be elected to the office of president or vice president. Should no presidential candidate receive an absolute House majority, the __________ Representatives determines who the next president will be. of ________________ ___ In all but a few cases in US history, the presidential candidate who received a majority of the popular vote also won the greatest number of electoral votes. Congressional Elections: The House bicameral The Constitution established that the US Congress would be _____________—that is, divided into two legislative chambers, or houses. The Framers, wanting each chamber to have a distinct character, designed election a different ____________ process ____________ for each. The Framers intended the House of Representatives to be the part of the federal government closest to the people ___________. Each of the 435 members of the House represents a single congressional district with a population of about 640,000 people. Every state has at least one congressional district. small The ____________ size of congressional districts and the frequency of House elections ensure that constituents representatives remain responsive to their _________________. Congressional Elections: The Senate 2 States are given House seats in proportion to their population, but every state has _________ senators. Like representatives, senators can be reelected indefinitely with no federal term limits. rolling Senatorial terms are _________: third every election cycle, one-_________ of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for election. The two Senate seats in a state are never up for election at the same time. midterm Senate elections sometimes fall in the same year as a presidential election. So-called ______________ elections occur in years when there is not a presidential election. State Elections four elected positions. Many more officials are elected at the state level. The federal government has only _______ governor A ______________ serves as the chief executive of a state government. In some states, the lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor, which can result in having leaders from different parties. legislature Every state also elects a state _________________. legislatures As in Congress, state __________________, except Nebrask's ______________, are divided into upper and lower houses. States usually call the upper house a senate, and the lower house a house of representatives or a general assembly. A number of elected positions at the state level have no counterpart in the federal government. Many states, for example, elect an insurance commissioner to regulate the insurance industry. shorter In general, terms in office for state officials are _____________ than those for federal officials. Local Elections overlap Several different types of local governments exist, with geographical jurisdictions that often ___________. townships special ______________, Counties, ____________, districts and municipalities are all types of local governments. Every local government elects its own officials. Some officials, such as mayors, serve as chief executives ______________. legislative Others, such as city aldermen, hold _______________ functions. A great many officials law fulfill specific tasks, such as enforcing the _______ education (county sheriff) or overseeing public ________________. Nonelected Positions independence Nonelected officials have expertise in what they do and require __________________ from the public will. Supreme _____________ Court __________ cabinet justices, members of the president's _____________, and senior military officials are all nonelected officials. Public Opinion and the Media Americans form opinions on politics in several ways: events by attending political __________, gathering by _____________ knowlegde political ___________, statements of leaders and opinion makers whom they __________, by listening to the ______________ respect and personal interests and _________. by considering their own ____________ values Although most citizens can form their own political opinions, many people listen to statements from the influence media. Highly visible politicians, with access to the media, can _____________ the public. How Public Opinion is Measured campaign and policy decisions. Public officials sometimes use information from polls to help guide their ____________ Types of Political Polls Tracking ______________ polls: Exit _________ polls: repeated periodically, to monitor changes in conducted outside the places where people public opinion vote monitor such issues as the president's used by media outlets to predict the approval rating and consumer confidence in outcome of elections and to monitor the economy election processes Media and Public Opinion prevents Bias is the tendency to see or present information from a certain of view, which ______________ the unprejudice __________________ consideration of an issue. Private Ownership of the Media Private companies own most of the media outlets in the United States. Private ownership of the media, press combined with the constitutionally protected freedom of the ___________, allows the US news industry to enjoy more freedom of political expression than in most other areas of the world. Often, a single company owns several different types of media in the same market. These trends raise fears censor news that is unfavorable to their _________________. that media conglomerates will __________ advisors How Politicians Use the Media releases Press _____________ provide written statements to the media from government officials. conferences allow officials to answer questions coming from the press. Press ______________ The Media Campaign Political media includes the political advertisements that have been purchased by the campaign and are _________ Free media is the regular coverage of the candiate and the completely under the campaign's control. ________ campaign that the press does as part of its normal news gathering. Summary What are some examples of ways politicians use the media influence public opinion? Politicians use online sources and social media platforms to campaign for their desired office. They can use posters, promo videos, sponser statments or other endorsements, and more.