Texas Government 2306 PDF

Voting o Litmus test Whether or not to nominate a person into office o Prevents dictatorship o Empowers the people o Presents choices to people o Many people don't have voting rights throughout US history The only group of...

Voting o Litmus test Whether or not to nominate a person into office o Prevents dictatorship o Empowers the people o Presents choices to people o Many people don't have voting rights throughout US history The only group of people who have always been able to vote and choose who votes are white males Amendments o 1868 14th amendment 21 y/o male citizens can vote (black males excluded) o 1870 15th amendment You cannot prevent any male from voting on account of previous servitude conditions (slavery) o 1920 19th amendment Women had the right to vote in national elections o 1964 24th amendment Poll tax abolished o 1971 26th amendment Reduced voting age from 21 to 18 Voting obstacles o African Americans Poll tax Literacy test Racial gerrymandering ▪ Draw district lines to ensure someone or a group of persons never wins an election White primary ▪ Conducted to enable a party to choose the best candidate to represent aids in an election Lynching Why most Americans do not vote o Flimsy excuses (rain, babysitter, employer) o Researched reasons Lack of education Age factor ▪ Younger people don’t vote Religion Gender Race Income Primary election o Provide voters the power to nominate on a candidate to represent the party in a general election o Open primary Crossover or raiding election o Closed primary  Registered member of the party (1st time voters/independents) o Blanket primary o Dual or run-off primary Blanket primary o One day primary election o Given ballot with all candidates; you pick 1 for each party Dual or run-off primary o 1st primary Majority votes to win (50% +1) o 2nd primary Highest voter percentage candidates contest in second election called run-off if they don't win Preparation for elected office o Money o Charisma o Good health o Knowledge o Team Campaign election financing o FECA laws (Federal election campaign act) Minors cannot contribute money to elections Corporations cannot contribute money to elections Drug dealers cannot contribute money to elections Foreigners cannot contribute money to elections How much individuals and groups are allowed to participate in an election Individuals Groups ▪ Political parties ▪ Political interest groups ▪ Political action committees (PACS) Financing o Bank of America PAC Workers of BOA can form a PAC to receive and send money o Rich individuals are allowed to form their own private PACS Voting contribution regulations o Individual contributions $300 per candidate per election $5000 per election calendar year $10000 per state and local government political parties per calendar year $41300 per national political parties per calendar year Limit: $123900 per calendar year o PACS $5000 per candidate per election $5000 per PAC per calendar year  $5000 per state and/or local government political parties per calendar year $15000 per national political parties per calendar year Mr. Rich republican votes trump 23-24 they can support him with $66000 ($3,300 per election)(Two elections: Primary and November presidential) Political parties o Organization with well-defined ideology comprising a coalition of interests with granted legal rights/political legitimacy to place candidates on a ballot for elections o Coalition of interests Groups within a group o American political parties lack ideologies instead they have pragmatic political parties Elections and votes are all the party is concerned with Ideology o A set of opinions by a group of persons who use that combined opinion to define the purpose of the group o Political parties that have an ideology Europe India Pakistan Israel Rules, laws, guidelines, religion, you can be expelled from the group Gubernatorial o Governorship elections 2 major factions o Federalists A powerful federal government o Anti-federalists Power resides within the states 1800: Thomas Jefferson introduced America's first political party o Democratic-Republican party 1824: Presidential election o Democratic-republican party nominated John Quincy Adams Opponents (ran as independent candidates) ▪ Andrew Jackson ▪ Henry Clay ▪ William Crawford How to elect a president o Primary elections o Conventions o Campaign season o November general elections o December electoral college election o January - congress counts electoral college votes (270 are needed to win) All the political parties  o Jacksonian democrats o Whigs party o Anti-masonic party o Democrats o North (Republican party) North democratic party North Whigs party North anti-masonic party North democratic republican party o South (democratic party) South democratic party South Whigs party South anti-masonic party South democratic republican party Texas democratic party experienced a separation o Liberal democrats o Conservative democrats Tea Party/movement conservatives o A faction or group of very conservative Republicans generally resistant to any compromise of its principles USA elections o Vote for candidates for a candidate to win an election; plurality votes Called winner take all or single member district election system Political socialization o If a family supports a certain political party then the next generations will continue to support that party Elections outside of the USA o Proportional representation election system o Vote for political parties for a political party to win an election it must obtain majority votes (50%+1) If no one wins majority vote, the two top candidates form a coalition What makes political parties powerful o They control money through PACS o They control nominations of candidates Present day they only control 1/2 nominations o Control issues through media o Assistance to new immigrants Immigrants now want to support the political party that helped them when they first arrived to America Dealignment election o Democrats and republicans stop voting for their parties and declare themselves independent voters o Permanent Realignment election  o Republicans vote for democrats and vice versa o Not permanent Group dynamics in politics o DM + PPS +PIGS + NPGS = VSD i. Contemporary America o DM +PPS + NPGS = FSD i. Europe and multi-party democracies o DM + NPGS + PP = BD i. Venezuela, Cuba, China? o DM + NPGS = CHAOS i. Early US democracy o DM - PPS - PIGS - NPGS = AD i. China, North Korea, Russia? o DM= Decision makers o PPS=Political parties o PIGS=Political interest groups o NPGS=Non-political groups o VSD=Very stable democracy o FSD=Fairly stable democracy o PP=Political party o BD=Benevolent dictatorship o AD=Absolute dictatorship Groups in US democracy o Factions Existed in early US democracy Built around prominent politicians to struggle for power with other groups (allowed the use of weapons) ▪ Alexander Hamilton vs. Aaron Burr This sparked the movement to abolish factions and caused James Madison to write the federalist paper #10 to defend factions His defense: Natural Create regulations Introduce a republic to manage the presence of factions in American government o Movements Put together by individuals who distrust democracy and desire to destroy it through radical or revolutionary methods Characteristics ▪ Episodic ▪ Focus on emotional issues ▪ Comprise a cross-section of society where they originated ▪ Transend geographical boundaries ▪ Not well organized ▪ Utilize unorthodox methods in addressing issues Civil rights  Occupation of wall street Jan 6th/Antifa proud boys o Interest groups Individuals that come together to peacefully persuade law makers to make decisions that benefit their members Characteristics ▪ Peaceful - low-level protests ▪ Lobbying - interest groups attempt to persuade lawmakers to make decisions that favor their groups ▪ Court actions (arbitrations) ▪ Well organized ▪ Support candidates running for office that have money ▪ Democracy's watch dog Republic o Representative democracy o Laissez-faire democracy o Ballot-box democracy o People's power democracy o Indirect democracy Why people join political groups o James Madison federalist paper #10 o Mancur Olson: The logic of collective action Two types of groups ▪ Small Private goods and services Costco ▪ Large Government Free services (streetlights, parks, etc.) Could destroy the democracy because of freeloading o Robert Salisbury: The exchange theory of interest groups People join groups for 3 reasons ▪ Material benefits ▪ Purposive benefits Movements ▪ Solidary benefits Social reasons o David Truman: The governmental process People join groups to forestall/take on future problems o Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in America French Explorer came to America to determine how the government was democratically successful ▪ He believed Americans joined groups because they have a liberal constitution  Organization of Texas political parties o Divided into two groups Permanent party organization ▪ Officials and offices of the political parties keep the party running on a daily basis Temporal party organization ▪ Candidates will announce they want to be president a. Residential primary election i. We choose these delegates ii. Delegates then decide who represents the party in the November general election ▪ Types a. Presidential preference primary i. Delegate selection 1. People pick who represents them ii. Caucus 1. Groups of people come together to discuss who they will pick as a candidate of a party ▪ Morning: Vote for delegates. Evening: Party conventions ▪ Party conventions a. Local conventions (Pick delegates to go to state convention i. Precinct ii. Cities iii. Districts iv. Communities b. State conventions (Pick delegates to do to national convention c. Federal conventions i. Pick a president ▪ Campaign season ▪ December: Elections will directly vote for the presidential candidate ▪ January: Electoral votes are shipped to US Congress and in a joint session they will count the electoral votes and the candidate that receives 270 electoral votes becomes president