Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman Chapter 10: Elections and Voting Behavior • How American Elections Work • A Tale of Three Elections • Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice • How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions • The Last Battle: The Electoral College • Understanding Elections and Voting Behavior • Summary Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman Chapter Outline and Learning Objectives • How American Elections Work • LO 10.1: Distinguish the types of elections in the United States. • A Tale of Three Elections • LO 10.2: Trace the evolution of the American electoral process from 1800 to the present. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman Chapter Outline and Learning Objectives • Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice • LO 10.3: Identify the factors that influence whether people vote or not. • How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions • LO 10.4: Assess the impact of party identification, candidate evaluations, and policy opinions on voting behavior. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman Chapter Outline and Learning Objectives • The Last Battle: The Electoral College • LO 10.5: Evaluate the fairness of the Electoral College system for choosing the president. • Understanding Elections and Voting Behavior • LO 10.6: Assess the extent to which elections make government officials pay attention to what voters want. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman How American Elections Work LO 10.1: Distinguish the types of elections in the United States. • Functions of Elections • Institutionalize political activity – Make it possible for most political participation to be channeled through the electoral process. • Regular access to political power – Leaders can be replaced. • Legitimacy – Fair and free way of selecting political leaders. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.1 How American Elections Work • Three Kinds of Elections • Primary elections – Voters select party nominees. • General elections – Between the nominees of the parties. • Elections on specific policy questions – Voters make (initiative petition) or ratify (referendum) legislation. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.1 To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman A Tale of Three Elections LO 10.2: Trace the evolution of the American electoral process from 1800 to the present. • 1800: The First Electoral Transition of Power • 1896: A Bitter Fight Over Economic Interests • 2008: An Election About Change To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.2 A Tale of Three Elections • 1800: The First Electoral Transition of Power • No primaries, conventions, or speeches. • Campaigns focused not on voters but on state legislatures who chose electors. • After many votes in the House, the presidency was transferred to Jefferson peacefully. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.2 A Tale of Three Elections • 1896: A Bitter Fight Over Economic Interests • Democrats’ main issue was unlimited coinage of silver. • Bryan won the Democratic Party nomination with speeches about the virtues of silver. • McKinley won the election and the Republicans regained majority status. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.2 To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.2 A Tale of Three Elections • 2008: An Election About Change • Obama’s main issue was changing the health care system to extend coverage to everyone. • McCain’s main issue was making changes to improve the economy and the financial institutions. • Obama won and became the 1st African- American president. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.2 To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice LO 10.3: Identify the factors that influence whether people vote or not. • Deciding Whether to Vote • Registering to Vote • Who Votes? To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.3 Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice • Suffrage • The legal right to vote, in the United States gradually extended to virtually all citizens over the age of 18. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.3 Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice • Deciding Whether to Vote • Anthony Downs – People who see policy differences between the parties are more likely to vote. • Political Efficacy – Belief that one’s vote does matter and can actually make a difference. • Civic Duty – Belief that a citizen should vote to support democratic government. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.3 To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.3 Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice • Registering to Vote • Voter Registration – A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register prior to voting. • Motor Voter Act – A 1993 act that requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for their driver’s license. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.3 Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice • Who Votes? • Education – People with a higher than average education vote more than people with less education. • Age – Older people vote more than younger people. • Race – Racial minorities are usually underrepresented among voters relative to their share of the citizenry. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.3 Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice • Who Votes? • Gender – Women participate in elections more than men do. • Marital status – Married people vote more than unmarried people. • Government employment – Workers for the government vote more than people who have jobs in the in private sector. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.3 To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.3 Whether to Vote: A Citizen’s First Choice • Who Votes? • Possessing several of these traits (being elderly, well educated, and married) adds significantly to one’s likelihood of voting. • Conversely, being young, poorly educated, and single is likely to add up to a very low probability of voting. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions LO 10.4: Assess the impact of party identification, candidate evaluations, and policy opinions on voting behavior. • Party Identification • Candidate Evaluations: How Americans See the Candidates • Policy Voting To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.4 How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions • Mandate Theory of Elections • The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics. • Politicians like the theory better than political scientists do. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.4 How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions • Party Identification • People still generally vote for a party that they agree with. • Parties’ hold on voters declined in the 1960s and 1970s with rise of candidate- centered politics. • Many floating voters make an individual voting decision and are up for grabs each election. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.4 To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.4 How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions • Candidate Evaluations: How Americans See the Candidates • 3 most important dimensions of candidate image are integrity, reliability, and competence. • Image plays a role in voting when a candidate is perceived to be incompetent or dishonest. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.4 How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens’ Decisions • Policy Voting • Electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters’ policy preferences and where the candidates stand on policy issues. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman The Last Battle: The Electoral College LO 10.5: Evaluate the fairness of the Electoral College system for choosing the president. • Electoral College • A unique American institution, created by the Constitution, providing for the selection of the president by electors. • Less populated states are overrepresented. • Winner-take-all concentrates campaigns on close states. To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman LO 10.5 The Last Battle: The Electoral College • How Electoral College Works • Electoral votes for each state equals its members in Congress. • 48 states use winner-take-all system (not Maine and Nebraska). • State electors vote in December following the November election. • January – Congress