POLI 319 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: January 30
13 May 2018
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Voting Behaviour - January 30th (continued from last week)
What matters to voters?
• Party loyalty
o Could be an issue if you don’t agree with everything in the party platform
• Issues
• Characteristics of candidates
o To what extent does this play a role in your personal choice? Apparently it really matters
to some - though they won’t admit it
Other issues:
• Referendums + impact on turnout
o Voters are asked to give their opinion
o If there’s a referendum on something important, like an amendment, voter turnout increases
• Incumbency in Congressional elections
o About 85% of representatives get re-elected
o 95% of US senators get re-elected
o A strong advantage because
▪ Franking privilege: incumbents are allowed to mail people in their districts outlines
of all the things they’ve “done for them” - basically saying “vote for me again pls”
• Only for in-office representative looking for re-election
o If incumbency is important and 2 parties are the norm, this puts third parties at a structural
disadvantage
• Third-parties
o Third parties already have a disadvantage so many choose D or R based on their views and
run with that
**Individual states have power to determine certain things, such as requirements for voting
Example of ballot
• Conclusions
o Two-party system and polarization
▪ Voters who identify as D or R, the share in the electorate has gone up over time
▪ D was always high, R has been rising over the year
▪ Because of this, come campaign/election time, parties focus on the undecided
prospects rather than everyone (because they already have the % of their party on
lock)
o Rules controlled by States in national elections
▪ Some think rules should be the same across the board for national elections and
that states should have control over state things
▪ Does the change in rules affect elections?
o The role of money in elections
▪ The more money you have in local elections the more you are able to campaign,
you don’t need as much if you’ve already been re-elected before
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Voting behaviour - january 30th (continued from last week) What matters to voters: party loyalty, could be an issue if you don"t agree with everything in the party platform. Apparently it really matters to some - though they won"t admit it. Other issues: referendums + impact on turnout, voters are asked to give their opinion. If there"s a referendum on something important, like an amendment, voter turnout increases. **individual states have power to determine certain things, such as requirements for voting.
