POLS 102 1st EditionLecture 17Outline of Last Lecture1. Presidential elections (continued)a. How the economy effects presidential electionsb. Partisanship in the electorate is also important2. Incumbent Advantages of Members of Congressa. Incumbency advantage in the houseb. Sources of Advantages i. Politico Style of representationii. Name recognitioniii. Spending AdvantagesOutline of Current Lecture1. Incumbent advantages of members of congress (cont)a. Pork Barrel Projectsb. Sortingc. Gerrymanderingd. Districts aren’t competitivee. Republicans have advantageCurrent LectureINCUMBENT ADVANTAGES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS (CONT.)4. Pork Barrel Projects (in the past)A. Members can direct federal money to their district and their districts only – which allowed incumbents to go back to their constituents and show them how much they are doing for the people of their district.- Highway projects- Bridges, water sewage treatment plants, dams- UniversitiesB. In summary, members can credibly claim credit for doing something to help the district financiallyC. Pork Barrel funds are currently not allowed in appropriation bills because it was getting out of hand, but they are sorely missed.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.5. Sorting A. Concentrations of homogeneous populations with similar political attitudes- AKA: increasingly people with similar political views tend to live near each other.- Republicans live around Republicans; Democrats live around Democrats- People in urban areas tend to want and like museums, night clubs, etc. and they like living close t them = those preferences are correlated with the partisanships of citizens- Urban areas = tendency to be mostly Democrats- Rural and Suburbs = tendency to be mostly RepublicansB. Sorting by partisanship for non-political reasonsC. Many house districts are safe Democrat or safe Republican districtsD. Either way, it’s good for incumbent re-election because people are around the same partisan type of people = one party will win for sure because of homophily.- Significantly helps Republicans win more seats because Democrats are packed into cities which may only be one district; whereas, Republicans are spread out over multiple districts in rural areas and suburbs.6. Gerrymandering - the manipulative drawing of district lines by states legislatures to:1. Help one political party over another2. Help elect minority candidates3. Both A & B protect incumbents by creating safe seats1. Guaranteed election based on the partisanships of people in the districts4. Doesn’t help Senators –because you can’t redistrict a state.7. Between Sorting and Gerrymandering many districts aren’t competitivea. Not competitive = we aren’t sure who is going to winb. Most house elections aren’t competitivei. 56% are overwhelmingly Democratic and Republicanii. 80% are strong/overwhelming Democratic and Republican 8. Republicans seem to have an advantage in the house like the Democrats seem to have an advantage in the Electoral Collegea. 125 overwhelming Republican districtsb. 66 strong Republic districtsi. They are basically never going to lose these districts so 125+66=181c. 25 Lean Republican districts – all together = 220 districts and they only need 218 to have a majorityTEST REVIEWESSAY – Paragraph 1 = thesis statement Agree or disagree with the statementPreview some information you’re going to discuss supporting your thesis statementParagraph 2 = body = information & analysisDiscuss information that supports or refutes your stance on the issueGive an analysis of that information = why the information supports the thesis (do not leave it implicit – thoroughly explain everything.)Paragraph 3 = body = support item #2 = information & analysisParagraph 4 = body = support item #3 = information & analysisParagraph 5 = conclusion Why your paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 support your