POLS 207 504 Exam 2 Notes 03 04 2016 Chapter 4 Participation in State Politics 4 points added to test for attendance scores posted will be raw scores wont be posted before Monday Political Participation Political participation is the essence and definition of democracy Political participation includes voting running for office participation in marches or demonstration giving money or time to efforts attending rallies or events writing letters emails wearing button discussing issues belonging to an organization o Conventional voting helping campaigns signing petitions running for office o Unconventional protests marching and demonstrations war conflict civil disobedience Sustained political participation refers to consistent voting in presidential and nonpresidential elections o For democracy to work there has to be some sustained voting o You cant have democracy where a group votes every once in a while because there would be no means of prediction Protest as Political Participation Not nearly as common as people think but IS more common than before o Thought this because of media coverage o Protests really aren t spontaneous Have to be covered to get the message out Protest direct collective activity to obtain concessions Civil disobedience Break unjust laws and accept the punishment o Silent protests the lunch counter Violence criminal generally irrational and self defeating o Doesn t really help people need to get behind protests for them to be effective News media their response often key to success The effectiveness of protests highest when goal is clear Official responses to protests may be genuine symbolic or token State local governments bear costs of protests busted budgets For protest to be successful Remain nonviolent have a clear goal and media has to cover it Political Participation 30 55 of the population votes in midterms TX lowest 26 TX usually is around 30 35 for normal presidential 40 45 TX is always on the low side of the scale Difference between voting in US and other countries civic culture Voter turnout is declining across the globe Monday March 21 2016 Chapter 5 Parties and Campaigns in the States Party Organization that seeks to achieve power by winning public office in elections Key diff polit partys can test elections run candidates IG s cant IG s function through lobbying from outside PP s function by influencing from the inside Responsible Party Model a party system in which each party offers clear policy alternatives holds elected officials responsible for enacting policies 2 directed parties Develop and clarify alternative policy positions for voters o What s in their platform actually does this Educate people about issues and simplify choices Recruit candidates for office who agree with the party positions o Party recruits candidates not us Organize and direct their candidates to win elections Hold their elected officials responsible for enacting the parties policy positions after they were elected o Why the resp party model fails o Campaign parties have no punishment mechanism on their candidates for when they don t act like the party they were elected under o Labor votes against conservative much more cohesive Organize legislatures to ensure party control of policymaking Downsian Theory o Central voter theorem 2 groups of opinion D R but most are in the middle o SO if you want to win you have to get the most votes possible in the middle of the spectrum o Winning elections is greater than your ideology Problems with the model o Parties generally do not offer voters clear policy alternatives o Voter decisions are not motivated primarily by policy considerations o American political parties have no way to bind their elected officials to party positions or even to their campaign pledges Candidate Centered Model Individual Candidates rather than parties raise funds create personal organizations and rely on professional consultants to direct campaigns 03 04 2016 03 04 2016