POS Notes Ch. 1- Public opinion is citizens’ collective attitudes and beliefs about politics and government- Poli Scientist V.O Key discovered that much of what we vote for comes from ourselves and our natural beliefs- It influences public policy, gives feedback to politicians, also influences media. It improves representation, influences public policy, helps lobbyists make their case, and it reflects changes in public support. It informs candidates their strengths and weaknesses, informs funders where to put money, and entertainment- Americans are fickle and change their mind often on issues- Core political values that make up ideology include:o the role of gov.o individualismo view of primacy of economic marketo equal opportunityo moral issues- Ideology over time fluctuates a bit, whereas little issues fluctuate often- Political Socialization:o Primary principleo Structuring principle- Political scientists study polls, and from them they learn:o Approval ratings o Overall view of gov. and institutionso Assessment of political knowledge/participationo Demographics- The founding fathers and early political scientists did not trust the public- Public opinion may be more trustworthy as registered voters are typically more informed- Trusting a Poll- Must be scientific, have a clear question, have a large surveysample, be randomly selected- Must be scientific and have a clear question- Unscientific surveys include: call-in polls, man on the street, polls at political events, push polls, online polls, etc.- A 95% margin of era means the pollsters are 95% confident the “real” number is within +/- Margin of Era.- About 1500 people for a proper margin of error of 3- Question wording and placement can lead to measurement error- Framing effect- where previous questions can affect later question answers- Having a lot of “idks” is bad- A push poll is not valid because it is intended to sway the voter- Exit polls are when survey workers ask people who they voted for after the election, it provides direct honest already made decisions telephone calls cant- Primary purpose of exit poll to collect relevant data fast- Good surveys use both landlines and cell phones to be sure to contact the citizen, may not have one of the types of phones- They make many attempts bc they need to know the opinion of the randomly selected person- This helps decide which demographics are voting for who- Some people didn’t want to be interviewed or bothered.Chapter 2 POS Notes- Influences of political participation include: Influencing how others vote, wearing button, giving money to party, etc.- People who have resources, have interest, and somebody asked (?) were most likely to participate in politics- Voting is so important because the winner is often decided by what voters turn out, and we are a representative democracy- In order for people to vote the benefits must outweigh the costs- Costs of voting:o Monetaryo Timeo Informational- How to reduce the costs of voting: o Making registration easier, providing convenience voting, voting on Saturday/holiday, providing information on candidates so people will know how to vote- Benefits of voting: o civic duty, feeling of efficacy, social pressure- Who tends to vote more often?o The more educated, wealthy, and eldest and white tend to vote- Three ways to measure turnout:o Voting age population (VAP)- most in use easier to be collected by US Censuso Voting eligible population (VEP)o Registered voters- Presidential turnout rates--- bad news is that in general turnout went down for a while, but started to spike again in the 90s. 2012 turnout was lower than 2008 but still higher than between 1972-2000- Voting participation is increasing among young voters- More voters turn out for presidential elections than midterm elections- States have primary responsibility for voting and elections- Decisions include who can vote, how easy it is to vote, when primaries are held, etc.- Absentee voting and early voting, mail voting, make voting easier- Florida has felon voters- Because of this, in 2011 early voting was reduced, can’t cast ballot if have changed address, efforts to keep non-residents from voting, made tougher for ex-felons to vote.- Florida now has 14 days early voting, has no-excuse absentee voting, and requires a photo ido 27 votes have no-excuse absentee voting, 32 have early voting, 2 have mail voting (OR, WA), 7 have permanent absentee status. There is no mandatory voting.- States have very different VAP (voting turnout)- Four Constitutional provisions related to voting:o 15th Amendment- Race 1870o 19th Amendment- Gender (1920)o 24th Amendment- Taxes (1964)o 26th Amendment- Age (1971)- Article 1 Section 4 of U.S constitution as well as the 12th amendment say we can vote- Federal Laws regarding voting:o Voting rights act of 1965- prohibits discrimination in votingo Motor voter act of 1993- required states to allow eligible voters to register when applying for a drivers liscenseo Help America vote act 2002- goal to upgrade aspects of election procedures- Voting Rights Act 2013- Supreme Court decided states must get approval from department of justice or federal court when changing voting rules.- Retrospective voting- voting based on past, prospective- future- Most voters base their decision based on their socio-economic status of the past 4 years. - Political Party cues- most important cue- Other important factors include: Party loyalty, personality of candidate, issues, candidate characteristicPOS Chapter 3 Notes1. At first, the only direct election was every 2 years to elect members of the House of Representatives.2. The founding fathers were skeptical of the general public’s decision-making capabilities and wanted to limit direct involvement of the public in governance.3. In the 2014 election, there are 35 U.S Senate seats up for grabs, 435 Congressional seats, the Florida governor and cabinet, and the Florida House of Representatives and ½ of the Florida Senate.4. 35 senate seats are up for general election (dem majority), “open seats” 125. All 435 seats up for House of Representatives, now mostly republican, need 218 for majority, only 38 seats competitive6. The Senate is the primary focus since the democratic party may lose its majority7. We hold a general election in the US every 2 years (even numbered)8. Plurality voting- a system where single winner of most votes wins election (even if candidate does not capture majority of vote).9.
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