POLS 207 2nd Edition Lecture 10 Outline of Last Lecture I Texas as a One Party Democratic State II Indications of Democratic Party Dominance III Third Party Challenges Greenback Party Populist Party IV Reinforcing Democratic Party Loyalty Great Depression Cross Over Voters Jokes against Republicans V Indications of Party Realignment in Texas and The Causes of Party Realignment VI Comparison of Democratic verse Republican Issue Orientations VII Primaries What Why And The Criticisms Outline of Current Lecture I Types of Primaries a Closed Open Blanket Nonpartisan Semi open Semi closed Runof II Public Relations Firms the Mass Media and Campaigning III Money in Elections IV Three Core Functions of State Legislatures a 1 Policy making b 2 Representation Policy Representation Casework Pork Barrel Policies c 3 Oversight Current Lecture PRIMARIES CAMPAIGNING Types of Primaries Primary Election election held to decide a political party s nominee for public office state legislatures decide which type of primary the state will have 2 main types Closed Primaries o primary elections in which voters must declare in advance their party affiliation and can cast a ballot only in their own party s primary election o you have to register as a voter or member of the party ahead of the election o register prior to the primary as a certain party Republican or Democrat Open Primaries o primary elections in which a voter may cast a ballot in either party s primary election o you can show up on the day of the election and pick which party you are voting for o you choose which party you want to vote for in the voting booth on the day of o there is no record of which party primary you voted in leaders of parties would prefer closed primaries because they fear open primaries allow opponents to come vote in your party primary for a weak candidate to undermine your party s stronger candidate o fear crossover voting voters affiliated with one party casting votes in the other party s primary election o fear raiding organized attempt to cross over and vote in another party s primary in order to defeat an attractive candidate who might beat your own party s candidate in the general election Other Types of Primaries Blanket Primaries o a primary in which candidates from both parties appear on the same ballot o allows voters to vote in both party primaries o example pick a Republican for governor and a Democrat for lieutenant governor o DOES NOT EXIST ANYMORE Washington Alaska California used them before they were declared unconstitutional o Why party leaders really disliked blanket primaries Supreme Court decided political parties do have some control for minimal membership requirements to stick to one party Washington Alaska California are moving towards a nonpartisan primary Nonpartisan Primaries o Voter nominated top two primary top two candidates regardless of their party affiliation run against each other in the general election o looks like a blanket primary to the voter o choose any candidate Democrat or Republican for any office o in a blanket primary whoever got the most votes won the office o BUT in nonpartisan the two top candidates move on for another vote Semi open Primaries o voters have to request a particular ballot o go to voting place on day of but request a certain party ballot o do not have to register but have to declare on day of which party primary you want to vote in so that state has a record of who voted in which party primary o TEXAS has a SEMI OPEN PRIMARY Semi closed Primaries o primary elections in which voters must declare their party affiliation on primary election day and can cast a ballot only in their party s primary election o you have to register on the day of for a particular party primary Runoff Primaries o mostly used in southern states o if none of the candidates get the majority then have a runof primary o any candidate who does not get at least 50 of the votes the top two runof o you cannot cross over to a diferent party when you vote in the runof o what if you didn t vote at all you can vote for either party in the runof o most states have a plurality winner the candidate receiving the most votes whether a majority or not o but in some states the candidate must win a majority of votes to become the party nominee also called the majority winner o runof primary additional primary held between top two vote getters in a primary where no candidate has received a majority of the vote Public Relations Firms the Mass Media Campaigns Goals of PR Firms and Personal Campaigns o 1 Develop name recognition o 2 Develop media interest media attention essentially free advertising o 3 Develop campaign themes Sainthood being ideal father being a little league coach Good ol boy focusing on making the candidate identify with the public example Rick Perry s campaign for agriculture commissioner o rode across the camera on a horse with jeans on to identify with farmers Noots No One is Opposed to This taking a stance that no one is opposed to o like a better education system cracking down on crime etc Feel Good Spots country is going to stay in good times only if you reelect this candidate bright new tomorrow awaits if you elect this candidate example 1984 reelection campaign of Reagan o advertisement Morning in America o message its morning in America sun is coming up things are going well you don t want the sun to go down so reelect Reagan Basher Spots bashing the opponent build up one candidate but tearing down the reputation of the other candidate negative mudslinging campaigns causes people not to vote for their candidate when they see a negative ad Money in Elections The NEED example advertisements media supporters Political Action Committees PACs o provide candidates with money since candidates do not get much from the Political Party o get most from PACs and interest groups Limits on Contributions o Texas has NO limits on PAC contributions Texas Campaign Reporting Disclosure Act of 1973 o no limit but candidate must disclose where the money came from Buckley v Valeo 1976 o Supreme Court ruling that you cannot place limits on how much candidates can use of their own money cannot limit their personal expenses State Legislatures What functions do state legislatures perform o Three Core Functions 1 Policy making 2 Representation 3 Oversight Policy making o legislatures make laws and amendments to laws o they are passing a budget for their policies making priorities in the budget
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