Campaigns, Elections, and Mass Media Unit 4. Nominations Definition: the official endorsements of candidates for office by political parties What is necessary.

Campaigns, Elections, and Campaigns, Elections, and Mass MediaMass Media

Unit 4

NominationsNominations

Definition: the official endorsements of candidates for office by political parties

What is necessary for a candidate to win the nomination?– Momentum– Money– Media attention– Strategy

Competing for DelegatesCompeting for Delegates

Caucus Primary Frontloading

Competing for DelegatesCompeting for Delegates

Evaluating the Primary/Caucus System– Disproportionate attention to early ones– Prominent politicians do not run.– Money plays too big a role.– Participation in primaries and caucuses is low and

unrepresentative; 20 percent vote in primaries.– The system gives too much power to the media.

The Nomination GameThe Nomination Game

The CampaignThe Campaign

Why did the primary/caucus system change the role of national conventions?

Why is the media a deciding factor in who gets elected?

Who is involved in a campaign “organization”?

Money and CampaigningMoney and Campaigning

The Maze of Campaign Finance Reforms– Federal Election Campaign Act (1974)

Created the FEC and Presidential Election Campaign Fund Provided partial public financing for presidential primaries Provided full public financing for major party candidates in

the general election Required full disclosure and limited contributions

Money and CampaigningMoney and Campaigning

The Maze of Campaign Finance Reforms– What is “soft money”?– The McCain-Feingold Act (2002) banned soft

money, increased amount of individual contributions, and limited “issue ads.”

– What are “527s”?

Money and CampaigningMoney and Campaigning

The Proliferation of PACs– Political Action Committees (PACs): created

by law in 1974 to allow corporations, labor unions and other interest groups to donate money to campaigns

– PACs donate to candidates who support their issue.

What is the “doctrine of sufficiency”?

The Impact of CampaignsThe Impact of Campaigns

Campaigns have three effects on voters:– Reinforcement, Activation, Conversion

Why are campaigns sometimes ineffective at changing the outcome of elections?– Selective perception– Party identification– Incumbency advantage

Understanding Nominations Understanding Nominations and Campaignsand Campaigns

Does the nomination and campaign process promote democracy?

Do campaigns lead to an increased scope of government?– Candidates make numerous promises, especially to

state and local interests.– Hard for politicians to promise to cut size of

government

How American Elections WorkHow American Elections Work

Three types of elections:– Select party nominees (primary elections)– Select officeholders (general elections)– Select options on specific policies

Referendum Initiative

Voter ApathyVoter Apathy

Downs voting theory Political Efficacy Civic Duty Voter registration/Motor Voter Act

Who Votes?Who Votes?

Education – Most important factor Age Race Gender Marital Status Union Membership Cumulative effect

How Americans VoteHow Americans Vote

Mandate Theory of ElectionsParty IdentificationCandidate Image

How Americans VoteHow Americans Vote

Policy Voting– Basing your vote choice on issue preferences and

where the candidates stand on policy issues– Unlikely to occur because:

Candidates ambiguous “Horse race journalism” dominates

– How does the primary system serve to increase policy voting?

How the Electoral College How the Electoral College WorksWorks

– # of votes based on congressional representation– Winner-take-all system dominant in states– Electors vote in December, reported in January– If no candidate gets a majority (270 votes), the House

of Representatives votes for president (1 vote/state)

Small States Dominant?Small States Dominant?

Understanding Elections and Understanding Elections and Voting BehaviorVoting Behavior

How do elections promote democracy? How do elections impact the scope of

government?

Mass Media PoliticsMass Media Politics

How has technology changed politics? Why has the process of image making become

more important since the 1970s?

Print MediaPrint Media

Why is Print Media in decline?– Newspapers and magazines– Pecking order among newspapers

New York Times has largest impact

Broadcast MediaBroadcast Media

How did Broadcast Media change politics?– Brought government and politics into peoples’

homes– Politicians’ appearance and mannerisms more

important

Broadcast MediaBroadcast Media

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates the use of airwaves in three ways:

Prevent near monopoly control of market Reviews performance of stations Issues fair treatment rules for politicians

Narrowcasting: media programming on cable TV or Internet that is focused on one topic and aimed at a particular audience, e.g., C-SPAN

Cable News Channels report on news as it happens and offer choices

The Internet as News SourceThe Internet as News Source

The Impact of the Internet– Internet is purposive—people choose what to

learn about Why is the purposive nature of Internet a concern

for our democracy?

Media OwnershipMedia Ownership

How does private control of media outlets and the dependence on ad revenues endanger journalistic integrity?

Massive conglomerates account for over four-fifths of the nation’s daily newspaper circulation

Six companies own most of the broadcast media in this country

Reporting the NewsReporting the News

Finding the News– Beats– Trial Balloons

Presenting the News– Sound Bites: short video clips– Less time devoted to covering political candidates– Interesting pictures, negative reporting

The News and Public OpinionThe News and Public Opinion

How does television news shape public opinion? The policy agenda?

What is the theory of political entrepreneurship?

Understanding the Mass Understanding the Mass MediaMedia

How does media promote democracy? How does media impact the scope of government? How has media helped to increase the relative

importance of the presidency?