Interest Group Democracy Pluralism or Interest Group Democracy: Definition: theoretical understanding of a political system. It puts forth the belief.

Interest Group Democracy

Pluralism or Interest Group Democracy:

  Definition: theoretical understanding of a political

system. It puts forth the belief that democratic values can be preserved in a system where multiple, competing democratic representatives (elites) determine public policy through bargaining and compromise. Interest groups are instrumental linkage institutions that continuously connect the demands (interests) of the people to government. In this framework, interest groups are assumed to enhance democracy.

Central assumptions of pluralism or interest group democracy:

assumes many centers of power voters exercise meaningful choices and new elites can

gain access to power multiple access points to government as power is

dispersed on many levels and branches of government method of government: bargaining and compromise electoral majorities rarely rule; all active and legitimate

groups can make themselves heard at some stage in the policy process, manifested in the rise of interest group activity

Political Party Relations Conflictual party relations: volatile, weak coalitions;

fundamental economic and political differencesex. Italy, Israel characteristic of multiparty outcomes

Consensual party relations: usually institutionalized two-party systems in which both political parties adhere to similar ideological beliefs; ex. Great Britain; U.S.characteristic of majoritarian outcomes in Legislature

Consociational party relations: parties differ fundamentally on issues but possess established routines of bargaining and compromise; characteristic of multiparty outcomes

Consociational democracy: Institutionalized Power sharing democracy: Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium

characteristic of multiparty outcomes

German Bundestag (Lower Legislative House)

Members 612 Political groups Christian Democratic

Union/Christian Social Union of Bavaria Bloc (223)Social Democratic Party of Germany (222)Free Democratic Party (61)The Left. (53)Alliance '90/The Greens (51)

Voting Behavior Conventional political participation

Political participation that attempts to influence the political process through well-accepted, often moderate forms of persuasion

Unconventional political participation Political participation that attempts to

influence the political process through unusual or extreme measures, such as protests, boycotts, and picketing

Elections of Legislatures Single-member plurality (SMP): winner-

take-all system governed by plurality not majority ruleexample: Congressional elections in U.S.

Single-transferable vote (STV): voters rank candidates in order of preference. Any candidate needs to achieve a set number of votes (the quota) to be elected. Surplus votes (votes exceeding quota) are redistributed to runner-up until all seats are filled example: Republic of Ireland, Malta

Proportional Representation

Seats obtained by quota in multimember constituency

Proportional representation (PR), sometimes referred to as full representation, is a category of election aimed at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive—normally in legislature

Examples: Israel, Scandinavia, most of continental Europe, including Eastern Europe, most of Latin America

Corporatism

State corporatism: Interest groups are subsumed under state control by incorporating them into government; these groups are not partners but subordinate to government itself.

Rationale: purpose of interest group activity is to promote gov’t agenda; interest groups constituents are asked to defer their interests to the interest group leaders (Egypt, Mexico)

Patterns in Voter TurnoutTurnout: the proportion of the voting-age public that votes

40% of the eligible adult population votes 25% are occasional voters 35% rarely vote

Education: Voters tend to be more educated Income: More voters have higher incomes Age: Younger people vote less Gender: Women vote at the same rate or slightly higher

rate than men Race and Ethnicity:

Whites vote more regularly than African Americans – related to income and educational differences in the two groups

Hispanics vote less than African Americans Have potential to wield much influence given their increasing

size Interest in politics: Those interested in politics vote more

Why Is Voter Turnout So Low?

Too Busy Difficulty of Registration Difficulty of Absentee Voting Number of Elections Voter Attitudes Weakened Influence of Political

Parties

Efforts to Improve Voter Turnout

Easier Registration and Absentee Voting Make Election Day a Holiday Strengthen Parties Other suggestions

Holding fewer elections Proportional representation system for congressional

elections Saturday or Sunday election day Making voting mandatory Tax credits Election weeks rather than election days Internet voting

Patterns in Vote Choice Party Identification

Most powerful predictor voter behavior Ticket-splitting: voting for candidates of different parties for various offices in

the same election Race and Ethnicity

Whites increased tendency to vote Republican African Americans vote overwhelmingly for Democrats Hispanics also tend to identify with and vote for Democrats

Kerry 53 percent; Bush 44 percent Asian Americans less monolithic

Women today more likely to support Democratic candidates Gender gap varies by election

Poor vote more often for Democrats; wealthier for Republicans Ideology related closely to vote choice

Conservatives for Republicans Liberals for Democrats

Issues Retrospective judgment: focused on present or past Prospective judgment: focused on future possibilities

Purposes of Elections Regular free elections

guarantee mass political action enable citizens to influence the actions of their

government

Popular election confers on a government the legitimacy that it can achieve no other way

Regular elections also ensure that government is accountable to the people it serves

Purposes of Elections Electorate

Citizens eligible to vote Mandate:

A command, indicated by an electorate’s voters, for the elected officials to carry out their platforms

Sometimes the claim of a mandate is suspect because voters are not so much endorsing one candidate as rejecting the other

General Elections

General elections are those in which voters decide which candidates will actually fill elective public offices

Held at many levels. Contests between the candidates of

opposing parties

Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Initiative

An election that allows citizens to propose legislation and submit it to the state electorate for popular vote

Referendum An election whereby the state legislature

submits proposed legislation to the state’s voters for approval

Recall Voters can remove an incumbent from office by

popular vote Are very rare

Presidential Elections

Primary elections or caucuses are used to elect national convention delegates which choose the nominee Winner-take-all primary Proportional representation primary Caucus

Primaries v. Caucuses Over years, trend has been to use primaries rather than

caucuses to choose delegates Caucus is the oldest, most party-oriented method of choosing

delegates to the national conventions Arguments for primaries

More democratic More representative A rigorous test for the candidate

Arguments for caucuses Caucus participants more informed; more interactive and

informative Unfair scheduling affects outcomes Frontloading (being first in the primary calendar) gives some

primary states an advantage Frontloading is the tendency to choose an early date on the

primary schedule

The Party Conventions Out-of-power party holds its convention

first, in late July, followed in mid-August by party holding the presidency

Conventions were decision-making body in the 19th century

Today the convention is fundamentally different Nominations settled well in advance of the

convention

The Electoral College Representatives of each state who

cast the final ballots that actually elect a president

Total number of electors for each state equal to the number of senators and representatives that a state has in the U.S. Congress

District of Columbia is given 3 electoral votes

The Electoral College Result of compromise between:

Selection by Congress versus direct popular election

Three essentials to understanding the design of the Electoral College: Constructed to work without political parties Constructed to cover both the nominating and

electing phases of presidential selection Constructed to produce a nonpartisan president

The Electoral College in the 19th Century

12th Amendment (1804) Attempt to remedy the confusion between the

selection of vice presidents and presidents that emerged in the election 1800

Provided for separate elections for each office, with each elector having only one vote to cast for each

In event of a tie, the election still went to the House

Top three candidates go to House Each state House delegation casts one vote