+ Political Campaigns: Running for Office

The purpose of a campaign is to get people to vote for you! This is done in several ways:

Canvassing: volunteers take polls to see what people know about their candidate, pass out information, and try to register people to vote. Phone calls or door knocking

+ Political Campaigns: Running for Office

Rallies: candidates hold political rallies & give speeches to make people excited to vote for them. They make promises about what they will do if they get elected. They shake a lot of hands!

+ Political Campaigns: Running for Office

Endorsements: they try to get celebrities & past political candidates to help them win by showing their support.

+ Political Campaigns: Running for Office

Advertising: spend a lot of time & money trying to create a positive image of the candidate. Slogans, yard signs, debate responses, and commercials are all carefully planned to try to attract voters.

+ Political Campaigns: Campaign Expenses

All of this is very expensive! Candidates must release information about

their donors to the press. Individuals cannot donate more than $2300 to a candidate (hard money – money that goes directly to a candidate).

McCain-Feingold Act: prohibited parties & candidates from raising soft money (unlimited amount for general purposes - ex: to run a commercial against another candidate or an issue).

+ Political Campaigns: Campaign Expenses

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010): the Supreme Court held 5-4 that the McCain-Feingold Act is unconstitutional.

The Court said that donating money is protected as a form of speech under the First Amendment.

Corporations count as individuals, so they can give whatever they want (soft money)

+ One citizen – one vote?

+ One citizen – one vote?

+ Influences on the Government:

Other Ballot Items Initiative: citizens can propose new laws or state constitutional amendments (cannot do this for national laws). They must get citizens of the state to sign a petition. If they receive enough signatures, it gets place on the ballot as a proposition.

Proposition: proposed law people can vote on Prop 19 in California: to legalize marijuana for

personal use – did not passReferendum: vote on a current state/local law

+ Influences on the Government:

Special ElectionsRecall: citizens vote to remove a public official from office (starts with a petition; only for state/local officials)

Runoff election: election between 2 candidates that had the highest number of votes if no candidate received a majority (more than 50%) of votes

Recount: if the votes are extremely close & no one won a majority, candidates can demand a recount Bob Etheridge (democratic representative) is

demanding this in District 2 because he lost by less than 1000 votes

+ Influences on the Government:

Famous RecountsBush v. Gore (2000): the 2000 presidential election was too close to call in Florida (Bush was ahead by ~300 votes). Neither candidate had the 270 electoral votes needed to claim victory.

The Florida Supreme Court demanded that Florida counties begin recounting votes. Bush filed a request for the US Supreme Court to review the Florida Supreme Court decision.

The US Supreme Court found the recount unconstitutional because there was no law in Florida mentioning how to recount ballots (& the Florida Supreme Court cannot make laws).

+ Influences on the Government:

ReviewPolitical Parties: develop party platforms (official positions on issues), nominate candidates, and manage election campaigns.

Voters: cast ballots on Election Day, donate money & volunteer for political parties & interest groups, give suggestions to representatives

+ Influences on the Government: Mass Media

Interview & report on candidatesPoll voters to gage public opinion

Public opinion: ideas & attitudes people hold about government, candidates, issues

Influence the public agenda Public agenda: issues that receive the most

focus, time, & effort from the public & government

Play a “watchdog” role over government (report any shadiness)

+ Influences on the Government: Special

Interest GroupsLobby elected officials to persuade

them to pass laws that protect their interestsLobby: contacting lawmakers directly

Run advertising campaigns to influence public opinion Political Action Committee (PAC): raise

money from members to support candidates that support their interests.

+ Daily AssessmentOn Same Sheet as Monday’s

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