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VOTING  AND ELECTIONS  -  A Form of Participation

INTRODUCTION      The election process and the effect of the election of 2000         Popular vote as opposed to Electoral Vote         Some changes that have come about because of this event    I  The Purposes Served by Elections         A.  They serve to put politicians into office            B.  They avoid the unpleasantness of strikes, riots and coups d'etat            C.  The allow politicians the freedom of judgement                  1.  Prospective judgement                  2.  Retrospective Judgement II  Different Kinds of Elections         A.  Primary Elections                 1.  Closed primaries                 2.  Open primaries                 3.  Blanket primary                 4.  Runoff primary             B.  Caucus as opposed to primary III  General Elections IV  Initiative, Referendum, and Recall         A.  Used in 24 states and DC           B.  These are types of elections proposed by citizens of Politicians V  Presidential Elections         A.  Held every four years           B.  Most popular of all Am. elections           C.  In actuallity it is 50 seperate state elections where delegates are                 selected to go to the capital of the state and elect the president.           D.  Take place sometime after the party's convention           E.  Convention delegates are selected at state primaries and caucuses                 1.  winner take all:  primary win gets all delegates                 2.  proportional representation (PR) awarded delegates according to                      percentage of popular votes                 3.  Three other alternatives:                       a)  PR with bonus delegates:                       b)  beauto contese with seperate delegates                       c)  selection without beauty contest - Not Linked to another             F.  Primaries v. Caucuses             G.  Party Conventions                   1.  Delegate Selection                   2.  National Candidates and Issues                   3.  The News Media                   4.  What are Delegates like? VI  The Electoral College:  How Presidents are Elected VII  The Electoral College in the 20th and 21st Centuries          A.  Abolition of the EC?                1.  Congressional District Plan                2.  Plan to keep the College and abolish the electors VIII  Patterns of Presidential Elections           A.  Party Realignments              B.  Reasons for realignments                   1.  War                   2.  Economic Crisis                   3.  Catastrophic events                   4.  Change of voter loyalties               C.  Secular Realignment                    1.  Ticket-splitting, partisan independence and voter volatility IX    Congressional Elections              A.  Differ from Presidential Elections                    1.  Congressional candidates tend to labor in obscurity                    2.  The vast majority of candidates are liggle knows state legislators                    3.  Name recognition is often the most important battle to fight                    4.  They receive little media coverage               B.  Incumbency Advantage                     1.  Incumbents have taxpayer funds that enhance their profiles                     2.  Franking privilege                     3.  Constituency service                     4.  High visibility in their district                     5.  Better access to the media                     6.  They speak at events and meetings which helps visibility                C.  Redistricting, Scandals and Coattails                      1.  Effect of the Census                      2.  State legislatures controled by the party help incumbents                      3.  Results of off-year elections    X  Voting Behavior              A.  Participation                       1.  Income                       2.  Age                       3.  Gender                       4.  Race                       5.  Interest in Politics                  B.  Low Voter Turnout                       1.  Registration difficulties                       2.  Difficulty if absent                       3.  Number of Elections                       4.  Voter Attitudes                       5.  Weaknesses of the Parties                  C.  Remedies to aid voter turnout                        1.  Early Registration and Absentee Voting                        2.  Election Day Holiday                        3.  Strengthen the Parties                   D.  Split-ticket voting                    E.  Technology imporovements

SOME GOOD WEB SITES www.voter.cq.com/ www.camelect.com www.c-span.org