Chapter Summary

Chapter Summary
Chapter seven talked about campaigns, elections, and the media. The legal qualifications for holding political office are minimal at both the state and local levels, but holders of political office still are predominantly white and male are likely to be from the professional class. American political campaigns are lengthy and extremely expensive. In the last decade, they have become more candidate centered rather than party centered in response to technological innovations and decreasing party identification. Candidates have begun to rely on paid professional consultants to perform the various tasks necessary to wage a political campaign. The crucial task if professional political consultants is image building. The campaign organization devises a campaign strategy to maximize the candidate’s chances of winning. Candidates use public opinion polls and focus groups to gauge their popularity and to test the mood of the country. 3. Interest groups are major sources of campaign funds. The contributions are often made through political action committees, or PACs. Other methods of contributing include issue advocacy advertising and setting up independent 527 organizations to register voters and run ads. The amount of money spent in financing campaigns is increasing steadily. A variety of corrupt practices acts have been passed to regulate campaign finance. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 limited advertising by interest groups. The United States Supreme Court has chipped away at the limits imposed by the 2002 act, however. In 2010, the Court ruled that the government could not limit corporate political expenditures that were not coordinated with campaigns. After the Democratic convention of, 1968, the McGovern-Fraser Commission formulated new rules for primaries which were adopted by all Democrats and Republicans in most states. These reforms opened up the nomination process for the presidency to all voters. A presidential primary is a statewide election to help a political party determine its presidential nomination at the national convention. Some states use the caucus method of choosing convention delegates. The primary campaign recently has been shortened to the first few months of the election year. The voter technically does not vote directly for president but instead chooses between slates of presidential electors. In most states, the slate that wins the most popular votes throughout the states gets to cast all of the electoral votes for the state. The candidate receiving a majority {270) of the electoral votes wins. The United States use the Australian ballot, a secret ballot that is prepared, distributed, and counted by government officials. The office blocks ballot groups candidates according to office. The party column ballot groups candidates according to their party labels and symbols. Voter participation in the United States is often considered to be low, especially in elections that do not feature a presidential contest. Turnout is lower when measured as a percentage of the voting-age population than it is when measured as a percentage of the population actually eligible to vote. There is an association between voter turnout and a person's age, education, and income level. ln colonial times, only white males with a certain minimum amount of property were eligible to vote. The suffrage issue has concerned, at one time or another, most groups in the United States. Today, to be eligible to vote, a person must satisfy registration, citizenship, age, and residency requirements. Each state bas different qualifications. The media are .enormously important in American politics today. 'They perform a number of functions, identifying public problems, socializing new generations, providing a political forum, and making profits. The political influence of the media is most obvious during political campaigns 'Todays campaigns use political advertising and expert management of news coverage. For presidential candidates, how they appear in presidential debates is of major importance. Internet blogs, podcasts, and Web sites such as YouTube are transforming today's political campaigns and making it difficult for candidates to control their campaigns. The electronic media are subject to government regulation. Many Federal Communications Commission rules have dealt with ownership of TV and radio stations. Legislation has removed many rules about co­ ownership of several forms of media.