PS2010 Columbia Southern State Election and Campaign Process Politics PPT Unit III PowerPoint Presentation Weight: 11% of course gradeGrading RubricDue: Tu

PS2010 Columbia Southern State Election and Campaign Process Politics PPT Unit III PowerPoint Presentation
Weight: 11% of course gradeGrading RubricDue: Tuesday, 01/08/2019 11:59 PM (CST)InstructionsUsing the state in which you live (or another state of your choice), create
a PowerPoint presentation explaining the state election and campaign process,
party politics, and legislative organization and procedure. Using the CSU
Online Library as a resource, you will also need to include information on
gerrymandering and its impact (or lack thereof) in your state. You have two options for presenting your material, which have been
explained below: Option 1: Create a detailed PowerPoint of 10–14 slides, not including the
title and reference slides. must include the following information: a title slide including your name and the state you selected; a political party structure; the types of primaries utilized in your chosen state; state party organizations; state government structure; campaign methods of a state candidate/incumbent; the makeup of your state legislature (e.g., gender, age, profession);
apportioning and districting information; the legislative institutionalization of your state; the party issues in your state; and three to four pictures, maps, or graphs. Your slides or presentation should include explanations of the
aforementioned points. Please do not copy and paste lists of senators and
representatives into your slides. You may include additional information that
you feel is relevant, but do not create more than 14 slides. Use your
creativity, and organize the material in a logical and understandable manner.
Use APA formatting for all paraphrased and quoted material. Utilize the CSU
Online Library for at least one of your sources. Cou
rse Learning Outcomes for Unit
III
Upon completion of this unit, students should be
able to:
1.
Explain the nature of politics.
1.1
Explain apportioning and districting information.
1.2
Explain legislative institutionalization and how it relates to legislative organization,
procedure,
and committees.
2.
Analyze political process
es
in local go
vernment.
2.1
Identify the role the political party system plays in shaping elections, state politics,
and policy
differences.
2.2
Describe methods of campaigning.
Chapter 5:
Parties and Campaigns in the States
, pp. 126
–
157
Chapter
6:
Legislators in State Politics
, pp. 160
–
193
Unit Lesson
Political Parties
Do we really need political parties
,
or do they just muddy the waters when it comes to deciding for who
m we
should vote? In his book,
Alexander Hamilton
,
Ron Chernow (2004) inform
ed us that our present views on
political parties are quite different from those of the founding fathers. He noted that
even though the two
party
system is favored and exemplifies democracy, the founding fathers considered this
pa
rty system as a vestige
of the British monarchy with no
place in
an American
republic (p. 390). Chernow (2004)
also noted that
many
refused to be involved with the parties because they were viewed
in
such a negative light. They were seen as
something to be
dis
trusted,
hypocritical, and frightening.
In a bit of irony, w
hat was once considered “bad,” according to Hamilton, has since come to define
how
politics work in
the United States
today
(Chernow, 2004)
. Today
’s voters typically follow the voting pattern
s of
their parents and grandparents, resulting in
generations of
voters
who are loyal to one party or the other. Dye
and MacManus (2015)
unequivocally state that parties are the heart and soul of democracy and that if there
were no parties, there would be
no democracy. Adding to the irony, despite a lingering belief that our system
is a remnant of British rule, the British political system is multi
party while our own is two
party.
The first
two
well
established
parties in the United States were the Federal
ists
,
begun by Alexander Hamilton, and the
Republicans on Thomas Jefferson’s side.
The
major parties
in the United States today
are the
Democrats and
the Republicans.
Over time,
people
came to trust the parties. Dye and MacManus (2015) share that
the Unit
ed States may be
considered a two
party system, but it is important to note that minor third parties do perform important
functions and make an impact, if only at the polls.
You will find political parties at every
level
of government
and impacting all cam
paigns
—
even those that are nonpartisan. In short, party matters
. The people who ar
e
active in this process help
organize elections, get information out on the candidates, and help the candidates
to understand what it is that you
,
the voter
,
want to see an
d hear from “your” candidate.
Entering
P
olitics
Imagine
what it would be like to
run for office. In o
rder to be a candidate, one must pay a small filing fee and
collect a certain number of signatures to qualify. The petition is filed, and if the
signatures are valid and meet
the necessary number, the candidate’s name goes on a ballot. Candidates are often
required by the
UNIT
I
I
I
STUDY GUIDE
Parties and Campaigns in the
States; Legislators in State Politics
PS 2010, American State and Local Politics
2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
supervisor of elections to open bank accounts specifically for their campaigns and
must file reports showing
all donations and expenditures.
Before embarking on a campaign
,
many
potential candidate
s put out feelers
to
determine whether a
run for
office is viable. Candidates ask those inside and outside their networks whether a
run for office is feasible.
Are there folks willing to donate to their campaign? Are there people available to
volunteer their time and
effort to help them get elec
ted? These are typical questions potential candidates ask themselves. They also
try to gauge who else might be running and what the hot topics might be.
At the same time,
candidates
begin
to raise money
to finance their campaign
. Candidates running for sta
te or federal office will often court
endorsements from their parties or even other candidates
who
have dropped out of the race.
D
epending on
the local election guidelines, a candidate may
run
against
others
within
their own party in a
closed primary (v
ot
ers must have declared their party affiliation), sem
i
closed primary (voters may
change
parties on election day)
,
or an open pri
mary (v
oter
s
can cast a ballot
for
either party
’s candidates on election
day). Candidates who have
a plurality (receive the most
votes)
in a primary serve as
the candidate for
the
party
in the general election.
How
ever, in a few states, candidates who do not receive
a clear majority of the
votes
in a primary
must
participate in a runoff. The majority/plurality system of winner
take
all is yet another
vestige of British rule. Each state, county, and city has its own set of rules. Some
elections, such as those for
city council seats, are often nonpartisan, meaning it is a violation of election rules for
a candidate to state his
or her
party affiliation or have it appear on any campaign materials. However, these rules
vary by city. In a
National League of Cities (n.d.) survey, it was determined that 77% of the
responding cities held nonpartisan
elections while 23% opted for partisan ele
ctions. A principal argument for nonpartisan elections is the belief
that shedding one’s party affiliation indicates a spirit of cooperation that transcends
party lines.
Official candidates will continue to build their
war chest
s (a not
so gentle euphemis
m for their funding and
work on their platform), focus on the issues of which they want to focus, establish
the goals and mission once
in office, and expand their network
.
They might interview for endorsements and meet with leaders from
various segments of
society. Along the way, they
will be
seeking
and spending as much money as possible
before the election
to spread the word about their candidacy. Decisions are made regarding the best
ways to
spend the money donated to their campaign. Is it better to adve
rtise in the paper or on television? Do they
have money to do both? Which days are better for running ads? Are they going to
mail out campaign cards?
Even though seats
in government
are not bought
, it has been
shown
that
,
more often than not,
the person
wh
o raises the most money is the one most likely to be elected.
In fact, the
Washington Post
has reported
that the better
financed candidate wins the election a whopping 91% of the time (Lowery, 2014).
After candidates have
been elected to
office, the
work
really begins. Not only will they
have the job o
f helping
to enact laws, but they will also spend their
time trying to get re
elected.
Many people believe that getting
elected is the difficult part. The truth is that serving is the most difficult task. Once in
office, groups and
individuals all want their elected officials to act on their behalf. As one might expect,
the needs and wants o
f
some often contradict the needs and wants of others. Pleasing constituents can be
an arduous task. The
public can be very supportive when they see their representative accommodating
their wishes, but the public
can fiercely attack when they believe their
candidate is ignoring their wishes or placing another person’s
priority above their own.
The Creation of Districts
The act of running for office is far more involved than many would believe, but even
more complex is the
drawing of district lines. Distr
ict lines are essentially the borders of the territory of a particular voting area.
These lines are drawn based on population, though there is often much more to the
process.
Every
10
years, per the U.S. Constitution, a census is
conducted
. In this census
,
every single person must be
counted. Once the counting is done, a restructuring may occ
ur. While most states maintain the same
number
of representatives in the House of Representatives, other states may lose or gain
representatives depending
on their pop
ulation
s
.S
ometimes, state officials
also take this time to redraw the voting district lines. In
Baker
v. Carr
(1962), the U.S. Supreme Court stated that district population numbers must be
equal due to the one
person one
vote rule. The redrawing of lines
is often referred to as
gerrymandering
, which means that
the
party in the majority will draw the lines to
its
political advantage. While most states manage to get their lines
drawn without difficulty, some states like Texas are always being tak
en to court
because of their lines.
PS 2010, American State and Local Politics
3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Gerrymandering
(Nass, n.d.)
Lobbyists
Before the election even takes place, interest groups attempt to influence the
candidate whom they believe
has the best chance to win the election. These interest groups use
lobbyists
to present ideas and issues
to
the candidate that would most benefit their organization. The goal is to present their
needs and wishes and
find a sympathetic ear, ultimately leading to a vote in their favor on those issues. I
n som
e cases, lobbying can
be
a full
time job done by professionals, but in other situations, average citizens can be
involved in the
lobbying process. Legislators understand that lobbyists are using them to promote
their agenda. In turn,
legislators also use lobbyists in order to get
information they often do not have the time to research
personally; therefore, legislators are essentially using the lobbyists as researchers to
provide them with
education on certain topics. Some of the most effective professional lobbyists are
those who
were formerly
legislators themselves.
In recent years, there have been many laws regulating t
he relationships between
lobbyists and legislators
because of
the frequency of
past
corruption.
Partaking in the political process is a big job and a big respons
ibility. Political parties have helped to define
the candidates as well as the polic
ies that each side supports. Although, m
ost
current political races
are more
candidate
driven than
they are party
platform
driven. In addition, t
he media has become a drivi
ng force in
politics
;
therefore,
millions of dollars are
earmarked for marketing
candidate
s
in primaries,
elect
ions, and re
elections.
References
Baker v. Carr
.
(1962). 369 U.S. 186, 82 S. Ct. 691, 7 L. Ed. 2d 663.
Chernow, R. (2004).
Alexander
Hamilton
. New York, NY: The Penguin Press.
Dye, T. R., & MacManus, S. A.
(2015).
Politics in states and communities
(15
th
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
PS 2010, American State and Local Politics
4
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Lowery, W. (2014, April 4).
91% of the time the better
financed candidate wins. Don’t act sur
prised.
Washington Post
.
Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the
fix/wp/2014/04/04/think
money
–
doesnt
matter
in
elections
this
chart
says
youre
wrong/
Nass, S. (n.d.).
How to steal an election
[Graphic]. Retrieved from
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/How_to_Steal_an_Election_
_Gerrymandering.svg
National League of Cities. (n.d.). Partisan vs. nonpartisan elections. Retrieved from
http://www.nlc.org/build
skills
and
networks/resources/cities
101/city
officials/partisan
vs
nonpartisan
elections
Suggested Reading
If you would like additional information regarding the textbook readings, consider
reviewing the
c
hapter
p
resentations
below
:
•
Click
here
to access the Chapter 5 PowerPoint
p
resentation titled “Chapter 5:
Parties and Campaigns
in the States.
”
(
Click
here
to access
the PDF version.
)
•
Click
here
to access the Chapter 6 PowerPoint
p
resentation titled
“Chapter 6:
Legislators in State
Politics.
”
(
Click
here
to access
the PDF version.
)
Learning Activities (Nong
raded)
Nong
raded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You
do not have to submit
them. If you have questions,
contact your instructor for further guidance and information.
To understand the concept of districting in general and
to
find out more information about your state, go
to the website
below,
and play a few levels of this game.
USC Annenberg Center. (n.d.)
. The redistricting game. Retrieved from
http://www.redistrictinggame.org
You may have to allow pop
ups on your computer or change your JavaScript options to enable creating new
windows to use all
of
the resources found on this
website

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