Juan Luna, Maddie Jones, and Emily Whitworth

1/9/15

Unit 4: Campaigns, Elections ,and the

MediaA Unit Review

Guided Questions to enter the UnitWhat factors shape voter behavior?- Religion, ethnicity, gender, age, and social class all shape

voter behavior.Assess efforts to reform campaign strategy and finance. What has provided the impetus for this movement?- The costs of campaigning increased with the growth of

the television and the Watergate Scandal exposed large, illegal, campaign, contributions. Congress also passed the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1974.

What role does the media play in campaigns, elections, and policymaking?- In campaigns, media gets attention for the candidate. In

elections, media exposes errors, educates the public, and helps spread peace. In policymaking, the media helps set the agenda and inform those of the process.

Guided Questions Cont.How do candidates and public officials groom their image, and how does image impact elections? - The candidates and officials groom themselves to the

point that they appeal to the majority and minority of their choosing to aid in elections. This can impact an election when the unspoken minority is appealed to and can lead to a political upset.

Describe the relationship between candidates for office and the media.

- The relationship between the media and the candidate is a crucial aspect to win any office because without their support they can not get the exposure to all people possible, many which would aid in winning a said position in office.

Guided Questions Cont.How does the motivation and structure of media organizations influence the nature of news coverage in America?- The motivation of the media is crucial in creating a profile

for the candidate either in a positive or negative light. This can be accomplished by the media presenting inaccurate information or twisting certain views and positions on issues , leaving them at a disadvantage.

How has the growth of the internet changed the media in America?

- The growth of the internet has allowed the expansion of information like presidential debates and campaigns to be seen on websites like Youtube or Vimeo and discussed on social media such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. People now have access to political information 24/7.

More Guided QuestionsWhat have been the historical advantages and disadvantages of the Electoral College system?

- The electoral college prevents the system from winning solely through highly populated areas. It gives each state their own capability to make amendments. The system maintains the division of powers. If the president was directly elected, he could declare a national well-known mandate which would undermine other branches of the government and could lead to tyranny. It also maintains the two party system by getting rid of third party minority groups. Some disadvantages are that states in bigger “swing” areas obtain the majority of the attention, the system discourages voter turnout, and it favors the small, less populated states.

Vocabulary• Plurality election: electoral process in which the candidate who

polls more votes than any other candidate is elected. • Single-member district: an electoral district that returns one

officeholder to a body with multiple members such as a legislature.

• Horse-race journalism: election coverage by the mass media that focuses on which candidate is ahead rather than on national issues.

• 527 Group: a tax-exempt organization created for the purpose of influencing the election or appointment of public officials.

• Closed Primary: only voters registered for the party which is holding the primary may vote.

• Mass Media: diversified media techniques that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication.

More Vocabulary• Campaign Strategy: a strategy to communicate a candidates

platform and raise funds in order to win an elected position.

• Caucus: a group within a legislative or decision-making body seeking to represent a specific interest or influence a particular area of policy.

• Presidential Primary: a direct election for the selection of state delegates to a national party convention and the expression of preference for a U.S presidential nominee.

• National Primary: a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries systems who would replace these electoral methods with a nationwide primary held early in the election year.

• Regional Primaries: a proposal to replace caucuses and presidential primaries with a series of primaries held in each geographic region.

Vocabulary Cont.• Soft money: political contributions earmarked for party-building

expenses at the grass-roots level.• Referendum: a state-level method of direct legislation that gives

voters a chance to approve or disapprove legislation or a constitutional amendment proposed by the state legislature.

• Superdelegate: national party leaders who automatically get a delegate shot at the Democratic national party convention.

• Frontloading: the recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention.

• Selective Perception: the phenomenon that people often pay the most attention to things they already agree with and interpret them according to their own predisposition.

• Legitimacy: a characterization of elections by political scientists meaning that they are almost universally accepted as fair and free method of selecting political leaders.

More Vocabulary• Initiative petition: a process permitted in some states whereby

voters may put proposed changes in the state constitution to a vote of sufficient signatures are obtained.

• Civic duty: the belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should always vote.

• Mandate theory of elections: the idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics.

• Retrospective voting: a theory of voting in which voters essentially ask: “ what have you done for me lately?”

• Media Events: events purposely staged for the media that nonetheless look spontaneous.

Vocabulary Cont.• Press Conferences: meetings of public officials with reporters.• Investigate Journalism: the uses of detective-like reporting to

unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders.

• Media Chains: the process of the delivery of digital media by electronic means from the provider to the consumer.

• Narrowcasting: as opposed to the traditional “broadcasting”, the appeal to a narrow, particular audience by channels such as ESPN, MTV, and C-SPAN, which focus on a narrow particular interest.

• Trial Balloons: an international news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction.

• Sound Bites: short video clips of approximately fifteen seconds which are typically all that is shown from a politicians speech or activities on the nightly television news.

More Vocabulary• Sound Bites: short video clips of approximately fifteen seconds

which are typically all that is shown from a politicians speech or activities on the nightly television news.

• McGovern-Fraser Commission: a commission formed at the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation.

• Federal Election Campaign Act: a law passed in 1974 for forming campaign finances. The act created the Federal Election Commission (FEC), provided public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, limited campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions.

• Motor Voter Act: passed in 1993, went into effect for the ‘96 election. It requires states to permit people to register to vote at the same time they apply for their drivers license.

Quiz!• Quick vocabulary quiz to see what you know!

http://quizlet.com/38986666/test?matching=on&mult_choice=on&prompt-with=2&limit=20&cstoken=ovQgeBMAyZOvFKwQ1xQYfPXsmZgvFOAqu-X5QtoTT1E

Games to help review!• Jeopardy Review Game• http://www.bubbabrain.com/ap.php

- Select “Seniors”, then pick AP Government then chose your review game for elections, campaigns, and the media.

Helpful Videos• Reviewing Political Parties and Campaigns• Mass Media: a love/hate relationship