Politics

Harris – Current World Affairs

Political Parties

Democrats Liberal Pro-choice Pro-environment Pro Social services Big Government Business Regulation Minority support

Republicans Conservative Anti-Choice (Pro-life) Small Government Pro-Business Lower Taxes Pro-gun rights Defense

Road to the White House 2016

2016 Presidential Election

Hillary Clinton Former US Senator from New York (2001-2009).

Former US Secretary of State (2009-2013)

Former First Lady (1993-2000)

Law degree from Yale Was involved in many

of the scandals that plagued the Clinton White House.

Joe Biden Former US Senator

from Delaware. Elected to the US

Senate in 1972, his wife and daughter were killed in a car wreck weeks after his election. Thought about resigning but was convinced to stay by other Senators.

One of the leading senators in the area of foreign policy and women’s rights.

2016 Presidential Contenders

Mitt Romney Former Governor of Massachusetts Seen as a problems solver. Very successful in the business world

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney, born March

12, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a two time

Governor of Michigan and ran unsuccessfully for president in 1968.

Has undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and MBA/JD from Harvard.

Began work at the consulting firm Bain & Company. Later he was given a job as the head of private equity investment firm Bain Capital.

Successfully ran the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Paul Ryan Current US rep from Wisconsin. Originally elected

in 1998. Current Chairman of the house budget committee. Considered the lead Republican on Budget and

economic issues.

2016 Presidential Contenders

Rick Perry Republican Gov. of Texas Orginally a democrat,

helped Al Gore on his 1988 presidential campaign before switching parties

Fiscally and socially conservative

Made many mistakes on the campaign trail

Jeb Bush Son of President

George H W Bush and younger brother of George W. Bush.

Graduated University of Texas with a degree in Latin American Studies.

Speaks fluent Spanish.

Businessman and former Governor of Florida (1999-2007)

Chris Christie

Current governor of New Jersey. Originally elected 2010 and reelected in 2014.

Graduated from the University of Delaware and Seton Hall.

Lawyer and former US Attorney for New Jersey.

Under investigation for George Washington bridge closing.

Elizabeth Warren

Current Senator from Massachusetts.

Lawyer and former law professor at Harvard specializing in bankruptcy and consumer protection law.

Picked by Pres. Obama to be the first person to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Questions over possible Native American heritage.

Ted Cruz

Senator from Texas.

Degrees from Princeton and Harvard.

Former Lawyer Very conservative

Scott Walker

Republican Governor of Wisconsin

Career Politician Firmly

Conservative. Has done a lot to

weaken unions in Wisconsin

How Our Beliefs are Made Political Socialization – The process

through which an individual acquires their particular political orientations-their knowledge, feelings, and evaluations regarding their political world.

The more socialization that one has gone through, the firmer their beliefs become. This means that government and groups tend to focus socialization efforts on young people. Examples are the Young Communist League in the Soviet Union, and Hitler Youth in Germany.

How our Beliefs are Made There are many groups that contribute to our

political socialization, its not just the government.

Family – The family is the most influential tool of the socialization process. As a young child you spend most of your time with your family. Not only that, but they are invested in how you turn out. This means that they are constantly teaching about things and modeling behavior for you. Because of these two reasons, the number one predictor of political behavior is to look at the behavior of someone’s parents.

Democrat

Indep. Rep. Total

Dem. Par

59 29 13 100

Ind. Par

17 67 16 100

Rep. Par

12 29 59 100

How our Beliefs are Made Mass Media - On average most children

watch more hours of television than they spend at school each week. Entertainment shows are providing more and more influence or our lives.

School – Schools serve two key functions in society, to educate and socialize children. Governments throughout the world use schools to instill a basic value system in children. Standard are established to make sure that this happens. The amount of education one receives directly correlates to the likelihood of that person voting.

Voter Turnout Political Efficacy – This is a term that is directly

associated with trust in government. This term refers to belief that one’s vote actually makes a difference. This then directly effects voter turnout.

Registration – Most states require people to register to vote as a way to prevent voter fraud. The constitution gives each state the authority to decide who is qualified to vote. Registration laws are different from state to state and can deter people from voting. For the 2012 election, many states have changed registration to prevent voter fraud. Some charge that this is politically motivated, as those affected by the changes traditionally vote democratic and their have been few cases of voter fraud.

Other barriers – Things like, travel, weather, and illness, all have contribute to voter turnout.

Who Votes? Recently, slightly more than half the eligible population

participates in the presidential election. Here are some of the demographic factors that are related to who votes

Education – The more education that people have the more likely they are to vote. This is the most important demographic factor.

Age – Older people are more likely to vote. Race – Minorities have a lower percentage of their

population participate in voting. Gender – Women participate at a slightly higher rate than

men in the voting process. Marital Status – Married people are more likely than singles

to vote. This is true across all age groups. Union Membership – Union members tend to vote in higher

numbers. However the role that unions play in our society has been decline for over a decade.

2000 Florida Ballot (How I Got Cheated)

Polling in America The opinion poll was developed by George Gallup

in 1932. The company that he founded still exists as one of the most powerful polling agencies.

Polls use a sample of the population because it would be too time consuming to ask even just 1% of the total population of the country. The key to being able to ask between 1000 and 1500 people and get accurate information is to ensure the randomness of the sample.

Polling involves lots of estimation which results in sampling error. This is the idea that the poll is accurate within a few points. For a poll of between 1000 and 1500 it is usually accurate to +/- 3%. The more people you ask the more accurate it will be.

Polling Issues Originally, polling was done door to door.

Today it is done with random digit dialing. It is generally thought that its easier to hang up on someone than slam the door in their face. Also, 7% of the population has no phone.

Can effect the political process. People feel that their vote doesn’t matter if the polls are far apart.

Exit polls – Polling places are randomly selected and every 10th person is asked how they voted. Exit polls in 2000 were blamed for much of the inaccurate information reported in the media.

Political Quizzes

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

How do we pick a President Step 1 – Win the nomination The way we nominate a candidate to

represent one of the political parties in the US is through the primary system.

This system is not written into the Constitution and is a newer tradition in the US.

The Primary season starts with Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. Both political parties allow all other states to hold their primaries on the first Tuesday one month after Nevada. This is called Super Tuesday.

How do we pick the President

After winning a primary a candidate is said to have won delegates. This is because they win the nomination by a vote at their party’s convention. The delegates are required to vote for whom ever won their state. Both parties have unpledged or super delegates, who can vote for any candidate. These delegate make up about 20% of the total number.

Both parties do thing differently. The parties do not have to hold primaries on the same date. They also have different number of delegates. The Rep have 2,288 and the Dem have 5,556.

How do we pick a President

Once the nominations are set the general election begins. The vote for the presidency happens on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

The US uses the electoral college system. Under this system each state are given a certain number of votes based on the number of people they have in congress. For most states it is a winner take all vote. In Nebraska and Maine the vote is split between congressional districts.

To win the presidency and vice presidency a candidate must receive 270 electoral college votes. Electors vote for these two separately.