Outline+-+Elections

Lecture Outline - Elections

Terms - Poll Tax - Majority Voting System - Proportional Representation - Gerrymandering - Electoral College - Australian Ballot - Initiative - Political Action Committee - Issue Advocacy - Open Primary

Purpose of elections - connection - public policy - control

Direct vs Indirect Elections

The US Constitutional System - autonomous branches

The Texas Constitutional System - Jacksonianism

Types of Elections - primary - general - presidential - congressional - state - local

Criteria for Winning - winner take all - super majority, majority, plurality - proportional representation

Regulating the Process - The Electorate -- Suffrage ---gradial expansion ---attempts to restrict (white primary, literacy tests etc...) - drawing districts - apportionment

Voter Turnout - Aggregate measures -- why the recent reduction? - Individual voting -- why do people vote? Is votign rational? -- how do voters decide?

Campaigns - The Professional Campaign

Candidate Support v. Issue Advocacy

Finance - Donors - Hard v Soft Money - Constitutional Issues -- Equality v Liberty

Early Elections

Critical Elections - 1800 - 1828 - 1860 - 1896 - 1932 - 1968

Recent Elections - 1980 - 1992 - 2000 - 2004 - 2006