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US Democracy and Participation - Coggle Diagram
US Democracy and Participation
Campaign Fiance (Laws and types)
In 1974 - the FEC is established after the Watergate scandle, they oversee election spending and it limits individual donations to $1000.
In 1971 - Federal Elections Campaign Act (FECA) is passed which lays out requirements to disclous donations recieved by candidates. It originally set a spending limit but was later ammended to allow parties to spend unlimited amounts of hard money on activies.
In 1979 FECA is amended by congress. A loophole is created to allow parties to recieve an unlimited amount of money.
2002 - McCain-Feingold Act.
It banned soft money donations, raised invdidual donations to around $2,000 and required candidates to endorse campagin adverts to discourtage attack adverts.
2010 - Citizens United v FEC.
Supreme Court ruled that campaign limits paced on orgs. are unconstitutitonal. They can now spend unlimited amiunts on electioneering communications and doanations.
Soft Money Vs. Hard Money
Soft Money:
money that is donated to a political party that is not subject to strict federal limits. Comes from Super PACs, which may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, then spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates.
Hard Money:
money that is contributed directly to a candidate’s campaign. Hard money is tightly regulated - there are strict federal limits on the amount of money that can be donated, and on who can donate. It comes from individuals or PACs which have limits to the amounts they can donate.
Major Super PACS. DEMOCRAT - Sixteen Thirty Fund (16 million in contributions in 2024 not really sure). REPUBLICAN - America PAC, elons musk Super PAC which spent around 200 million.
Debate
Pros
Constitutional to Un restrict finance. Freedom to spend money.
Can create good party policy through donations.
Allows the presidential candidates the resources to fully display their party platforms and beliefs .
Cons
Not mentioned in the constitution so tight control have to be created around it to regulate it.
Remove the working class Americans ability to influence elections.
Poltical Parties (Ideas, fractions and supporters)
Hyper Partisan:
Extremely biased in favour of a poltical party, with fierece disagreement with the other and an inability to compomise.
Evidence of Hyper Partisanship
The Freedom Caucus – a group of right-wing Republicans formed in 2015, they launched vocal challenges to Obama's immigration policy and fought to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Gridlock between President and Congress during periods of time when Congress is domainated by a different party top the President. E.g: Biden's attempt to bring in Immigration Reform which was stopped by republicans) .
Democrat Factions
Liberals (Most Progressive)
E.g: AOC, Bernie Sanders
Will be constantly challenging moderates such as Biden on workers issues, moral foreign policy and ensuring the Democrats keep a left-wing focus on many of their economic and social policies.
Although in disagreement with other factions, often show unity when it matters and all three figureheads backed Harris at the 2024 Convention despite tensions on Gaza.
Moderates (Most Dominat Faction)
E.g: Obama, Joe Biden
Policies such as Medicare and capping insulin price at $30 show a focus on social welfare but opposing universal healthcare shows how they differ from the Liberals.
More pragmatic and willing to compromise than Liberals – back private companies and foreign intervention around the world whilst still branding themselves as a centrist party for poor Americans.
Conservatives (Least Progressive)
E.g: Joe Manchin
More conservative views than most democrats.Traditionally, conservative Democrats have been elected to office from the Southern states, rural areas, and the Great Plains.
May oppose gun control, bills on climate change and other 'progressive' policies.
Republican Factions
Religious Right (Least Progressive)
E.g: Ted Cruz, Trump has also recently embrached this faction and found support from them
Advances conservative values on social issues – particularly abortion, death penalty and gay rights. Minimalist social welfare and focus on individuals looking after themselves rather than the state. Less concerned about government spending (unlike fiscal conservatives). For example, opposed Medicare not due to cost but due to the morality of it – felt like it would create a dependency culture.
Fiscal Conservatives
Emphasises prudent fiscal management, limited government intervention in the economy, and a focus on reducing government spending and deficits because – they argue a government does not have the right to run up large debts and then throw the burden on the taxpayer.
'I don't care if you're republican or a democrat, the math is the math.'
E.g: Jimmy Carter, Ben Sasse
Moderates (Most Progressive)
E.g: Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins
Right-of-center politicans who are generally considered progressive on social issues, conservation on fiscal issies and prioritise fiscal demads over social agenda.
Intrest Groups (Influence and Methods)
Single-Issue
A pressure group that focuses on one issues, e.g: guns
E.g: NRA - campaign in line with the second amendment. In 2016, the NRA raised a record $336 million and spent $412 million on political activities.
Professional
A group that represents a specific profession of workers, e.g: trade unions.
E.g: American Farm Bureau Federation. They represent the 2 million farms in the USA and are one of the industry's largest lobbying groupsIn 2022, the AFBF spent $2,120,000 on lobbying.
Policy
Focuses on broad topics such as the environemtn or foreign policy.
E.g: Turning Point USA. Advocate for conservate policies in schools and educating the youth in conservative values.
Methods
Report Cards: An annual report card on a politician by an interest group, it ranks the member of congress on how well they have supported an issue.
Campaign finance and electioneering: Donations to campaigns to try and gain influence. Although limited by campaign finance legalisation so sums are far smaller than amounts groups spend on lobbying.
Grassroots activity: protests and direct action: Organised protests where a large no. Of people turn up in one location to voice their opinion. This not only gains media attention, it also demonstrates to politicians the depth of support among the public.
Legal Methods: If they have the money, and a legal reason, interest groups can launch court cases to try to advance their cause.
State Initiatives: Interest groups might enact change to get an initiative on the states ballot.
Debate
Pros
Interest groups give a voice to underrepresented groups.
Interest groups encourage individuals to become politically active, increasing engagement and awareness of key issues.
Interest groups often have in-depth knowledge of their areas of focus and provide valuable data and analysis to lawmakers, improving the quality of legislation.
By representing diverse interests, these groups encourage dialogue and compromise among stakeholders, leading to balanced policy solutions.
Cons
Wealthier groups, such as corporate lobbies or unions with large treasuries, often exert disproportionate influence compared to smaller, grassroots organizations.
Financial contributions from interest groups can lead to favoritism or corruption, where policymakers prioritize donors over the public good.
Interest groups often focus on narrow issues, which can polarize debates and hinder compromise between opposing viewpoints.
The electoral process
Invisible Primaries
The period of time between a candidate’s declaration or expressed interest in running for an elected office and the start of the primary season.
This is where candidates attempt to gain name recognition, gain support and the finances to launch a campaign.
Debate
Effective
Allows candidates who are not necessarily in politics to run.
Citizens can contribute and influence politics thanks to the freedom of campaign finance.
Ineffective
Invisible primaries and length of process place a huge dependency on donations which means only wealthy Americans can run and even suitable candidates might need to withdraw.
Primaries and Caucuses
Most states hold primaries 6-9 months before a presidential election. The state where the primary is held takes the results of the vote into account to award delegates to the winners.
Several states hold caucuses in the months leading up to a presidential election. Caucuses are meetings run by political parties that are held at the county, district, or precinct level. They often require participants to divide themselves into groups according to the candidate they support.
Debate
Effective
Primaries encourage factionalism in the parties and infighting.
Primaries offered a democratic solution and wide range of choice to voters.
Primaries are disproportionally more valuable for earlier states leaving states later in the calendar disenfranchised.
Length of the process weeds out weak candidates and tests/scrutinises the better candidates.
Ineffective
Low Voter Turnout which means that a small, active group of voters who do particpate tends to be more ideologically extreme, which can skew the selection process toward candidates who do not represent the broader electorate.
Candidates with greater financial resources and access to media dominate the process.
: The primary season can last several months, leading to voter fatigue.
Party Convention
This is where the party select the nominees for popular election as President and Vice President, as well as to adopt a statement of party principles and goals known as the party platform
Debate
PROS
A way of unifying the party after the primary seasson.
The convention formally nominates the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, giving them a stage to define their vision and appeal to a national audience.
Celebrate party achivements and appeal to a national audience.
CONS
Expensive and mostly ceremonial - not really needed.
Conventions are attended by delegates, party insiders, and elites, which can make them feel disconnected from average voters.
The Role of incumbency in elections
First-term incumbency typically provides an advantage — unless there’s a recession during or just before the election. When there is no recession, the incumbent has always won in the post-World War II era.
Advantages of being the Incumbent
When an incumbent president runs for re-election, primaries of the president’s party have little coverage. (Before the 2004 election President George W. Bush won 98% of the Republican primary vote.) And so the incumbent president will be re-elected to stand at the presidential election.
They already have name recognition over their opponent.
They have their record in government to lean on when campaigning.
They have easier access to campaign finances, as well as government resources.
Voters evaluate the incumbent's ideology individually whereas they assume that any challenger shares his party's ideology
Disadvantages of being the Incumbent
If the country is in recession or voters believe it is (as was the case with 56% of voters in 2024) then the incumbent is at a disadvantage.
If the government has a poor record, they can't lean on it. They may have proven themself not worthy of office during their tenure and the challengers demonstrate this to the voters.
Voters may be convinced by a challenger that there is a need for change.
Nick Panagakis, a pollster, coined what he dubbed the incumbent rule in 1989—that any voter who claims to be undecided towards the end of the election will probably end up voting for a challenger.