POL SCI 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Direct Democracy, White Southerners, Campaign Finance In The United States
5 Dec 2015
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Mechanism for achieving popular control (express pop sovereignty), 1) translate voter preference policies (mandates: elected have permission to implement issues they promised, but mandates assume people vote on issues. 2) hold office-holders accountable: accountability: threat of defeat good behavior, competition plus retrospective voting (judge by performance like economy and foreign policy reward or punish) 3) encourage citizen engagement legitimizes government action: civic duty. : measuring eligibility to vote is difficult because rules change and vary across states. Expansion of women suffrage, immigration and youth vote new groups with experience in political participation, turnout rate lowered: conclusion: adding lower turnout groups initially lowers turnout. Post 1960 puzzle: upticks in 1992, 2004, 2008, down 2012: strong party, close election, energizing candidates. In high salience elections (presidential) elections, less involved people participate. We do anything because benefits outweigh costs but can free ride. Reward= prob of policy benefits + non policy benefits cost. Prob of making a difference, small irrational.
