POL 401 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Voting Age

• School: University of Miami
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POL 401
• Professor: Uscinski Joseph

Document Summary

1, 2, and 9; han and heith ch. Goal of this framework is to identify major features of the american electoral system that ultimately influence the actual outcomes of elections who will win and who loses. Set of standards to evaluate campaigns: free choice, political equality=citizens must be equal in the eyes of law, deliberation=quantity and quality of info available to citizens, free speech. Elections conducted according to rules that determine who runs, when elections are held, where candidates run, who can vote, who wins the rules designed by multiple decision makers: framers of constitution, Congress, state legislatures, local officials, political parties: rules largely outside of the control of candidates, political parties, voters, rules strongly affect decision of all actors in a campaign. Independent candidates those unaffiliated with a party often face challenges getting on ballot: term limits limits number of terms politician can serve in office. Governors and state legislator terms vary by state.