POLS 125 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Public Knowledge, Responsible Government, Absentee Ballot

• School: University of Vermont
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 125
• Professor: Deborah Lynn Guber

Document Summary

Road to the white house chapter 10 part ii. First campaign finance laws were enacted in the 1970s: design to improve accountability and transparency, reduce spending, subsidized nominations and provide funding for the general election. Although these laws have made campaign finance more transparent and visible, they also created a nightmare of compliance procedures and reporting requirements (1) this has led to increased campaign costs in order to ensure compliance with the regulations. For voters making enlightened judgment they must have sufficient and accurate information about the candidates and parties, the policy positions and campaign promises. Changes in communication technologies have made more information available and accessible, but sometimes less reliable. Selective exposure to partisan news media combined with personalized appeals from campaigns, parties and outside groups provides voters with tailored, specific knowledge of the issues. Campaigns absorbing channel favorable communications and dispute information that they disagree with.