Third Edition
CQ PressInstructors' ResourcesChaptersCh. 1 Logic of American PoliticsCh. 2 The ConstitutionCh. 3 FederalismCh. 4 Civil RightsCh. 5 Civil LibertiesCh. 6 CongressCh. 7 The PresidencyCh. 8 The BureaucracyCh. 9 The JudiciaryCh. 10 Public OpinionCh. 11 Voting, Campaigns and ElectionsCh. 12 Political PartiesCh. 13 Interest GroupsCh. 14 The News MediaAbout the BookAbout the Authors The Logic of American Politics by Samuel Kernell and Gary C. Jacobson

Chapter Eleven: Voting, Compaigns, and Elections

Study

Chapter Summary
Elections are exercises in which candidates try to assemble supporting coalitions of voters while voters try to figure out which candidates best represent their interests and values. In a republican government such as ours, voters delegate authority to a small number of representatives. Elections serve as an important, but imperfect, mechanism to prevent these representatives from taking advantage of citizens.

In early American history, the number of citizens allowed to vote was small, but the right to vote was gradually extended to those without property, to women, and to blacks. Despite the central role of voting in our republican form of government, millions of Americans choose not to vote at all. The decision to vote isn't illogical. Those who do decide to vote must gather enough information to make their choices and must invest the time to actually cast a vote. Thus nonvoters are often free riding on the efforts of other voters while still deriving many of the benefits from elections. However, some people pay low enough costs of voting or receive valuable enough material or psychological rewards to make it worthwhile to vote. Demographic and institutional factors can affect these costs and benefits and thus affect turnout. Information shortcuts, such as past candidate performance, endorsements, and candidate characteristics, can also help voters reduce the costliness of their decisions. Party is the most important single simplifying cue for voters.

On the candidates' side, the most difficult decision is often whether it is worthwhile to enter a race at all. Once they have entered, however, candidates must craft their messages and deliver them to the public. Candidates once relied on party organizations to deliver these messages, but they now generally assemble, design, and execute their own individual campaign strategies. These campaigns are generally expensive and rely heavily on money from private sources, raising troubling questions about the proper functioning of our representative democracy. This funding is usually given strategically, and its absence can sink a candidacy. Although politicians have proposed many reforms designed to address campaign finance, the thorny issue of money in campaigns will likely remain unabated.

Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should understand…

  • the logic of restricting (and expanding) the number of people who have the right to vote
  • why people don't vote
  • what factors make people more likely or less likely to vote
  • why turnout rates have fallen
  • the impact of the "motor voter" law on voting turnout
  • how voters can cheaply gather information in making their vote choices
  • what makes a candidate "strong" and what leads such candidates to enter (or avoid) a race
  • how candidates choose between alternative campaign messages
  • the impact of negative advertising, and why it is so common
  • why campaigns are more expensive now than in the past
  • the limits on campaign spending by candidates and the means by which candidates circumvent these rules
  • the relative importance of challenger and incumbent spending in elections
  • the difficulties presented by reforming the campaign finance system

Review Questions

  • What are the potential problems with delegating authority to representatives in government? How do elections help reduce these risks?


  • Why did those in favor of restricting suffrage link it to property ownership? Why did the elite fear giving those without property the vote?


  • What benefits do people get from voting? Which of these benefits do they still receive if they personally do not vote?


  • What factors explain the decline in voter turnout since the 1960s? Why is this decline surprising?


  • Voting, in effect, makes voters choose between a future governed by candidate A and one governed by candidate B. Most voters can't predict the future. What tools allow voters to make these predictions of future performance?


  • What are the basic requirements for mounting a successful election campaign?


  • Why do so many members of Congress run unopposed? What factors make strong challengers more likely or less likely to enter the race?


  • What are the main differences between modern campaigns and those of the patronage-based party organizations of the past? Why are campaigns more expensive now?


  • Where does the money required to finance these modern campaigns come from? What are the legal limitations on campaign spending? How has the passage of bans on "soft money" changed these limitations?


  • What are the four basic sources of congressional campaign money? How is the money spent?


  • Why do congressional incumbents who spend more money actually appear to be more likely to lose their elections?


  • What "free" means of communicating with voters are available to candidates? What must candidates do to take advantage of them?


  • Where do candidates spend their advertising dollars?