...war. (ourdocuments.gov n.d.) The Act was provisioned to include the requirement of government officials to manage elections and voter registration in areas that previously discriminated against African Americans during elections. Immediately after this act was sign into law, significant impact could be seen, African American voter registration rates soared in most southern states. “By the end of 1965 a quarter of a million new black voters had been registered.” (ourdocuments.gov n.d.) Prior to the Voting Rights Act, less than 7% of eligible African Americans were registered to vote in Mississippi and only 20 % in Alabama. Toward the end of 1966, the percentage of registered African Americans voters was raised to 60% in Mississippi and 50% in Alabama, other southern states showed significant improvement as well. In recent years, the number of African Americans registered to vote have increased by more than 70% since the 1960’s, mainly in southern states. (Grofman 1994) Since Democrats did not welcome African Americans before 1924, African Americans tended to vote the Republican ticket. With increasing political power, the political views were starting to shift in the direction of the Democratic Party. The Presidential Election of 1968 was the first Presidential Election following the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In this election, former Vice-President Richard Nixon, a republican nominee, received 18 percent of the African American vote, re-electing a republican in office after...
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...decided ones. They also have a greater influence at times of scandal or crisis, or when there is a highly polarized question driving an election. An example of that is the free trade federal election of 1988. It seems that when voters are undecided and when they are operating from an information deficit they seek out the media. Therefore, when a high proportion of the electorate is undecided, the media play a greater role. The media exerts influence during elections in many ways. The very basics of today’s campaigns are centered on getting media attention. It is exploitation at its best. Candidates, parties, and interest groups exploit the media to get their opinions across and the media exploits these same groups to make money and have something to report on. Framing is a major component of influencing the public. While the media is not telling us what to think it can in fact give subtle clues to suggest how to think about certain issues. For instance, when someone uses the expression “tax reform”, it assumes that taxation is a problem that needs to be reformed (Barrett 2005). Candidates and reporters alike pick their verbiage very carefully, in an attempt to have the greatest impact. Political consultants, especially in the U.S., spend enormous amounts of time and money developing the right rhetorical frames for election issues. With each election, the media zeroes in on “buzz words” such as “axis of evil” and “change”. Usually one...
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...a phenomenon evidently became derogatory to several candidates, and the presidential elections as a whole. Such a phenomenon has tarnished the public reputation of candidates. Such a phenomenon has caused discontent among the American people regarding politics. Such a phenomenon must be altered in order to bring back the faith in the American political system. With the eyes...
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...Third parties in the United States do not win, but they tend to keep elections interesting. Although third parties bring in votes for themselves, a majority of them have extreme views on issues. These types of views cannot put a party at the top of a nation that mainly consists of moderate individuals. America has one of the most advanced democracies and as a result has developed the two party system. The reason why a two-party system overpowers a three-party system is because, ideally, the constitution only has two sides to it, the opposing and the supporting. There are numerous third parties, the most successful one being the Libertarian party. While the United States is largely a two party system, third parties have been around for hundreds...
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...Every four years, the people of America vote in order to elect, but not directly, our next president. In November of the presidential election year, citizens from all fifty states vote in their respective counties. The ballot they use to mark their vote contains a list of presidential and vice presidential candidates from each political party. Each citizen must choose one, and only one, presidential and vice presidential candidate from one political party, whether from the Democrat or Republican Party. The outcome of the votes in each individual state determines an amount of electors who then make the actual choice of president and vice president in that particular state. The number of senators and House members a state has determines the amount of electors it has. In December of the election year, the electors in each state meet in their state capitols to cast the ballots for president and vice president. The states finalize the ballots then give them to Congress for their joint session in January announcing officially the winning presidential and vice...
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...1. Starting with the JFK v. Nixon debate in 1960, the first televised debate, and many factors dealing with the selection of each candidate has changed. One of the things that this debate made most evident was the physical appearance of the candidate, because for the first time the public could see the expressions of each candidate and this affected the outcome. Nixon was sweating and looked flustered during this event while Kennedy was calm and had his thoughts collected. Another factor that has changed due to the advancement in media is the political content. Commercials are broadcasted during election times by each party bashing the other party to boost themselves in the eyes of the public. This was unsought of prior to the 1960’s. A third thing is the growth of social media and internet that is affecting these parties and candidates because the public is so quick to agree or believe anything they see on facebook or twitter and don’t put in the effort the find the actual facts and this can sway decisions when it comes to voting day. 2. With changes to the formal presidential election since the mid 1960’s, the overall process will become more democratic. Throughout the primaries, the people will have a greater say in who gets elected to represent the party in the election. Also, this has caused campaigns to be longer and more involved which in return involves the people more again. Finally, there is more light shown on third parties that represent minority groups and this...
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...Elections are a time of joy to obtain a new powerful leader to represent a nation the best way possible. Acquiring votes from the people can be done in many forms of advertisements from friendly or denote behaviors. Propaganda captivates people in the spread of information for a certain cause. Capturing the attention of voters should motivate the people into electing the right candidate. This can be done in a variety of ways from informative, effective and favoritism. Stacking the deck, glittering generalities and negative or attack ads are examples of propaganda. Each type of propaganda attract a vote from people in different ways. Walter Mondale held propaganda advertising himself and Geraldine Ferraro for President and Vice President nominees. Mondale used stacking the deck propaganda referring to being biased in a certain situation. “Retirees support Mondale-Ferraro, Asian Americans for Mondale-Ferraro” (Document A). Mondale presented favoritism from certain groups of people. As a presidential nominee, Mondale, attracted specific voters to help him win presidency....
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...this message is for you. Although young people are registered to vote they are less like to vote than older people. Accordingly, the Center of Voter and Democracy reports that young people are much less likely to vote than older ones. From 1972 to 2012, citizens 18-29 years old turned out to vote at a rate 15 to 20 points lower than citizens 30 years and older. Women voter turnout has surpassed men’s in every presidential election since 1980. Information that is also interesting is that older women are actually less likely to vote than older men. Having the right to vote is the most important right granted by the constitution. Although explanations from some young people are they do...
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...Presidential Elections and Voters In order for one to become president of the United States, he or she must gain the votes from the public. There are various ways of getting votes. Nominees go through months of campaigning to get the votes necessary to win the state. Some believe that the public makes the decision for president long before the campaigns even start, and others believe that the campaigns are necessary to gain votes for a president. A campaign in itself is not necessary to influence the public's decision. The focus is not whether the campaign has the influential power to change people's opinion, but the focus is on the actual individual who is voting. The individual has the power to choose whether to let the campaign influence his or her opinion or to make the decision before the campaign. There are both cases when the individual makes a decision for president before the campaign starts and when the individual makes a decision for president because of the influence of the campaign. Campaigns do matter in a democratic society and they are important to a certain extent for those who actually follow the campaigns, but they are not as important for everyone. Not anyone can just run for president. There are certain qualifications that a person must have to become president. He or she must prove the nation that he or she is able to lead a nation. The, " qualities of the candidate are extremely important influences on how people vote" (Fiorina and Peterson 302). Campaigns...
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...opposite of what Myerson indicates. As Nixon ran for office a second time, he had not yet faced exposure for his crimes that would lead to distrust from the American people. In fact, after winning reelection and beginning his second term, Nixon held an approval rating of 68 percent (Kohut 1). His good favor, however, began coming to a close...
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...Background Former U.S. President Richard Nixon was born in the state of California in the year 1913. He attended Whittier College and Duke University and had great grades. He married Patricia Ryan in 1940.He had two daughters, Patricia and Julie. During WWII Nixon served as a navy lieutenant commander in the pacific. When he finished his navy service he was elected to congress as a California representative. In 1950 he got a seat in the senate. During the Eisenhower administration he served as vice president. Presidency He was nominated for president in1960 but lost to JFK (John Fitzgerald Kennedy) by a small margin. But Nixon was not a man to be deterred easily, one loss would not stop him, he ran again and won nomination for the Republican...
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...The Electoral College has been an efficient way to select the president for a very long time now. It has clearly proven itself an equally effective and sufficient way to run elections. But with all of these factors, there are still some revisions that could be made to the system to make it even better. While giving smaller states a bigger voice, increasing the certainty of the results, and preventing runoff elections are three reason the Electoral College is good way to elect the president, having each state distribute electoral votes using congressional districts would be a better and less complicated system. One of the best features of the Electoral College is that it allows smaller states to have a bigger voice. The amount of votes is determined by the number of electors which is based on population so a small state with a large population and a large state with a small population could have the same amount of electoral votes. In the states that do votes “Winner Takes All”, each vote in that state goes towards the decision on who gets the electoral votes for the state, being a major factor in who becomes President. It is more likely for the vote of an individual to be apart of the the final decision, made by electors, so each vote in the states truly matters. The Electoral College is clearly a smaller states best friend....
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...Alexander Hamilton’s Electoral College and the Modern Election Colin Campbell Prof. R Hurl TA: Matthew Lesch Tutorial: Thursday, 4:00 PM, UC 67) U. S. Government and Politics (POL 208 Y1Y) 1 November 2012 Alexander Hamilton’s Electoral College and the Modern Election When American's leaders assembled in Philadelphia in 1787, they originally had the goal of solving issues that had arisen from the Articles of Confederation, which had governed the young nation since separating from Britain. Instead, they drafted a completely new document that established a more permanent and effective central government. With it, they established the office of President of the United States. Rather than being directly elected by the people or selected by the legislature – as described by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers – the head of state was to be elected by an independent institution that existed solely for the purpose of finding a man who was up to the job: a group that would become known as the Electoral College. However, as the political nature of the country evolved in an unanticipated and partisan way, the independence of this body became increasingly irrelevant, resulting in a system which fails to meet the standards of a true modern democracy. Although the Electoral College system has never substantially been reformed, it is now a mere formality which leads to the types of campaigns which it was designed to prevent. In The Federalist, Number 68, Hamilton argues...
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...In 1972, Richard Nixon, then president of the United States of America, was associated with the Watergate Scandal. The Watergate Scandal involved five burglars that broke into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC in the morning of June 17. They were trying to steal secret documents and fix wiretap phones that were not working properly in order to find something to bring down Nixon’s opponents. Despite Nixon’s adamant denial to being linked to the scandal, the burglars were connected ultimately to Nixon’s re-election campaign after finding copies of the number to the White House re-election committee. However, at the time, many voters believed Nixon that he was not part of the scandal, so he...
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...An article by Bradford Plumer exemplifies this by showing who all wants to abolish the Electoral College. He says, “What have Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bob Doyle, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the AFL-CIO. . . agreed on? Answer: Abolishing the electoral college. . . over 60 percent of voters would prefer a direct election to the kind we have now” (The Indefensible Electoral College). An electoral tie is much more than just possible after “In the 2000 U.S. presidential race, Al Gore received more individual votes than George George W. Bush nationwide, but Bush won the election, receiving 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266” (The Indefensible Electoral College). The idea of having an even number of total electors introduces the possibility of a tie, which would result in the election going to the House of Representatives, which does everything but express the will of the people given that most people vote one party for President and another for Congress. And, because each state only has 1 vote, the population of the states no longer matter (The Indefensible Electoral College). Enough people agree with the idea that the uneducated and inexperienced decision the Founding Fathers made creating the...
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