Political Participation Synthesis

Politics is known as the battle that decides who gets what, when, where, and how. Different groups and people fight for the power at the top of ladder, constantly clashing along the way. In order to achieve their goals and come out as victorious, parties must be able to accomplish some of the basic steps:

-raise money

-develop a positive image

-nominate candidates who can develop public policy

-run successful campaigns

-coordinating in the governing process the implementation of the policies they support

-maintaining a watchdog function

-articulating issues into their campaign

All throughout history, America's system of politics has been centered around a two party system, unlike the many multiparty Democracies around the world. From Federalists vs Democratic-Republicans to Whigs vs Democrats to Democrats vs Republicans, there has always been an exchange between mainly two parties only. With a system of mainly only two parties, power constantly shifts. Democrats held a dominating era of power in both presidency and Congress during 1828-1860 and 1932-1968 while Republicans held their from 1869-1932. Currently, the nation experiences a Divided Era, were president party and dominating Congress party are different.

However, between the battle of the Democrats and Republicans, America also has many smaller third parties groups that cannot be completely ignored. These groups tend to have more narrow ideals and goals, the reason why they can never get the majority vote of the public since broader aims apply to a larger/broader public. Such groups in the Greenback Party, Libertarian Party, or Socialist Worker Party. Although these groups have no chance of winning in an election, they do play a considerable role in determining the outcome. In close elections especially, the few votes of the third parties can determine who wins. For example, George Wallace of the American Independent Party managed to receive 46 electoral votes in one election, leaving Hubert Humphrey's short of only a few votes in a close election. In 2010, another party emerged that posed as a threat to the Demcrats. Made up of grassroot Americans and former Republican leaders, the Tea Party favored the Republican side, endorsing many Republican gubernatorial and congressional candidates and earning them victories

Party Realignments occur when there is a sudden shift in public loyalty in a party. This can happen when one party dies/weakens out (like the Whigs or Federalists), when a major issue divides the nation (like slavery), or when a drastic event happens that causes the public to change their views on the party of the very person in office that caused it (like the Great Depression). For example, the Democrats used to make up the “Solid South”. However, after LBJ began supporting civil rights legislation, the South began to slowly become Republicans since white men were again civil rights. Likewise, More northeastern states became Democratic. There are three major realignments in history, all of which have had deep effect on future election since they affected voters' party identification

1. Great Depression Realignment: After Hoover ruined America's economy, the Republican Party was not very popular. People began supporting Democrat FDR and his New Deal policies.
2. Civil War Realignment: The Civil War was a great issue that divided the nation
3. 1896 Realignment: Democrats were not very popular after Cleveland was blamed for crashing the nation bank and putting the nation into an economic depression

In contrast to its counterpart, Party Dealignment is when people begin to shift away from parties to a more neutral and ideological view of party identification and loyalty. This can happen when voters are fed up with both parties and decide. register as independents. Rates of party dealignment have been increasing significantly today, as 1/3 of all voters register as independents.

The exact opposite of Party Dealignment is political socialization, the process of developing political beliefs and ideals. The factors that influence a person's developing views are known as the agents of political socialization, which include family, school, friends, coworkers, and media.

Family is the biggest and most influential factor since they are the people we spend around the most. Any strongly held beliefs of our parents will no doubt get passed down to us after frequent and constant exposure.

In school, teachers only tell young students of all the amazing national heroes such as George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr. and emphasize nations greatest moments such as the world wars. These teachings can lead young students to develop a somewhat narrow outlook of America that is more positive than it truly is.

Peer Pressure is a always a trick into making people change beliefs. Some Americans may not like the idea of being the minority in the group who support a certain belief while everyone else in that friend circle supports the opposing one. Following the path of conformity, they simply follow what is the commonly held belief around them.

Mass Media

Media is not only a means of updating the public with news story, but also a tool for influencing people's views on the world. For example, constant exposure to crime on TV can lead to people thinking society is more dangerous than it really is. This is known as the agenda-setting effect,which is the tendency of people to assign importance to topics emphasized by the media

People all the nation have diverse opinions and backgrounds. How does the government and thoses in charge become aware of the present day trends in the public?

Answer: Public Opinion Polls

Individuals are randomly selected and asked simple questions about their background, occupation, or political beliefs. Polls are the most basic method for estimating public sentiment; however, they do have their flaws. Most polls are through telephone calls. Many American either do not own phone or do not have the time and patience for a poll and simply deny answering by hanging up the phone. In addition, many Americans may not be very updated with present day issues, but do not wish to admit it. Because of this, the responses they give may not be very accurate.

People have political ideology if they hold a coherent set of beliefs. However, few Americans can truly accomplish this unless if they have a very strict perspective on something. Farmers for example, are the most likely group of people to oppose government benefit programs for the economically vulnerable. However, they support farm subsidies, and they no longer oppose governmental assistance if its directed at them. In this case, they only oppose governmental assistance if it isn't presented for them. However, it's different for the case of liberals and conservatives. In general terms, liberals tend to be more open to change, while conservatives favor the traditional way of doing things. For example, in the case for social issues such as abortion, cultural liberals tend be pro-choice, while cultural conservatives favor pro-life. When it comes to the purpose of the government, economic liberals believe the government should be the ones dealing with the current problems facing society whereas conservative favor a more lassiez-faire approach.

One of the most simplest ways to participate in politics is through the simple act of voting. However, most American who do have the ability to vote don't. Many factors influence voting, including registration, age, education, income, attitudes.

Registration is the formula to voting. No registration means no voting. Although Americans are all eligible to vote at the age of 18, many also forget to register; therefore, on the day of the election, many people can't vote even if they wanted to. Since people have to register a second time if they move, registration just seems to be hassle. The Motor Voter act made things a bit easier by giving American the chance the register when purchasing a vehicle; however its progress is too small to be considered substantial.

It takes time for political beliefs to firmly develop. As a result, many younger Americans don't vote because they haven't firmly decided in what they believe in. In addition, since young people tend to travel and move more often, it also means having to register multiple times. Middle aged Americans tend to make up the majority of the voter body

Not all Americans have the money to own a car or photo ID (required to vote), meaning that both the Motor Voter act is useless to them, and they cannot vote even if they wanted to. Because of this, people with higher or substantial income tend to make up a majority of the voting body. In addition, a decent level of education is also required, as it has been statistically shown those with a higher level of education tend to vote more often.

Civic attitudes make up general motivation of the public. Some citizens simply feel apathy, lack of interest in politics, when it comes to political participation. Politics is a hobby for some Americans. And like all hobbies, politics is something that can't captivate or entertain every person in the nation. On the other hand, some Americans have a deep sense of civic duty, the belief that they have every right to participate in public affairs, and actively participate in political matters. However, some Americans stand a bit in the bit and feel alienation, the feeling of powerlessness and that the government pays no attention to their interests even if they do vote and participate. Because of that, some Americans don't even bother to put in the effort even if they do genuinely care about politics.

Two extremely important factors in determining who wins an election are M&M, or money and media. Without funding, there are no campaigns, and without media, elections lose their significance.

In the case of Citizens United v. The FEC, the Supreme Court reversed part of the 2002 case, which stated that the 2000 ban on soft money was acceptable. Soft money is essentially unlimited funding from a linkage institution. After it was overused in 1996, candidate had to pledge that they would not spend more than what was given to them or accept other kinds of special donations. However, some interest groups managed to maneuver around the ban by forming “527” independent groups such as moveon.org, which could raise large amounts of soft money but get away with it due to being protected by the tax code. In the end, Citizen United v. The FEC ruled that based on the 1^st amendment, unlimited independent expenditures and political advocacy ads could be used by outside groups including corporations, labor unions, and special interest groups as long as the money was not donated directly to a candidate's campaign and disclosure rules were followed.

Media can play a significant role in the political process. There are legal restraints on extremes such as libel and slander; however messages can still be sent through passively. After analyzing the Obama v. McCain election, Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism found that Obama's coverage initially started out negatively after his nomination, but later much more positive as his poll numbers increased. On the other hand, McCain's coverage became more negative after he suspended his campaign at the start of the economic crisis. It could be seen that although Obama's treatment was somewhat more positive than negative, McCain's was simply unfavorable all in general. However at the end of the day, the media really controlled by the government. During the Gulf War, there were many complaints that the Bush Administration was prevented the press from doing its job. However, when marines landed in Somalia for a humanitarian purpose, the Bush Administration gave full disclosure.

According to the 2010 Census, there are few new growing patterns in politics in the US. Minorities, Hispanics especially, make up a growing share of the U.S population and are the largest ethnic group. And unlike the commonly assumed belief, most U.S population growth has taken place in the suburbs rather than the crowded, populated central cities. Of course, metropolitan areas are still currently the areas with the greatest percentages of voting, fastest rates growth being mostly in the South and West and the fastest rates of decline being in the Midwest and Northeast. In addition, with the growing number of immigrants, they are no doubt changing both the population and the political process. However, the current growth rate in American is the lowest since the Great Depression. Although America is slowly reforming and improving its political system, it still has a long way to go.