Transcript Voter Turnout & Factors Affecting Voter Behavior

Voter Turnout & Factors
Affecting Voter Behavior
History of Voting
• Historical Qualifications for
suffrage
– 7 points
• Current Qualifications
– Issue of federalism
Voter Turnout
• Voter turnout in the U.S.
– Compare to other nations
• Reasons for lower voter turnout
– Institutional barriers
• Registration
• “Ballout fatigue”
• Type of elections
• Types of ballots
– Political Reasons
Who Votes? Who Doesn’t? Who Cares?
• Characteristics of
those likely to vote
– 5 key characteristics
• Does low voter turnout
matter?
• Other forms of political
participation
Factors Affecting Voter Behavior
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Geography
Presence of Candidate
Time
Political Party Identification
Demographic Factors
Issues
Candidates Appeal
Part II: Elections
Path to the Presidency
• Invisible Primary
• Nomination Phase
– Local Caucuses
• Iowa
– Primaries
• New Hampshire
– National Conventions
• President
• VP
• Platform
• Analysis
– Pros
– Cons
Congressional Elections
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Introduction
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Primary Elections
– Types: Closed, Open or Blanket
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Factors affecting outcomes
– Incumbency & its Advantages
– Types of Election
• Incumbent Campaigns
• Weak Challenger Campaigns
• Strong Challenger Campaigns
• Open Seat Campaigns
• Mid-term Elections
– 6 other key factors