When the Presidential campaigns and elections in the United States come around, it is a time of excitement that is full of citizens, political parties, and media trying to sway people one way or another. Each of these plays a significant role in determining the outcome of the elections, and also in the road that leads to it. Whether through rallies, slander, 140 character tweets, or revealing newspaper articles, most people have the potential to affect the elections in some way. The main group of people who are clearly involved in campaigns and elections every year are the two political parties in the US – the Democrat and Republican parties. Political parties are responsible for recruiting members who they feel have the potential to represent …show more content…
Many news-related websites have online polls through which people can submit their opinions on different current events. Political parties use their own websites on the internet to provide information regarding their political views, projects they 're working on, and even have links where a person can contribute a digital donation to their cause. Also, the press has a way of digging into the personal lives of potential candidates, often finding and publishing the stories that don 't necessarily show the candidates ' best sides. Another benefit that the news provides is a way to keep up with things we may have missed, such as interviews conducted with candidates. For instance, just today an article was published in The Washington Post involving Ben Carson’s answers to questions regarding religion in the United States. …show more content…
Groups such as pro-life and pro-choice are arguably the most notorious when it comes to convincing candidates to support them. Abortion is one of the biggest issues facing America today, and whether a candidate is pro-choice or pro-life is a major deciding factor for voters. Individual citizens play perhaps the most crucial role since we are the ones who cast the votes. Without the people, our democracy would be unsuccessful. However, without all the other participating factors, we would be equally unsuccessful. Without the media, promoting parties and candidates would be a tedious process. Without interest groups, individuals would not have a way to join together to endorse what they believe in. All of the elements are joined together in a sort of web, each depending on at least one of the others to accomplish their individual
1)Campaign Campaign is when a person who holds political offices goes to different place giving their ideas and opinions about subjects hoping to gain the favor of the people. 2)Poll Poll is something that is used to determine how much support a person in political office has. Or how much support a person in a political office has lost. 3)Reapportionment Reapportionment is when a political office person has been reappointed to their current office holding.
In the Huffington Post article “Why Partisan Voting Makes Accountability Impossible”, Todd Phillips analyzes how social groups and political ideology heightens the response we have toward the candidate that represents our political party. Phillips states that social groups will vote for a candidate because of their loyalty to the political party, and not because of their issue advocacy. This loyalty is emphasized due their attachment to their social group. During times of an election, politicians will have different policies and stances on issues that can be seen as being more liberal or more conservative. However, this does not deter partisans from voting for their a candidate, since their loyalty lies within their attachment to their political
Party polarization is the division between the two major parties on most policy issues, with members of each party is unified around their party’s position with little crossover. The competing explanations for polarization are how congressional representatives are elected, lawmakers selecting a candidate for office and as congressional districts and states have become more homogeneous. Every 10 years, congressional district geographic boundaries are redrawn so that each district has roughly the same population. These districts are increasingly drawn to be safe for one political party or another so that the district has a clear majority of either republicans or Democrats. This process is known as gerrymandering.
The drawings usually consist of cracking or packing to provide a certain party a political advantage over the opposing party. Another way political parties influence congressional elections is through candidate backing as well as, candidate recruitment. Political parties have recently been more active in seeking candidates to endorse for campaigns et al., 2007). Political parties recruit politicians they think the public will identify with and ultimately support. If a person or politician is conflicted on running for a congressional position, the party will often sway
The media is a major source of information for voters. Voters depend on the media to make their decision on who to support and vote for. As much trouble as the media causes, they play a major role in our political system. The American President accurately depicts the political process.
Today’s political arena is so tremendous that few voters can fully understand it. Policies of jobs, foreign relations and gay marriage are great factors that forge party lines and get out the vote. However, when forced to choose, voters must make sense of their vote by using very limited information and tangles of misperceptions guided by politically biased newscasts . With so many factors beyond comprehension often voters are hindered due to a limited number of sources to receive unbiased information from (Lenz, 2012) .
Parties have also become more extreme, basing political agendas on demonizing the opponent and skewing discussions of issues facing the nation (Coblenz,
Although political parties may cause contention between Americans, parties are critical to the success of our constitutional system because parties provide party labels and mobilizes the voters by increased the participation of the common people. Political parties create conflict by making it difficult for a common man’s voice to be heard. Because there are only two political parties, it makes it difficult for individuals with different points of view to be recognized. However, for the same reason, only having two political parties is beneficial because it allows politicians to mobilize the voters. Politicians go about this by promoting Americans to be involved in the political process.
Democracy is a system of government in which the power to govern is vested on the citizens. This power is exercised either directly wherein citizens reach a consensus to implement policies, or indirectly through the election of representatives who will act on behalf of the citizen's interest (Janda, Berry, Goldman, and Hula, 2012). In such states that have adapted democratic government, political participation is the hallmark of citizens' right and ability to exercise their power. The definition of political participation, as with all concepts of social sciences, is subject to debate since most social science concepts are subject to the changing norms of society and government. Thus, this paper defines political participation as a social phenomenon that takes on different forms which is used by citizens to influence government policies and politics.
There are two sides to this debate in which individuals identify themselves as either “pro-choice” or “pro-life.” Supporters classify themselves as pro-choice, and argue “that choosing abortion is a right that should not be limited by governmental or
The term “pro-choice” has fallen out of favor when the American public. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) recently discovered that the word just does not seem to have the power to motivate the general population in the way it did when it was first coined. And while other pro-abortion groups may continue to use it, Planned Parenthood is attempting to cast a wider net by abandoning it all together. In the modern media culture, the term “pro-choice” has been used for everything from abortion-on-demand to giving parents the option to choosing what kind of school their child can attend throughout their life.
The American Politics Today describes Political Parties as “organizations that run candidates for political office and coordinate the actions of officials elected under the party banner.” Political Parties play an important role in American Politics, from selecting candidates to mobilizing voters, facilitating governance and monitoring the opposing party in power. One of the main functions of a political party is to nominate candidates for election to office. Examples of elected officials including at the federal level, the president; at the state level, a state representative; and at the local level, a city council member (LumenLearning). In order to have their names listed on the election ballot, persons seeking these offices must first
Finally, it will be argued that the modern political party system in the United States is a two-party system dominated by the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress since 1856. The Democratic Party generally positions itself as centre-left in American politics and supports a modern American liberal platform, while the Republican Party generally positions itself as centre-right and supports a modern American conservative platform. (Nichols, 1967)
Political parties serve countless roles in America’s government. Foremost, it needs to be said they are crucial to America’s political system. The political parties are the heart and brain of our government's body, urging people to conceive and feel different ways on different topics whether the controversy is over how money is distributed or the way immigrants should be treated or dealt with. With each party having a biased view it shows how a group can be increasingly powerful with bountiful amounts of support, names and divisions can be heard. Democrats are widely known to be liberal rather than conservative.
A democracy is a system of government that gives the people the power to govern. This can either be done directly, where citizens actively participate in the decision making of the country, or indirectly through elected representatives. The purpose of the democratic process is to protect the interests of all citizens of a country. In order to do so, every citizen in the country needs a medium through which to express his political opinion to defend his interests. This is the role of political parties.