Chapter 13- Learning Target 13.4

13.4
Identify seven factors that influence voter choices

The idea of voting is the most common form of conventional political participation which is activism that attempts to influence the political process through commonly accepted forms of writing or persuasion. Citizens, on the other hand, may also partake in unconventional political participation, or activism that that attempts to influence the political process through unusual or extreme measures such as protests or picketing. 

There are a number of factors that influence voter choices including:

1. Party Identification- Democrats tend to vote for Democrats,  Republicans tend to vote for Republicans. Ticket splitting is voting for candidates of different parties for various offices in the same election. Voters can split their tickets because they trust neither party to govern. 
2. Ideology- Liberals: favor government involvement in social porgrams (Democrats). Conservatives: are dedicated to the ideals of individualism, view government as evil (Republicans). Moderates: favor conservative positions on some issues and liveral positions on others. 
3. Income and Education- poor vote more Democrats, richer class vote Republicans; more educated people tend to make more money
4. Race and Ethnicity- whites tend to vote Republicans, whereas Afriacan Americans tend to vote Democratic. Chinese and Hispanics also vote Democratic.
5. Gender- women are more likely to support Democratic views and men, Republican
6. Religion- Jewish have voted for Democrats, Protestants have increasingly voted for Republican, and Catholics are mostly divided
7. Issues- This is solely based on the state of economy that the country is facing. A retrospective judgement is voter evaluations of a candidate based on the past performance on a particular issue. Whereas a prospective judgement is when a voter evaluation of a candidate is based on what he or she pledges to do about an issue if elected. 

These choices are what have determined what the voter turnout is going to be.

Chapter 13- Learning Target 13.1

13.1 
Trace the roots of American elections, and distinguish among the four types of elections

United States elections are responsible for most of the political changes in the United States. One might ask why we vote? What is the purpose of citizens voting for senators, presidents, and congressmen? Elections confirm the idea of popular sovereignty, create government accountability, chooses issues and policy priorities, and winner gets mandate (a command indicated by an electorate's votes).  The electorate is any citizen eligible to vote in elections. The threat of elections keeps policy makers concerned with public opinion and keeps promoting ethical behavior which affects the choices and turnout of the electorate.

There are four types of elections:

1. Primary- voters decide candidates to represent a party
1. Closed Primary- only party's registered voters can cast a ballot
2. Open Primary- members, individuals, and members of other parties can participate
3. Crossover voting- participation in primary party of a party of which the voter is not affiliated
4. Runoff Primary- second primary election between two candidates receiving greatest number of votes in the first primary
2. General- voters decide which candidates will actually fill elective public offices (held at many levels such as: municipal, county, state, and national)
3. Initiative and Referendum- used by state and local governments (not national)
1. Initiative- allows citizens to purpose legislation or state constitutional amendments by submitting them to the electorate for popular vote 
2. Referendum- state legislative submits proposed legislation or state constitutional amendments to the voters for approval
4. Recall- (de-elections) allows voters to remove an incumbent from office prior to next elections

The most recent recall election was in 2003 when Governor Grey Davis, was replaced with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Recall elections are rare, but general elections and initiatives are held at state and local governments.