Governing is achieved directly through citizen participation and indirectly through institutions (e.g., political parties, interest groups, and mass media) that inform, organize, and mobilize support to influence government and politics, resulting in many venues for citizen influence on policy making.

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1. Factors associated with political ideology, efficacy, structural barriers, and demographics influence the nature and degree of political participation.

• Describe the voting rights protections in the Constitution and in legislation.
  
  • Legal protections found in federal legislation and the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments relate to the expansion of opportunities for political participation.
    
• Describe different models of voting behavior.
  
  • Examples of political models explaining voting behavior include:
    
    • Rational-choice voting: Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen’s individual interest
      
    • Retrospective voting: Voting to decide whether the party or candidate in power should be re-elected based on the recent past
      
    • Prospective voting: Voting based on predictions of how a party or candidate will perform in the future
      
    • Party-line voting: Supporting a party by voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices across the ballot
      
• Explain the roles that individual choice and state law in voter turnout in elections.
  
  • In addition to the impact that demographics and political efficacy can have on voter choice and turnout, structural barriers and type of election also affect voter turnout in the U.S., as represented by:
    
    • State voter registration laws
      
    • Procedures on how, when, and where to vote
      
    • Mid-term (congressional) or general presidential elections
      
  • Demographic characteristics and political efficacy or engagement are used to predict the likelihood of whether an individual will vote.
    
  • Factors influencing voter choice include:
    
    • Party identification and ideological orientation
      
    • Candidate characteristics
      
    • Contemporary political issues
      
    • Religious beliefs or affiliation, gender, race and ethnicity, and other demographic characteristics

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2. Political parties, interest groups, and social movements provide opportunities for participation and influence how people relate to government and policymakers.

• Describe linkage institutions.
  
  • Linkage institutions are channels, such as the following, that allow individuals to communicate their preferences to policymakers:
    
    • Parties
      
    • Interest groups
      
    • Elections
      
    • Media
      
• Explain the function and impact of political parties on the electorate and government.
  
  • The functions and impact of political parties on the electorate and government are represented by:
    
    • Mobilization and education of voters
      
    • Party platforms
      
    • Candidate recruitment
      
    • Campaign management, including fundraising and media strategy
      
    • The committee and party leadership systems in legislatures
      
• Explain why and how political parties change and adapt.
  
  • Parties have adapted to candidate-centered campaigns, and their role in nominating candidates has been weakened.
    
  • Parties modify their policies and messaging to appeal to various demographic coalitions.
    
  • The structure of parties has been influenced by:
    
    • Critical elections and regional realignments
      
    • Campaign finance law
      
    • Changes in communication and data-management technology
      
  • Parties use communication technology and voter-data management to disseminate, control, and clarify political messages and enhance outreach and mobilization efforts.
    
• Explain how structural barriers impact third-party and independent-candidate success.
  
  • In comparison to proportional systems, winner-take-all voting districts serve as a structural barrier to third-party and independent candidate success.
    
  • The incorporation of third-party agendas into platforms of major political parties serves as a barrier to third-party and independent candidate success.
    
• Explain the benefits and potential problems of interest-group influence on elections and policy making.
  
  • Interest groups may represent very specific or more general interests, and can educate voters and office holders, draft legislation, and mobilize membership to apply pressure on and work with legislators and government agencies.
    
  • In addition to working within party coalitions, interest groups exert influence through long-standing relationships with bureaucratic agencies, congressional committees, and other interest groups; such relationships are described as “iron triangles” and issue networks and they help interest groups exert influence across political party coalitions.
    
• Explain how variation in types and resources of interest groups affects their ability to influence elections and policy making.
  
  • Interest group influence may be impacted by:
    
    • Inequality of political and economic resources
      
    • Unequal access to decision makers
      
    • “Free rider” problem
      
• Explain how various political actors influence public policy outcomes.
  
  • Single-issue groups, ideological/social movements, and protest movements form with the goal of impacting society and policy making.
    
  • Competing actors such as interest groups, professional organizations, social movements, the military, and bureaucratic agencies influence policy making, such as the federal budget process, at key stages and to varying degrees.
    
  • Elections and political parties are related to major policy shifts or initiatives, occasionally leading to political realignments of voting constituencies.

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3. The impact of federal policies on campaigning and electoral rules continues to be contested by both sides of the political spectrum.

• Explain how the different processes work in a U.S. presidential election.
  
  • The process and outcomes in U.S. presidential elections are impacted by:
    
    • Incumbency advantage phenomenon
      
    • Open and closed primaries
      
    • Caucuses
      
    • Party conventions
      
    • Congressional and state elections
      
    • The Electoral College
      
• Explain how the Electoral College impacts democratic participation.
  
  • The winner-take-all allocation of votes per state (except Maine and Nebraska) under the setup of the Electoral College compared with the national popular vote for president raises questions about whether the Electoral College facilitates or impedes democracy.
    
• Explain how the different processes work in U.S. congressional elections.
  
  • The process and outcomes in U.S. congressional elections are impacted by:
    
    • Incumbency advantage phenomenon
      
    • Open and closed primaries
      
    • Caucuses
      
    • General (presidential and mid-term) elections
      
• Explain how campaign organizations and strategies affect the election process.
  
  • The benefits and drawbacks of modern campaigns are represented by:
    
    • Dependence on professional consultants
      
    • Rising campaign costs and intensive fundraising efforts
      
    • Duration of election cycles
      
    • Impact of and reliance on social media for campaign communication and fundraising
      
• Explain how the organization, finance, and strategies of national political campaigns affect the election process.
  
  • Federal legislation and case law pertaining to campaign finance demonstrate the ongoing debate over the role of money in political and free speech, as set forth in:
    
    • Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, which was an effort to ban soft money and reduce attack ads with “Stand by Your Ad” provision: “I’m [candidate’s name] and I approve this message.”
      
    • Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), which ruled that political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment
      
  • Debates have increased over free speech and competitive and fair elections related to money and campaign funding (including contributions from individuals, PACs, and political parties).
    
  • Different types of political action committees (PACs) influence elections and policy making through fundraising and spending.

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4. The various forms of media provide citizens with political information and influence the ways in which they participate politically.

• Explain the media’s role as a linkage institution.
  
  • Traditional news media, new communication technologies, and advances in social media have profoundly influenced how citizens routinely acquire political information, including new events, investigative journalism, election coverage, and political commentary.
    
  • The media’s use of polling results to convey popular levels of trust and confidence in government can impact elections by turning such events into “horse races” based more on popularity and factors other than qualifications and platforms of candidates.
    
• Explain how increasingly diverse choices of media and communication outlets influence political institutions and behavior.
  
  • Political participation is influenced by a variety of media coverage, analysis, and commentary on political events.
    
  • The rapidly increasing demand for media and political communications outlets from an ideologically diverse audience have led debates over media bias and the impact of media ownership and partisan news sites.
    
  • The nature of democratic debate and the level of political knowledge among citizens is impacted by:
    
    • Increased media choices
      
    • Ideologically oriented programming
      
    • Consumer-driven media outlets and emerging technologies that reinforce existing beliefs
      
    • Uncertainty over the credibility of news sources and information