This is a look at the items covered in the second section of the class:
The Political Institutions
1 - What is a Political Institution?
2 - Suffrage
3 - Elections
4 - Groups and Interests
5 - Political Parties
6 - The Press
The Political Institutions
1 - What is a political institution? An institution whose purpose is to influence the actions of the governing institutions - those established in a country's constitution.
2 - Suffrage: "Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote)."
3 - Elections: the formal process of selecting a person for public office or of accepting or rejecting a political proposition by voting.
4 - Groups and Interests: An interest group, also called special interest group, advocacy group, or pressure group, any association of individuals or organizations, usually formally organized, that, on the basis of one or more shared concerns, attempts to influence public policy in its favor.
5 - Political Parties: A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections.
6 - The Press: the collective designation of media vehicles that carry out journalism and other functions of informative communication, in contrast to pure propaganda or entertainment communication.
Lecture Notes
- The First Amendment and the Political Institutions.
- Federalist 10.
- The Iron Law of Oligarchy.
- Democracy.
- Elections, Appointment, and the Separation of Powers.
- Elections in the U.S. Constitution.
- U.S. Election Code.
- Suffrage.
- Title 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Voting Rights.
- The Voting Rights Act of 1965.
- Shelby v Holder.
- The Political Freedoms in the Texas Bill of Rights.
- Texas Constitution, Article 6, Suffrage.
- Texas Election Code.
- Search Campaign Finance Reports.
- Candidate Information.
Terminology
- the media
- loud signal
- public watchdog
- journalism
- policy agenda
- priming
- framing
- mass media
- personal presidency
- radio
- television
- cable
- infotainment
- 24 hour news
- new media
- fake news
- bias
- - political
- - sensational
- - confirmation
- - investigative
- - fairness
- private ownership
- profits
- Watergate scandal
- public ownership
- regulations
- Federal Communications Commission
- agency capture
- fairness doctrine
- consolidation
- Telecommunications Act of 1996
- horserace journalism
- sound bite
- advanced or early voting
- blanket or wide-open primary
- casework
- closed primary
- credit claiming
- cross-filing
- direct primary
- disclosure
- equal protection clause
- general election
- grandfather clause
- incumbent
- independent candidate
- literacy test
- majority election
- Motor Voter Act
- open primary
- party-line voting
- party primary
- plurality election
- poll tax
- position taking
- preference primary
- primary election
- private financing
- public financing
- roll off
- runoff election
- second-order elections
- suffrage
- voter turnout
- Voting Rights Act of 1965
- white primary
