Gotta Knows: Linking Institutions
Political Parties
 How are political parties linking institutions?
 Liberals, conservatives and moderates
 Who are typical Democrats and Republicans in
present day?
 What are the mainstream goals of each party?
 There are often significant factions within each
party- significant caucuses? (e.g. Tea Party in GOP)
 How have the parties changed over the years?
 Realignment and critical elections
 Dealignment
 What are causes for a decline in the strength of
parties?
 Who are more likely to remain loyal to a party?
 Split-ticket voting
 One, two, and multi-party systems characteristics
 What is the role of third/minor parties? How do
they influence elections?
 Splinter v. Ideological third parties
 Why do third parties have a hard time achieving
political success?
Elections and Campaigns
 Primaries and Caucuses
 Significance of Iowa and New Hampshire
 Frontloading
 Super Tuesday
 Closed v. Open Primaries
 Who decides when primaries and caucuses are
held?
 Who is more likely to vote/participate in
primary/caucus season?
 Shift in campaign strategy between nomination
(primary/caucus season) and general election
 Independent/swing voters
 Nomination- how it has changed in history?
 What is the purpose of political conventions?
 How are delegates chosen?
 Superdelegates- who are they and how chosen?
 Electoral College
o Electors per state = senators +
representatives
o Who are electors?
o Purpose of the electoral college
o Problems with the electoral college
o 270- why important?
o When is president actually chosen?
 Significant elections in history (e.g. 1824, 1912,
2000)
 Difference between Congressional and presidential
elections
 Midterms









Why does the party of the president often lose seats
in congress in the midterms?
Coattails
FEC
Campaign Finance Reform
o Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of
‘71/’74
o Buckley v. Valeo
o Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA),
AKA “McCain-Feingold Campaign
Finance Reform”
o How has the 1st Amendment played a role
in striking down some of the campaign
regulations? Buckley, as well as the recent
Citizens United cases
PACs and campaign finance
“524s”
Soft v. hard money
Independent expenditures
Fund raising scandals
Interest Groups
 How do interest groups act as linking institutions?
 Examples
 Federalist 10- factions and how to mitigate
influence
 Interest groups and the 1st Amendment
 Why do people join interest groups?
 How do interest groups access government? 4 big
ways; e.g. judicial system (class-action and amicus
curiae, etc.), lobbying, etc.
 How are interest groups different from political
parties?
 PACs
 Soft v. hard money in elections
 How do interest groups contribute to elections?
 Activities of lobbyists
 Controversy concerning lobbyists and lobbying
 Grassroots lobbying v. regular lobbying
 Iron triangles- role of IGs to Congress and Federal
agencies
Media
 How does the media act as a linking institution- that
is, how does it best serve the public? (e.g. info,
watchdog, etc.)
 Historic examples of the media
 How does government regulate the media? (Print v.
broadcast)
 How can government “check” the media despite the
1st Amendment? (e.g. national security, access,
sources)
Gotta Knows: Linking Institutions






How is the media changing?
Spin
The incredible shrinking sound bite
Is the media biased? Which way?
Role of the White House Press Secretary
Common criticisms of the media