“I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws, and courts. These are false hopes, believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it.”

- Judge Learned Hand

UNIT III: “IN THE HEARTS OF MEN”

Which factors affect the development of political perspectives?

How should political campaigns, election financing, and voter turnout be evaluated?

Which roles and functions are exercised by political parties?

How did Constitutional amendments affect the extension of suffrage rights?

ORGANIZING QUESTIONS

A person’s political ideology is their own beliefs regarding life, culture, the role of the government, and society.

A person’s ideology allows them to make judgments about public policies and actions of the government.

Many factors contribute to a person’s political ideology, including a person’s education, family, religious convictions, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, and regional location.

POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES

The American Political

Continuum: A Diagram“The Left”: Democrats,

Socialists “The Right”: Republicans,

Libertarians

Radicals: Groups in the Radical Left would include Socialists, Communists, and other proponents of government control. Globally, these groups have done catastrophic harm in societies like the Soviet Union and China.

Moderates: Moderates are in middle. They believe the government has a role to play in helping people through programs, but that ultimately, all people are individually responsible for themselves. They may favor some reasonable regulations of public morality or social welfare, but don’t have passionate feelings one way or the other. Most favor lower taxes.

The Mainstream Liberals:

Mostly Democrats today, they seek greater government accountability for the public welfare, less regulation of moral values, higher taxes (especially on the wealthy) to finance government programs.

Reactionaries: The radical right may believe in a variety of things the enforcement of public morality and patriotism in a quasi-fascist system, or, more commonly anarchy. Some libertarians qualify in this regard.

The Mainstream Conservatives:

Mostly Republicans today, they seek greater individual accountability, less government involvement in regulating business, lower taxes on everyone and fewer government programs.

WHAT IS PUBLIC POLICY?

Public policy refers to all of the goals that a government pursues in the many areas of human affairs in which it is involved:

Social Security

Health Care

Regulation of Food and Drugs

The Environment

Transportation

Since these topics influence everyone, the discussion of public policy is not limited to politicians. It includes individual citizens, the media, interest groups, and a variety of political leaders and political parties.

Attend meetings on the local level or conventions on the national level.

Lobby Congressmen. Work on a political campaign. Contribute money to a

political campaign or an organization that influences public policy.

Influence public opinion: Twitter, Facebook, Public Speaking

File a legal challenge. Petition the US Government. Demonstrate! Run for public office yourself.

HOW CAN YOU INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICY DEBATES?

In Virginia, the qualifications in order to vote are as follows:

1. You must register to vote.

2. You must be a resident of Virginia for at least six (6) months before you are eligible to vote.

3. You must be 18 years old by election day in order to vote.

4. You cannot every have been convicted of a felony.

NOTE: Over 400,000 Virginians are still ineligible to vote because they have been convicted of a felony. Even after serving their time, they lose suffrage rights unless the Governor restores them.

ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE IN VIRGINIA

AMENDMENTS THAT EXPANDED VOTER

SUFFRAGE IN AMERICAHow Democracy Expanded Over

Time.

After the Civil War, three “Reconstruction Amendments” were passed by Congress and ratified by the states. The “Radical Republicans” sponsored each of these amendments in order to provide citizenship to African Americans:

The 13th Amendment – ended slavery.

The 14th Amendment – granted citizenship rights to African-Americans and guaranteed equal protection under the law.

The 15th Amendment – allowed African-American men the right to vote.

THE 15TH AMENDMENT

Before the year 1913, Senators were not elected directly by the people. Instead, state legislatures in the various states selected Senators. In order to give the people greater control over their elected representatives, this was changed in 1913 with the passage of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment was proposed and campaigned for by the famous Robert “Fightin’ Bob” LaFollette of Wisconsin, who also supported a wide range of other local reforms.

THE 17TH AMENDMENT

The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in all national elections. Many states already allowed women to vote; in fact, Wyoming had granted women suffrage in the 1860s. The Suffrage Amendment was still won only after a tremendous struggle. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 started the movement, but it would be over 70 years before it paid off. The leadership of Carry Chapman Catt during World War I was one of the major reasons suffrage passed when it did.

THE 19TH AMENDMENT

Would you believe that no one in Washington, D.C. was represented in national Presidential elections prior to the ratification of the 23rd Amendment? Well, it’s true. When the 23rd Amendment was passed 1961, they were finally given representation in the Presidential Elections. No senators, though. Why was this problem allowed to persist so long? Well, the answer may be related to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Washington, D.C. is a city whose population is over 80% African-American.

THE 23RD AMENDMENT

When the 24th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, the poll tax was officially outlawed in the United States. Prior to the passage of this amendment, states could charge money to vote. In this manner, they discouraged poor people from going to the ballot booth. In Southern states, this disproportionately influenced African-American voters. In 1964, when this amendment was ratified, only five states still charged a poll tax: Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and…drum roll, please: Virginia.

THE 24TH AMENDMENT

This Dr. Seuss political cartoon criticized the poll tax: “Vote Here (If You Can Afford It!)”

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1971 – during the Vietnam War. It was passed in order to correct a major problem of the nation’s democracy. Thousands of Americans under the age of 21 were drafted into the United States Armed Forces. Over 58,000 Americans (and millions of Vietnamese) died during the war. Many of the young men who had been drafted into the Army and send off to the war, had never been able to exercise the right to vote for their leaders: the men who sent them to war. The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 years old to 18 years old.

THE 26TH AMENDMENT

The Role of Political Parties in America is complicated – and both of the major parties are extraordinarily self-interested groups:

1. They select candidates – usually using a primary system to include the voters in the process.

2. They raise M-O-N-E-Y.

3. They conduct campaigns, usually by smearing the other candidate these days.

4. They define the issues which they consider important. Can they do that????

5. They monitor the other party…

THE ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES

One party systems are governments which are simply not representative of the people at all: for example, communists in the Soviet Union, China or Cuba. Either you vote for the party, or you are identified as an enemy of the people and sent off to the Gulag Archipelago to break rocks in Siberia for the remainder of your life. Or you’re executed. Or your entire town is starved to death by the backwards economic policies of the “Great Leap Forward.” In any case, you don’t want to be there.

THE ONE PARTY SYSTEM

Coalition governments have worked quite well over the years in a number of countries. Having dozens of parties represented in the national parliament and then forcing the political parties to compromise and work out their differences has been the way of things in England, France, Germany, and Canada for many years – and other places, too. It allows all political perspectives to be heard; however, it often leads to instability, because when a small group leaves the political coalition in power, it may lead to a collapse of the ruling government.

THE MULTIPLE PARTY SYSTEM

This is the version of democracy we practice in the United States – most of the time. Since the 1850s, the two major parties in the United States have been the Republicans and the Democrats. Before that, it was the Whigs and the Democrats. Before that it was the Federalists and The Democratic-Republicans – if you can believe in such a person. In any case, we have a long history of two-party stability in government, with occasional third party candidates emerging to influence elections.

THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM

In the past, political candidates were picked by the leaders of political parties in smoky, back rooms. “The People” were simply not consulted. Starting in the early 1900s, though, caucuses and primaries in every state are used by the national parties to select their candidates. People vote in primary elections in order to select the person they want to represent their party. The first major caucus take place in Iowa; then there is a primary in New Hampshire. Major candidates (Hillary Clinton? Jeb Bush?) are already campaigning in those states for the Presidential Election of 2016.

HOW DO POLITICAL PARTIES INFLUENCE THE CANDIDATES

SELECTED TO RUN FOR OFFICE?

Political parties are huge fund-raising machines, each attempting to gain enough money to buy advertising time and plan campaign events. Political parties attempt to spin media coverage in their favor – if they need to! (Media outlets like Fox News and MSNBC are heavily biased towards Republicans and Democrats, respectively.) Politicians who are in office are forbidden to use their office or public money in order to buy votes; however, every other effort is made to support their candidates. And using corporations money to support your candidate? That’s OK.

HOW DO POLITICAL PARTIES DETERMINE THE STYLE OF THE

CAMPAIGN FOR OFFICE?

Political parties seek out monetary donations from individuals and use that money to support the election of their particular candidates.

The Federal Election Commission, which is set up to enforce campaign finance laws, generally is not provided with enough money to actually do its job. Political parties continue to keep this organization understaffed and underfunded.

HOW DO POLITICAL PARTIES INFLUENCE THE ACTUAL ELECTION?

Voter turnout is influenced by a large number of factors: Specific Campaign Issues: The Economy, Foreign

Policy, Social Issues… The Candidates: Barack Obama, for example. Voter Attitude Towards the Government: Apathy? Political Party Loyalty Media Coverage: Potential Landslide? Local Elections? Education: More Educated, More Likely to Vote Age: Old People Vote; Young People Don’t Income Levels: The Rich Vote; the Poor Don’t

In general, Presidential Elections see much higher voter turnout than “off-year elections.” Apathy results in a lower voter turnout.

WHAT FACTORS INFLUENCE VOTER TURNOUT?

The Threat of the Soviet Union Re-Emerging

ISIS and the War of Iraq

The Economy

Are We a Monarchy? Another Clinton? Another Bush?

Gay Marriage

The Legalization of Marijuana

Immigration Policy

Fast Track Trade Authority

Gun Control

Police Brutality and Civil Unrest

WHAT ISSUES ARE IMPORTANT IN THE 2016

CAMPAIGN?