Winning Over the Electorate

• Candidates succeed or fail based on:– – –

Campaign Mottoes • 1844

– 54-40 or fight – Who is James K. Polk?

• 1884– Ma, Ma, Where’s my Pa, Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha

• 1896– Patriotism, Protection, and Prosperity

• 1916– He kept us out of war

• 1956– Peace and Prosperity

• 1980– Are you better off than you were four years ago?

• 1984– It’s morning again in America

• 2000– Prosperity and Progress

Interest Groups

• New Phenomena?

• Positive or Negative?

Democracy “It has been said that democracy is the

worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

• How do we measure the success of a democracy?

• How important is a majority in a democracy?

DemocracyIf you control the agenda “you will be the one who

gets the what, when, and how” (textbook)

• Models of Democracy:–

• Multiple groups vying for political agenda leads to compromise and a centrist position

– • Control of linkage institutions by a class

– • Direct democracy – policy implemented by vote of majority