...Introduction We are honored to introduce the next governor of the Red Lone State that is Texas, Ms. Jane "Bitzi" Johnson Miller. She is a Conservative Republican with humble beginnings born and raised on a ranch in West Texas. She has profound origins in Texas as she comes from generations of proud Texans. The prosperous entrepreneur is the granddaughter of former governor Joe "Big Daddy" Johnson who was the Texas governor in 1954-1958. As a highly educated individual that knows what it is to work hard and strive for what she wants, being a pro-business individual she started her own software company in Dallas back in 1993 and later sold to Dell Company in 2014 for $2.5 million dollars. She is a recently divorced with two grown children who support her and can attest of what great mother she has been as they grew up admiring of what a hard worker she was to provide for her family. She strived to be a role model to her children and show them that with perseverance and dedication you can achieve anything you set your mind to. This make her very passionate about mothers and children as she knows firsthand how tough it is to be a working mother. Jane “Bitzi” is the example of a strong woman in politics in today’s society, she is conservative in her ways, compassionate in her actions and has a vison of what she beliefs Texas needs and wants, making her the best candidate for the job. Culture and Regional Support Texas is known to be composed of a combination of traditionalistic...
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...Introduction to Corporate Personhood…………………………………………………………………………………..1 Overview of Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee decision………………………………………2 Background of the parties who filed the suit and reasons for doing so……………………………………4 Arguments in favor of the decision………………………………………………………………………………………….5 Arguments against the decision……………………………………………………………………………………………..X Current events related to the decision…………………………………………………………………………………….X Future outlook on the decision…………………………………………………………………………………………………X Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Imagine a world without corporation, without structure, and without the complexity of the working world today. Some may even think of these corporations and businesses as individuals with the same rights that you and I have as human beings. Those with this frame of mind would not be too far from the truth. Our economic structure and business establishment has grown in such a way over past centuries that we depend on these conglomerates as a foundation of economic stability. In turn, they seek from us the same rights as businesses that we as individuals are granted as citizens of this great country. In the following pages, we will explore this concept further in understanding what Corporate Personhood is and discovering the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee, including the parties involved, reasons for the case, arguments for and against the case, how this...
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...W4 Assignment 3 – Question 4 Campaign Finance Reform Campaign reform is a touchy subject. Democrats seem to be highly for stricter campaign finance reform while most Republicans seem to be against it. Most people that are in favor of stricter campaign finance reform because they feel that just because someone has more money does mean they should be able to control the government. In 2002, several provisions were enacted to end the usage of nonfederal money effecting federal elections. This is known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). It outlines campaign finance law monitored and regulated by the Federal Election Commission. The Federal Election Commission’s website outlines the following provisions: • “Prohibiting national parties from raising or spending nonfederal funds • Requiring state, district and local party committees to fund certain "federal election activities" with federal funds (i.e. hard money) and, in some cases, with money raised according to new limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements (i.e. Levin funds), or with a combination of such funds. • Limiting fundraising by federal and nonfederal candidates and officeholders on behalf of party committees, other candidates, and nonprofit organizations” (Major provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, para. 2) Soft money is defined as money that is beyond the limitations of federal campaign finance law and is considered nonfederal. Soft money can only...
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...Any campaign finance reform must be structured within the framework of the Constitution. When examining the role of the government in situations of participation in political processes, the role as the protector of rights and privileges as identified in the Constitution must be weighed against its role as a regulator of the political process. A primary principle of the First Amendment is to protect and encourage the rights of individuals and organizations to participate in our civic process (Federal Campaign Finance Law). This right to be involved in the political system is an important privilege and should not be taken lightly. Any campaign finance reform must be structured within the framework of the Constitution. Disclosure requirements are observed as means to deter corruption by requiring that contributions made to elected officials and candidates are made public in federal elections. Disclosure allows voters to make up their own minds based on the information that is placed before them. Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis believes, “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants, electric light the most efficient policeman” (Brandeis, 97). Brandeis’ statement laid the groundwork of the Sunlight Foundation, which was founded on the idea that utilizing new technology to facilitate citizens with information concerning Congress, will lead to the reduction of corruption, ensure...
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...An interest group, also known as lobbies group, or special group; is an organized group that is determined to encourage or prevent changes in public policy without any interest or attempts to be elected. Such groups are formed among individuals who share common ideas, views, beliefs, and commands; where they work hard in trying to influence government officials' decision making by presenting their ideas and beliefs directly to them (Wilson, 2009). There are countless interest groups that exist in the United States today, and there are several reasons behind their rapid growth and existence. One is the diversity of our nation and large amounts of immigrants from all over the world; having different cultures and backgrounds which lead to different views and expectations of the government. Another factor playing a role in the ability for interest groups to form is the nature of our decentralized political system and the manner in which the Constitution was written; giving citizens the freedom and many rights that other countries do not have. Since the Constitution gives people the power to choose who and how the nation should be governed, it gives them access to politicians and those holding seats in office, to demand and have the freedom to speak up about their expectations of their leaders. And lastly, the weakness of our political parties help set the stage for more and more interest groups to arise; using both areas of strength and weakness of each political party to influence...
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...Robert Bond February 26th, 2015 Political Advertisements 1992 Presidential Election Campaigns - Bush vs. Clinton During the 1992 presidential election, most of the advertisements were intended to portray the core values of the average American. Both George H. Bush and Bill Clinton attempted to portray patriotism and a deep sense of American pride within their campaigns making the economy one of the key topics of this election. But only one of them seemed to be successful. When analyzing their ad campaigns, it is important to take a look at the historical context of their ad campaigns and how the relate to their platform, public opinion and the times the ads were released. During the 1992 campaign season, George H. Bush was the current president and had lost some popularity due to the economic down turn and recession. At the time, Bush was known for his strengths in foreign policy; the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War were both accomplished under his first term. However, Bush’s strength in foreign policy was not as important as the economy, in the eyes of the American people. Also, around this time, Bush had lost a lot of support from those in the Republican Party because he said he would not raise taxes in the previous election and then did in fact, raise them. In the beginning stages of the election, President Bush was in the lead, but as the election went on, his popularity declined. Bill Clinton came from a very different situation...
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...The Effect of Campaign Finnacne on Democracy Daniel Sykes Student ID 250719824 Every election cycle, huge sums of money are spent in the promotion for campaigns to elect or re-elect candidates for public office. These contributions play a vital role in the success of election campaigns. Sources of campaign donations range from big businesses and trade unions to PACs (political action committees) such as the NRA. These groups donate to candidates in the assumption and hopes that the candidate will pursue a discourse and perhaps implement legislation that benefits the donating group. When we refer to “campaign finance”, we are of course referring to funds that are used to promote and advertise, hire advisers, pay for travel expenses, administration fees and other costs associated with running a campaign. The Presidential Election of 2008 generated one billion US dollars in campaign contributions and finance1, with this figure on the rise, many have spoken out against the propensity of election victories to be seemingly “bought” by the party who generated the most funds2. In this essay I will be discussing whether or not big money in campaign finance is a threat to democracy. It is important to consider the history of campaign finance reform and how it evolved over time, for this gives us a better perspective when reviewing our modern situation to see if democracy has lost its way. Before the 19th century, the majority...
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...‘The election campaign is more important than long-term factors in shaping voting behaviour.’ Discuss. There are many different factors which effect voting behaviour, both long and short term, and in this essay I will be discussing whether I believe the more short-term election campaign, or long term factors have more influence on the way people vote. The region in which you live has a huge impact as to the way you are predicted to vote. In the north, especially in industrial areas, you would be much more likely to vote labour. This is because in these industrial areas there are incredibly high numbers of working class people who work in factories and mines for example and labour has many more policies put in place to help people who are of a lower class. An example of these policies is lower taxes which means working class people will have more money than they would otherwise have should the Tories be in power. In post war 2/3 of the working class population in Britain voted labour, and 4/5 of middle class voting Torie. ‘Class is the basis of British politics, all else is embellishment.’ -Pelzer (1967). This would suggest that 50 years ago many people believed that partisan alignment was purely based on class. This would suggest that purely based on partisan alignment, long term factors are more important in shaping voting behaviour. Ethnicity is also a factor in shaping voting behaviour. 80% of people from black and Asian origins living in the UK have voted labour since...
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...How Campaign Finance Affects Electoral Outcomes (Name) (Subject) (Nature of Work) I. Introduction An electoral candidate can win an election if he has plenty of campaign finances. This seems to be the common wisdom that people believe in when it comes to the electoral success of candidates. However, such a statement is not easily verifiable. In fact, there are several factors involved in the determination of whether or not there is a correlation between the campaign finances used by candidates and the probability of winning due to these funds. It has been the contention of majority that for a candidate to get a seat or win the presidency, it is important that he spend lavishly. If this is the case, then incumbents, who are generally the ones equipped with the biggest campaign funds, have edge over challengers. It is also an assurance to potential challengers that if they manage to put up campaign funds, whether from contributors or from their own pockets, they are already assured of a win in the elections. With the government structure the United States have, generalizing for all sectors of the government, particularly during the electoral races, will be quite complex. Moreover, though it is very easy to make assumptions, such arguments could start crumbling once empirical studies of various experts on the subject of political science come to light. Factors such as policy decisions, party affiliations, popularity, etc. play a role in the...
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...EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The IMC campaign title is “HONESTHESIA: Be the Cure” which came from the medicine drug “ANESTHESIA”. It aims to “inject” or to put into the mind and in the heart of the students the value and importance of honesty during elections in order to reduce “pain” or to reduce the dishonesties and lies to happen during election. Elections have been practiced a long time ago; it’s one way for people to exercise their suffrage to vote to appoint their desired leaders. Philippines as a democratic country used election to appoint officials like senators and president. But with every election, news about vote buying, malicious tampering of votes, fraud and other dishonest acts increases. These kinds of acts are a start of an impending problem called corruption. To prevent corruption to take place, we need to take action first on our elections and make it clean and honest. Our team has come up to a campaign called “HONESTHESIA: Be the Cure” which aims to increase honest individuals and young voters to stop dishonest acts during school and nationwide elections. Our goal is to: 1. To provide awareness about honesty to students within 6 months 2. To teach the true value and importance of honesty during elections within 6 months 3. To increase by 10% the students who will value and practice honesty during elections every year after the campaign is implemented 4. To decrease dishonesty and corruption by 10% every year after the campaign is implemented The major target...
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...majestic couple looking to get married today is really facing a set of very difficult and complicated decisions about social, culture, financial and economic judgment. On the other hand, running for the Presidential elections is all about winning the presidency. Every four years, candidates file papers with the federal elections commissions, raises money and campaign to get support from the people to win the election. However, the candidates, who present the best of opinions to construct a nation, have the chance to win the primary and general election campaigns. To win a Presidential election one must be comfortable with messaging, campaign organizing and fundraising, among other skills. When founders thought, who will govern the nation, they came up with the concept of elections. Since then, it has become the tradition and culture of United States of America to select the President through an election. In Presidential elections the candidates pass through, campaign planning, debates, speeches and social networking asking people for their votes. Similarly, a Royal wedding is about the commitment a couple makes together which involves both tradition and culture. Weddings also pass through planning, discussion, and social involvement. Royal weddings and Presidential elections are icons of the society because while conducting duos, they spend ample amount of money and moreover, they pass through, jealousies and controversies and are always in news. The two icons follow the same patterns...
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...years to regulate the financing of campaigns, which has been criticised for damaging the election process of democracy in the USA for being too expensive and dominant. Earliest reforms in the 1970s include the 1971 Federal Election Act, and famously, the 1974 Federal Election Campaign Act, known by many now as FECA. These congressional acts limited the ability of candidates to spend their own money on campaigns, and limited PAC donations to $5,000 per candidate through the creation of the Federal Election Commission. They also introduced the ‘matching funds system’ to this effect. Far more recent reforms have also taken place to further restrict such donations to candidate campaigning, such as the 2002 Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as ‘McCain-Feingold’ capping the soft money spending by parties and welfare/charity organisations which had increased since the 1970s. This is when money is not directly donated to the candidate and cannot be used for self promotion. The 2002 Act ruled that such organisations can spend up to 49% of their income on parties and campaigns, yet this spending remains undisclosed, allowing anonymity. This highlights one of the main reasons why such reforms have failed to rectify the issues of campaign financing that remains in contemporary elections – many so-called ‘legal loopholes’ have been found in these congressional acts which have allowed soft money and independent expenditures and donations to campaigns to continue. This anonymity is...
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...Chapter 14 1. During the nomination campaign, the candidates target party leaders and interest groups. This is the time for the candidates to learn that a single phrase could end the campaign or guarantee a defeat. The media take much less notice of mistakes at this time than in the general election campaign. A danger not always heeded by candidates during the nomination campaign is that a candidate can move too far left or right and appear too extreme to the electorate. If a candidate tries too hard to appeal to the interests of party elites, they jeopardize their chances of winning the election. An example of this is the election of 1964 when Barry Goldwater went too far right and lost the presidential election. 2. After earning the party’s nomination, candidates embark on the general election campaign, or the phase of a political campaign aimed at winning election to office. Unlike the nomination campaign, where candidates must run against each other, during the general election campaign, candidates in partisan elections run against nominees from other political parties. All eligible voters, regardless of political party, have the opportunity to vote. For this reason, candidates are more likely to move their positions on political issues toward the ideological center. The length of the general election campaign varies from state to state. 3. Paid staff, political consultants, and volunteers work behind the scenes to support the candidate. Collectively, they plan...
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...media plays an important role in covering facts and features of elections. Right from the campaigning to voting to election of a candidate, all news events are covered by the media. Politics is a tough and rough game and each country needs a democratic nominee who is willing to protect the country from all evils. The recent elections of 2008 were indeed the most historical presidential elections in the history of U.S. Illinois Senator Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United State. During the election, there was this first lady, named Hillary Rodham Clinton, who expressed her interest in the presidential election of 2008. Until then, in the history of presidential election in United State, none of the woman had ever won the major party nomination. Well-educated Hillary Clinton had a good experience of public service and managing the Oval office. She emerged as a dedicated and hard working lady from the American women’s perspective. The staff members and policy team of the campaign The initial team of her campaign was supported and run by a group of advisers and political operatives. Mark Penn, Penn, Schoen & Berland were considered as the stategic genius of Clinton’s campaign. The chief operating officer of the campaign was Evelyn S. Lieberman while Howard Wolfson was the spokesperson of the campaign. Many other well-known senior advisers and subject specialist formed the focus group of the campaign. Ann Lewis was campaign’s senior adviser and Cheryl Mills was campaign’s...
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...Why did Obama win the 2012 election? The 2012 US election saw Democrat Obama come up against Republican Romney. Obama was the favourite throughout and in the end won with 332 electoral votes, with Romney only gaining 206. There were several reasons as to why Obama won the election, such as the October surprise, a majority of Hispanic and Women votes for Democrat, and Romney as a man himself. However the main one can be considered Obama being an incumbent President, giving him a huge benefit in terms of the public. Obama being an incumbent President was a massive benefit for the election as this gave Obama a foot to stand on and was also able to attack Romney from the start. History has proven the benefit of being an incumbent President, for example Johnson in 1964, Nixon in 1972, Reagan in 1984, Clinton in 1996 and Bush in 2004 were all re-elected as incumbents. The benefit of being incumbent is that you have already shown leadership in the past four years, and can be very popular with the public. Therefore Obama is able to state his achievements and show his leadership when campaigning, such as stating that unemployment was less than 8% for the first time in four years during the campaign, gaining him support, whereas Romney had not been proven and had no major achievements to support him. Therefore more ‘undecided voters’ listened more to Obama, meaning being an incumbent President gained him more popularity and support during the campaign. Being incumbent was also beneficial...
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