civics6

• Voter Requirements


  • U.S. citizen
  • Resident of county you are voting in; prior to voting, must have lived at your residential address for > 30 days prior to date of election
  • Registered to vote prior to voting day and rescind any previous registration
  • Not currently serving a sentence for a felony conviction - including probation or parole
  • At least 18 or will be 18 by the date of the next general election
• In NC & elsewhere, ex-felons automatically regain their citizenship rights upon sentence completion. In some states (ex: FL, IA), felons permanently lose right to vote
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 Section 4


  Prohibits districts/states from changing their voting laws without gaining federal authorization
• Shelby v Holder: US Supreme Court ruled that Section 4 is unconstitutional and violates the 10th amendment
• 2018 NC Ballot Measure passes that says NC citizens must show a photo id to vote
• Do you have to show a photo id to vote in NC? YES
• Propaganda


  Techniques used by interest groups and politicians to influence citizens and politicians
• Political Parties


  An organization of individuals with broad, common interests who organize to win elections, to operate the government, and to thereby influence government policy
• Types of Propaganda


  • Bandwagon
  • Name-calling
  • Endorsement
  • Stacked Cards
  • Glittering generality
  • Plain folks
  • Transfer
  • Red Herring
  • Fear/Scare Tactics
• Political Parties in the USA

  • Republicans
  • Democrats
• Bandwagon


  Attempt to persuade audience to act / think like everyone else. Join the crowd: technique reinforces people's desire to be on winning side
• Two Party System

  America has a two-party system
• Name-calling


  Negative messages about opposing side. Use of words that create negative feelings
• The Donkey


  • Presidential candidate Andrew Jackson was the first Democrat ever to be associated with the donkey symbol
  • Cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with making the donkey the recognized symbol of the Democratic Party
• Testimonial / Endorsement


  Testimonials or quotations used to support or reject a given policy, action, etc. by an expert, respected public person, celebrity, etc. Reputation of endorsement person is exploited
• The Elephant


  • Political cartoonist Thomas Nast was also responsible for the Republican Party elephant
• Card Stacking


  Make best case possible for your side & worst for opposing side. Use only facts that support one side of argument. Most difficult to detect because it does not provide all of information necessary to make an informed decision
• Roles of Political Parties

  • Operate the government
  • Act as a watchdog over the government
  • Serve as a link between the different levels of government
  • Select and Support Candidates
  • Inform Citizens
  • Carry the message of the people to the government
• Glittering Generalities


  Emotionally appealing words that appeal to such emotions as love of country, home; desire for peace, freedom, glory, honor, etc. Words & phrases are vague, but sound good
• George Washington warned against having parties as he believed it would divide the country
• Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, Washington's two closest advisors, ended up creating our two party system
• Plain Folks

  Attempt to convince audience that they, and their ideas, are "of the people." Present themselves as ordinary citizens
• History of American Political Parties

  • Federalists (1789-1820)
  • Democratic-Republicans (1796–1832)
  • Democrats (1832–Present)
  • Whigs (1834–1864)
  • Republican (1856–2020)
• Transfer/Flag Waving (Symbols)


  Use of color, images, sounds, other symbols to associate their meaning with another (the candidate)
• Throughout American history other parties have risen up to meet the needs that the two main parties seem to be ignoring
• Red Herring


  Changes the focus of the argument to something unrelated to the claim being made
• Although most Americans do not support 3rd parties, they have still influenced our government in profound ways
• Fear Tactics


  The idea to present a circumstance individuals fear and then present a behavior that is needed to avoid such an event
• Can Third Parties Win?

  • 3rd Party candidates typically lack the financial and voter support to get elected President
  • Candidates have to get petitions to get their names on ballots in each state
  • They can take away votes from the main two parties
• Third Party Examples

  • Populist Party (People's Party)
  • Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party)
• Types of Third Parties

  • Single Issue Parties
  • Ideological Parties
• Single Issue Parties


  • Prohibition Party
• Independent Candidates


  • Mark Charles
  • Brock Pierce
• Most countries have political parties and most have a multi-party system (More than two parties)
• One Party System


  One-party system: party and government (same thing)
• One-party systems are NOT democratic
• Democrats


  Left leaning, tend to believe that the federal government should be more directly involved in regulating the economy and in providing housing, income, education, and jobs for poor, favor more government regulation
• Republicans


  Right leaning, tend to believe that if they help the nation's economy grow, poor people have a better chance of finding jobs and meeting their needs on their own, they favor less government regulation
• Both parties try to influence as many voters as they can so that they can win the most elections
• Platform


  Series of statements expressing the party's principles, beliefs, and positions on election issues