United States Election Glossary pt 6

March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

United States Election Glossary pt 6

Part of knowing how to participate in a United States election is to have a thorough understanding of the language and lingo. This is part six of the United States election glossary, including the more prevalent terms that you need to know.

Matching Funds – This refers to public money that has been given to a presidential candidate in an equal amount to whatever has been raised privately. Before the convention, in the primary season, candidates that use these matching funds can get as much as $250 dollars in the matching funds for every single individual contribution that they receive. These matching funds are usually financed through the United States taxpayers. The way that this happens is because people can check a box when filing their taxes to donate $3 of their return to the cause.

Midterm Election – This is a general type of election that exists in a different year than the presidential election year, two years into the president’s term. In this midterm election, many other positions are voted on including local positions, state positions, House of Representative positions and some of the members of the senate.

Motor-Voter Bill – This is a bill that Congress passed in 1993 in order to allow citizens of the United States to register for voting whenever they are applying for a driver’s license.

Negative Ads – These are political advertisements that are designed to attack the opponent of a candidate, usually as a means of destroying the character of the opponent.

Open Primary – This is a primary where all of the registered voters are capable of voting no matter which party they have decided to register as.

Platform – This is a form written document stating the stances of the political party on a number of important issues as well as the party’s goals for the near and long-term future.

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United States Election Glossary pt 5

March 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

United States Election Glossary pt 5

Part of knowing how to participate in a United States election is to have a thorough understanding of the language and lingo. This is part five of the United States election glossary, including the more prevalent terms that you need to know.

Exit Poll – This is an informal poll that is taken using people that are leaving the voting booth after voting. The purpose of an exit poll is to predict the upcoming outcome of the current election before all of the polls have been closed.

Front Runner – This is the political candidate that currently appears to be winning the election.

General Election – This is an election that will be held all throughout the country on the same day, as opposed to a local or small scale election.

House of Representatives – This is a part of Congress, and the House is responsible for voting on laws and legislation. There are always 435 members of the house, and they are divided up among the states based on their population, though each state always has at least one member of the House of Representatives. Each of the districts has 570,000 citizens in it.

Incumbent – This is someone who currently holds an office.

Independent – This is someone that is not associated with a single political party.

Liberal – This is someone who is generally interested in reforming current conditions. Liberals are typically referred to as being “left wing.”

Libertarian – This is someone that belongs in the Libertarian party.

Lobbyist – These are people that are associated with specific groups, such as corporations or labor unions for example, that try to persuade government members, such as members of the Congress, to enact beneficial legislation for their group.

Majority – This means more than half when it pertains to voters.

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Censorship and Academic Freedom

January 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Censorship is the intentional curbing of ideas in speech and writing before they are expressed.  Notice the word before. The idea is  denied before even being put to words. Our rights of freedom of speech insure no government official can prevent anything being said or written. Once something is expressed, you are accountable for it. A person can express themselves and then be charged with libel, slander, obscenity, etc.  They get a free ticket to express, but not a free ride.

Academic freedom  is the idea that teachers and students have the right and duty to pursue the truth with no restrictions as long as it is along the lines of accepted scholarship.  Notice it includes students. Violations of academic freedom are handled with due process, just like criminal and civil cases. In an ideal world, a student can write and tell the truth in a scholarly fashion such as a debate or research paper and not be retaliated against.  A teacher does not have to adhere to any orthodoxy and it should not affect their job.

Now let’s talk reality.  There is some gray areas in these two basic rights that we as citizens and the courts struggle with daily. Motion pictures are slightly censored.  Communities have the right to ask for films to be given to a censor for review.  School publications that do not support the school mission can be censored.  Any music or art that is created using federal funding is subject to a decency clause. These philosophies have all been supported with court cases. Depending what community you are talking about, academic freedom varies.  The courts nearly refuse to put conditions that stifle the freedom to teach and learn. Yet, educational programs are investigated.  Teachers political views are put into question.  Student and teachers private political or social activities are brought to light anytime there is a conflict with censorship or academic freedom.

Live the lie or live the truth. Both have consequences. Or maybe it is the struggle that really counts.

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Voting Rights Act

January 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Seven Civil Rights Acts over a hundred year period was not enough to stop groups from intentionally denying minorities and women the right to vote.  Even legislating offenses as a federal crime did not stop organized efforts to prevent voting .  The laws were good, but the process on enacting the law was slow.  This gave local officials and entities time to openly and subtlety  discriminate and threaten people into not voting.  If votes made it to an election legitimately, then the election count remained as is.

Starting about 1965 Congress created the Voting Rights Act to cover the gap in the process that Civil Rights Acts could not cover.  At this time African Americans demonstrated across the country against voting discrimination.  People and institutions intentionally ignored the Civil Rights Act.  In response the federal government used the act to enroll thousands of minority voters.  It resulted in many African Americans elected to office.

Congress improved the Voting Rights Act in 1970, 1975, and 1982.  In 1970 Congress added uniform rules for absentee registration and voting in presidential elections.  The act in 1975 broadened to requiring bilingual ballots, insisting election law changes had approval from the United States Attorney or a federal court, and began specific protection of voting rights for Hispanics, Alaskan natives, American Indians, and Asian Americans. The 1982 act extends the law for twenty-five years and declares the intent to discriminate does not need proof if elections results show otherwise.

The act has worked well.  Today, several million minorities have registered to vote. The application of federal power to correct abuses at state and local levels is what the Constitution’s balance of power between the branches is for. Having an African American president today is most likely a direct result of the implementation of the Voting Rights Act.

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Civil Rights Act

January 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There is a myth in our cultural consciousness  that states in  the 1960’s civil rights began.  This phenomena is attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr. and his movement.  Though the man and the movement was an important turning point in our political history, King followed a long line of activists.  There were many legislative acts for a hundred year period demanding all Americans should have the same rights.

Civil rights movements started long before the civil war.  Various groups fought in a variety of ways for laws to make all Americans have equal opportunities.  Not all states and territories of the time period handled difficulties the same way.   Some places Americans had the same rights, and some places a hierarchy arose depending on your ethnicity, sex, or properties.  Civil rights became an institutional movement with the passage of the 1866, 1870, and 1871  Civil Rights Act.  These legislative pieces banned slavery and declared rights for African Americans. It authorized suits for civil damages against state and local officials, and made it a federal crime for state officials to deprive another of their rights. For the next eighty years no civil rights acts were presented, but a variety of legislative pieces such as women voting, and lawsuits began to lay the foundation for future acts.

Civil rights legislature appeared again in 1957.  This time the federal government empowered the Department of Justice to make court injunctions and charge as a crime any deprivation of any kind to anyone of voting rights. The Act established the Civil Rights Division headed by an Assistant Attorney General. A Civil Rights Commission formed to investigate violations and recommend additional legislation. The civil rights laws got teeth.

Civil rights laws appeared again in 1960 with the passage of provisions which authorized federal courts to appoint referees to help African Americans register to vote.  In 1964 congress passed the civil rights act known today. Not one man, but many lives and many years made equal rights opportunities the norm.

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Political Parties and You

December 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

One of the most valuable rights of being a citizen in the United States of America is the right to vote. The focus of the American government, historically, is to ensure that power stems from the people. The most obvious way that right is extended is the power to vote and participate in the political sphere. Once a person has done the proper research and assessed their own political views, they may find that the issues they hold dear align well with one of the political parties. While there are several smaller parties in the United States, the vast majority of the power falls to the dominant two: the Republicans and the Democrats.

If a voter does decide that one or the other of these parties voices an opinion similar to their own, it may be lucrative to join it. Because, when people join in larger numbers and compromise with those who are most similar, their effectiveness at getting politicians elected and issues brought forth is the strongest. There is power in cooperation.

Once a person is sure that a political party will fit their needs as a voting citizen, they can join. Usually, this can be done when a person registers to vote. At this time they can specify if they prefer to be registered with one party or another. They can also elect not to have any party affiliation. Additionally, registration is not limited to that moment. A person can usually join a political party by looking at their website and registering there.

In addition to grouping together like-minded individuals, registering with a party allows a person to vote in that party’s primary elections. This way, they can participate in making sure that a candidate is as closely aligned with their own personal views as possible. While not at all necessary, it can be interesting and rewarding to join a political party in the United States.

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