Rakestraw - AP GOV blogs

1. According to the research, who is more likely to become a lobbyist, a member of the House or the Senate? A member of the house. 2. Why were Congressmen less likely to become lobbyists in the 1970s and 1980s? The lobbying industry was not nearly as big then. 3. Why does this research likely underestimate the revolving door? They only looked at 98 issues and could not find a reliable predictor, but saw that groups that hired a revolving door lobbyist tended to win about 63% of the time 4. Why do you think committee chairmen are more likely to become lobbyists?  They have more influence, knowledge, and connections with the policy they are advocating. 5. Does the author think that registration requirements help prevent former Congressmen from lobbying?  Why?  No, because they can still get things done without registering. 6. What is the difference in money spent on lobbying between "public interest lobbies" and corporations? For every 1 dollar spent for int...

1. What was the overall general finding of Broockman and Kalla’s analysis of campaign activities? In general elections, campaigns’ attempts to win swing voters appear to not work at all. 2. What two time frames did Broockman and Kalla analyze in their study? The 2015 and 2016 elections 3. At what rate did they find that people were actually persuaded with campaign activities close to the election? 11% 4. How were the results different in the study between activities months before the election, and those that occur close to the election day? Kalla and Broockman found that, if the campaign actions such as canvassing, and phone calls happen within two months of election day, the average effect on voter preferences was effectively zero. About one in 800 people reached were persuaded, they estimate. By contrast, when the campaign action happens well before election day, and the effects are measured quickly thereafter, there's a real impact on opinions, but it disappears before electi...

1. Why do conservatives want to hold this event at Cal-Berkeley? They want to lay down a marker at what they regard as a center of intolerance for conservative views. And they probably expect some disruptions that will, they hope, discredit their opponents. 2. What is the initial position a public university should take when they get a request to host a speaker? “Sure, in principle. But we have to think about some things before we can sign off on this.” 3. What are "content neutral" rules? Rules that apply to any group, disregarding what a particular demonstrator is going to say. 4. In what ways might there be conflict between school officials and the group requesting to speak over the site of the event? There’s a lot of misunderstanding about what public universities and cities can do when faced with requests to use their facilities for demonstrations, particularly when officials reasonably think the events might turn violent. The people requesting the use of ...

1. How popular were Clinton and Trump compared to past candidates for president? They were the first and second least popular nominees compared to past candidates. 2. How much did minor party voting increase from 2012 to 2016? Stein nearly tripled her support to 1.06 percent from 2012 to 2016 and Johnson more than tripled it to 3.27 percent. Evan McMullin, who basically only ran in Utah, got a larger share of the vote in 2016 than Stein had gotten in 2012. In 2016, the third-party vote made a big difference in the aggregate. 3. How did Clinton's negative attacks on Trump, combined with minor party candidates, end up hurting her? Instead of voting for Clinton, many voted third party, ultimately hurting her. 4. How did Trump compare to Romney in 2012 among white voters? Romney had 59% of white votes while Trump had 58% 5. How did Clinton compare to Obama in 2012 among the different groups of nonwhite voters? She did worse; Clinton had 82% of black men to 87% with Obama, 94...

1. What percentage of Americans voted in the 2012 election?  What percentage of registered voters voted in the 2012 election? There were 241 million people of voting age, but only 130.2 million actually cast ballots in the general election, which make the turnout rate 58.6 percent! In the 2012 election, around 84 percent of registered voters cast a ballot. 2. How do state requirements to register ahead of time prevent people from voting? The reason this prevents people from voting is because have to remember to register, often in advance, and the rules vary from place to place. Minnesota allows you to register on Election Day. In North Dakota, you don’t have to register at all. But in many other states, you have to register well in advance, which causes a huge problem because plenty of people seem to forget. 3. What reason do most people give for not participating in the election? Many people simply say that they weren’t interested in voting at all, or disliked the candidate...

[Blog 3] Alec Mueller - DACA 1. Why is President Trump  taking action over Labor Day Weekend? Trump is taking action over Labor Day Weekend because he needs to make a decision over whether or not the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will continue to exist before September 5th, which is when Republicans have planned to sue over its constitutionality. 2. Who was the DREAM Act intended to benefit? The DREAM Act was intended to benefit children who had crossed into the United States illegally, and would otherwise not be granted citizenship because of it. 3. What did DACA do to help these same people? DACA offered DREAMers a temporary grant of protection from deportation and a permit to work legally in the US. 4. What requirements do people have to meet in order to be eligible for DACA? To apply for DACA, immigrants have to have come to the US before 2007, and have been 15 or younger when they arrived and younger than 31 when DACA was created in June 201...

[Blog 1] Alec Mueller - ACLU 1. What exactly does the ACLU advocate for? The ACLU advocates for the full protection of the first amendment. They feel that no matter how offensive or bigoted your views are, you have full right to speak them. 2. How did the ACLU get involved in Charlottesville? The city of Charlottesville attempted to revoke the protest permit of one of the white nationalist's, which the ACLA found unconstitutional. The US District Court Judge ruled in agreement with the ACLU and allowed the nationalist protests to continue as planned. 3. Why have liberals increasingly backed the ACLU in the last year? Liberals have increasingly backed the ACLU because the ACLU pledged to hold Trump's administration accountable in court for its actions. 4. What argument does the ACLU make about governments and free speech? The ACLU argues that free speech must be protected for all people, even if they are largely in the minority with their views. E...