You may be called a drunken dog by some of the clean-shirt and silk-stocking gentry, but the real roughnecks will style you a jovial fellow, (Crockett, 1837) but little do they know that their voting will influence the way elections are held and candidates run. Between the years of 1815 and 1840 campaigning and elections will become strongly influenced by the voting participation of the common man. A sudden peak of interest in voting and increase of voters from the general public, a rise in media coverage, methods used for campaigning and the influence of the common man were all significant factors relating to the change of campaigns and elections in the United States between 1815 and 1840.
In 1824 the ratio of Percent of Eligible Voter Participation
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Back in the 1840’s, word traveled quite slowly. A message from New York to Georgia could take as much as two months to arrive to its destination. Thus was invented the Newspaper, a proper media outlet for its time period, it lowed news to travel ten times faster than before. Between the years of 1810 and 1835 the amount of newspaper coverage tripled. From the years 1775 to 1835 the amount was 38 times the original. During the election process, having an excessive amount of media coverage on you could be seen as a great …show more content…
The voice of a rich popular fellow could sway opinions and a more common use was advertisments. A campaign ad. by William Henry Harrison and Tyler, bribed their voters with an endless supply of hard cider. Some campaigning strategies were widely used and effective such as; on Jackson’s democratic ballot he included the term “The People’s Ticket”, this can be a tactic used to make the public feel involved, just by this wording. One famous tactic still used to this very day was first described by a man named David Crockett. He explained the easiest way to win the heart and votes of the people. He said to kiss the children of women, make lot of promises, give long speech anytime you can, talk about your devotion to your country and its fallen soldiers. (Crockett, 1837). There were campaigns, elections, candidates...etc., but none of them would be possible without the votes of the common man. With the public becoming more involved in voting, and the popular vote coming into play, candidates cared more about general public’s views about them. Using popular media outlets and adding persuasive wording to ballots increased the common man’s
The second biggest change in politics was the way candidates campaigned. Document D shows a democratic party ballot in 1828, which demonstrates the way state candidates from the governor to the coroner associated themselves with Andrew Jackson, and incredibly popular candidate, in the hope of winning their ...
Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/la_riot/article/0,28804,1614117_1614084_1614831,00.html. Levy, W. (2013). The 'Standard'. United States presidential election of 2000.
As voting requirements were established , the slave trade continued, and the government changed in the colonies, society changed politically, economically, and socially.
The Election of 1800 was one that some people saw as making or breaking this nation; Edward Larson’s “A Magnificent Catastrophe” outlines the details of the nineteenth century political election between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Of the two candidates one was a “blunt speaking man of independent mind,” and the other was known for the famous line he wrote in the constitution, “All men are created equal.” These gentlemen started out as close friends who confided in one another living under the same roof, and soon became candidates running against their good friend. Both candidates sought out a reason for why the American Revolution occurred and what the meaning was, and both candidates had differenciated views. This presidential election
The United States national elections have been experiencing a steady decline of eligible voters showing up to vote. This steady decline has been ongoing since experiencing a significant increase in voter turnout from 1948 through 1960. Over the years there has been significant, meticulous research done to try to pinpoint the cause of the decline in voter turnout over years. All of this research has led to the production of an enormous number of literatures written on the perceived causes. The vast amount of literature produced has led to a number of competing explanations about this decline. The quest for the answer to the question of, why this decline in voter turnout, is very important for an overwhelming majority of Americans and our democratic system because the people/voters can only truly be represented by our government if all eligible voters go out and vote. For this paper I will examine four theories that attempt to explain the decline. The four theories that I will discuss are voting barriers, campaign contributions, negative campaign advertising, and finally the cultural explanation. However, through thorough exploration and critiques of the strengths and weaknesses of these four theories, we will find that the cultural explanation theory is currently the most persuasive theory in the group. Finally, I will also explore some reasons as to why citizens do vote as well.
In this paper four subjects on the Electoral College will be addressed. These four subjects are: What is the Electoral College? Why did the founding fathers create the Electoral College? What are some major criticisms of the Electoral College? Should we keep it? Before these questions are addressed it should be noted that many people were not aware of the existence of the Electoral College, perhaps even the Author of this paper.
Longley, Lawrence D. and Alan G. Braun. The Politics of Electoral College Reform. London: Yale University Press, 1975. Print.
Shugart, Matthew. "Elections: The American Process of Selecting a President: A Comparative Perspective." Presidential Studies, 34, 3 (September 2004): 632-656.
"After 1815 Americans transformed the republic of the Founding Fathers into a democracy. State after state revoked property qualifications for voting and holding officethus transforming Jefferson's republic of property holders into Andrew Jackson's mass democracy. Democracy, however, was not for everyone. While states extended political rights to all white men, they often withdrew or limited such rights for blacks. As part of the same trend, the state of New Jersey took the vote away from propertied women, who formerly had possessed that right. Thus the democratization of citizenship applied exclusively to white men. In the mid19th century, these men went to the polls in record numbers. The election of 1828 attracted 1.2 million voters; that number jumped to 1.5 million in 1836 and to 2.4 million in 1840. Turnout of eligible voters by 1840 was well over 60 percenthigher than it had ever been, and much higher than it is now." (Remini, 1998)
During the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson succeeded in defeating the incumbent, John Adams, and assumed the presidency. In terms of elections though, the election of 1800 itself was a fascinating election in that it a heavily-contested election and was effectively the first time political parties ran smear campaigns against each other during an election. The Republican Party attacked the Federalists for being anti-liberty and monarchist and tried to persuade the public that the Federalists were abusing their power through acts such as the Alien & Sedition Acts and the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion (Tindall and Shi 315). The Federalists, on the other hand, attacked Jefferson for his atheism and support of the French Revolution and warned that his election would result in chaos (316). By the end of the presidential election, neither Adams nor Jefferson emerged with his reputation completely intact. Still, rather than an election between Adams and Jefferson, the election of 1800 ultimately boiled down to a deadlock between Jefferson and his vice presidential candidate, Aaron Burr, who each held seventy-three electoral votes, resulting in the election was sent to the House of Representatives. In the end, the deadlock was resolved only by Alexander Hamilton, whose immense hate for Burr allowed Jefferson to claim the presidency. However, the election of 1800 was more than just a simple presidential election. The election of 1800 was the first peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent party to the opposition and represented a new step in politics, as well as a new direction in foreign policy that would emerge from Jefferson’s policies, and to this extent, the election of 1800 was a revolution.
Television has affected every aspect of life in society, radically changing the way individuals live and interact with the world. However, change is not always for the better, especially the influence of television on political campaigns towards presidency. Since the 1960s, presidential elections in the United States were greatly impacted by television, yet the impact has not been positive. Television allowed the public to have more access to information and gained reassurance to which candidate they chose to vote for. However, the media failed to recognize the importance of elections. Candidates became image based rather than issue based using a “celebrity system” to concern the public with subjects regarding debates (Hart and Trice). Due to “hyperfamiliarity” television turned numerous people away from being interested in debates between candidates (Hart and Trice). Although television had the ability to reach a greater number of people than it did before the Nixon/Kennedy debate, it shortened the attention span of the public, which made the overall process of elections unfair, due to the emphasis on image rather than issue.
The presidential election of 1828 introduced new election components and techniques for political campaigning that drastically altered the American political system. Until 1828 presidential campaigns were conflicts over ideology, focused primarily on issues and policy not on individuals. Presidential candidates either leaned towards a larger centralized government to secure liberties or a decentralized government, often referred to as a ‘ true republic’, which allotted states and thus individuals more freedom. While these opposing viewpoints can be defined as Federalist or Republican, partisanship did not play a significant role. The 1828 campaigns of Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams changed all that, the focus shifted from policy and issues to character, image and party rhetoric thus altering future elections and politics in America.
The aim of this paper is to look at the relationship between the mass media, specifically television, and presidential elections. This paper will focus on the function of television in presidential elections through three main areas: exit polls, presidential debates, and spots. The focus is on television for three reasons. First, television reaches more voters than any other medium. Second, television attracts the greatest part of presidential campaign budgets. Third, television provides the candidates a good opportunity to contact the people directly. A second main theme of this paper is the role of television in presidential elections in terms of representative democracy in the United States.
The main aim of this report is to analyze the impacts of changes in the media concerning the societal and individual view of politics and politicians. The report also describes significant milestones in mass media since the year 1960 and examines the impact of mass media on how people think politically. The report then considers the effect of technological advancements in mass media and the effect on the results of elections. The use of mass media has increased over the last fifty years in that it is a primary medium through which supporters of various campaigners share their ideas and views concerning politicians and different political parties. Through social media, behaviors and performance of several activists have brought
The current role of mass media in politics has definitely played a significant role in how view and react to certain events and issues of the nation. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio are some of the ways information is passed onto many of the citizens. The World Wide Web is also an information superhighway, but not all of the sources on the Internet are credible. Therefore, I will only focus on the main three types of media: written, viewed, and audible, and how they affect whether or not democracy is being upheld in the land of the free. The media includes several different outlets through which people can receive information on politics, such as radio, television, advertising and mailings. When campaigning, politicians spend large quantities of money on media to reach voters, concentrating on voters who are undecided. Politicians may use television commercials, advertisements or mailings to point out potentially negative qualities in their opponents while extolling their own virtues. The media can also influence politics by deciding what news the public needs to hear. Often, there are more potential news stories available to the media than time or space to devote to them, so the media chooses the stories that are the most important and the most sensational for the public to hear. This choice can often be shaped,