Unit 5

Please note: By no means is this comprehensive at this point; it is merely a selection of focus areas.

Review Materials

• Focus on the 15th, 17th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments

• Models of voting behavior (Khan Academy)

• Increasing Voter Participation in America (Center for American Progress)

• Linkage Institutions Vocab (Quizlet) and Linkage Institutions (Study Blue) (also, a more in depth article from Angelo.edu)

  • Political Parties

    • Caucus vs. Primary (FactCheck.org)

    • Types of Primaries (e.g., open vs closed)

    • Party Identification and its Implications (Oxford Research Encyclopedias) - at least read the summary

    • Minor political parties ("third parties") (Lumen Learning)

    • History: How Third-Party Candidates Have Changed Elections (History.com)

  • Media

    • Six Ways the Media Influences Elections (University of Oregon, School of Journalism and Communication)

  • Voting

    • Electoral College (Archives.gov) - this article contains a multitude of links for deeper understanding, including how electors are selected, how the 23rd Amendment affected it, etc.

      • Another brief article on how the Electoral College Works (UMKC.edu)

      • Interesting Politico article about reforming the Electoral College (Politico.com) - this has good discussion of how plurality-based systems have unintended consequences

      • Also Politico: article about moving from the Electoral College to a national popular vote (Politico.com)

• Campaign Finance Law (Britannica)

  • Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission (Britannica) - this is a crucial Supreme Court case, which dramatically changed how corporations were permitted to participate in the political process with regard to campaign donations (Also available on Oyez, including recorded audio, of course)