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PSC 311: Students' Book Outlines.
Compiled by Jeremy Lewis, last revised 8 Jan. '07.

Campaigns & Elections, Filling the War Chest.

Alan Ware, Political Parties & Party Systems: Introduction | Conclusion |

Asher, Herbert. 1998. "Analyzing and Interpreting Polls" chapter 8

Fundraising is the factor that separates a successful candidate from a non-successful candidate
as campaigns become more complex, professional and costly.

Chapter 1: Art of the Deal
The best way to accept a donation:
     Time the donation- late money does not show up on your reports until after the election.
     To be even safer you may want to use the funds after your election  to pay off your debt.
     Do not let donations appear during any one filing period.  And report the income during a
     busy filing time as to make it look less incriminating.

Choose the following 3 techniques as all are absolutely legal:

Bundling- the parent organization or PAC can ask its members to write personal checks
directly to your campaign while collecting them in one batch or bundle as to assure the
sponsoring group receives credit.  However, when you report contributions, only the individual
contributions need to be recorded.

Generic Donations- The party can accept money from sources, such as unions or
corporations that are not permitted for an individual campaign but can be used within your party
to support phone banks and other fundraising tasks that would usually be covered by your budget.

In Kind Contributions- Donations of services, products, office space and phone banks are
covered by the same restrictions as cash but observers are less troubled by this than they are
money so that it usually goes unrecognized

The easiest way to receive help may simply be:
     To allow the PAC to spend money itself.  This is completely legal as long as they act
     completely independent.
     If it is too aggravating just refuse the money.
     Allow contributions from sleazy organizations to be given to the other candidate so that
     you can run off of their misconduct.

Chapter 2: The Big Question
   How to ask people for money:
   1.)      Get on the same wavelength by establishing rapport.
   2.)      Give the prospect an “insider’s look at what’s going on in the campaign.
   3.)      Ask for a specific amount of money.
   4.)      Explain why you need the money and be able to include a list of expenses that need to
      be paid in upcoming weeks.
   5.)      Instill a sense of immediacy in receiving the money and  follow-up the pledge immediately.

*Only experience contributes to good high-donor fund raising campaigns.

Chapter 3: Tapping the Local Till
Small scale strategies yield big returns when you add local flavor and a personal
touch.  Successful fund raisers never forget the basics:  You must gage the community
in which you are trying to appeal to.
     Send out weekly newsletters to receive even small donations.
     Try having an art auction to pull in professors and other non-traditional givers.
     Try auctioning off household appliances and odds and ends at a garage sale style event.

Chapter 4:  Searching for Money in Washington D.C.
If you’re a candidate running for federal office, then you will eventually come to Washington,
D.C. for some PAC meetings.  A federal candidate is always running two races: a race for
votes in the district and a campaign of perceptions in Washington.  One must understand that
Washington, D.C. is essentially a small town.  Political operatives, PAC directors, and
committee staffers generally know each other and socialize with each other.  While the PAC’s
cannot vote for you they can contribute significant amounts of money to your campaign

How to make a great impression:
     Know the points you want to make, and make them.
     Offer demonstrated fund raising ability.
     Use lots of numbers to discuss your fund raising, your polling, demographics and game plan.
     Always put your numbers in context.  Ex:  “I’ve represented 23 of the 27 precints in the
     district I’m running in.”
     Know what it takes to win—how much money, how many votes, how much TV and what kind of staff.

Handling your Visit:
     Know whom you want to see before you come to D.C.
     Do your homework.  Most of the PACs that you’re visiting have ties in your district.
     Bring along the name of a district member who is a supporter.
     Prep people with your prospectus.  That gives them time to look it over before they sit down with you.
     Arrange for a central message location and give the number of the hotel you will be staying at.

10 Questions you will have to Answer:  Be prepped for these.
How much money have you raised?
How much money is your race going to cost and why?
How are you going to raise the money your race is going to cost?
Have there been any polls in the race yet?
Who are you consultants?  Your staff?
What are you going to do differently from the last person who ran the race?
What does the district look like now?  Have maps if possible
What’s your game plan?
Why is the incumbent or the opponent vulnerable?
What’s your message?

Chapter 5: Achieving Finance Committee Success
The campaign structure should include an individual in charge of raising money.  In many cases,
however, this may be impossible, and a number of individuals will be involved in fundraising.

In this case its best to:
     Set up a finance committee who has a close relationship or respect for the candidate.
     Create an organizational structure to what is usually a chaotic process.
     Remember that you will never get more from your finance committee than you ask in time
     or money.

Chapter 6:  Peer Pressure Magic
Peer pressure fund raising begins with small networks of professionals, special-interest groups,
and mutual friends.  The key is getting people to pass the message.  Create a file of the contacts
you have, and segregate them by special interests to keep them organized for handy information.

Some Tactics include:
     Building a small group
     Phone-banking
     Direct Mail
     Speaking at Meetings

Two rules:
1.) Target the special-interest groups that best fit your accomplishments, memberships, and
contacts.
2.) Make a great first impression.

Chapter 7:  Direct Mail: Covering the Bases
Firstly, always remember that direct mail fundraising letters serve one purpose: to raise money.
     Don’t send a letter that doesn’t ask for money at least 5 times.
     The strongest appeal consists of a four page letter signed by the candidate that is as personal as possible.
     It’s a good idea to place a reply at the bottom of page four to reduce confusion.
     Always send a return-address envelope.
     Make the carrier envelope stand out so that it has a better chance of getting opened.
     Federal and most state laws require that you include in no smaller than 10 fonts “Not
     printed or mailed at government expense.”
     Hand addressed carriers are always most effective (personalize)!
     Make sure as you look at your final product your message conveys your intended message.

Chapter 8: Ladder of Success
You must decide and be sure that you are using the most profitable form of solicitation for each
category of donors.  That of:
     Phone calls- least inclusive, telemarketers can monitor responses more quickly to decide what works.
     Door-to-door- very expensive and tends to yield primarily small donations.
     Mail- postage- Can be fairly expensive but is arguably the most profitable small donor medium.

You must approach choosing methods like you would climbing a ladder moving from
door-to-door, telemarketing and then direct mail deciding what works best for each individual donor.

Chapter 9: Psychology of Selling
There is an art to asking for a political contribution:
     Your tactics should be designed to convince the donor that the question is not so much whether to give, but how much.
     Make the donors feel good about themselves in their effort to shape the community.
     Ask again and again and then one more time.
     Once you state the amount you are asking for, stay silent until they respond.
     Part of your approach must include how their contribution will make an impact.
     After being told ‘no’ and asking why and then proceed with a lower number.
     Never interrupt a prospect, be patient.
     Look for points of common ground to discuss.
     Never ask for more after a donor has agreed to your request.  It just doesn’t work that way.
     Be sure to have a plan for follow up and an agreed upon time you will have the check.

Chapter 10 Going into Debt
If you must go into debt during a race make sure you are smart about it and that you are fully
prepared with a plan of action to get out of debt.  Otherwise, it’s not worth it.

Be educated and organized with the following data:
     Current Assets and Liabilities
     Amount needed to win
     Commitments of Support

Chapter 11: Facing the Final Days
Once your early work is over, the last month will inevitably yield a new goal.
     Be sure you inform everyone of your new goal.
     Spend time prioritizing and allocating your budget wisely to GOTV Efforts (radio, mail, phones, and possibly television).
     Reorganize your team's responsibilities and tasks.

New Responsibilities for:
Candidate- recruits new last minute fund raising multipliers and make sure they know the legal requirements.

Finance Chairman- must feel responsibility for raising the new goal during the closing days.
1.) Arrange an inner circle of the best members of the finance committee to review the new goal and plan for victory.
2.) Hold a general finance committee meeting to outline new goals and a new timeline.
3.) Set dates with staff for a series of fund raising events.
4.) Don’t drop the ball.

Finance Committee- must meet every week to hold follow ups and hold members accountable.

Scheduler- Scheduling will become more difficult in the last moments, but this is no excuse to
not push for every fund-raiser, speech, visit etc… possible.

In summary:  Activity that is directed and focused will produce increased revenue over a short
period.  But not one moment should be lost in getting started.

1. Have been defined as:
1. "Institutions that bring together people for the purpose of exercising power within the state."
2. "Institutions seeking to use legitimate means for pursuing their ends."
3. "A grouping of people with similar beliefs, attitudes, and values."
4. As defined by Allen Ware in "Political Parties and Party Systems":
1. Institution that seeks influence in a state, often by attempting to occupy positions government,
2. Usually consists of more than a single interest in society and so to some degree attempts to "aggregate interests".
5. Political parties are only absent in two types of states:
1. traditional society where they are still governed by families
2. states where parties have been banned (military or authoritarian rule)
6. Political Parties have a history of mistrust by the people.
2. Sociological Factors:
1. The presence of a particular party can be explained by 2 different things:
1. presence in tat country of groups that have the types of interest usually represented by that party.
2. threat to those interests that makes their defense significant for those individuals.
2. The need for a certain political party is determined by social conflict at the time- meaning that political parties really do not matter, but are merely tools used by the people at a certain time.
3. Institutional Factors:
1. Political parties are used as mediators and are necessary tools of politics (contradicting the sociological belief).
2. "Changing the aspects of political rules may be expected to affect the nature of other institutions and of how politics is conducted."
4. Competition Factors:
1. Institutions compete with each other in response to demand of the people.

1. The ‘Old’ Institutionalism:
1. Two aspects of political science and how they have affected political parties
1. modern history
2. constitutional law
2. "Different politics work differently because they have different kinds of institutions."
2. The ‘New’ Institutionalism:
1. Emphasizes the role of state and its institutions in determining political outcomes.
2. Brought with its theory economic and social classes.

1. Party Origins:
1. from within existing legislature
2. "by mobilization of social groups and classes that have no representation in such legislatures and which sought to defend their own interests."
2. Crisis!
1. Political parties support is collapsing—changing the way political scientist look at party politics.

• Only two kinds of states are party absent: Few small, traditional societies run by families and regimes in which political parties have been banned (military or authoritarian rulers)
• Some countries have a distrust of parties, esp. the United States.
• Difficult to define a party: Parties are institutions that bring together people for the purpose of exercising power within the state.
• Parties seek to legitimate means for pursuing their ends. This is why terrorist or militia groups are not considered parties. Exceptions to this are that some parties began as civil organizations but became engaged in open-armed conflict with a regime.
• When they can contest an election in the state, parties will seek to do so. However, some parties refuse to protest an election in order to protest policies in the government.
• Parties are institutions that seek to represent more than a single, narrow interest in society. Parties are groupings of people with similar beliefs, attitudes, and values. Burke said they were "organized opinion."
• Edmund Burke’s definition of a party: A body of men united for promoting by their joint endeavors the national interest upon some particular principle in which they are all agreed.
• Alan War’s definition of a party: An institution that seeks influence in a state, often by attempting to occupy positions in government and usually consists of more than a single interest in the society and so to some degree attempts to "aggregate interests."

• Sociological factors: Seeks to explain politics by reference to social phenomena that underlie them.
• Institutional factors: Institutions do matter. Political struggles are mediated by the institutional setting in which they take place.
• Competition factors: A wide variety of institutions are relevant for the study of parties and party systems.

• The "Old Institutionalism": Two fields in politics were modern history and constitutional law. Emphasis on the actions of elites with help from constitutional lawyers (1920s and 1930s).
• The Behavioral Revolution: Influenced by academics who had been trained in methods of sociology (Late 1940s).
• The New Institutionalism: Emphasized the role of the state, and its institutions, in determining political outcomes (1980s).

Parties arose from two sources: from within an existing legislature (Conservatives in Britain) and by the mobilization of social groups and classes that had no representation in such legislatures and which sought to defend their own interests (Labour party in Britain).

[Eclectic discipline:]
- It can be argued that Political Science is not a discipline, rather it is a study influenced by many other disciplines such as history, economics, sociology, philosophy, and law.
- Feminism has recently played a huge part in Political Science
- Ware studies the Party Systems from alternative approaches: sociological, institutional, and competitive.
- The political world is too complex to study with only one approach.
- The need for numerous approaches will not change.

[Continuity:]
- Liberal Democracy parties seem to remain the same. Their beginnings can be traced to the early 1920’s.
- Most of the major parties conduct themselves in the same ways they did in the 20’s.
- However, parties are not in a "time-warp"

[Change in Voter Behavior:]
- Members of parties are more likely to be issue-oriented.
- Yet members are harder to attract
- Voting may now be less of an expression of class or group identity, voters are more informed and voting is now linked to a party’s performance. [US also?]

[Post Cold War System:]
- Still questioning the effect of the Cold War….did it mark the development of parties in a liberal democracy? Did it fix any relationships between parties? (i.e. communists and socialists)

• The 1990’s brought major changes in some party systems voter support.
• The Social Democrats lost 5.5% of the vote in Sweden.
• The 1992 United States presidential elections saw the Republican experience the greatest voter backlash losing a large proportion of the votes.
• In 1993 France’s governing socialist party collapsed.
• Britain and Germany did not have abnormal elections, their governing parties were untouched.
• Countries that played a crucial role on establishing democratic order seemed to experience the most serious disruptions.
• The 1990’s had a different sort of widespread political clash than the 1970’s- more voter backlash and revolts against parties…voter anger
• Ware predicts that in 2015 there will be more parties and party systems.
• Parties have survived because they adapted for the electoral masses.

As time passes, there will be opportunities for broader comparative studies of parties and the system.

Asher, Herbert. 1998. "Analyzing and Interpreting Polls" chapter 8
Scanty notes, taken from Scott Nichols' presentation, Fall 2006.

Questions on homosexual lifestyle, results affected by wording

Would you vote for qualified male candidate -- comment that still some percent say no -- or overwhelming percent say yes?

overweight the subsample