Political+Typology

__**What Are key Influences to a Voters Decision?**__
The foundation of a persons political typology is amounted through different influences. Influences such as race, gender, education, income, issues and religion. These issues are statistically accurate, but are not absolutely certain.

**__Race__**[[image:politicaltypology/Obama Supporters.jpg width="183" height="198" align="right"]]
Racial and ethnic groups tend to vote in distinct patterns. White Americans have traditionally voted republican,whereas African Americans, and minorities tend to have an overwhelming voting decisions. For example, in the 2008 election, President Obama had received 95 percent of all democratic votes. John McCain had received a mere 4 percent. Hispanics also favor more towards democratic votes. President Obama received 67 percent of Latino votes in 2008, while McCain receives 31 percent. Chinese Americans vote more towards democrat, and Asian and Pacific Islanders votes are split.

**__Gender__**
Traditionally, woman are more likely to Democrat, while men are more likely to vote Republican. In 2008, Obama won 56 percent of the woman vote, and men had only vote 49 percent. Woman are more likely to vote with their gender, but it is not always the reason. Since 1980, the gender gap between the voting choices of men and woman, has become a staple of American politics.

**__Income & Education__**
The voting for this is quite simple. The poor vote more democratic, where as the well-off vote heavily republican. Because income and education are highly correlated, more educated people tend to make less money. The most educated and the least educated tend to vote democrat, while the middle class tends to vote Republican.

**__Religion__**
Religious groups have tended to vote in distinct patterns., but some of the traditional differences have declines significantly in the recent years. Jewish voters have been most cohesive, most of which have voted for every presidential candidate since the New Deal realignment. Christian voters tend to vote more Republican as they believe in social responsibility. Catholics are more divided, although they tend to favor more towards the Democratic Party.

**__Issues__**
Individual Issues can have important effect on any given election year. Issues such as healthcare, abortion, gay rights, an the economy can have a tremendous effect on voters decisions. The economy is one of the most influential, and voters tend to lean more towards the current presidents party during good economic conditions. Voters tends to look how the candidate will address the issue; whether the candidate will take a retrospective, or prospective approach to the issue.

=__**Right Wing Spectrum of Politics compared to the opposite Left Wing**__= Culturally speaking: conservatives tend to be more family oriented and believe in good stewards in the natural world. In addition they typically believe in the concept of individualism which is the belief that through hard work and dedication people can make a living by themselves without the help of the government. They tend to believe in older or conservative beliefs sometimes going against modern changes in society. Right wing also describes the life aspect of moral beliefs held by social conservatives as well which are usually in favor of pro-life and anti-abortion. Having to do with typically Christian principles and values. However this does not apply for all conservatives, only a portion of them.

Economically speaking : the right wing believes in less government interference with the economy and are in favor of a more free market type economy. Neoconservatives believe in stimulating economic growth by lowering taxes and finding alternate sources to carry out social welfare. Fiscal conservatives tend believe that the government should be shrunk in size and scope. Economically speaking this means that they too believe reduced government spending which in return will help pay off national debt. This is yet another economic stance held by the right wing spectrum of politics. This also includes the support of more privatized businesses such as healthcare and insurance. The one common band of these economic theories is ultimately less government involvement in politics so less government spending, on multiple issues including social aid, welfare, and reduced taxes on the American people.

Left Wing: Culturaly speaking liberals are those on the left wing who believe in modern change in society and constant evolution in politics. As a result most liberals believe in extended freedoms and equal opportunity for all people regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. They support modern cultural changes as well and call for more supporting rights of minorities in the United States. In addition the left wing culturally identifies itself with the political aspects of social equality and justice different from the right wing individualism.

Economically speaking : The left wing spectrum of politics believes in more government involvement with the economy; the opposite of the right wing which wants less government interference. As a result the left wing supports increased taxes and public spending on public education and other government funded projects including public housing and social welfare. This also tends for people to believe that the left wing supports government funded sectors of business and bail outs of large scale companies. In addition the left wing supports government funded healthcare and the theory that all American citizens have the right to health care regardless of income level or any other cultural factor.




 * __How Candidates Influence Political Typology:__** So far we have discussed how different aspects of American life can place people into different political parties/types. However, gender, race, etc. are not the only things that can influence a person’s political views. In fact, most of the time voting is decided by what party a person belongs to, or the person running for office. Many find that they are influenced by both these factors, because these factors are directly related to how they are affected. In most cases the liberals (left wing) are closely related to democrats and the conservatives (right wing) are closely related to republicans. Though a majority of people don’t completely agree with the views of the radicals of these two parties they still belong to them. Because they agree on some level with one of the parties rather than the other, they will probably vote or the candidate’s party. However, there are plenty of cases where people that belong to one party vote for the candidate of the other. This shows exactly how certain candidates can influence people of different parties. One example would be the 2008 election where Obama was able to get the support of many past republicans.



__Vocabulary__


 * New Deal Realignment**- A series of economic programs enacted in the [|United States] between 1933 and 1936. They involved presidential executive orders or laws passed by [|Congress] during the first term of President [|Franklin D. Roosevelt]. The programs were in response to the [|Great Depression], and focused on what historians call the "3 Rs": Relief, Recovery, and Reform.


 * Political Radicalism**- The term political radicalism (or simply, in [|political science], **radicalism**) denotes [|political] principles focused on [|altering] [|social structures] through revolutionary means and changing [|value systems] in fundamental ways.


 * New Democrat Coalition-** This is a [|Congressional Member Organization] within the [|United States Congress] made up of [|Democrats] who support an agenda that the organization describes as [|moderate] and pro-growth.