Download Review Highlights – Political Parties, Elections, Campaign Finance

Review Highlights – Political Parties, Interest Groups, Media
POLITICAL PARTIES
What Political Parties Do:
Linkage institution – connect people to their government; make government responsive
Recruit candidates & run campaigns (recruit workers)
Propose policy (platforms); short cut for voters through endorsements
Organize government by forming coalitions to make policy; party out of power is watchdog
Why 2 Parties?
Americans share same general values but usually 2 sides on issues they disagree on
Historical – Federalists v Anti-Federalists
Winner take all system of elections instead of proportional representation like in Parliamentary
Minor Parties/Third Parties
Types of Third Parties:
o Ideological (Libertarian, Socialist)
o Single Issue (Right to Life, Free-Soil Party)
o Economic Protest (Populists)
o Splinter (TR & Bull Moose; Wallace & American Independent Party in 1968)
Problems they face:
o States make it difficult for them to appear on ballot
o Winner-take-all single-member districts make it difficult for them to win
o Americans avoid political extremes
o Must get certain percent of vote in last presidential election to get in presidential debates – 2
major parties are automatic
o Must get certain percent of vote in last major election to get federal matching funds
Goals of Third Parties:
o Get a major party to adopt their ideas (barometer for trends)
o Provides outlet for those who wouldn’t otherwise vote – more specific on issues
o Spoiler – Ross Perot made Bush lose in 1992; Ralph Nader cost Gore election in 2000
o Win local elections (tend to be more regional than 2 major parties)
History of Two Major Parties – 5 Party System (maybe 6?):
1st - Beginnings of Parties: Federalists v Anti-Federalists (become Dem-Repub)
2nd – Mass-based politics: Whigs v Jacksonian Democrats
3rd – Civil War-McKinley: high voter turnout; back & forth between Repub & Dem control
4th – 1896-1932: period of Republican domination of White House & Congress; low turnout
5th – New Deal-1969: period of Democratic domination (Roosevelt coalition)
6th? – 1969-today: divided government (pres 1 party; at least 1 house another – exception 2004-06)
Why the Parties are not as Powerful as in the Past:
Civil Service Reform – can’t give away as many offices to supporters
Internet allows candidate to run a campaign & get donations without a party
Candidate-driven elections (rather than party-controlled) because of political consultants, TV
campaign ads, direct mail campaigns
Campaign finance reforms limiting soft money made candidates more reliant on donations from
interest group PACs rather than political party
Role of TV in campaign means less need for grass-roots organizing by party & door to door
volunteers
Impact of Weak Party Discipline
INTEREST GROUPS
INTEREST GROUPS
POLITICAL PARTIES
Support candidates but don’t pick their own
Pick & run candidates
More focused; takes stand on just one issues or
issues that are all closely related
Loose coalition; take stands on lots of issues
Theories:
Elitist – a few corporate interest groups have most of the power & control the government
(Eisenhower – military-industrial complex); not all groups have equal access; poor have less
influence than corporations (ie, iron triangles)
Pluralist – interest groups good because they increase representation
Get people involved that wouldn’t participate otherwise; almost all interests that are
important to someone are represented by some interest group – linkage
Groups have varying strengths so different ones dominate different things: corporate business
groups have money but labor unions have members
If there is a group on 1 side of an issue, there is another on the other side – balance
Hyperpluralist - too many groups so government tries to please all so no coherent policy made;
gridlock; interest groups pull public officials back & forth in different directions
Goal – get government official to set policies that the group finds beneficial
Reasons for Participating in Interest Groups:
Material incentive (ie, AARP provides special trips, insurance discounts, etc) – to overcome free
rider problem
Solidarity incentive – companionship in part of group working together to achieve common goal
Purposive incentives (moral or ideological commitment to particular cause) – gun owners, antiabortion
Types of Interest Groups:
Private – material incentives
o Economic – most common type; National Association of Manufacturers (lets lawmakers
know of business interests in upcoming legislation), American Farm Bureau (work with
Congress on agricultural policy) , AFL-CIO (union; working conditions & wages) – NAM &
AFL-CIO often work against each other; business groups (corporations) are the largest &
most influential now, labor unions have declined in membership but still have influnence
o Public Employee – AFSCME (American Federation of State County & Municipal
Employees) – work to give government workers the right to organize, bargain, strike
o Professional Groups – NEA (National Education Association – teachers); AMA (American
Medical Association - doctors); ABA (American Bar Association - lawyers) – huge budgets
Public – solidarity or purposive incentives; work on things that affects broad segments of population;
often come out of social movements
o Consumer movement – Common Cause, Public Citizen (campaign finance reform, auto
safety)
o Environmental movement – Audubon Society, Greenpeace
Single issue – solidarity or purposive incentives; formed around 1 single issue or cause; National
Rifle Association v. Handgun Control, Inc; rarely deal with any issue other than what is most
important to their members so easy to motivate members to action
Equality/Justice – National Association of for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) or
National Organization for Women (NOW) – first organized to pass Equal Rights Amendment; tend
to have large, active memberships but not as much money as business groups
Strategies of Interest Groups:
Direct - interacting directly with government official to get what it wants
o Lobbying –
 Who they lobby: Congressmen, president’s advisors, bureaucrats working for
regulatory agencies, Supreme Court justices & their clerks
 Regulations on lobbying: since in past bribery was used in 1946 Federal Regulation
of Lobbying Act required lobbyists who directly contacted members of Congress to
register with government; 1995 – to close loophole that those who lobby other parts
of government weren’t affected: (1) lobbyists had to register if spent a certain amount
of time lobbying, if their group spent a certain amount, if they were paid a certain
amount, or if work for foreign government (2) had to submit annual reports
(3) limits on trips, gifts, & other things officials receive from lobbyists
 Actions of lobbyists:
 Providing specific detailed info to lawmakers
 Testify at committee hearings or executive agency meetings
 Help draft legislation or regulations
 Socialize with government officials to get better connections
o Amicus Curiae briefs – “friend of the court” briefs filed with Supreme Court in a case that
involves an issue they have an interest in but in which they are not directly involved
o Litigation – sue business or government to enforce regulations (ie environmental groups sue
businesses or NAACP brings class action suit to enforce civil rights – Brown v Board)
Indirect – no direct contact with officials; use public pressure on officials; to shape public opinion
& make it appear to officials that a large segment of the population wants the policy
o Advertising
o Holding press conferences
o Publishing research reports
o Using members as lobbyists – direct mail, faxes, e-mail, telephone to target officials;
campaign door to door in neighborhoods to gain support for legislation
o Form alliances with other groups on a piece of legislation – allows them to share
resources & members and make the support group for the legislation look larger
o Rate congressmen or endorse candidates
o Provide members as volunteers to help on campaigns or canvassing
Political Action Committees – to provide campaign contributions to candidates
Regulated by 1974 Campaign Finance Act
Most come from business & other economic interest groups
Rules – 50 donors, 5 different candidates, no more than $5000 to 1 candidate
Incumbents get most of PAC money – even if incumbent doesn’t agree with them on an issue, at
least he can get them a hearing; also incumbents have best chance of winning
Iron Triangle – bureaucrats, legislative committee members, & lobbyists work together to protect common
interests; can stop other groups from having access
Revolving Door – government officials in Congress or bureaucracy quit/retire & become a lobbyist for the
industry they formerly regulated
MEDIA
Background:
Heritage of free press since Zenger case in colonial times; 1st amendment; no prior restraint
Limits on free press:
Government has censored news reports of military activities during war for national security
Can sue for libel if untrue information that has harmful affect on you
Regulate obscene material or information which provokes direct violence
History: local newspapers for each political candidate; yellow journalism; muckrakers
Regulation:
 Government could regulate radio & TV because, unlike newspapers, used public airwaves
 FCC (Federal Communications Commission)– assigns broadcast airwaves, license stations
Public influence – public hearings to debate & set regulations
Equal time – Fairness doctrine has been dropped due to so many TV stations with different
views that its no longer needed
Obscenity
Educational children’s programming & community announcements required
Deregulation during Reagan administration expanded share of market for owners
1996 – Communications Decency Act regulated obscenity on Internet to protect children;
ruled unconstitutional
Media Impact on Government:
TV provides a way for government officials to quickly communicate with most Americans
Politicians organize around media opportunities to see government achievements or decision-making;
mutually beneficial to politicians & media during campaigns
Watchdog function – investigate something the government does & publicize it; “muckraking”; can
make public agency change course due to negative public opinion
Gatekeeper – agenda setting – decide what public will learn the most about by choosing which to
cover; “don’t tell us what to think but what to think about”; causes some to accuse media of bias;
causes politicians to shove other issues to the side because media coverage makes another issue
demand their attention
Media Impact on Political Campaigns:
People tend to rely on national media for their news: Time magazine, New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, CNN, National Public Radio
Media has to come up with new product daily to sell advertising to make money
No strong public interest to bills or new policy but they do cover it
Spend more time covering political campaigns because of drama & public interest
Media has reporters organized in different parts of government – Congress, White House, Pentagon
Government leader’s Interest in Media:
Elected officials organize time & strategies around using the media because it can bring attention to
& public support for their policies & election when other methods have not worked
Press secretary – represents President to White House Press Corps which reports his daily activities
Hire media consultants or spin doctors to bring about favorable news coverage by organizing
media events, photo opportunities, get politician to make “sound bites” (30 second statement that
will make the news)
Political candidates:
Political ads – positive spot ad promotes candidate by name; attack ad denounces opponent by name;
issue ad advocates a party’s general position without naming anyone; makes campaigns very
expensive (now greatest campaign expense) & interest groups more important due to donations from
PACs; also makes candidate rely less on political party
TV debates – given big coverage on local & national news; live; entertaining
Appear on TV talk shows – Political talk shows; Leno/Letterman; Stewart/Colbert; Oprah; FREE
Media Role in Presidential campaigns:
Press release from candidates about “possibility of running” & press speculates
Media coverage of Presidential primaries (over 1/3 of campaign news stories were about Iowa &
New Hampshire)
After that media does horse-race journalism – who is front-runner? Gives candidate momentum
and helps him gain campaign donations
Front-loading (early scheduling of primaries to gain media coverage) has caused campaign for
nomination to often be over by March then little media coverage until the fall
TV covers National Conventions but now little live coverage because no suspense; so parties now
stage media events & rallies with celebrities at night instead of focusing on policy
Political Advertising – ½ budget of both parties in 1996 was buying TV ads from Sept-Nov; Media
coverage increases the closer to election day
Presidential Debates – 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate
Election day coverage – statistically accurate polling techniques causes exit-polling to get scoop of
who will win; can discourage voters in western states from going to polls or early concession
speeches; networks have now taken pledge to wait to all polls close to predict winner but Internet
has not
Pros & Cons of Media’s Role in Political Campaigns:
Pros:
o Americans get information
o Representative government requires a free electorate
Cons:
o Horse-race journalism doesn’t inform voters on issues or policies, just who’s ahead
o Makes primaries deny voters choices because so expensive good candidates often can’t
afford to run
o Fund-raising excesses in both parties because political ads so expensive; voter cynicism