Download Unit 4 - Pol Parties Interest Groups Media Campaigns

Political Party and Interest Groups
Political Party – Persons who seek to control a government through the
winning of elections and the holding of public office. The number one thing
Political Parties provide politicians is LABEL.
- The fundamental difference between political parties and interest
groups is that interest groups do not nominate candidates.
Function or Duties (Ha! Ha! Duties)
1. Inform Voters
From the Republican National Committee Website
From the Democratic National Committee Website
2. Nominate Candidates
This is what makes political parties different
from interest groups. Interest Groups do not
nominate candidates, but political parties do.
Through the primary system, the Democrats
nominated Senator Obama and the
Republicans nominated Senator McCain.
3. Watchdog - When a member of a political party does something
controversial or illegal, the opposition party will alert the media and the
American people to the wrong doing.
Types of Party Systems
1. One Party System – Communist Party
Advantage – Stability
Disadvantage – No Choice
Former USSR
Saddam’s Ba ‘ath Party
2. Two-Party System – US System
Advantage – generally guaranteed a majority
Disadvantage – Little Choice
Vs.
3. Multi-Party System – European Countries like Italy
Advantage – Many Choices – you can find a perfect fit
Disadvantage – tough time getting a majority
Italy’s Multi-Party System
Major parties
More than 20% in the 2008 general election:
People of Freedom (Popolo della Libertà)
Democratic Party (Partito Democratico)
Medium parties
Between 4% and 20% in the 2008 general election:
Lega Nord (North League)
Italy of Values (Italia dei Valori)
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (Unione dei Democratici
Cristiani e di Centro)
Communist Refoundation Party (Partito della Rifondazione
Comunista)
Minor parties
Between 0.5% and 4% in the 2008 general election:
Movement for Autonomy (Movimento per l'Autonomia)
Italian Radicals (Radicali Italiani)
Italian Republican Party (Partito Repubblicano Italiano)
White Rose (Rosa Bianca)
The Right (La Destra)
Party of Italian Communists (Partito dei Comunisti Italiani)
Federation of the Greens (Federazione dei Verdi)
Democratic Left (Sinistra Democratica)
Socialist Party (Partito Socialista)
Tricolour Flame (Fiamma Tricolore)
Workers' Communist Party (Partito dei Lavoratori Italiani)
Micro parties
Less than 0.5% in the 2008 general election:
Critical Left (Sinistra Critica)
Citizens' Political Movement (Movimento Politico dei Cittadini)
New Force (Forza Nuova)
Italian Liberal Party (Partito Liberale Italiano)
Democratic Union for Consumers (Unione Democratica)
Multi-party systems
must often times join
together and form
coalitions in hopes of
gaining a majority.
The results are runoff
elections, which leads
to government
instability.
LET’S HAVE A PARTY!
Why the 2 Party System in the USA?
What Prevents the US from having a Multi-Party System?
1. Electoral College Systems. The Winner Take All System – This is sometimes
referred to as the plurality systems or the single member district system. The
plurality system makes it incredibly difficult for a third party. Even if they get a lot
of popular votes, if they do not win the state, they get no electoral-college votes.
For instance, in 1992 the Reform Party candidate, Ross Perot won close to 20% of the
popular vote but because he did not win a state outright he got no Electoral College votes.
The winner take all phenomenon also occurs in Congressional Districts. If Republican
Candidate A gets 130,000 votes and Green Party Candidate B gets 100,000 votes and
Democratic Candidate C gets 50,000 votes. Although the Green Party Candidate B did very
well, because they did not have the most votes, they do not win. This is also why it is
called the plurality system. In the hypothetical Congressional election above there was no
majority winner which is one more than half but there was a plurality winner which is just
having more votes.
2. The Federal Election Commission has higher requirements for minor parties.
The duties of the FEC, which is an independent regulatory agency, are to disclose
campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the
limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of
Presidential elections which is the only time public money is used.
a. Minor Parties have to have a number of signatures for each state to get the
candidates name on the ballot. For instance, in the state of Texas, petitions
must contain at least 45,540 valid signatures from registered voters. The
Democratic and Republican candidates do not have to get any signatures.
b. In a Presidential election, minor parties have to have at least 5% of the
popular vote from a previous Presidential election in order to receive
matching funds. Matching funds are provided through tax revenues. The
only time public money is available is for Presidential elections. Congress,
governors, and local politicians do not have access to public monies. The
presidential public financing system is funded by a $3 tax check-off on
individual tax returns (the check off does not increase the filer's taxes, but
merely directs $3 to the presidential fund). To receive subsidies in the
primary, candidates must qualify by privately raising $5000 each in at least
20 states. For qualified candidates, the government provides a dollar for
dollar "match" from the government for each contribution to the campaign,
up to a limit of $250 per contribution. In return, the candidate agrees to limit
his or her spending according to a statutory formula.The Republican and
Democratic Candidates are eligible for matching funds regardless of their
previous election results.
c. Minor party Presidential candidates are excluded from the Presidential
debates unless they have at least 15% following in 5 national polls. Ralph
Nader was forcibly removed with the threat of arrest from the 2000 Debate at
UMASS even though he was a spectator with a valid ticket.
Why would the Federal Election
Commission have a higher threshold for
minor parties?
Who writes Federal Election Laws?
Democrats and Republican
AP Political Party Notes - Why have political Parties weakened?
This would make a great free-response question for the AP test!
The causes of weakening political parties
1. Party power is decentralized. This means that states and local party officials at times
have as much say as party leaders at the national level and orders do not flow from top to
bottom. Issues change from the national to the state to the local levels. Also the system
has many cleavages or openings at the national, state, and local level. Political Parties
are powerful in some parts of the country but not others. For example, Cuyahoga County
is a powerful Democratic area while the state of Utah is a powerful for the Republican
Party.
2. Diversification with too many issues causes low internal unity and lack of strict
adherence. This is especially true within the Democratic Party.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
A meeting of the Democrats…
Unions
7. Latinos
African Americans
8. Women
Academics
9. Trial Attorneys
Hollywood
10. College Students
Environmentalist
11. Advocates for Poor
Homosexuals
12. Peace Activists
Now ask them what they wish to accomplish.
The Republicans are quickly becoming more this way. It used to be that a meeting of
the GOP would look like this… (I love clip art)
What do you want?
TAX CUTS!
What else? MORE TAX CUTS!!!
Today you are beginning to see a battle between the Libertarian Republicans, the
financially, conservative Republicans, and evangelical christens.
3. The emergence of interest groups. A citizen can find the perfect fit. If a person is a
strong union man who cares nothing about the environment, they can join the AFL-CIO.
Now they do not have to deal with the Democratic Party.
4. Partisan bickering is a turn off to American voters.
However, although the voters do not like partisan bickering, they do like checks and
balances. This is best exemplified in the divided government phenomenon. This is
when one or both houses of Congress are of a different party than the White House.
When the US voted Democrat Bill Clinton into the White House, they voted for a
Republican Congress in 1994. This became known as the Republican Revolution of
1994. It happened again in 2006, when the Democrats won back both houses. Why
would this occur?
The Symptoms of Political Parties Weakening
1. The Critical or Realignment Elections – Elections in which whole groups of people
change their political stance. The elections are 1828, 1860, 1896, and 1932. How could
the South that used to be Democratic, become Republican? How could African –
Americans that voted predominately voted Republican now vote more Democratic than
any other demographic?
2. Straight Ticket v. Split Ticket Voting – A decline in straight ticket voting and an
increase in split ticket voting. The ballots use to be party-column bloc, which used to
require the voter to check a list of the candidates all from the same party. This of course
required straight ticket balloting. Today we use an office-bloc ballot which allows split
ticket voting.
3. Less people identify themselves as either Republican or Democrats and far more
people referring to them selves as an independent. Not necessarily a drop in efficacy but
more a drop in party loyalty.
The History of the 2 Party System
1789 Federalist
1789 Anti-Federalist
Alexander Hamilton
Constitution Fine
Strong National Government
Supported by the
Wealthy Merchants - North
Thomas Jefferson
Bill of Rights
States Rights Government
Supported by the
farmers and laborers - South
1800 Democratic-Republicans or
Jeffersonian Democrats
Supports state rights
Farmers / laborers - South
1828 Election Democratic Party
Critical Realignment Election
Andrew Jackson-Very Popular
States Rights
Farmers / laborers
Became the party of the
Common man in large
part because property
ownership as a voting
requirement was ended -South.
Whigs 1841 - William Harrison
Hard Cider / Log Cabin Campaign
Strong National Government
The Old Federalist party
sought to have an image
change to combat the
popularity of the Democrats and the
Jackson Presidency. The Whigs were still the
party of the wealthy and still popular in the North.
Election of 1860 –
Critical Realignment Election
Abe Lincoln Republican
Stopping the
SPREAD of Slavery
Led us through the Civil War
Strong National Government
Supported by the Wealthy
Obviously popular in North
Abe’s name did not appear
on many Southern States
ballots in the 1860 Election.
Ushers in 72 Years of GOP Dominance
Election of 1896 –
Critical Realignment Election
McKinley, a Republican favored big powerful
Government. He supported corporate interests.
He was popular in the North. His opponent was
Democratic candidate William Jennings who
favored small government, states rights, and
strict religion.
1930 – 1980 The GOP, having their plank of strong
national government stolen from them was left to
take up the states rights plank and oppose the
Democrat’s liberal policy.
In 1980, President Reagan was
elected in large part by the
support he had in the South or
Red State America. The GOP
believes in small government,
ending wasteful spending, and a
higher moral order. This started
in the 1930’s and 40’s with the
GOP’s opposition to FDR.
Election of 1932 of
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt was a
Critical
Realignment
Election in that it
drastically changed
1932 Election Democrat
Franklin Roosevelt the Democratic
Platform
Critical Realignment Election
FDR changes the Democrats to a Strong National
Government Party. He did this to deal with the
mess of the depression and later WWII. He
called this change The New Deal. He was the
longest serving President in US history. He was
popular in the South as well as the North, and
through his New Deal policies, he began to act
liberal. The Democrats that followed FDR began
to take care of the poor, worry about civil rights,
and to favor big government policies to
accomplish these goals.
Could the 2008 Election be a
critical re-alignment
election? Barack Obama
won the traditional red
states of Virginia, North
Carolina, Indiana, Nevada,
New Mexico, and Nevada.
However, in order for an
election to be a re-alignment
election it has to be lasting.
State Rights
IT REMAINS THE SAME TODAY!
Strong National Government
The Confederate Flag issue is the perfect
example. It still flies in the South Today.
Bush, a states rights guy, would say it is
up to Southern States to decide their flag.
Clinton would say the flag needs to come
down as a symbol of racism.
2008 Party Platforms
Platforms released every 4 years at party conventions during Presidential election years. The
individual issues on the platform are called planks. They tend to be fairly vague to appeal to
as many moderates as possible.
Republicans / GOP
RIGHT
Conservative
Red State America
Popular in the South
Democrats
LEFT
Liberal / Progressive
Blue State America
Popular in the North
States Rights
Strong National Government
Still Supported by
Still supported by the
Corporate Lawyers,
the common laborer,
Businessmen and
Trial Lawyers,
Bankers (for the most part).
union members, academics,
(The exceptions are farmers
minorities, civil
and rural Americans who tend
libertarians, homosexuals,
to vote Republican because
environmentalists, and
of the morals and values issue)
women (for the most part)
Tax Cuts for those
Tend to spend more on
who pay the highest
social programs such as
taxes, generally the wealthiest.
Welfare, Healthcare, Childcare.
This is called Trickle Down
These are known as Entitlements
Economics or Supply Side Economics
Programs.
Pro – Life / Against Abortion
Pro – Choice / Legal Abortions
Anti-Affirmative Action
Pro Affirmative Action
Welfare Reform
Welfare Supporter
Morality / Values / Religion
Human Rights / Civil Liberties
Pro 2nd Amendment
Gun Law Reform
Pro Military Spending / War
Curtail Military Spending / Peace
Sanctity of Marriage
Pro-Gay Marriage
Business over Environment
Environment over Business
Pro-Death Penalty
Against Death Penalty
Tort reform
Sue for any $ amount or issue
Privatization / Small Government
Public Money / Big Government
Houston
Hollywood
Security over Civil Liberties
Civil Liberties over Security
Society
Humanity
position issues / wedge issues – These are issues that separate the parties. Example privatization of social security
valance issues – These are issues that everyone agrees with. Example - a strong
economy
Political Parties
Minor Party – Any party other than the major two parties currently the
Democrats and the Republicans.
2008 Prohibition Party / 2008 Socialist USA Party / Libertarian Party 2008
Gene Admondson
Gloria La Riva
Bob Barr
Third Party – A minor party that gains a significant following. Although it is
incredibly rare for a Third Party to win a National election, they can influence
the vote.
1992 Reform Party - Ross Perot
Perot indirectly helped Bill
Clinton beat George Bush Sr.
because his party’s planks
were similar to that of the
GOP. 0 EC VOTES
Ross Perot and the Reform Party of 1992 are also
a great example of the difficulty that minor
parties face in getting elected. Perot got close to
20% of the popular vote but because of the
plurality winner take all system and the fact that
Perot did not win a state, he got 0 Electoral
College votes.
3rd Parties face unfair obstacles such as
signature requirements to be on the ballot,
being freeze out of televised debates, and
being denied matching funds / pubic money
for Presidential elections.
2000 Green Party – Ralph Nader
Nader indirectly helped George W. Bush get elected
in 2000 because his party’s plank was so similar to Al
Gore’s Democratic Party. You take Nader out of the
election, and Al Gore is President. 0 EC VOTES
Ideological Party – Party formed around an idea
Personality Party – Party formed around a person
Political Parties
The Best Example of the influence of Third Parties involves
The 1912 Election
Teddy became the youngest
President to ever serve in 1900
after the assignation of McKinley.
He serve two more terms but
decided to give the White House
up to go hunting in Africa. Before
he leaves, he endorses Taft.
Taft and Roosevelt split the GOP vote. The
Democrat, Woodrow Wilson was elected.
I got stuck in the bath tub.
Teddy first tries to win back the GOP Nomination at the GOP
Convention in 1912. The Republicans side with Taft. He then
creates his own party, The Progressive Bull Moose.
AP NOTES Political Parties
The Evolution of Nominations for
Political Parties at the National Level
Who will represent the party during the General Election
Congressional Caucus – Started in the early 1800’s and ended 1836. Leading Party
members who were also Congressmen would meet and decide who would represent the
party for the Presidential race.
- Congress was a natural stepping stone to the White House.
- Would this increase the power of the executive branch?
- Violation of separation of powers. WHY?
Party Convention – 1836 – the early 1900’s Party conventions held every four years
corresponding with Presidential election years. However, only the party members that
showed up were allowed to vote. This would be roughly 5,000 men. If you did not show
up, you did not have a vote. Martin Van Buren 1836 was the first President to be elected
in just this fashion.
Primary System – Elections held in the Spring of Presidential election years that allow
party members on a state by state basis to nominate the Presidential Candidate of there
choice. The first state Primaries are Iowa and New Hampshire which makes these state
incredibly powerful and important. This phenomenon is known as frontloading. That is
the idea that the early primaries are the most important. They still have the National
Conventions but the President and Vice President is decided prior to the Convention
thanks to the Primaries. Along with the state primary votes on a state by state basis,
there are also a group of individuals called Super Delegates. These are generally famous
political figures from both parties who have a large number of at large bids to place
towards the candidate of their choice. They serve as a buffere between the party voters
and the party’s nominee. In 2008 the Democrats had 800 “super-delegates” that came
from mostly the elite ranks of the party. The super-delegates — nearly 40 percent of the
delegates needed to clinch the nomination — are senators, governors, members of the
House, and other top officials and ex-officials.
Closed Primary is when you must declare your party prior to walking into to vote.
You declare yourself a Republican before the election during registration and when you
vote you will only get a ballot with only Republicans on it.
Open Primary is when you must still declare your party but you can decide when you
walk into the polling place. It does not have to be doen prior like the Closed Primary
System. Ohio has an Open Primary.
Blanket Primary / Free Love Primary – You can vote for either Democratic and Republican
Candidates.
Party Machines are illegal party organizations that recruit its members by the use of
tangible incentives such as money, political favors, and opportunity. Machines were
made illegal by the Hatch Act Passed in 1939. Yet, like organized crime, machines are
hard to define. To a certain extent machines have been replaced by interest groups.
AP Notes
2008 Democratic Primary Election
The 2008 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by
which voters of the Democratic Party of the United States chose their
candidate for the 2008 United States presidential election. The Democratic
Party candidate for president was selected through a series of primary
elections and caucuses culminating in the 2008 Democratic National
Convention held from Monday, August 25, through Thursday, August 28,
2008, in Denver, Colorado. In order to secure the nomination at the
convention, a candidate needed to receive at least 2,117 votes from
delegates—a simple majority of the 4,233 delegate votes, including half-votes
from American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and
Democrats Abroad. Senator Barack Obama surpassed that total on June 3,
2008, becoming the apparent Democratic nominee. His last remaining
opponent, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, conceded the nomination four
days later. Obama was officially recognized as the Democratic nominee at
the August convention. It was considered to be one of the most competitive
and most exciting primary races in United States history. Source Wikipedia
Super Delegates – Delegates with a proportionally large amount of votes for the candidate of their choice. They
are generally high ranking members of the party that are not tied to any states primary. Al Gore was a Super
delegate in 2004 and 2008. The Democrats has more super delegate some 800 compared to the GOP who has
around 100. The Democrats allow for every Democratic member of Congress to have a vote for their parties
nominee. This could lead to a brokered convention if the primary candidates are very close in the state’s
primary votes. If none of the candidates receive a majority, and the party is forced to rely on the votes of super
delegates at the convention, then a broker convention occurs. In 2008 the Democrats were dangerously close to
having a brokered convention. Brokered Conventions do not o so well. Just ask the Democratic Party in 1968.
AP Kids Should Know This! The higher ones education and
income, the more likely the person is to vote and run for office.
The lower ones education and income the less likely they are to
vote. African-Americans, when you take income and education
out of the equation vote at a higher rate than whites. AfricanAmericans are the most reliable Democratic Voters
AP Kids Should Know This! Primary
elections have lower voter turn out than
general elections. In addition, primary
voters tend to be more educated and have a
higher income
AP Kids Should Know This! Internal Efficacy is the belief that one can understand politics and therefore
participate in politics. External Efficacy is the belief that one is effective when participating in politics, for
example that the government will respond to one's demands. The higher one’s internal and external efficacy,
the more likely they are to vote. Thos who vote in primaries tend to have high internal and external efficacy
Political Parties
National Chairpersons – Handle the day to day operations of the party and
plan for the all important National Convention.
DNC – Howard Dean
RNC – Michael Steele
Under Howard Dean’s
leadership the
Democrats won
Congress in 2006 and
Senator Obama won an
electoral landslide under
Dean’s “50 state
strategy.”
Michael Steele when
chosen to head up the
RNC in 2009 became the
first black chairman in the
history of the Republican
Party. The GOP, however,
still lacks the diversity of
the Democratic Party.
National Conventions – Held every 4 years / presidential election years in August.
Generally last around 3-4 days.
Duties of the National Convention
1. Present the President and Vice President.
a. It has been decided prior to the convention thanks to the primaries.
2. Present the party platform.
3. Pep Rally for the Party – Sometimes it goes terribly wrong.
1968 Democratic Convention
Robert Kennedy
Hubert Humphrey
Richard Daley
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago,
Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. The purpose of the Democratic National Convention was for the election of a suitable
nominee to run as the Democratic Party’s choice for the post of President of the United States of America. With events in the
United States crashing against the American population faster and faster, 1968 quickly developed into a year of rage. All across
America emotions ran high. Tensions peaked when two leaders, ones who had brought the promise of hope to a generation, were
assassinated. A harsh blow came to the Civil Rights movement when Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on April 4, 1968,
followed by the assassination of one of the anti-war movements hopefuls, Robert F. Kennedy on June 5/6 (shot early morning of
June 5, died 26 hours later), 1968. Chicago's mayor. Richard J. Daley, intended to showcase his and the city's achievements to
national Democrats and the news media. Instead, the proceedings garnered its media attention and notoriety because of the large
number of demonstrators and the use of force by the Chicago police during what was supposed to be, as named by Yippie activist
organizers, “A Festival of Life.” Source Wikipedia.
Interest Groups
Interest Group – An interest group is a group, however loosely or tightly
organized, doing advocacy: those determined to encourage or prevent
changes in public policy without trying to be elected.The fundemental
difference between an interest group and a political party is that an interest
group does not nominate candidtes.
Material Incentive Interest Groups – People join together for a material
purpose generaly money or services readily valued.
- American Asscoaition of Retired People AARP
o The most powerful interest group in the US.
o 30 million members
o 45% of the population is 55 or older. They vote. They have
money. Can be either conservative or liberal
o The higher your education and income, the higher your
likelihood to vote.
We’re
Powerful!
- National Association of Maunfacturers NAM
o Cares little about product saftey. Instead wants to make sure
the business they represent stay strong. Generally
conservative in nature.
o Corporate Interest Groups make up the largest type of interest
groups
Corporate / economic interest groups make up
the largest number of interest group firms in
Washington DC. In addition, they are far
more likely to use traditional lobbying
techniques like “wining and dining,” providing
very detailed technical information, holding
PAC fund raisers for candidates, and linking
candidates to powerful leaders of corporations.
Material Interest Groups Continue
Industry Interest Groups – Represent automobiles, tobacco, oil,
pharamcies. Their main concern is $.
- Labor Unions – strive to improve the wages and working conditions
for working people.
- Taft-Hartley Act 1947 - is a United States federal law that greatly
restricts the activities and power of labor unions.
o They have declined in power over the years. Peaked in power
in 1945 weakened today
 Why?
 Economic Changes – Jobs overseas
 Become less needed as earlier goals were accomplished.
 Somewhat unpopular amongst the American people.
o General liberal in nature.
o Can be professional associations such as teachers, lawyers, or
docters. NEA, ABA, AMA
Purposive Incentive Interest Groups / Public Interest Groups They join
together in hopes of achieving a stated goal. They attract members for
ideological reasons.
o Tend to be liberal in nature.
o Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in order to make
products safer. Public Citizen Vs. Lawn Darts
Ralph Nader and the Pinto
- PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
- NRA – National Rifleman’s Association
- NARAL – Pro-Choice Organization.
- National Right to Life –
Money and Campaign
1. Make Monitary Donations to Political Parties and Candidates PAC – Political Action Committees. – This is what interests groups must
declare them selves in order to make contributions. Most PAC’s are
corporate in nature.
Hard money – regulated money.
Hard money Limits
$2,300 to one individual for 1 election (4,600 in 1 election year.)
PAC’s can give $5,000 to one individual for 1 election (10,000 in 1 election
year.)
Soft Money – unregulated money.
Soft money is generally given to the RNC or the DNC to be filtered to the
candidate of the donor’s choice. This is called the soft money loop hole. It
has no limits and it is perfectly legal.
Donor
Candidate
$
$
McCain-Feingold-Cochran Campaign Reform Bill
1.
Was supposed to ban soft money.
2.
Restrictions on "Phony Issue Ads" Run by Corporations and
Unions (The Snowe-Jeffords Amendment).
3.
Greater Disclosure and Stronger Election Laws
McCain-Feingold was supposed to do all of this. However, the Federal
Election Commission (FEC) gutted its power.
Buckley V Valeo 1976
1. There can be hard money limits to campaign contributions.
2,000 for any one candidate from 1 individual
5,000 for any candidate from 1 Political Action Committee.
2. One’s ability to give money to candidates is protected by the 1st
Amendment.
Interest Groups - How they work?
AP Kids should know that this would make a great free response question.
1. Make Political Contributions by establishing Political Action
Committees (PAC) – Limits to PAC’s.
Individual $2,300 to individual candidates
PAC’s $5,000 to individual candidates
This is why most dinners that are fund raisers are $1,000 or 2,000 a
plate.
2. They inform voters with statistics and ratings. Interest Groups provide
individuals with valued information. They provide politicians with
political cues that tell politicians how they should vote. Think Tanks
are public interest groups that do research on policy questions. They
disseminate the information in books, articles, conferences, op-ed, and
testimony in Congress.
Liberal Think Tanks
Progressive Policy Institute
Children’s Defense Fund
Conservative Think Tanks
American Enterprise Institute
Heritage Foundation
3. They go to Court – They sue Corporations and the US government to
achieve their goals. They will find someone who has been harmed and
represents them. No interest group has accomplished more of their
goals by using the courts than the NAACP.
Liberal Public Interest Law Firms
American Civil Liberties Union
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Women’s Legal Defense Fund
Conservative Public Law Firms
Washington Legal Foundation
Landmark Legal Foundation
Atlantic Legal Foundation
Nader’s Raiders v. Ford
Brown vs. Board of Education 1954
4. Lobbying – Persuasion that is done by an
interest group member that tries to influence
a politician. Wine and Dine! It goes beyond
just the dinner, however. The most important
thing that lobbyists do is give the politicians
valuable, detailed, and biased information.
Revolving Door is when a Congressman
retires and becomes a lobbyist.
What would his advantage be?
K Street – K Street is where most of DC’s lobbying firms are located
Why is it so rare for an interest group to lobby the Supreme Court and Federal Courts?
The answer is that since federal judges have life tenure, they are free from direct political
pressures and therefore do not rely on interest groups money or influence. Other than
amicus curiae briefs, interest groups have very little effect in the federal courts
AP Notes Interest Groups
Activities of Interest Groups
Supply Credible Information
- Best when the issues are very detailed, narrow, and technical.
- This is there single most important tactic.
- Current information help build Lobbyist / Legislature relationship
- Officials need political cues regarding values and how they fit into their own
political beliefs.
- Rating or Grading Systems are available for constituents to see how their
Congressman voted.
Hard Money – Basically, all of the legal, regulated stuff that goes to candidates, parties,
and PACs. Regulated just means it has to be reported and it can’t exceed
$2,300/contribution (for individuals). It may seem innocent since it’s all coming from
individuals (to begin with), but this is where the vast majority of money enters the
system.
Bundling – The best way to buy direct influence. Basically, you (corporate CEO) write
candidate X your $2,300 check, you get your wife and kids and board members and
executives to do the same, and then you hand your candidate a bundle—literally—of big
fat checks. Bush’s “Rangers” ($200,000 fundraisers) are big-time bundlers. And the
biggest catch is: all the money is legal, regulated hard-money!
Soft Money – Soft money is the opposite of hard money, meaning all the unlimited,
unregulated stuff that goes to state and local party committees and electioneering
groups. Before BCRA (McCain-Feingold), hundreds of millions in unlimited contributions
from special interests were pouring into the national parties; now, it’s has to be a bit
more circuitous. Soft money was created back in the 1970’s when election law left parties
free to solicit unregulated contributions for use in generic “party-building” activities, but
with the advent of TV advertising and the sky-rocketing costs of campaigns, its uses
inevitably became more candidate-specific. 527s are now the big soft-money culprits.
527 Group – 527 ads are created primarily to influence the nomination, election,
appointment or defeat of candidates for public office. Although candidate committees
and political action committees are also created under Section 527, the term is generally
used to refer to political organizations that are not regulated by the Federal Election
Commission or by a state elections commission, and are not subject to the same
contribution limits as PACs. Although the Swift boat ads were conservative in nature, the
majority of 527 ads are liberal.
The 3 reasons for the growth of interest groups in the United States
AP kids should know that this would make a great free - response question.
Interest Groups have been gaining power in the United States since the 1960’s. The
largest proliferation of any of these interest groups is in the field of Corporate Lobbying
firms.
1. Broad economic developments.
As American population increased farmers began to grow more food. They in turn
saw profits and they began to organize themselves politically to protect those
profits. The Grange is an interest group that represents the economic concerns of
farmers. Another example would be the AFL – CIO. There were no labor unions in
the United States until there was first mass production and the need to utilize large
amounts of man power to fuel the profits found in those industries.
2. Government policy creates and increases the power of interest groups.
Wilson points out that; wars create veterans who in turn ask for benefits. What is
then formed our groups like the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
3. History.
This is the idea that as events around the world and in the US unfolded, groups of
people formed to deal with these issues. The NAACP arose to combat Jim Crow
laws in the South. MoveOn.org, a liberal 504 group, started during the Clinton
scandal and the anger felt by some liberals towards the Republican Congress’s
impeachment of Bill Clinton.
Traditionally, interest groups, especially corporate interest groups, have used mostly conventional
ways of gaining power in government and getting their agenda’s met. These techniques are such
simple things as lobbying through winning and dining, giving detailed information, and making PAC
contributions. However, as of late, some interest groups have been utilizing more inventive ways of
getting their message out and influencing DC. One of these methods is grassroots lobbying.
Grassroots lobbying is appealing to the general public to contact the legislature about an issue.
Direct lobbying, which is done by corporate firms, is contacting government officials or employees
directly to influence legislation. This is sometimes referred to as mass mobilization.
Grassroots / Mass mobilization lobbying techniques
1. e-mail / letter writing campaigns – interest groups will employ grassroots technique of e-mail
campaigns. They will urge all members or those who sympathize with their cause to e-mail
their targeted politician or politicians.
2. phone calls to congressional offices or targeted politicians.
3. mass demonstration – This is when lobbying firms use their freedom of assembly right to urge
involvement.
Sometimes individuals do not have to get directly involved and they still can get something from the
interest groups. This is called the free-rider phenomenon. A free rider is a person who chooses to
receive the benefits of a "public good" without contributing to paying the costs of producing those
benefits. An example of this would be the AARP working to strengthen social security benefits for
retirees. Those under the age of 55 would be free riders because although they are neither retired
now, nor active paying members of the association, one day they will be, and they will receive the
benefits.
Media’s Affects on Campaigns, Elections, and Parties
3 Roles of the Media
1. Watchdog – The media through scrutiny and investigation alerts the American
public to wrongdoing. The best historical example of this would be Bob Woodward
and Carl Bernstein, who wrote most of the Watergate stories for the Washington
Post broke the story that the Nixon White House was involved in the Watergate
cover up. A muckraker is a journalist who searches through the activities of public
officials and organizations, especially business firms, seeking to expose conduct
contrary to the public interest.
2. Gatekeeper – The media decides which issues are newsworthy and which issues
get reported on and aired. The best example of the media’s role as gate keeper
would be their coverage of the Iraq war. The GOP claimed early in the war that the
media focus too much on the negative stories of the war and not enough of the
successes in Iraq. Now that the war is going better since the troop surge, the GOP
and the White House now contend that the media is not covering these positive
developments enough.
3. Scorekeeper – This is the idea that the media will at times take sides on the issues
and pick winners and losers before they are determined. Conservatives have
often claimed that there exists a liberal bias on the televised news media. Liberals
complain of the same bias on AM talk radio.
The media focuses on sound bites which are short news stories concerning a politician
speech. This is also associated with horse race journalism. Horse race journalism is a
term used to describe instances of political journalism of elections that resemble
coverage of horse races because of focus on polling data, public perception instead of
candidate policy, and almost exclusive reporting on candidate differences rather than
similarities. "For journalists, the horse-race metaphor provides a framework for analysis.
A horse is judged not by its absolute speed or skill but in its comparison to the speed of
other horses, and especially by its wins and losses."
Source Anthony C. Broh
There are some regulations for the media from the FCC
Equal time rule – The equal time rules says if a station sells time to one candidate for office, it
must be willing to sell equal time to opposing candidates.
Right of reply rule – If a person is attacked on a broadcast (other than in a regular news
program), that person has the right to reply over that same station.
Political editorializing rule – says a broadcaster endorses a candidate; the opposing candidate
has a right to reply.
Media attention to politics has increased over the years. The hyper-sensitive media
attention to politics is best exemplified with the increase coverage of Congressional
hearings. CNN, Fox, and MSNBC will cover what they perceive to be important stories
and issues. It is generally a win / win situation. The media gets their story and the
Congressman gets his name and face on television.
Why would the 110th Congress get
involved in baseball’s steroid
scandal?
Why are Hollywood celebrities asked
to appear in front of Congress?