Download Essential Questions:

Teacher’s name: Lauren Frantz
Subject: AP Government
Grade Level: 12th
Date: October 23, 2006
Topic: Interest Groups-Intro
Essential Questions:
1. Interest groups are groups with specific shared interests. How can such groups be seen as
reflecting popular sovereignty?
2. How do interest groups provide Americans with ways to influence and check government
policy?
3. In what ways do interest groups balance national and local concerns and agendas?
General Objectives:
VA SOL:
GOVT.9 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the process by which public
policy is made by
d) analyzing how individuals, interest groups, and the media influence
public policy
NCSS Strand:
Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
Learning Outcomes:
1. In the study of interest groups, SWBAT analyze how and why interest groups influence
public policy and will share their ideas through a graphic organizer.
Assessment:
Student will be completing an activity where they think about issues in their own lives
that they would lobby for, define the issue as political, economic, or social, and defend
their placement of the issue. This will allow me to gauge how much of the lesson the
students understood without conducting a formal assessment.
Content Outline:
I.
Interest groups
a. An organized group of individuals sharing common objectives who actively
attempt to influence policy makers in all three branches of the government and at
all levels
b. Lobbyist: an organization or individual who attempts to influence the passage,
defeat, or contents of legislation and the administrative decisions of government
c. Wide rage of groups: local PTA to state wide associations
d. Small groups like: local environmental organizations
e. National groups: Boy Scouts of America, the American Civil Liberties Union, the
National Educational Association, and the American League of Lobbyists
II.
Interest groups and social movements
a. Social movements: a movement that represents the demands of a large segment of
the public for political, economic, or social change
b. Are often the first expression of latent discontent with the current system
c. Ex. women’s movement of the nineteenth century suffered social disapproval
from most mainstream political and social leaders
i. After the Civil War, women were more active in professional life, the first
real women’s rights group, the National Woman Suffrage Association was
formed
ii. National Organization for Women was formed to end gender-segregated
job advertising in the news paper
III.
IV.
d. Ex. African Americans at the end of Reconstruction were unable to exercise
political rights in many of the southern and border states. Participation in any type
of organization economic ruin, physical harassment, or even death.
i. Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s- was a social movement
ii. Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Association of
the Advancement of Colored People, and the Urban League
e. Social movements are often the beginnings of interest groups
Why so many?
a. Right to join a group is protected by the First Amendment, able to peacefully
assemble, and petition the Government with grievances
b. Constitution encourages Americans to form groups and express their opinions to
the government, elected official
c. Group membership makes an individuals opinion more powerful—have the
ability to vote for or against an individual
d. Local: form groups and lobby city council
e. State or National: influence statewide policy through Congress or executive
agencies, cabinets departments
f. Pluralist theory: openness of the American political structure as a major factor in
the power of groups in American politics
i. When actions fail at the executive and legislative levels interest groups
can try the judicial branch
Why do Americans Join Interest Groups
a. Latent interests: public-policy interests that are not recognized by a group at a
particular time
i. Political theorist Mancur Olson: “collective good” any public benefit that,
if available to any other member of the community, cannot be denied to
any other member, whether or not he or she participated in the effort to
gain the good
ii. Ex. Clean air, national defense—you don’t have to join to get the benefits
1. Free rider problem: the difficulty interest groups face in recruiting
members when the benefits they achieve can be gained without
joining the group
iii. Collective action- if the contribution of an individual will make a
difference to the effort, then it is worth it to the individual to join
1. smaller groups, which seek benefits for small proportion of the
population , are more likely to enroll members who will give the
time and money to the cause
b. Solitary Incentives
i. A reason or motive having to do with the desire to associate with others
and to share with others a particular interest or hobby
ii. National Audubon Society: save the snow egret from extinction—today
member join to learn more about birds and meet other people who like
birds. Political agenda—works to preserve the environment and protect
endangered species
c. Material Incentives
i. A reason or motive having to do with economic benefits or opportunities
ii. AARP (American Association for Retired People)—provides discounts,
insurance plans, and organized travel opportunities for members. Low
dues ($12.50 yr) and great benefits have made the largest and very
powerful interest group
iii. American Dairy Association or the National Association of Automobile
Dealers—no discounts but indirect benefits and rewards for protecting the
material interests of their industry
d. Purposive Incentives
i. A reason or motive having to do with ethical beliefs or ideological
principles
ii. Abortion or gun control—feel strongly enough about the issue to spend
their time and money to support the group’s work
Student and Teacher Activities:
Time
Teacher
HOOK: What is an interest
group? Is the NRA an interest
group? Today we are going to
figure out what classifies
something as an interest group
15 minutes
Set Induction: I will hand out the
Postmodern Protests reading and
have the students re-read it to
refresh their memories
Ask the students questions:
1. What was the goal of the
demonstration held on
Inauguration Day?
2. What was the goal(s) of the
demonstrations of the past?
3. What occurred that caused
protest marches to become
less common?
4. What did the Million Man
March want to accomplish?
Why was this march so
different?
*Interest groups have made
marches and protest less
influential because they are able
Students
Students will answer the question
and begin thinking about
characteristics that interest groups
have
Students will re-read Postmodern
Protests
Answer my questions and discuss
their views on the reading.
1. The march wanted to affirm
the protester’s right to protest,
and enrich the experience of
protesting
2. Success was judged by the
march’s affect on a political
outcome.
3. As various advocacy groups
and social movements became
institutionalized and set up
shop in Washington with
staffs, marches and protests
became less necessary.
4. Gathered to make a promise
to themselves—to each
other—to improve their lives
and their families
35 minutes
5 minutes
to conduct a streamlined
campaign for their issue inside
the halls of the Congress and the
Senate.
Lecture: The students have not
read this section of the chapter
so I will be activating their prior
knowledge by lecturing on
interest groups and reinforcing
the content with graphic
organizers and graphic
organizers to help students
organize their notes.
Closure:
Think about the things and
issues in your life that are
important to you (sports, music,
rights, movies, art, etc.) What
are the issues in your life that
you would join or form an
interest group to lobby for?
Students will be actively listening
to my lecture and filling in the
graphic organizers as I talk.
Students will talk about the issues
in their table groups and come up
with a list of three issues in the
categories of economic, political,
and social that they would lobby
for. They must also defend their
placement of the issue in the
chosen category with a small
explanation. This will be handed
in at the end of the bell
Materials:
Postmodern Protests reading, interest group flow chart, reasons to join interest group graphic
organizer
Differentiation:
This is the first lesson in this unit and I have not pre-tested my students to see where they
are on this content. I am introducing the material as a way to activate the student’s prior
knowledge before the pre-assessment. Today’s lesson is whole group lecture to
accommodate the auditory learners, I am using power point slides for my visual learners,
as well as a flow chart and graphic organizers to help students to organize their notes on
the lecture. At the end of the lesson students will be able to work in groups to process and
apply the information from the lesson.
Subject Matter Integration/Extension:
Reflections: