Amy Melissa McKay’s article, “The Power of Negative Lobbying,” discusses the inherent advantages negative lobbyists have in striking down new movements compared to proponents of promoting new legislation. This distinction emanates despite the typically large funding gap between the two groups. McKay calculates a ratio of about four lobbyists proposing new legislation being needed to counteract just one negative lobbyist. Some political scientists have asserted that the amount of conflict rising in a debate over legislation has a correlation with the chances the proposal has of passing.
Mckay points out that one of the major driving influences to the action of legislators is their hopes for reelection. Also, the public perceives money to have …show more content…
Using specific examples, graphs and charts, and theories from many political scientists, McKay casts a wide range of opinions to describe the ins and outs of the current political structure that contain evidence of her theory. She includes data from interviews and explains where she gets her ratio of four to one in regards to the power of negative lobbying to positive lobbying.
Some of the failures of the article are the limited number of specific examples mentioned, especially those prior to the 1990’s. I would have been curious to see if this phenomenon is one that existed in earlier days and whether or not it has changed and how it might have changed. Another aspect of the article that I wish could be expanded upon is whether the negative messaging involved in politics can do more and have more power in outshining positive messaging in other aspects of …show more content…
In the current presidential election race, is there a similar power to negative messages in advertisements and or debates compared to positive messages? I can’t help but wonder, with the rise of Donald Trump and his strategy of focusing on throwing around negative attacks and a generally dour tone, whether his success could be drawn from the dissemination of his message through his media prowess and whether it counteracts the positive campaigns of other
Mckay points out that one of the major driving influences to the action of legislators is their hopes for reelection. Also, the public perceives money to have …show more content…
Using specific examples, graphs and charts, and theories from many political scientists, McKay casts a wide range of opinions to describe the ins and outs of the current political structure that contain evidence of her theory. She includes data from interviews and explains where she gets her ratio of four to one in regards to the power of negative lobbying to positive lobbying.
Some of the failures of the article are the limited number of specific examples mentioned, especially those prior to the 1990’s. I would have been curious to see if this phenomenon is one that existed in earlier days and whether or not it has changed and how it might have changed. Another aspect of the article that I wish could be expanded upon is whether the negative messaging involved in politics can do more and have more power in outshining positive messaging in other aspects of …show more content…
In the current presidential election race, is there a similar power to negative messages in advertisements and or debates compared to positive messages? I can’t help but wonder, with the rise of Donald Trump and his strategy of focusing on throwing around negative attacks and a generally dour tone, whether his success could be drawn from the dissemination of his message through his media prowess and whether it counteracts the positive campaigns of other