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40 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Types of Interest Groups |
Economic Groups - Seek Economic benifit for it's members Business Groups - National Association of Manufacturers Professional Associations - American Medical Association Labor Group - Service Employees International Union Social Group - NRA |
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How do interest groups differ from political parties? |
A political party is a group of people who organize to win elections, operate the government, and determine public policy, whereas an interest group is a group of people who share common goals and who actively try to influence policymakers |
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Why does the US have so many interest groups? |
- The Government is expanding and taking on more responsibilities this creates an incentive to organize and receive more favorable regulations - Strategies for organizational maintenance have improved like direct-mail fund raising - Prominent social movements have served as models for other groups to mobilize. Like the civil rights movement - The federal tax and campaign nance laws encourage organizations to create separate afliated groups for distinct purposes. Like (PACs) - Some groups create new organizations with names designed to appeal to the electorate. |
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How are Interest Groups involved in campaigns? |
- Contribute money (mostly through PACs "common") - Endorse candidates - Commonly communicate with and attempt to mobilize their members to volunteer and turn out to vote - Engage in their own advertising -The campaigning groups are much more likely to take a clear partisan side and be motivated by ideology than those who sit on the sidelines. |
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Example of Interest Groups influencing a campaign |
In 2012 interest groups allocated over four times as much as political parties to independent spending. |
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Why do some interest groups avoid campaigns? |
Interest groups’ primary concerns are policy outcomes, rather than who holds power. Elections are not interest groups’ only opportunities to inuence policy: they can also lobby whoever is elected or appointed. If you plan to talk to members of both parties, it may be disadvantageous to have a rm tie to the Democrats or the Republicans. As judged by their spending habits, most interest groups view spending money on lobbying as a better strategy than spending on campaigns. |
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What are ballot initiative campaigns? |
Where voters decide to support or oppose specific policy changes. |
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What role do interest groups play in Ballot Initiative Campaigns? |
Interest groups often form to pay signature gathering rms to sign up enough registered voters to meet requirements to get an initiative on the ballot. No matter how they make their way onto the ballot, committees often form to support or oppose them. |
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Examples of Interest Groups in Ballot Initiative Campaigns |
- Local governing authorities are sometimes required to put measures like tax increases to the voters. - In 2014, a wealthy technology businessman tried to qualify an initiative to divide California into six separate states. - California voters deciding on ve complicated insurance initiatives found that knowing whether the insurance industry, trial lawyers, and consumer activists supported the measures was enough to convince voters. |
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Why is the term "the media" such a nebulous concept? |
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What compromises the Medai |
Newspaper TV Online Radio |
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To what extent does the government oversee the news media? |
- The First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press means that there are relatively few rules that constrain media coverage. - The media can largely report on political campaigns as they see fit. - Regulated by the FCC (Federal Communication Commission) - The restrictions that do exist pertain mainly to broadcast radio — radio that uses the AM/FM spectrum — and broadcast television, which includes the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox) and their affiliates but not cable television networks. |
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What is the "right to equal time" rule? |
If a station sells time to a candidate who wants to air television advertisements on that station, it must make the same opportunity available to all candidates for that office. |
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Exemptions to the "right to equal time" rule? |
News interviews and on- the- spot news events, like a presidential press conference. The incumbent president, whether or not he is running for reelection, gets news coverage simply for doing things like giving press conferences and traveling to foreign countries. The FCC also exempts presidential debates from the equal time rule. Can exclude third- party candidates without breaking the rule. |
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How does the balance between profit and the norm of objectivity affect what is considered to be news? |
It is important for news outlets to make a profit and popular profitable stories are not usually the stories that will objectively inform the electorate so decisions need to be made about whether to pursue a profit or publish objective news. |
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What aspects of campaigns get covered? |
- The rst and most important news value is novelty. (How recent and new is the story) - The media also values personality. Newsworthy stories often involve compelling people. - Another news value in campaign coverage is conict. It is easier to generate newsworthy stories when the candidates, their surrogates, the parties, interest groups, and other campaign actors are at each other’s throats. - The media cover candidate debates or other joint appearances with a similar hope for conict. - A fourth news value is skepticism. Professional journalists are trained to be dubious about the claims that politicians make. - Perhaps the preeminent focus of campaign coverage, however, is strategy. This kind of campaign coverage is sometimes known as horse race journal-ism. |
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What is horse-race journalism? |
Horse race campaign coverage focuses on which candidate is ahead or behind, who is gaining or losing ground, and what the candidates are trying to do to win (their strategies), much the way the announcer at a horse race describes which horse is winning, surging, or faltering. |
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What effect does the media have on citizens perceptions of a campaign? |
Viewers’ opinions of a debate are often more inuenced by the media’s tone following it rather than their own interpretation of the candidates. |
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Is campaign coverage of news outlets biased? |
- Some of the programming decisions on the more conservative Fox News and the more liberal MSNBC may be driven by the partisan biases of each network’s audience. - Most important, news coverage tends to be more favorable to candidates who are ahead in the polls. |
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How do Candidates and the news media interact? |
They interact directly with the media in interviews, meetings with newspaper editorial boards, and press conferences. They hold public events and give speeches, and invite reporters to attend. They issue press releases, report polling data, publish policy position papers, and announce endorsements. They also leak stories to selected reporters. |
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How does the media effect the public's perceptions of campaigns |
- First, many people do not follow politics very closely. They are unlikely to read, see, or hear much about a political campaign, and thus their opinions about the candidates, if they have any opinions, will not change. - Second, among those who do follow politics, relatively few people are undecided about political candidates, especially at higher levels of ofce, such as the presidency. Instead, these people tend to interpret information from the news media in ways that support the choice they have already made. - Although the media are often less effective at persuasion — or changing what people think — they are more effective at changing what people think about. One way in which the media does this is agenda setting. |
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What is Agenda setting by news media? |
The more the media report on something, the more the public regards it as important. |
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What is priming by news media? |
The media inuence or “prime” the criteria citizens use to make judgments by the degree of emphasis issues receive. |
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What is informing by news media? |
News coverage of campaigns can help citizens learn relevant facts about the candidates, including candidate biographies and issue positions. |
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Define episodic coverage of issues |
Places political issues and events in a general context |
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Define substantive coverage of issues |
Places emphasis on serious or important issues |
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How did Trump use the media to his advantage? |
- Trump exposed the weaknesses in the American political institutions. He’s uncovered profound flaws in the Republican Party.He’s demonstrated that third rail issues like racism and nationalism can still be a potentpolitical force. He’s exploited the media’s goodwill and taken advantage of the lack oftrust the American public has in journalism. - For instance, with his ability to makenews any time he wants with a tweet, news conference or conveniently placed leak,Trump has challenged news organizations’ editorial prerogative. - Categories of coverage include polling stories, Trump vs the Republican Party, and Inflammatory comments. |
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Why is voter turnout so low compared to other countries? |
- Many of the rules that govern elections in America depress citizen participation. For one, the United States does not make voting compulsory. - Election day is held on a workday - We use a winner- take- all method for determining winners, whereas many other countries use a system of proportional representation |
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What is Compulsory voting? |
Voters are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, or lodge a postal vote, he or she may be subject to a penalty such as fines or community service. |
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Why do people participate in campaigns and elections? |
They possess a greater ability , motivation , and opportunity to participate. - Ability of an individual to participate in campaigns and elections depends a great deal on their education, income, and the amount of free time - Political interest , which is simply a person’s reported level of interest in government and public affairs. - Political knowledge - Partisan strength - Mobilization refers to the range of activities that candidates, parties, activists, and interest groups engage in to encourage people to participate. - Self Interest, people participate in politics because they derive some benet from doing so. - Social Contexts, friends, family |
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Who is more likely to vote? |
Older, educated, wealthy, and politically engaged. - Blacks the same if not more likely to vote - Women more likely to vote |
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What factors influence an individual's vote choice? |
Social identities, party identication, the performance of incumbents, policy issues, and candidate trait |
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Why does party identification matter so much? |
Party identification is like other social identities. We feel that we are a member of a group. - Strong predictor of how citizens vote - Functions as an information filter - Motivates people to get out and vote |
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Define sociotropic voting? |
Vote based on their assessment of the national economy |
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Define pocketbook voting? |
Vote based on their own financial situation |
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Define Proximity voting? |
Voters chose candidates whose views are closest to their own. |
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When do campaigns matter? |
Campaigns have their largest persuasive effects when two conditions are met: the candidates are relatively unfamiliar to voters, and one side is able to dominate by virtue of better resources. - Presidential primary campaigns matter more than the general election campaign - Campaigns below the presidential level matter more |
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How do campaigns matter? |
Persuasion, reinforcement, and priming |
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What are Wedge Issues? |
Strategies centered around these issues are designed to convince voters in the opposite party to defect from that party and vote for the other side. Republican Party pursued a wedge issue strategy by sending anti– gay marriage direct mail pieces to Latinos and blacks |
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Define Priming? |
They can also influence why they vote the way they do. |
