1. Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Public Policy
Political parties and interest groups: How do they influence our political decisions?

2. Key Terms Political Party Interest Group Platform Two-party System
Pluralism
Political Action Committee (PAC)
Lobbying
Public Policy

3. Political Parties
Political parties have played an important role in American politics since the early years of the Republic.

4. What Do Political Parties Do in a Democracy?
The primary goal of parties is to get their candidates elected to office.
Parties recruit candidates and support campaigns.
Parties help organize elections and inform voters.
Parties organize the government.
Parties unite diverse interests and make collective action possible.
Platforms
Parties serve as a loyal opposition to the political party in power.

5. The Structure of Political Parties

6. The Two-Party System The Constitution makes no mention of parties.
None existed
Early 1800s – political system w/ two major parties emerged
First parties came from within President Washington’s administration

7. The Two-Party System Alexander Hamilton
Federalists
Anti-Federalists
Alexander Hamilton
Favored a strong national gov’t
Support came from commercial & industrial interests in the north
Disappeared after T.J. became president.
Thomas Jefferson
Favored a weak national gov’t & strong state gov’ts
Support came from farmers & rural interests in the south
Single-handedly destroyed the Federalists (not really but sounds cool)

8. Evolution of the Two-Party System
Feds/Anti-Feds  Democratic- Republicans  Dem-Reps/Nat’l Reps  Dems/Whigs  Dems/Reps

9. Republicans & Democrats in the 21st Century
All kinds of Americans support either party. However, there are trends and “more likely”s among the Republicans and Democrats.

10. Republicans & Democrats in the 21st Century
White
Male
Relatively affluent (financially well-off)
White collar
Highly Religious
Conservative
Member of a minority group
Female
Less affluent
Blue collar
Moderately religious/secular
Liberal

11. Red and Blue America

12. What Issues Do They Disagree On?
Size of the national gov’t
Reps: small nat’l gov’t; more power to states
Dems: strong federal gov’t
Taxes
Reps: across-the-board tax cuts
Dems: tax cuts for poor; tax raises for wealthy to support programs
Regulation of business
Reps: prevents economic growth
Dems: protects consumers, workers, & environment

13. What Issues Do They Disagree On?
Social issues
Reps: more likely to oppose issues like legalizing same-sex marriage, abortion, and gun control laws
Dems: more likely to support issues like same-sex marriage rights, abortion, and gun control laws
Environment
Reps: believe environmental regulations hurt businesses & economy
Dems: favor strict environmental regulations

14. Third Parties Four main types of third parties in the U.S.:
Single-Issue: focus on one issue (taxes, immigration)
Economic Protest: unite opponents of particular economic policies
Ideological: view politics & society through their ideology (Libertarian)
Splinter Groups: offshoots of major parties (Tea Party)
Examples: Socialist Party, Independent Party, Green Party
Are Independents really independent? Not so fast…

15. Interest Groups
Americans join all kinds of groups that reflect their interests, from garden clubs and hiking groups to civic organizations. When such groups seek to influence government, at any level, they are called special-interest groups or special interests.

16. Are Interest Groups Good or Bad?
Many Americans distrust special interests.
Believe groups seek to achieve goals at expense of society.
James Madison believed pluralism was the key to “factions” (interest groups)
Interest groups offer a way to participate in the political process.
Play a critical role in the democratic process.

17. Are Interest Groups Good or Bad?
Thousands of interest groups in the U.S.
Although different, same basic goal
All try to persuade elected officials to take actions to support their interests

18. What Kinds of Groups Do Americans Join?
Economic Interest Groups
Business groups, trade organizations, professional associations, labor unions
Examples: Business Roundtable, American Medical Association, and United Farm Workers of America
Citizens Groups
Claim to promote the public interest
Ex: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)

19. What Kinds of Groups Do Americans Join?
Government Groups
National Governors Association, National Education Association (NEA)
Others: foreign policy groups, nationality groups, religious organizations

20. The Rise of Political Action Committees
Funding organizations
Collect donations and funnel $$ into political campaigns
$131M
$560M

21. How Do Interest Groups Influence Policy?
Lobbying
An attempt to influence policy by persuading public officials to favor or oppose action on a specific issue.
Research and Policy Proposals
Think tanks: an organization of scholars and policy experts who study public issues and write articles and books that summarize their research
Litigation
Lawsuits
Ex: NAACP in Brown v. Board of Ed
Grassroots Mobilization
Strong and vocal support from large group of people at local level

22. What Makes an Interest Group Powerful?
Size & Money
Unity of Purpose
Effective Leadership
Information & expertise

23. Public Policy
Public policy refers to government actions or programs designed to achieve certain goals. Creating public policy is a multistep process.

24. The Dynamics of Policymaking
Issue Identification
Agenda Setting
Policy Formulation
Adoption
Implementation
Evaluation