Interest Groups

Interest Group A private organization that tries to persuade public officials to respond to the shared attitudes of its members Their goal is to influence public policy Public policy is all the things government tries to do in order to achieve certain goals

Interest Groups are Everywhere World World Trade Organization (WTO) National National Rifle Association (NRA) State Michigan Education Association (MEA) Local Plymouth-Canton Education Association (PCEA) Interest groups work for an idea and against competing ideas

Types of Interest Groups Economic Groups Business Groups (Chamber of Commerce of the United States) Labor Groups (AFL-CIO [American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations) Agricultural Groups (National Farmers Union) Professional Groups (American Bar Association)

Types of Interest Groups Groups for Causes ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) League of Women Voters National Women’s Christian Temperance Movement Promotes welfare for other groups AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Religious Organizations Christian Coalition National Council of Churches

Types of Interest Groups ATR (Americans for Tax Reform) ATR asks every candidate for elected office on the state and federal level to make a written commitment to their constituents to "oppose and vote against tax increases.” “The Pledge” (13 min)

Goals of Interest Groups In the end, interest groups want to affect change Hire Lobbyists Form Political Action Committees (PACs) Go door-to-door Ask you to sign petitions Hold demonstrations Ask for money Run commercials Hold weekly, monthly, or yearly meetings Mail things to your house Visit Congressmen Letter writing campaigns To Congressmen To newspapers To constituents

Lobbyists Someone who is employed to persuade legislators to vote for legislation that favors the lobbyist's employer

PACs A political action committee (PAC) is any organization in the United States that campaigns for or against political candidates, ballot initiatives or legislation. At the federal level, an organization becomes a PAC when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election, according to the Federal Election Campaign Act. Limit of $5,000 to a candidate per political cycle List of PACs

Super PACs Super PACs, officially known as "independent-expenditure only committees," may not make contributions to candidate campaigns or parties, but may engage in unlimited political spending independently of the campaigns. Also unlike traditional PACs, they can raise funds from corporations, unions and other groups, and from individuals, without legal limits. Restore Our Future (Mitt Romney) Priorities USA (Barack Obama)

Media’s Role Stump Speeches Sound Bites Watchdog – can expose lies or corruption/illegal activities Gatekeeper – what subjects become national issues Scorekeeper – decide who is winning and who is losing Political Agenda – sets how candidates are judged Candidate Centered – the focus is on the candidate, not the party

What issue do they support? President Barack Obama   Major Endorsements Name What issue do they support? How are they political? Meaning: How do they get what they want? President Barack Obama Interest Groups #1 #2 #3 Governor Mitt Romney

What Shapes Public Opinion? Chapter 8

Measuring Public Opinion Family & School Polls Gallup Poll Margin of error Random Sample In person, by phone, by internet vote

Polls Who? Who is responsible for the poll? What? What is the audience? How? How was the sample chosen? Why? Why is the poll being conducted? When? When was the data collected?

Mass Media Sources Print (newspapers, magazines) TV Radio Internet Blogs 12,000 in 2000 141 million by 2010

Mass Media Depth + Time = Accuracy Purpose Reporting the news vs. Making the news

What is the job of the media? Make news? Report news? Make money? Keep our attention?