26H- examine campaign funding and spending limitations as demonstrated by Political Action Committees, soft money, and hard money Candidates get their money form two sources private contributors and public treasury. Private contributors are small families that give 5 or 10 dollars every now and then or the larger families that are called “fat cats” give large donations. Temporary organizations- groups formed for the immediate purposes of a campaign Public treasury comes from the federal and State treasuries. Subsidy - is a grant of money, usually from a government.

Political action committees affect public policies and the outcomes of the elections in the United States. Political Action Committees - are the political arms of special-interest and other organizations with a stake in electoral politics. (PACs) There are two types of PAC : 1) “Segregated fund committees” and 2) “Unconnected committees” “Segregated fund committees” are special interest groups, they are business associations, labor unions, and professional organizations.

They don’t receive contributions from the general public, they only raise funds from their employees, from stockholders of the corporation, and from members of the labor union. “Unconnected committees” are independent and raise money from the public. They give the money they have raised to the candidates who care for the goals of the PAC and who have a chance of winning. PAC has a limit on the amount of money they can give to each candidate. PAC can give no more than $5,000 to a federal candidate or $10,000 for every election year.

Hard money is money raised and spent to elect candidates for Congress and the White House. Campaign money that is subject to regulations by the FEC. Soft money is funds given to party organizations for such “party-building activities” as candidate recruitment, voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, and similar efforts. Money given to state and local party organizations for voting-related activities

26I Analyze the influence of media coverage, campaign advertising, and public opinion polls on elections results public opinion polls- devices that attempt to collect information by asking people questions two different kinds of public opinion polls- straw vote and scientific polling straw vote- sought to read people’s minds simply by asking the same question of a large number of people; common but highly unreliable In 1936, the Literary Digest said that Governor Alfred Landon was going to win against Franklin Roosevelt but Roosevelt won

Scientific polling can be described in 5 basic steps: pollsters must 1) define the universe to be surveyed; 2) construct a sample; 3) prepare valid questions; 4) select and control how the poll will be taken; 5) analyze and report their findings to the public critics of polls says that in an election, pollsters often create a “bandwagon effect”- voters jump on the bandwagon of the candidate who is ahead in the polls polls offer reasonably reliable guides to public thought public opinion is the major influence on public policy in this country

television is the principle source of news 3 major national networks: the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) the newspaper was important back in the day; regularly carried political news many of the new mediums of communication have been decreasing such as the use of the newspaper ranks second to the television as the public’s primary source of information about gov’t and politics; tries to cover stories in greater depth

the radio began in 1920; provided the nation with dramatic coverage of important events and exposed the American people to politics as never before the radio has become an important source of political commentary before the radio and television set came out, newspapers and magazines constituted the only national medium

the media’s influence can mostly be seen in the public agenda (societal problems that the nation’s political leaders and the general public agree need gov’t attention) and electoral politics the media can chose which particular issues that should be focused and push away others that don’t seem as important the media have contributed to a decline in the place of parties in American politics; candidates are far less dependent on party organizations than they once were

candidates try to manipulate media coverage to their advantage; campaign strategists try to plan campaigns that emphasize television exposure newscasts try to show short, sharply focused sound bites (snappy reports that can be aired in 30 or 45 seconds or so) that appeal to the public only a small part of the public actually takes in and understands much of what the media have to say about public affairs most people who do pay attention to politics are likely to be selective about it

few public affairs programs air in prime time because people want to be entertain instead of being informed about public issues broadcast media seldom give the kind of in-depth coverage that a good newspaper can supply; they only skim the news

26J Summarize the historical expansion of voting rights in America to include the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as well as the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments Colonial Era-Late 19 th Century; Voting rights were limited to adult white males who owned property and were of a certain religion Religious qualifications disappeared in the late 1800s Property ownership qualifications disappeared in 1900’s 15th Amendment – allowed African Americans the right to vote. Voting Rights Act of 1965 and it’s amendments- racial equality. Full voting rights to blacks 24th Amendment eliminated the poll tax (and other taxes) on voting Adoption of 26th amendment- 18 yr. olds given the right to vote.

5 Restrictions for States power on voting 1.) Any person whom a state allows to vote for member of the “most numerous branch” of its own legislative must also be allowed to vote for representatives and senators in Congress 2.) No state can deprive any person of right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude (15 th Amendment) 3.) 19 th Amendment allowed women right to vote in Fed. Elections. 4.) No state can require payment of any tax as a condition for taking part in the nomination or election of any federal office holder (24 th Amendment) 5.) 26 th Amendment; No state can deprive any person who is at least 18 years of age of the right to vote because of age.