polical party and interest groups
DESCRIPTION
American government unit 2TRANSCRIPT
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Interest Groups
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Section 1Power of Interest Groups
• An interest group is a group of people who share common goals and organize to influence government.
– Interest groups may support candidates for office who favor their ideas, but they do not nominate candidates for office.
– Interest groups usually are concerned with only a few issues or specific problems.
• Interest groups differ from political parties in several ways:
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Section 1Power of Interest Groups (cont.)
– Most interest groups are organized on the basis of common values, rather than on geographical location.• Interest groups help bridge the gap
between the citizen and the government.
• By representing more than one individual, an interest group has a strong bargaining position with leaders in government.
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Section 1Power of Interest Groups (cont.)
• On the state and national levels, an interest group draws from the financial resources and expertise of its many members.
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Measuring Public opinion
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Section 4Nonscientific Methods
• Elected officials use a number of sources to stay abreast of public opinion, including:– political parties and interest groups;
– mass media;
– letters and e-mails or faxes;
– straw polls—which offer only a biased sample of the population; and
– political Web sites and blogs.
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Section 4Scientific Polling
• Scientific polling involves three basic steps:– selecting a sample of the group to
be questioned;
– presenting carefully worded questions to the individuals in the sample; and
– interpreting the results.
Presidential Approval Ratings Since 1940
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Section 4Scientific Polling (cont.)
• The group of people that is to be studied in a poll is called the universe.• Since it is not practical to interview everyone in a universe, pollsters question a representative sample.
Presidential Approval Ratings Since 1940
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Section 4Scientific Polling (cont.)
• Random sampling is the technique in which everyone in that universe has an equal chance of being selected.
• A sampling error is a measurement of how much the sample results might differ from the sample universe.
• Sampling error decreases as the sample size becomes larger.
Presidential Approval Ratings Since 1940
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Section 4Scientific Polling (cont.)
• One way to draw a random sample is by using a cluster sample which organizes, or clusters, people by geographical divisions.• The way a poll question is phrased can greatly influence people’s responses and, in turn, poll results.
Presidential Approval Ratings Since 1940
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Figure 2
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Lobbyists
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Section 2The Work of Lobbyists
• Lobbying is the process by which interest groups try to influence government policy by making direct contact with lawmakers or other government leaders.
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Section 2The Work of Lobbyists (cont.)
• One of the most important ways that lobbyists make their case is by providing a member of Congress with facts and data about the policy they want.
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Section 2The Rise of Political Action Committees
• Political action committees (PACs) are specifically designed to collect money and provide financial support for a political candidate.
• While federal law prevents corporations and labor unions from making direct contributions to any federal candidate, the law permits their political action committees to do so.
PAC Contributions
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Section 2The Rise of Political Action Committees (cont.)
• The Federal Election Commission issues regulations and advisory opinions that control PAC activities.
PAC Contributions
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Section 2PACs and the Groups They Serve
• PACs can be classified into two categories according to the groups they serve:– Affiliated PACs are those tied to
corporations, labor unions, trade groups, or health organizations.
– Independent, or nonconnected, PACs are groups interested in a particular cause that are not connected to any existing interest group.
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Section 2PACs and the Groups They Serve (cont.)
• 527 organizations—named for part of the tax code—emerged in the 2004 election.• 527 organizations do not directly urge citizens to vote for a specific candidate, but instead focus on advocating an issue.
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Figure 1
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Section 2Strategies for Influence
• PACs use their money to gain access to lawmakers and to influence election outcomes directly.
• Interest groups, especially PACs, raise much of the money used in political campaigns.
• PACs generally support incumbents, or government officials already in office.