POLITICAL PARTIES AND INTEREST GROUPS: HOW DO THEY INFLUENCE OUR POLITICAL DECISIONS? Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Public Policy.

POLITICAL PARTIES AND INTEREST GROUPS: HOW DO THEY INFLUENCE OUR

POLITICAL DECISIONS?

Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Public Policy

Key Terms

Political Party

Interest Group

Platform

Two-party System

Pluralism

Political Action Committee (PAC)

Lobbying

Public Policy

POLITICAL PARTIES HAVE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN AMERICAN POLITICS

SINCE THE EARLY YEARS OF THE REPUBLIC.

Political Parties

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.

The Structure of Political Parties

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

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)

The Two-Party System

Evolution of the Two-Party System

Feds/Anti-Feds Democratic-Republicans Dem-Reps/Nat’l Reps Dems/Whigs Dems/Reps

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.

Republican Democrat

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

Republicans & Democrats in the 21st Century

Red and Blue America

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

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

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…

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.

Interest Groups

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.

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

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)

What Kinds of Groups Do Americans Join?

Government Groups National Governors Association, National Education

Association (NEA)

Others: foreign policy groups, nationality groups, religious organizations

The Rise of Political Action Committees

Funding organizations

Collect donations and funnel $$ into political campaigns

1980 - $131M2012 - $560M

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

What Makes an Interest Group Powerful?

Size & Money

Unity of Purpose

Effective Leadership

Information & expertise

PUBLIC POLICY REFERS TO GOVERNMENT ACTIONS OR PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE CERTAIN GOALS. CREATING

PUBLIC POLICY IS A MULTISTEP PROCESS.

Public Policy

The Dynamics of Policymaking

Issue Identification

Agenda Setting

Policy Formulation

Adoption Implementation

Evaluation