Chapter 18 Interest Groups & Public Opinion. Interest Group Organization A group of people united to promote a special interest. and influence the gov’t.

Chapter 18Chapter 18Interest Interest Groups Groups

& Public & Public OpinionOpinion

Interest Group Interest Group OrganizationOrganization

• A group of people united to promote a special interest. and influence the gov’t

• They support candidates, try to influence lawmakers

• A bridge from people to gov’t

Why do they Why do they exist?exist?• What we want.• Strength in numbers.• Economic self interest

(Labor Unions, Business groups)

• Promoting beliefs, values, attitudes

• AKA “Pressure Groups”

Such as…Such as…

Public Interest GroupsPublic Interest Groups

• More general. Defend Public Interests as a whole. As they see them.

They Create They Create PolicyPolicy • How can policy

be affected?• Advertising, to

create public support.

• Court action• Amendments• Bribes!!!

What else do they do?What else do they do?

• Provide information• Actually provide drafts of bills• Gain Support by…

• Media campaigns• Letter writing

Lobbying & LobbyistsLobbying & Lobbyists

• Direct contact with lawmakers to influence their opinions.

• Interest group reps are lobbyists• Anyone employed by a client,

spending more than one contact on behalf of the client, spent more than 20% of their time working for client.

• Many former gov’t officials. Why?

PACs and Political Campaigns. PACs and Political Campaigns.

• Political Action Committees represent corporations, labor unions, or interest groups.

• Provide candidates with contributions. • Pacs created in 1976, dramatic increase $59M

to 596M in 2004• Incumbents receive the lion’s share.

Financing Political CampaignsFinancing Political Campaigns

• Dependence on media campaigning means a greater dependence on campaign contributions.

• As campaigns have focused on advertising, the cost of campaigning has skyrocketed.

• In 2000, candidates spent more than $3 billion.

• Without the ability to raise large sums of money for campaign costs, candidates have little chance of winning.

Federal Election Campaign Federal Election Campaign Act 1971Act 1971

• Limited spending on advertising and required disclosure on contributions of over $100.

• Unions and corporations could no longer make direct contributions - had to set up Political Action Committees (PACs).

• Voluntary income-tax check-off for contributing to presidential campaigns was created.

Financing the CampaignFinancing the Campaign

•Buckley v. Valeo. •1971 act had placed limits on how much money a candidate could spend on his or her own campaign. •1976, the Supreme Court ruled that this provision was unconstitutional.

The Federal Election The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974:Campaign Act of 1974:

• Created Federal Election Commission.• Public funding of presidential elections. • Limited presidential campaign spending for

those who accept.• Placed limits on contributions. Individual

$1,000 per candidate per election, with a maximum total of $25,000.

• PACs limited to $5,000 per candidate per election. (Excluding “soft money” contributions to the political parties for “party building” activities.)

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.of 2002.

• The act banned soft money contributions to the national party committees. • Limitations on issue advocacy advertisements

and increased the individual contribution limit to $2000 (from $1000).

• Consequences of the 2002 Act. • One impact of the act will be that it will hurt

the ability of the political parties to help the candidates running on the party label.

Beyond the Limits.Beyond the Limits.• Problems caused by soft money, which

allow contributors to skirt limits but still influence the election.

• Contributions to Political Parties. • The legislation of 1971and 1974 placed no

restrictions on money given to parties for voter registration, general publicity about a party’s positions, and the national conventions.

• Contributions for such purposes were called “soft money,” as opposed to regulated “hard money.”

Jailed Jailed LobbyistsLobbyists

Soft Money.Soft Money.• Independent Expenditures.

• It was soon discovered that it was legal to make independent expenditures not coordinated with the candidates’ campaigns.

• Issue Advocacy. • Interest groups buy advertising that

advocates positions on issues and either attack or praise candidates on the basis of the issues.

• As long as no candidates are actually endorsed, the tactic is legal.

What is Public Opinion?What is Public Opinion?

• The aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs shared by some portion of the adult population• there is no one public opinion because

there are many different “publics”• consensus – when there is general

agreement among the citizenry on an issue

• divisive opinions – when public opinion is polarized between two quite different positions

Consensus and DivisiveConsensus and Divisive

© 2004 Wadsworth Publishing / Thomson Learning™

Qualities of Public Qualities of Public OpinionOpinion

• Intensity – the strength of a position for or against an issue• an intense minority often can win on

issue over a less intense majority• Fluidity – the extent to which

public opinion changes over time• Stability – the extent to which

public opinion remains constant over a period of time

Qualities of Public Qualities of Public OpinionOpinion (cont.)(cont.)

• relevance – the extent to which an issue is of concern at a particular time• issues become relevant when they are

viewed as of direct concern to daily life

• political knowledge – the extent to which individuals are aware of an issue

Polling TechniquesPolling Techniques• random sample – each member of the

population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample

• quota sample – a less accurate technique wherein polling organizations predetermine the characteristics of the needed sample, and then find respondents with those characteristics to fill the slots

• sampling error – the difference between a sample’s results and the result

Problems with PollsProblems with Polls

• polls as a “snapshot in time” of potentially shifting opinions

• presidential election polls in 1948 and 1980

• sampling errors• unscientific polls: Internet, phone-in• wording of questions• influence of interviewer• high nonresponse rates

Political SocializationPolitical Socialization

• the process by which individuals acquire political beliefs and attitudes

• How are Americans socialized?• Family

• the most important force in socialization• parents communicate preferences to

children• children want to please parents and are

receptive to their views

Political Socialization, Political Socialization,

• School• learn patriotism, structure of government

and how to form positions on issues• the more education a person has, the

more likely he or she will be interested in politics

• Peers• most likely to shape political opinions

when peer groups are politically active

Political Socialization, Political Socialization, (cont.)(cont.)

• Religious Influence• religious groups are likely to transmit

definite political preferences•Roman Catholics, Jewish more

liberal•Protestants more conservative

Political Socialization, Political Socialization, (cont.)(cont.)

• Economic Status and Occupation• poorer people more inclined to

favor social-welfare programs, more conservative on social issues, more isolationist

• richer people conservative economically

Political SocializationPolitical Socialization, ,

(cont.)(cont.)

• Influence of Political Events• events impact people’s political

attitudes• when the effect of an event is long-

lasting and impacts the preferences of those who came of age at that time, it is called a generational effect•Great Depression, World War II and

the Vietnam War

Political Socialization, Political Socialization,

• Opinion Leaders’ Influence• leaders sometimes influence the opinions of others

• Media Influence• newspapers, television, radio and the

Internet influence public opinion

Political Socialization,Political Socialization,• Demographic Traits

• African Americans more liberal• whites comparatively conservative• younger adults more liberal• older adults comparatively conservative

• The Gender Gap – the difference between the % of votes a candidates receives from women versus from men• women tend to vote more Democrat• men tend to vote more Republican

Political trustPolitical trust

© 2004 Wadsworth Publishing / Thomson Learning™

Problem trendsProblem trends

© 2004 Wadsworth Publishing / Thomson Learning™

DiscussionDiscussion

• How can public opinion influence politicians and other government officials?

• How much should public opinion influence government decisions?

• In what ways are political socialization agents working on you now?

• How much does school shape political views?