Unit 3 -26I. Analyze the influence of media coverage, campaign advertising, and public opinion polls on election results Matt Silva and Logan Garletts 1st

Media is the plural of medium Media Coverage “mirrors or molders” of public opinion. medium- is a means of communication; it transmits some kind of information Media is the plural of medium

T.V., newspaper, radio, and magazine are the most impactful media sources mass media is not a part of government media does not primarily exist to influence the government media presents people with political information

the media provides a large amount of political information less directly by things such as articles about issues likes health care, crime, etc. media helps shape public agenda

public agenda- the societal problems that government officials need to address

private contributors and public treasury two main sources of funding Campaign advertising private contributors and public treasury two main sources of funding small contributors- only 10% of people voting age make contributions

Wealthy individuals and family make many contributions Candidates themselves make contributions Various non-party groups such as political action committes(PACs) PACs- political arms of special- interest and other organizations with a stake in electoral politics

Temporary organizations- groups formed for the immediate purposes of a campaign Public Funds- subsidies from the federal and some state treasuries subsidy- grant of money campaign donations are a form of political participation

Congress began to regulate campaign funding in 1907 The federal election commission(FEC) administers all federal law dealing with campaign finance

Today no person can gave more than $2100 to a federal candidate a primary election, no more than $5000 in any year to apolitical action committee, or $26,700 to a national party committee Limits on expenditures began in 1925 due to Buckley v. Valeo

Congress first began to provide for the public funding of presidential campaigns in the Revenue Act of 1971 hard money- money raised and spent to elect candidates for Congress and the White House

Soft Money- funds given to party organizations

Public Opinion Polls public opinion polls- devices that attempt to collect information by asking people questions straw vote-used in the early 1930s polls that read the same question to a large group

Scientific polling began in the mid 1930s with the efforts of George Gallup and Elmo Roper more than 1,000 regional polling organizations in the U.S.

The polling process is 5 steps Define the universe whole population) to be surveyed construct a sample prepare valid questions select and control how the poll will be taken

5) analyze and report their finding to the public sample- a representative slice of the total universe random sample are more effective quota sample- a sample deliberately constructed to reflect several characteristics of a given universe

quota sample- a sample deliberately constructed to reflect several characteristics of a given universe