POLITICAL PARTIES, INTEREST GROUPS, AND THE MEDIA NEED TO KNOW: Unit 3

POLITICAL PARTIES Chapter 9

Political Parties GOAL: to control govt by winning elections 3 Components of Party:  Party in Government, Party in Electorate, Party Organization Roles:  Nominating (most important)  Campaigning  Watchdog  Governing

2 Party System 2 Major Parties (but many minor parties) Why 2 Parties?  History/Tradition  Electoral System  Single Member Districts  Majority vs. Plurality  American Ideological Consensus  Americans basically moderate, so extreme ideas get little support Minor Parties  Usually represent more extreme ideas  Popular ideas often stolen by major parties  Can really never win, but raise issues and serve as SPOILERS

Party Structure VERY DECENTRALIZED  State, Local, and National Party Convention, Chairman, Committee, Congressional Campaign Committee Convention Delegates  Much more activist and less moderate than party-at-large Convention Reform  Attempts to give party-at-large more of a say  Democrats – Super-Delegates: Party insiders who can vote however they want  Power to the people, but still get an electable candidate

Party Decline Europe = strong parties; US = weak parties Parties in decline  More Independents  More Split-Ticket Voting History of Parties  Federalists vs. Dem-Reps – 1 st Parties  Party Realignments and Critical Elections Parties Today  Weak  Divided Government

INTEREST GROUPS Chapter 11

Interest Groups Different from Parties b/c they are NOT trying to win elections As parties decline, interest groups are on the rise Linkage Institution Why Join?  Solidary (friendship, etc)  Material (discounts, etc)  Purposive (belief in agenda)

Roles of Interest Groups Information Lobbying Grassroots Mobilization & Public Support Protest and Disruption PACs – Campaign Contributions Leading Litigation  Ex, Brown v. Board of Education Problems of Interest Groups  Revolving Door  Influence in Washington (NRA, Tobacco Farmers)

Types of Interest Groups Institutional vs. Membership Constituency vs. Issue Business, Labor, Causal, Public Interest, Welfare Some important groups to know:  AARP  NAACP  NRA  AFL-CIO  NOW  ACLU  PETA  AMA  NARAL

THE MEDIA Chapter 12

Media Print vs. Broadcast vs. Digital Media TV = #1 Source of news Internet = fastest growing Information and Persuasion Adversarial Press Liberal Bias?

Media’s Role in Politics Helps define public agenda Linkage Institution Campaign Coverage  Often very superficial  Trial Balloons  Sound Bites, Photo Ops  “Horserace” Journalism

Court Cases to Know New York Times v. Sullivan New York Times v. US Near v. Minnesota