1. Parties, Interest groups, and Public Interest
Chapter 8

2. Political Parties What political parties do…
Recruit/support candidates – they want the best people.
Organize elections & inform voters – they want people to get out and vote.
Organize government – they choose gov’t leaders, like speaker of the House.
Unite interest groups into party platform = statement of positions.
Offer a second choice – if you don’t like who’s in power, pick option 2!

3. Short history lesson
George Washington advised against political parties. But…
…immediately we had 2 parties.
Issue – how strong should gov’t be?
Federalists (John Adams) – it should be strong!
Republicans (Thomas Jefferson) – it should be weak!
1820s
Federalists fizzled out.
Republicans split in two...Democrats & Whigs

4. History cont. 1850s… Whigs fizzled out. Democrats continued.
Republicans/Abe Lincoln emerged as the party against slavery.

5. Today
Democrats
Tend to be liberal, minorities, pro-choice, female, less affluent (educated, $), like gov’t programs.
Republicans
Tend to be conservative, white, pro-life, male, more affluent (educated, $), like private programs.

6. Interest groups
AKA "special interests" – groups that try to influence government on an issue.
Ex.: NRA = gun rights; Sierra Club = protect nature
Bad or good?
Bad – they splinter America and put labels on us; gives power to $
Good – they allow us to speak up & act
How they work
They have a board of directors
They accept $
The board decides what to do with the $ (ads, website, flyers, etc)

7. PACs PAC = political action committee
If you want to support a candidate, you have a $ limit you can give. But…
…you can give much more $ to a PAC.
PACs make their own commercials; do their own thing.
Supposed to be separate from a candidate.
Sometimes, the separation is blurry.
Is this OK? Is this money-for-power?

8. How they work Lobbying – they try to persuade law-makers
Litigation – they bring on lawsuits to gain influence
Grassroots mobilization – rallying regular people
Power of interest groups
Size & money – 1 person  little power; MANY people  power!
Unity of purpose – they are passionate about their issue
Info, expertise, & leadership – the pros put out a clean, clear message