1. Government by the People
Magleby & Light
Government by the People
Chapter 4
The U.S. Political Landscape

2. Pluralism is an idea that many at the Constitutional Convention held that envisioned a number of groups competing with one another in the government, so no one group was always in total control.
James Madison, in his Federalist #10, argued that “factions”, individual groups with common interests, were often caused by the unequal distribution of property. However, he believed the size of our republic would prevent any one faction from becoming dominant over time.

3. Today, when people share a common attitude toward an issue the organization they may form to influence the government and its policies is known as an interest group.
The leaders of an interest group who represent that group’s opinions to the government are called “lobbyists”.
Most of the larger interest groups “try” to be non-partisan.
The relationships among interest groups, Congressional committees, etc. that share a common policy concern is an “issue network”.

4. If James Madison returned to our time, he would likely be concerned about the power of many factions (especially in finances) and would really worry that factions today often seem to foster instability and injustice.
Lobbyists often are found to illegally try to influence government policy makers.
One example is Jack Abramoff who pled guilty to tax evasion, 3 counts of fraud, and conspiracy to bribe public officials. He was able to reach a plea bargain with prosecutors after agreeing to provide evidence against members of Congress.

5. A labor union is an organization of workers whose purpose is usually to work with their employers for a variety of concessions.
Compared to most other industrialized nations, the United States is LESS unionized.
The American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations is the union that speaks for about 2/3 of U.S. labor.
Some do not want to pay the union dues. If they don’t, but receive benefits obtained by the unions, they are called “free riders”.

6. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union, a movement dedicated to the prohibition of liquer, succeeded when the 18th Amendment was passed, outlawing the sale and manufacture of alcoholic beverages.
The 18th amendment was repealed by the 21st Amendment as the attitudes of society changed toward this issue.

7. Ideological groups often organize around single issues.
One of these would be any number of environmental organizations, the largest of these, with over 1,300,000 members is the Sierra Club.
Greenpeace is an activist organization that does NOT officially lobby the government.
When groups find the normal political process unresponsive to their needs, they may turn to litigation, often filing amicus curiae briefs – friend of the court – briefs concerning a case.

8. Interest groups often try to influence the government through the electoral process.
In order to do this, a legal mechanism known as the Political Action Committee, PAC, was formed to contribute money to candidates and to political party committees.
PAC’s tend to contribute more to incumbents and their contributions to federal candidates has steadily increased over the past years – from under $50 million in the 1970’s to more than $350 million today.

9. Interest groups generally make Presidential elections their highest priority.
Recent studies have shown that the donations to candidates by interest groups directly affects how political resource are allocated.
Interest groups vary in number from the very large Sierra Club to the Republican for Clean Air, which consisted entirely of two Texas businessmen.
A person often moves from a government job to a job with an interest group, this practice is called the “revolving door”.

10. Interest groups mount their own campaigns for or against certain candidates. Groups like Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are called 527 organizations because they are tax-exempts under section 527 of the IRS Code and can spend unlimited amounts within 30 days of primaries and 60 days of the general election.
Interest groups also use other sections of the tax code to involve themselves in elections. Section 501 (c) permits some groups to organize and donations to these “nonpartisan” organizations are tax deductible.

11. “Identity Politics” in the 2008 Presidential Election
“Identity politics”: Identification with a particular candidate because of personal attributes
Barack Obama & Blacks
Hillary Clinton & women
Mike Huckabee & evangelical Christians
Mitt Romney & Mormons

12. A Land of Diversity Political Socialization
The process by which we develop our political values, beliefs, and attitudes
Reinforcing Cleavages
Divisions within society that reinforce one another, making groups more homogeneous or similar
Cross-Cutting Cleavages
Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different
Ethnocentrism
Belief in the superiority of one’s nation or ethnic group

13. Regional Differences
Sectional differences in the United States are primarily geographic, not ethnic or religious
The most distinct section of the United States remains the South, although the differences are diminishing

14. State and Local Identity
Reinforced by method of electing the president and members of Congress
More than one out of eight Americans is a Californian

15. Who We Are: Religion Constitution Separation of church and state
Protection of religious freedom
Still, America is a very religious country, and religion has had a large influence on politics
Fundamentalists: Conservative Christians who as a group have become more active in politics in the last two decades, and were especially influential in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections

16. Who We Are: Family Structure
Marriage
Used to be essential to be a family at all
From 1996 to 2002, the number of U.S. adults who live with someone of the opposite sex without being married increased by 50 percent
The divorce rate has nearly doubled since 1950
People also now marry later
Birthrates
Have been falling for decades

17. Who We Are: Social Class
Most Americans, when asked what class they belong to, say “middle class.” Very few see themselves as lower class or upper class

18. Government by the People
Magleby & Light
Government by the People
Chapter 5
Interest Groups: The Politics of Influence

19. Interest Groups Past and Present: The “Mischiefs of Faction”
Faction: A term the founders used to refer to political parties and special interests or interest groups
Madison believed that factions were “united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.”
He argued that “the causes of faction cannot be removed, and…relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects.”
Pluralism: A theory of government that holds that open, multiple, and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group

20. A Nation of Interests Interest Groups Movement
A collection of people who share some common interest or attitude and seek to influence government for specific ends. Interest groups usually work within the framework of government and employ tactics such as lobbying to achieve their goals.
Movement
A large body of people interested in a common issue, idea, or concern that is of continuing significance and who are willing to take action. Movements seek to change attitudes or institutions, not just politics.

21. Types of Interest Groups: Economic Interest Groups
Business
Trade and other associations
Labor
Professional associations

22. Labor
Open shop: A company with a labor agreement under which union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment
Closed shop: A company with a labor agreement under which union membership can be a condition of employment
Free rider: An individual who does not join a group representing his or her interests, yet receives the benefit of the group’s influence

23. Types of Interest Groups: Public Interest Groups
Ralph Nader
Unsafe at Any Speed
(1965)
Founded Public Citizen; “Nader’s Raiders”
Ran for president as Green Party candidate in 1996 and 2000, and as independent in 2004 and 2008

24. Types of Interest Groups: Foreign Policy and Public Sector Interest Groups
Foreign Policy Interest Groups
Council on Foreign Relations
American-Israel Political Action Committee
Public Sector Interest Groups
National Governors Association
National League of Cities
National Educational Association

25. Interest Groups: Cohesiveness
Types of members in an organization
Small number of formal members
People intensely involved with the group
People who are members in name only

26. Interest Groups: Techniques for Exerting Influence
Mass Mailing
Publicity, Mass Media, Internet
Direct Contact with Government
Litigation
Campaign Contributions
Forming a Political Party
Cooperative Lobbying

27. Who are the Lobbyists?
Lobbyist: A person who is employed by and acts for an organized interest group or corporation to try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and legislative branches
Revolving door: An employment cycle in which individuals who work for government agencies that regulate interests eventually end up working for interest groups or businesses with the same policy concern

28. Who are the Lobbyists? The Iron Triangle
Issue network: Relationships among interest groups, congressional committees and subcommittees, and the government agencies that share a common concern
The Iron Triangle
Interest groups
Bureaucratic leaders and experts
Members of Congress

29. Money and Politics PAC Soft Money Hard Money
The political arm of an interest group that is legally entitled to raise funds on a voluntary basis from members, stockholders, or employees in order to contribute funds to favored candidates or political parties
Soft Money
Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes
Hard Money
Political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amount and fully disclosed

30. Money and Politics Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002)
Largely banned party soft money; restored long-standing prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes
Narrowed the definition of issue advocacy
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz)., second left, and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc) smile during a news conference following the signing of the BCRA

31. Other Methods of Influence
Mobilizing employees and members
Soft money contributions
Now largely illegal
Issue ads

32. Other Methods of Influence
Independent expenditures
No limits, but must be disclosed to FEC
Campaigning through other groups
Issue advocacy: Unlimited and undisclosed spending by an individual or group on communications that do not use words like “vote for” or “vote against”

33. How Much Do Interest Groups Influence Elections and Legislation?
Tendency of PACs to give money to incumbents has meant that challengers face real difficulties in getting their campaigns funded
“Too often, members’ first thought is not what is right or what they believe, but how it will affect fundraising. Who, after all, can seriously contend that a $100,000 donation does not alter the way one thinks about—and quite possibly votes on—an issue?” - Former U. S. Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY)

34. Continued Concerns About “Factions”
Interest groups do not represent people equally
Use of money to influence politicians
Many attempts at reform, but unclear effect

35. Some fear that interest groups may control parts of the government through financial means. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned in his Farewell Address of the increased power of the “military-industrial complex” that endangered the operation of the government.
The view that the United States is unique among nations, morally superior, and should use its military power in pre-emptive wars is called “American Exceptionalism”.

36. The study of population characteristics is called “demographics”.
A major difference between the U.S. and other countries is the large immigrant component in the U.S. population brought on by a variety of reasons which include:
Religious and political freedoms;
Economic opportunities;
More open to accepting others;
Influence of our culture felt abroad.

37. Alexis de Tocqueville observed the United States in the 1830’ and concluded that the United States was unique in that it had no experienced a great war because it lacked powerful neighbors on its borders.
The distinctive elements that were unique to the United States were qualitatively different from other developed nations. This perception was first used by Alexis de Tocqueville in his phrase “American Exceptionalism”.

38. Using demographic data, the most rural areas of the United States are found in the South and the Midwest, while the most urban areas are found in the West and Northeast.
Since the 1950’s, the largest population movement in the U.S. has been to the urban areas.
Population growth in the West has been driven by younger people and in the South by those age 65 and older.

39. Deciding the boundaries between jurisdictions (cities, suburbs, and rural areas) has implications for:
Tax revenues;
Zoning laws;
Governmental priorities;
Legislative representation.

40. Since 1960, the Republican Party vote has seen an increase in its representation in the U.S. increase by about 30%.
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, non-Hispanic White Americans will decline to 50% of our population by 2050.
By 2050 the American Hispanic population will increase to about 24% and the Asian and Pacific Islander population will increase to twice what it is today (4.3 to about 9 %).

41. Despite the surge in Hispanic population, there has not yet a similar surge in their political participation and representation in government. This may be because at this time they are not a solid voting bloc and their political clout has been diminished by redistricting after the 2000 census.
The highest poverty rates occur within Native American, Inuits, and Aleuts.
Because of Hurricane Katrina the population of New Orleans has declined by 50 %.

42. Women gained the right to vote in 1920 through the 19th Amendment.
Today 2/3’s of Cuban Americans are found in the state of Florida and tend to support the Republican Party.
The textbook cites the increase in the number of Black state legislators between 1970 – 2004 as evidence of growing Black political power.
A shift in the Black voting trends can be clearly seen as virtually all Black votes were for Lyndon Johnson (D) in 1964.

43. The major difference between a 527 and 501(c) is that some things the 501 (c)’s do make “individual” donations to the group tax deductable – not just the organization being tax exempt, but the individual donations as well.
Women gained the right to vote in the nation by the 19th Amendment which was passed in 1920.

44. Associations that cannot get legislation passed often attempt to gain a forum for their views through amicus curiae briefs.
Manifest destiny is the idea that the United States should a continent expanding nation.