Parties, Interest Groups, & MediaUnit 3: Chapters 9 - 12
10-20%
History of Political Parties
Goal of Political Parties• to win elected office• these groups try to shape policy
by controlling office
"The trouble with free elections is, you never know who is going to win.“--Joseph Stalin
History of Political Parties
Federalists and Democratic-Republicans (1796-1816)
• first party system• debated the legality of the Bank
of United States• Federalist: led by Hamilton (loose
construction)• Democratic-Republican: led by
Jefferson (strict construction)
History of Political Parties
Democrats and Whigs (1840-1852)
• second party system• debated slavery and states’
rights• Democrat: Jackson -- states’
rights, agriculture• Whig: Clay -- national
authority, industry
History of Political Parties
Democrats and Republicans (1856-present)
• current party system• extent of federal authority• Democrat: FDR, JFK – New Deal,
civil rights• Republican: Lincoln, Reagan –
states’ rights, business
History of Political Parties
Eras of Presidential Domination
1800-1860 Democratic-Republicans won 13/15 elections
1860-1932 Republicans won 14/18 elections
1932-1968 Democrats won 7/9 elections
1968-2008 Republicans won 7/11 elections
1932–1996 Democrats dominated one or both houses of Congress
1996–2010 Republicans have dominated at least on house of Congress.
History of Political Parties
Minor Parties
• Ideological Parties• challenge notions of the
scope and extent of government authority
• Socialist, early 1900s• Libertarian, present day
Eugene V. Debs
Minor Parties
Factional Parties• splinter off from a major party,
possibly causing it to lose (spoiler effect)
• usually led by a strong, charismatic individual
• Bull Moose—Theodore Roosevelt• Dixiecrats—Strom Thurmond• American Independent—George
Wallace
Minor Parties
D Woodrow Wilson 6,296,547 435
P Theodore Roosevelt 4,118,571 88
R William H. Taft 3,486,720 8
S Eugene V. Debs 900,672 --
Progressive Republicans and some democrats voted for Roosevelt causing Taft to finish 3rd and helping Wilson win the presidency
1912
Minor Parties
D Harry S Truman 24,179,345 303
R Thomas E. Dewey 21,991,291 189
Dx J. Strom Thurmond 1,176,125 39
Southern democrats voted for Thurmond but Truman won anyway
1948
Minor Parties
R Richard M. Nixon 31,785,480 301
D Hubert Humphrey 31,275,166 191
AI George Wallace 9,906,473 46
Southern democrats voted for Wallace possibly causing Humphrey to lose to Nixon
1968
Minor Parties
One-Issue Parties• focus on one issue to bring it
to national attention• can afford to take strong
stand since they have little chance of winning (critic)
• Free Soil Party, 1840s• Prohibition, 1880s
Minor Parties
Economic Protest Parties• vocal demand to change the
status quo• major parties must react to
absorb or destroy them (catalyst)
• Greenback-Labor Party, 1880s• Populist Party, 1890s
Minor Parties
Figure 8.4: Partisan Division of the Presidential Vote in the Nation, 1856-2000
Party Organization
National Committee• coordinates efforts of Congress
and runs the national convention
State Party• raises money, supports national
strategy, focuses on state elections and issues
Local Party• mobilizes local registration and
participation
“Grass Roots”• individual participation like
bumper stickers, signs, and volunteer work
State Party
Local Party
Grass Roots
National Committee
Party Organization
Party Functions
Nomination fewer candidates makes voting easier
Education help get public acquainted with candidates
Approval vouch for integrity and character of candidate
Government helps checks and balances
Watchdog alert to political mistakes of the other party
Federal Campaign Laws
Federal Election Campaign Act, 1971• response to Watergate• disclosure of campaign donations and
expenditures• set limits on contributions
Federal Election Commission• enforces campaign finance laws• criticized for being toothless
Federal Matching Funds• federal money matches money raised
by candidates for presidential races• candidates must limit their fundraising
Fundraising Records
2000: Bush/Gore
$100 million
2004: Bush
$200 million
2008: Obama
$400 million
Federal Campaign Laws
Buckley v. Valeo, 1976• the Court ruled that campaign donations
are a form of freedom of speech
McCain-Feingold, 2002• set limits on individual donations at
$2000• banned soft money donations to
national, state, and local political parties• this was money given directly to the
party and then given by the party to the candidate
• banned fundraising on federal property
Citizens United v. FEC, 2010• corporations have free speech and may
spend their money on political ads
Federal Campaign Laws
Political Parties in Transition
Two Party v. Multi-Party System• tradition• single-member district elections• more focus on party and less on
candidate
Realignment• voter demographic changes in Party
loyalty• Reagan Democrats in the 1980s
Dealignment• abandonment of party membership
and rise of independent voters
Political Parties in Transition
Political Parties in Transition
Political Parties in Transition
Political Parties in Transition
Political Parties in Transition
Political Parties in Transition
Weakening Political Parties• # of independents is growing• multiculturism and young voters
have less voter identification• split-ticket rather than straight ticket
voting• direct primaries have replaced
public caucuses• candidates use the media rather
than their party for exposure to voters
• special interest groups wield tremendous influence
Political Parties in Transition
• Source: National Election Studies, The NES Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior, 1952-2000, table 20.1.
Special Interest Groups
Federalist #10• Madison argued that factions were a
necessary evil in politics
Goal of Interest Groups• private organizations that try to
influence public policy
How are Interest Groups Different than Parties?
1. don’t nominate candidates2. primary focus to influence policy not
win elections3. very limited scope of interest—one
issue
Economic Groups
Labor—mostly support Democratic candidates
• about 16 million Americans (15% of work force) are in unions today
• raise funds through union dues• AFL-CIO the largest
Business—mostly support Republican candidates
• National Association of Manufacturers (NAM): 12,000 larger firms
• Business Roundtable: CEOs of 200 of largest corporations
Economic Groups
Economic Groups
Economic Groups
Agriculture—support farmers and ranchers
• less than 2% of pop. (abt. 2 million) live on farms today
• lack numbers but control many senate seats• National Grange• Farm Bureau
Professional Groups
• organized around a profession• not as well organized as other groups• three MAJOR exceptions
American Medical Association, 1847• campaigned against Medicare and medical liability
National Education Association, 1857• has never endorsed a Republican presidential candidate• donates to many left-leaning groups and programs• claims it is a non-partisan entity
American Bar Association, 1878• ~50% of all attorneys belong• has recently taken liberal stands on abortion, gun control and
capitol punishment• prosecutors (conservative) and defenders (liberal)
Professional Groups
• Figure 9.1: The Decline in Union Membership
Professional Groups
Promote Causes
American Civil Liberties Union, 1920 • formed to fight deportations during the
first Red Scare• vocal opponent of censorship• uses litigation (law suits) to change the
law
Christian Coalition, 1988• est. by Rev. Pat Robertson to advocate
for pro-family values• sends voter guides to churches
NRA, 1871• 4.3 million+ members focus on
protecting gun rights and gun manufacturing
• assert 2nd Amendment trumps state/national regulations
Promote Causes
Emily’s List, 1985• helps pro-choice women get
elected to office• 61 representatives, 11
senators, 8 governors and 216 state and local offices
Greenpeace, 1971• 250,000+ members focus on
environmental issues• sometimes use civil-
disobedience style protests
Promote Groups
NAACP, 1909• est. by W.E.B. Dubois• mobilizes votes and supports lawsuits to
support rights for African-Americans
AARP, 1958• promotes rights of elderly• mobilizes voters
League of Women Voters, 1920• educates public to understand public
policy• after 1973, men could join• advocate clean air, gun control
Effects of Interest Groups
Positive Effects1. create interest in public affairs2. encourage political participation3. gather and provide useful, detailed information4. help politicians see broad, shared attitudes
rather than a local area5. keep balance in government Negative Effects1. members much more partisan views than the
public2. do not represent the majority but have more
influence than most voters on policy making3. work the system to change policy
• lobbying, lawsuits,
Techniques used by Interest Groups
Mass Mailing • send voting suggestions to potential voters
Publications• print “report cards” and tell members how to
vote
Demonstrations• mobilize voters to amass at state capital,
write letters, etc. to show their numbers
Litigation • use courts to alter policy, even if the majority
opposes it• Roe v. Wade
Techniques used by Interest Groups
Lobbying• hire people to pressure legislators
to support their causes
Voting• mobilize voters to support one
candidate over another
527s, 2009• created primarily to influence the
nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office
• named after tax-exempt code• not regulated as long as they do
not coordinate their activities with a candidate or a party
527 Spending
2004 $439,000,000
Dems $307,000,000
Reps $132,000,000
Techniques used by Interest Groups
Top 20 PACs 1999-2000
Techniques used by Interest Groups
1 America Coming Together $79,795,487
2 Joint Victory Campaign 2004* $71,811,666
3 Media Fund $59,414,183
4 Service Employees International Union $48,385,367
5 Progress For America $44,929,174
6 Republican Governors Association $33,848,421
7 Democratic Governors Association $24,172,761
8 American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees $22,227,050
9 Swift Vets and POWs for Truth $17,008,090
10 Moveon.org $12,956,215
11 College Republican National Committee $12,780,126
16 Sierra Club $8,727,127
17 EMILY's List $7,739,946
18 Voices for Strong Families $7,466,056
19 AFL-CIO $6,583,572
2005
Techniques used by Interest Groups
Techniques used by Interest Groups
Techniques used by Interest Groups
76 donors gave Republicans at least $500,000,while 71 donors gave Democrats at least $500,000
Top Soft Money Donors
Techniques used by Interest Groups
Techniques used by Interest Groups
• Source: Federal Election Commission.
Techniques used by Interest Groups
IronTriangle
Power and influence of each depends on
continuing power and influence of the others
Special Interest Group Congressional Committee
Executive Agency
Regu
late
s po
licy
Self-
regu
late
s
Campaign donations, endorsements, votes, demands change
Campaign promises, make policy
Suggests legislation,
Sets budget, makes policy, oversight
The Media
Goal of the Media• influence policy by focusing attention on
certain issues
Types of Media• Television (1940s)• broad appeal to all ideologies• niche markets are tailored to fit ideology
of patrons (KFI)• C-SPAN (1970s)
• 24 hour coverage of Congress
• CNN v. FOX News• CNN slants left while FOX slants right
The Media
Newspapers• AP (1848) cooperative news agency,
companies pay fees to use AP articles so they don’t have to send their own reporters everywhere
• local papers allow coverage of local issues or issues from local perspective
• less competition• low cost
The Media
The Media
Internet• MySpace/Facebook• free sites allow
widespread appeal• very grass roots• Ron Paul used online
donations for the vast majority of his fundraising in 2008
The Media
Radio (1920s)• sound bite: brief excerpt used to
relay the entire message• "Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy." • "Read my lips: no new taxes "• "We are not going to dignify [that] with
a response." • "I'm not here to talk about the past.“
Magazines• Newsweek, Time
Impact of the Media
Roles of the Media
• Gatekeeper• makes decisions on what to cover• placement and content of material
• Scorekeeper• creation of image and persona (Nixon v.
Obama)• daily coverage of campaigns
• Watchdog• exposes corruption in government• investigative journalism
The Media
The Media
The Media
Impact of Media
1. public agenda• don’t tell people what to think• tell them what to think about
Impact of Media
2. campaigns• national convention: helps
nation participate vicariously
• television debates: Kennedy-Nixon, 1960
• image: candidates sell themselves like a product
• endorsements: newspapers and other media officially recommend candidates
Impact of Media
Impact of Media
Limitations of Media• only 15% of voters
are well informed on issues
• most select media that agrees with their politics
• seldom give in-depth coverage
Figure 10.1: Young People Have Become Less Interested in Political News
Rules Governing the Media
confidentiality of sources• newspapers support shield laws
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)• license renewal• community needs• deregulation by Reagan
• ownership limits relaxed • license renewal with a postcard
Rules Governing the Media
Fairness Doctrine• objective coverage that shows both sides• no longer a requirement since Reagan
Equal Time Rule• each candidate must have equal coverage• access to debates
Right of Reply• chance to respond to attacks
Political Editorializing• gives media chance to be opinionated• candidates can respond to endorsements
Propaganda
Propaganda Techniques• propaganda is a tool to convince people to think
a certain way about a candidate, product, or concept
Plain Folks• uses “ordinary people” to endorse the product• ex., moms talking about bathroom cleaner
Testimonial• celebrity endorsement• all of those acne wash commercials
Bandwagon• tries to convince you that everyone is doing it
Propaganda
Name Calling• emphasizes bad characteristics of the “other
guy”• 99.9% of all political advertising
Glittering Generalities• uses stereotypes to emphasize a point• Carl’s Jr. ads – “without us guys would
starve” translates to men are too stupid to cook for themselves
Transfer• tries to convince you that using the
product/supporting the candidate will make you/America more successful, wealthy, sexy (but not in that order)
• think of all the women’s fashion ads or beer ads you’ve seen
Winning the Nomination
Presidential Primaries and Caucuses• every state has one or the other for
each party• the purpose is to choose which
democrat or republican the state wants to see on the national ballot in November
Caucus Election• closed meeting of the local party, only
10 states use it
Iowa Caucus (early February)• always the first of the election• early chance to get attention and
donations
Winning the Nomination
Closed Primary• each party has its own primary, the
voting is on the same day• there are separate ballots for
democrats and republicans• only democrats can use the democratic
ballot
Open Primary• anyone regardless of voter
registration can use whichever ballot they want• democrats can use the republican ballot
Winning the Nomination
New Hampshire Primary (January)• always the first, so it’s considered a crossroads
for whether a candidate will continue or drop out of the race
• tends to vote for the loser
Blanket Primary• some states use one ballot and you can vote for
whoever, democrat or republican on the same ballot, declared unconstitutional
• California just changed the law to put the top two, regardless of party, on the fall ballot
Super Tuesday (early March)• 15-16 states all hold their primaries on the same
day
Criticisms of the Primary Process
Voter Fatigue• voters choose not to vote in the primaries in
the Spring and only vote in the fall election
Expense• it costs a fortune to beat your fellow
republicans, then another one beat the democrats
Weakens Candidate• exposes candidates to the public longer, more
likely to learn their dirty secrets (i.e., Bush’s DUI)
Extremist Control• party elites are more extreme in their views
which means candidates are too
Proposed Reforms to the System
Super Delegates• people who get to vote at the national
convention regardless of the results of the primaries
Super Primaries• all primaries would be held on the same
day
Regional Primaries• primaries would be held on the same day
in each region
The National Convention
• each party selects a presidential candidate at their convention held in the late summer
2000 Democratic Convention was held at the Staples Center
Attendees get superawesome souvenirs
The National Convention
1.Keynote Address• exciting opening
speech by popular member of the party to start convention
The National Convention
2. Party Platform• tries to focus
election on certain issues and vaguely states party’s stance on those issues
The National Convention
The National Convention
The National Convention
The National Convention
3. Presidential Nomination
• candidate chosen by state delegates to the convention
The National Convention
Senator v. Governor• Who has better experience to
lead the nation?• governors usually win
Balancing the Ticket • make the President seem like a
better candidate• Politically (Clinton and Gore)• Geographically (JFK and LBJ)• by experience (Bush and
Cheney)
Congressional Elections
At-Large Elections• senators represent the entire
state so they’re elected by the whole state
17th Amendment, 1913• changed senate elections to
popular elections
Congressional Elections
Single-Member Districts• House seats represent a small
area of each state so representatives are elected by the local population
Off-Year Election• elections held in between
presidential elections• typically the president’s party
loses seats in Congress (2006)
Congressional Elections
Gerrymandering• boundaries for House seats
(called districts) are drawn by the state legislature to benefit the majority party
Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964• set rules for drawing House
boundaries1. same population2. same size3. contiguous
D
R
D
R
Congressional Elections
D R
D
R
Congressional Elections
Congressional Elections
2000 2004
Apportionment
Apportionment Act, 1929
• set cap on House of 435 seats
• federal census every 10 years
• House seats are redistributed to reflect population changes
My family moved from MT to CA after the 1980 census but before the 1990 census. See what happens!!
Apportionment
The “sunbelt” area continues to grow the fastest. These states typically vote Republican. In some waysit gets easier for Republicans to win after each census.
The General Election
Date of Election• Tuesday after the first Monday
of November in even years
East Coast v. West Coast Turnout• Higher voter participation on
East Coast because it’s earlier
Straight Ticket Voting• voter picks all candidates from
the same party
The General Election
The General Election
Battleground States• might go either way, the winner in
Missouri has won the presidency in every race since 1904 (except 1956)
Smear Campaigns• underhanded ads intended to ruin
the opponents chances of winning
Television Debates• since Kennedy-Nixon, 1960,
candidate’s biggest exposure to millions of voters (lots of pressure)
The General Election
The General Election
Coat-tail effect• lesser known candidate gets more
votes because more popular candidate of same party is running
Presidential Mandate• new president claims that the majority
voted for him so he has the will of the people to justify his policies
Ballot Creation• done at the county/state level
The Infamous 2000 Florida Ballot
"Those who cast the ballots decide nothing; those who count the ballots decide everything.”
--Joseph Stalin
Electoral College
Options to select the President
Congress• President would be too
dependent on Congress
People• couldn’t know enough to make a
sound judgment
Electors• body of informed people not in
Congress to pick president for us, proposed by Hamilton
Electoral College
The Electors• selected by the states by the
party that won the popular vote in the general election
• they vote at their state capitols, one vote for president and one for VP
• these are public votes but they can vote how they like even if it’s different than the state voted
Plan B• if no one wins, the House elects
the President and each state gets 1 vote
Electoral College
Counting• done in the Senate
in January• Gore counted his
own defeat in January of 2001
January to May
Primaries and Caucuses
Late July / Early August
National Convention
November General Election
December Electoral College
January Final Count
Criticisms of the Electoral College
Popular Winner• the popular winner in the state gets
all of the electoral votes under a “winner-take-all” system even if the election is very close
Faithless Electors• electors can vote for anyone they
want regardless of whether a person’s name is even on the ballot
House Picks the Winner• Americans distrust having Congress
pick the President instead of them
Solutions for the Electoral College
District Plan• assign electoral votes
by results of congressional districts
• popular winner gets two “extra” senate votes
Gore 5,861,203 53.45% 35
Bush 4,567,429 41.65% 19
Nader 418,707 3.82% 0California 2000
Solutions for the Electoral College
Proportional Plan • assign electoral
votes proportionate to the popular vote
California 2000
Gore 5,861,203 53.45% 29
Bush 4,567,429 41.65% 22
Nader 418,707 3.82% 2
Solutions for the Electoral College
Direct Election Plan• ditch the electoral
college and just count the popular vote at the national level
Gore 50,996,582 48.4%
Bush 50,456,062 47.9%
Nader 2,858,843 2.7%
United States 2000
Solutions for the Electoral College
National Bonus Plan
• popular winner of national election gets 102 “bonus” electoral votes
Gore 50,996,582 266 368
Bush 50,456,062 271 271
Nader 2,858,843 0 0
United States 2000
Solutions for the Electoral College
Reasons to Leave it Alone• it’s fast• it is clear (most of the time)• other solutions may be worse
Solutions for the Electoral College
Supporters of the Electoral College
• small states have more influence and would block any national amendment to change it
• minorities benefit by being swing voters in key urban areas
• Mr. Bradshaw
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