1. They decided to "extend the sphere"—i.e., they transformed the system of 13 separate political systems into one large, national system. And then they set the stage for factions to proliferate

2. There would be so many factions in this one national system that they would cancel each other out, rather than creating the conditions under which one faction would eventually prevail

V. What are interest groups?

A. Interest groups organize to influence government

B. Focus on a single area, remaining uninterested in others

C. Different from political parties, which seek to mold policy in all areas and get their members elected to run the government

D. Interest groups are focused on influencing government—largely from the outside

VI. Why do interest groups exist?

A. Democracy

1. Democratic governments are set up to listen to public input, and an organized group is more easily heard than a scattered collection of individuals

B. Diversity

1.There would be little reason for groups to form if the entire population possessed the same beliefs, desires, and needs

C. Division

1. Our government is fragmented—divided in many ways

2. This fragmented structure allows for numerous access points for interest groups to contact

VII. Rationale for Forming and Joining Groups

A. Material benefit

1. Gaining something for membership - discounts

B. Personal satisfaction

1. Join an organization in order to feel good about themselves

C. Employment

D. Common Interests

E. Ideology/ Policy preferences

VIII. Organization of Interest Groups

A. Structure

1. Leadership

a. Provides direction

B. Staff

1. Accounts for much of the group’s activities

C. Membership

1. Account for some activity (e.g., picketing, protesting, writing to or calling government officials)

2. Most instances provides mainly financing and popular support

IX. Financial Structure

A. Membership Dues

B. Contributions from Supporters

C. Charitable Foundations

D. Think Tanks

E. Other groups

F. Benefits from Federal and State Funding

1. Not supposed to be used to support their attempts to influence government

2. Funding for research or project grants that has findings that support a group’s aim

X. What about "Free-Riders"?

A. Any gain goes to everyone in the group, those who contribute nothing to the effort will get just as much as those who made a contribution

B. More likely with large groups

C. More likely with broad interests

D. Collective Goods

1. Cannot limit them only to those who contribute time and resources to the cause

2. Private Goods can have those limits but the regulations regarding the manufacture of those goods can be collective

XI. Selective Incentives

A. Benefits that can be limited in their distribution

B. Free T-Shirt if you join

C. Discounts only if you are registered with that group

XII. Realities of Interest Groups

A. "Iron law of oligarchy" – Robert Michael

B. In any organization, a clique of some sort will inevitably rise to the top and assume control

C. Grant McConnell stated "If private associations themselves should be undemocratic [because of the iron law of oligarchy], … how can they be essential to democracy?"

1. Solidify the dominant position of those who are already affluent and influential

2. Interest groups insatiable appetite for funds causes them to solicit dues and Donations from people of modest means

3. Send desperate solicitations to the masses to send money lest their political opponents inflict irreversible damage on the United States

4. Solicitations contain shrill, disingenuous messages to alarm and inflame the recipients, who proceed to write checks as donations to the organizations

XIII. Lobbying

A. Major part of Interest Group Activities

B. K Street

C. Very expense to start up

D. Upper class is disproportionately represented in this competition to influence policymaking

E. Lnowing how to play the "game"

F. Lobbying helps “lobbyists”!

XIV. Iron Triangle

A. Subgovernment model states that, in each area of public policy, there is a subgovernment that dominates policymaking in that policy area

B. Participating in an iron-triangle partnership can be extraordinarily beneficial for the partners, while those who are not involved in these mutually beneficial arrangements are condemned to pay the taxes that finance the benefits that the iron-triangle partners are enjoying

C. No enterprising individual or group will be content for very long to be left out of the process by which the pie is divided and the pieces are distributed to those who are actively playing the game

XV. Use of the Courts

A. Many groups set out to influence policy by going ‘‘over the heads’’ of the president and Congress, and filing lawsuits in the judiciary

1. Nader v. Allegheny Airlines, Inc.

XVI. Going Public, Grassroots, and "Astroturf"

A. Many groups attempt to influence public opinion in addition to trying to directly influence government

B. Advertising

C. Letters, Phone Calls and Emails

D. Rallies and protests

E. Grassroots

F. "Astroturf": what look like grassroots letter-writing campaigns or spontaneous protests actually are carefully planned and orchestrated by interest groups

Chapter 6: Political Parties, Voting, and Elections

I. What is a political party?

A. It is an organization that

1. Selects candidates for office to represent the party’s ideals

2. Conducts election campaigns to get their candidates into office

3. Organizes government to facilitate achievement of its goals

B. Why conduct elections?

1. Reward elected officials who appear to serve us well

2. Punish elected officials who fail to serve us well

3. Provides the public with a sense of influence

4. Voting replaces violence as the main means of political participation

C. Political Parties: The Beginning

1. Federalists wanted national power over local power. Evolved into the Whig party and eventually the Republican party.

2. Anti-Federalist wanted to maintain the nation’s agrarian roots. Evolved into the Democratic party.

D. Three Part Party Structure

1. Party Organization (Parent Organization)

2. Party in Government (Office Holders)

3. Party in the Electorate (Voters)

II. Nominating Presidential Candidates

A. All states and territories hold either a primary or caucus to choose their delegates to the national conventions (held in the late summer of presidential election years).

B. Delegates representing all 50 states and many territories vote to select the nominees.

C. Presidential Nomination

1. National nominating conventions

2. Primaries vs. caucuses

3. Proportional representation

4. Winner-take-all

III. Realignments

A. New events and new generations with new issues will alter the composition of—and competition between—the parties, leading to a new party system

B. Major Realignments

1. 1828 - expansion of the vote to ordinary (white, male) citizens

2. 1860 – Slavery

3. 1896 - how far to pursue industrialization and globalization

4. 1932 – Great Depression

5. 1960s – Civil Rights

C. Why are there only two major parties?

1. We divided into two major factions very early on, leading almost inevitably to our two major parties

2. Our divisions have never been so vast as to sustain many major parties

3. Our self-fulfilling skepticism of third parties

4. Most all of us are not so issue driven that we will back parties with little chance of winning, even if we agree with their issue positions.

5. Rules Matter!

6. Rules vary from election to election and state to state.

D. Modern Regional Bases

1. Democratic Party's bases are in the Northeast, Great Lakes region, and West

2. Republican Party's bases are in the South, Upper Midwest, and Great Plains

IV. Basics: Voting and Elections

A. Who votes?

1. Not many, even though our history is one of expanding suffrage (the vote)

B. Barriers

1. Literacy Tests

2. Grandfather Clauses

3. Poll Taxes

4. White Primaries

a. Difficult Registration and Voting requirements

5. Intimidation and Violence

6. Registration and Identification requirements

C. Voting: How We Decide

1. Candidate Characteristics

2. Party identification

a. Part of Political Socialization

b. Old School: the party was the source of political information

3. Incumbency

4. Issues

a. Valance (One-Sided) Issues – “Criminals should be punished”

b. Appeasing all sides – “I am personally opposed to it, but I don’t believe government should get involved.”

V. Money: Campaign Finance Reform

A. In the past, political parties and election campaigns revolved primarily around organizing and energizing people in order to win elections

B. With the complexity of the modern election, more money is needed to get the word out in the form of elite technology and marketing experts working behind the scenes to win us over

C. Tillman Act of 1907

1. Prohibited direct contribution of corporate funds to campaigns

D. Taft-Hartley Act of 1947

1. Prohibited direct contribution from labor unions

E. Federal Election Campaign Acts (1971, 1972, 1974)

1. Limited contributions to federal campaigns ($1000.00 per individual per election, $5000.00 per group per election)

F. Soft Money and Issue Ads

G. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

H. 527s, Citizens United, and Beyond

1. 527s could run all the issue ads, using all the unlimited money, they wanted

2.Citizens United v Federal Election Commission

a. opens the door for corporations and unions to use their own money for any political activity they desire