American National Govt. Ch 8-16 review

  • Tocqueville believes the formation of group life was an important element of the success of the American democracy

  • Association- term used to describe the groups Tocqueville observed in his travels in America

    • Now called interest groups- a group of people who share a common interest

      • most arise from conditions in public life

  • Proactive group- arises when an enterprising individual sees an opening to create the group for social, political, or economic purposes

  • Reactive group- Forms to protect the interests of members in response to a perceived threat from another group, to fight a government policy that the members believe will greatly affect them, or respond to an unexpected external event

    • Homogeneous- members share a number of common characteristics

    • Heterogeneous- members come from varied backgrounds

  • Right of Association- right to freely associate w/ others and form groups, as protected by the 1st Amendment

  • Factions- any group that places its own interests above the aggregate interests of society

    • Maddison feared that factions could have a divisive or polarizing effect in a democracy

  • Right of Petition- right to ask the government for assistance w/ a problem or to express opposition to a government policy

    • Citizens have been using the right to petition to influence government since the earliest days of democracy

    • Today the rights of association and petition takes the form of lobbying

    • Lobbying- Act of trying to persuade elected officials to adopt a specific policy change or maintain a status quo

      • A legitimate form of petitioning

        • Lobbying of the Judicial branch takes the form of lawsuits against government policies that interest groups see as fundamentally or that go against the original intent of the law

    • Amicus Curiae (“Friend of the Court”)- briefs that record their opinions even if they are not the primary legal participants in a case.

    • National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)- Allowed unions to engage in collective bargaining

      • provides that only 1 union can be selected to represent workers in a specific location

Grassroots Movement- groups that form in response to an economic or political event but doesn’t focus on only one issue

Types of Interest Groups

  • Economic

  • Ideological

  • Foreign Policy-Focused

  • Economic Interest Groups - groups formed to advance economic status of its members

    • tend to be exclusive

    • if too large then the members’ benefits are diluted

    • Trade Association - focuses on particular industries and makes up a subcategory of economic interest groups

    • Professional Association - are formed by individuals who share similar jobs

      • frequently responsible for setting guidelines for professional conduct

    • Corporations - type of economic interest group in that they try to influence policy on their own as well as by joining trade associations comprising businesses with similar goals

  • As of 2019, 28 states have right-to-work laws that allow them individuals to choose not to join a union even if their work place has a designated union in place

  • Ideological & Issue-Oriented Groups - groups that form among citizens with the same beliefs about a specific issue

    • Citizens’ Groups - groups that form to draw attention to purely public issues that affect all citizens equally

    • Single-Issue Groups - groups that form to present 1 view on a highly salient issue that is intensely important to members, (example: gun control, abortion)

    • members benefit from knowing that others share their views & from feeling empowered

    • This type of group gets its power from agreement within its ranks on a highly salient issue, it discourages debate & disagreement within the group & any type of compromise on that issue

  • Foreign Policy & International Groups - formed to generate support for favorable U.S. policies toward one or several foreign countries

    • International Aid Groups - encourages citizens to provide voluntary assistance to people in need all over the world

    • Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) - Monitors & improve political, economic, & social conditions throughout the world

      • not affiliated with any government

What Interest Groups Do

  • Inform - Provide info about issues they care about

  • Lobby - Visit with the state’s congressional delegation to keep the representatives informed about how federal programs are operating back home & to ask for legislation that will benefit their states

      • Lobbyist - Persons hired by interest groups to influence legislative & administrative policies

        • Lobbyist outnumber legislators by 75 to 1

        • Some of the top lobbyist are funded by foreign governments (Israel, China, etc.)

      • Lobbying Strategies:

        • Direct Lobbying - An attempt by a group to influence the policy process through persuasion of public officials

        • Inside Strategy - keep the policy request narrowly tailored to the group’s needs

        • If that doesn’t work, they will adopt a more public or outside lobbying strategy by getting the press & their members more directly involved

      • Campaign Activities:

        • Allows interest groups to promote their views

      • 501(c)(3) Organizations - Tax-exempt groups that are prohibited from lobbying or campaigning for a party or candidate

      • 501(c)(4) organization - Tax-exempt group which are nonprofit & are supposed to be focused on public policy issues, not politics

Dilemma: Balance or Disproportionate Power???

  • For democracy to work PLURALSIM allows for the representation of ALL groups

  • It is important that self-interested groups not be allowed to craft legislature

  • SIGs Inform & Interpret how policy will affect their mission

  • Contemporary Theories of Politics in America:

    • Pluralism - Group of minorities working together

      • All groups have equal access to policy-makers

    • Elitism - Power held by the wealthy

      • Not all groups have equal access to policy-makers

      • Public Policy is shaped for the sake of the most powerful

    • Hyper Pluralism - too many groups try to control policy

      • policy-makers are unable to satisfy all at the same time

Political Parties

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Key Concepts

  • Affirmative action 

  • Articles of the Constitution that establish the three branches of the Federal government

  • Bipolarity

  • Bureaucracy

  • Cabinet

  • Closed primaries

  • Cold War

  • Demographics of Congress

  • Disenfranchisement during Jim Crow

  • Due process

  • Electoral college

  • Enumerated powers

  • Equal protection clause

  • Examples of disenfranchisement during Jim Crow

  • Foreign policy

  • Gerrymandering

  • Grandfather Clauses

  • Hamiltonian vs Jeffersonian model of voting participation

  • Imperial presidency

  • Interest groups: Group of citizens who share a common interest - a political opinion, religious or ideological belief, a social goal, or an economic characteristic—and try to influence public policy to benefit themselves.

  • List of presidential foreign policy doctrines discussed in PowerPoints/lectures

  • Literacy Tests

  • Lobbying

  • Median voter theory

  • Motor voter act

  • Multipolarity

  • National interest

  • National security

  • Natural-born citizenship

  • Open primaries

  • Party affiliation

  • Party platform: Document that lays out a party’s core beliefs and policy proposals for each presidential election

  • Pendleton act

  • Polarity (different types)

  • Presidential leadership model (Formalistic, etc)

  • Presidential line of succession

  • Presidential pardon

  • Public policy

  • Qualifications for presidents and members of congress

  • Redistricting

  • Standard Operating Procedures

  • State of the Union

  • Suffrage

  • Supremacy clause

  • The Freedom of Information Act

  • The Presidential Succession Act

  • Types of interest groups (and examples from lecture and textbook)

  • Types of lobbying

  • Types of presidential vetoes

  • Unipolarity

  • Voting rights act

  • White primary