question work
Jasonmaster
CH09-InterestGroupsandPoliticalParties.pptxInterest Groups and Political Parties
Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
In this chapter you will:
Learn what interest groups do in American government—and how they do it.
Reflect on whether interest groups wield too much power.
Learn about the role of political parties in governing America.
Explore the two-party U.S. system.
Investigate why people identify with one party (or why they don’t).
Analyze the great paradox: why Americans embrace parties and reject partisanship.
Reflect on whether or not the United States has grown too partisan.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
What are Interest Groups?
An interest group is an organization whose goal is to influence government.
Two hundred thousand interest groups are active in American politics.
Madison warns against interest groups—he calls them “factions”—in Federalist no. 10, identifying them as the “mortal diseases” that kill off popular government.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Three Functions of Interest Groups
Informing their members
Communicating members’ views to the government
Mobilize the public
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
The Many Roles Interest Groups Play Informing Members
Interest groups inform their members about political developments.
They are the link between the public and the government.
Members learn details about government actions
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
The Many Roles Interest Groups Play Communicating Members’ Views
Interest groups communicate their members’ views to public officials, often through a lobbyist (a person who contacts government officials on behalf of a particular cause or issue).
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
The Many Roles Interest Groups Play Mobilizing the Public
Interest groups mobilize the public by encouraging groups of people to act politically.
They develop TV ads, urgent direct-mail alerts, Facebook postings, and tweets, all meant to provoke action.
They create issue campaigns
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
The Many Roles Interest Groups Play What Do Interest Groups Do for Democracy?
Pluralists hold that as long as the American political process is open to a wide range of different groups, government policies should roughly correspond to public desires.
Hyperpluralists fear that there are so many interests and groups that the entire system is bogged down in a stalemate.
Demosclerosis is the collective effect of the vast number of Washington lobbyists in slowing the process of American democratic policymaking.
Power elite theory is the view that a small handful of wealthy, influential Americans exercises extensive control over government decisions.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
The Many Roles Interest Groups Play Types of Interest Groups
Public Interest Groups
Representative of an organization that seeks to benefit the population at large, there is no specific client
Economic Groups lobby for financial benefits for their members.
Material benefits
Items distributed by public interest groups as incentives to sign up
Expressive benefits
Values or deeply held beliefs that inspire individuals to join
Solidary benefits
Feeling of shared commitment and purpose experienced by individuals who join a public interest group
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Trends in Spending by Registered Lobbyists 2000-2014, in Billions of Dollars
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Biggest-Spending Lobbying Clients, 2013
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
The Many Roles Interest Groups Play Types of Interest Groups (cont.)
Intergovernmental and Reverse Lobbying. Public officials also act like interest groups and promote their own views. The president can be the most powerful lobbyist
Some engage in intergovernmental lobbying, pushing their counterparts in other branches to support their policy aims.
Reverse lobbying are attempts by government officials to influence interest groups on behalf of their preferred policies. Members of the White House reach out to groups aligned with their legislative efforts.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Interest Groups and the Federal Government The Multiple Roles of Lobbyists
Lobbyists wear many different professional hats:
Researchers. The typical interest-group representative spends significant time every day studying political trends, monitoring government programs, and analyzing policy information.
Witnesses. Lobbyists often testify at congressional committee hearings and interpret subtle cues to predict whether the committee will be favorable or unfavorable to the legislation under discussion.
Position Takers. Washington representatives for various groups routinely issue statements outlining their organization’s position on important legislation.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Interest Group Lobbyists in Action The Multiple Roles of Lobbyists (cont.)
Coalition Builders. Affiliated groups often band together in lobbying coalitions, allowing them to share information and split the labor of contacting lawmakers
Social Butterflies. Some lobbyists are very adept at getting an insider’s view by chatting and gossiping with Congress Members and staffers in social situations.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Interest Group Lobbyists in Action Iron Triangles
The traditional model of Washington power brokers depicts a closed process dominated by iron triangles—tight, durable links among powerful interest groups, congressional committee chairs, and administration officials.
Revolving door
The tendency of Washington’s most seasoned lobbyists to move from government work to lobbying and back again. They help facilitate the rise of iron triangles
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Iron Triangles
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Interest Group Lobbyists in Action Rise of the Issue Network
Iron triangles have largely given way to a very different image of looser, more open issue networks (shifting alliances of public and private interest groups, lawmakers, and other stakeholders all focused on the same policy area).
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Issue Networks
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Interest Group Lobbyists in Action Interest Groups and the Courts
By law and custom, interest groups have almost no access to Supreme Court justices and very little connection to other federal (or senior state) judges.
Lobbying on Judicial Confirmations. One way to shape court decisions is to influence the central players—to help determine who gets appointed as Supreme Court or federal judges.
Filing Amicus Curiae (“Friend of Court”) Briefs. Groups interested in a pending case are permitted to—and sometimes invited by a court to—write up legal memos, or “briefs,” arguing their position on the case.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Interest Group Lobbyists in Action Interest Groups and the Courts (cont.)
Sponsoring Litigation. Interest groups often take up a legal cause, contributing both money and expertise.
Researching the relevant issues, paying the lawyers, and pursuing litigation through multiple appeals can cost millions of dollars.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Interest Groups and Power Lobbyists in Washington
Around 11,500 professionals registered as congressional lobbyists in 2016, but that number represents only a fraction of the total.
Lobbyists can avoid registering if they spend less than 20% of their time on “lobbying activities,” a loosely-defined term.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Interest Groups and Power Interest Group Spending
Interest groups spend an estimated eight billion dollars each year attempting to influence Washington policymaking.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties and U.S. Government What the Parties Do
Parties are responsible for five major jobs:
Parties Champion Ideas. They create a brand that gives people an easy way to find candidates who roughly share their views.
Parties Select Candidates.
The two major parties select candidates to run for office at every level of government—except local government, which often relies on nonpartisan elections.
Nonpartisan election: An election in which candidates run as individuals, without any party affiliation. Many towns and cities feature nonpartisan elections.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties and U.S. Government What the Parties Do (cont.)
They are responsible for five major jobs (cont.):
Parties Mobilize the Voters. The parties raise money, hire consultants, craft advertisements, take polls, and organize phone banks.
Parties Organize Governing Activity After the Election. Once the election is over, party leaders set agendas, line up votes, and organize their teams in Congress, in presidential administrations, and in the state governments.
Parties Help Integrate New Groups Into the Political Process. Parties transmit basic lessons about politics and government (the details may differ depending on the party).
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties and U.S. Government Two-Party America
A two-party system and winner-take-all elections prevent third-party competition, compared to other countries; two-party systems are predictable and stable.
The GOP is the “Grand Old Party.”
The Democratic Party grew out of the legislative faction aligned with Thomas Jefferson, once known as the Democratic-Republican Party.
Electoral system barriers (e.g. ballot access laws and exclusion from presidential debates) disadvantage third-party candidates in the Electoral College.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties and U.S. Government Third Parties in American Politics
They provide a vehicle for people to express alternative views.
This helps dissidents get a hearing, expands civic engagement, and perhaps minimizes the potential of anger and violence that arise when a cause is ignored.
Third-party movements have often injected strong and controversial views into the major parties
Third parties arise periodically to challenge two-party dominance, but none has ever managed to break through.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
The Road to Nowhere: The Most Successful
Third-Party Presidential Contenders, 1840-2012
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Overview of the Six Party Systems
Beginnings: First Party System (1789–1828)
Rise: Second Party System (c. 1828–1860)
War and Reconstruction: Third Party System (1860–1896)
Business and Reform: Fourth Party System (1896–1932)
Depression and New Deal: Fifth Party System (1933–1972)
The Parties at Equal Strength: Sixth Party System (1972–Present)
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Overview of the Six Party Systems
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties and U.S. Government Beginnings: First Party System (1789–1828)
The debate over states’ rights versus a stronger national government helped define the first party alignments.
Presidents, generally, stayed above the party fray.
Battle over ratification feature pro-Constitutional Federalists and Anti-Federalist opponents
Candidates for first Congress identified as either Federalists or Democratic-Republicans
Federalists controlled first three administrations
Democratic-Republicans dominated beginning with election of Jefferson
Set pattern: two main parties contesting elections and building coalitions
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties and U.S. Government Rise: Second Party System (ca. 1828–1860)
Modern parties begin.
Democrats and Whigs are the two primary combatants.
Both parties, at this time, are torn by the issue of slavery.
Voting rights expanded
The “rise of the common man”
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties and U.S. Government War and Reconstruction: Third Party System (1860–1896)
Party machines and party bosses emerge during the third party system.
These machines are used to integrate minorities and newly arriving immigrants into the political system.
Major parties vacillate in their control of government.
Lincoln joined the Whig Party and remained until it folded
Lincoln then helped form the new antislavery Republican Party
Lincoln won presidential election of 1860
Civil War began, after war Republicans drew on party to help rebuild the nation
Republicans dominated between 1864 and 1880
By 1877 each party developed a strong regional identity
Democrats controlled the former Confederate states
Republicans grew strong in Northeast and Midwest
Party machines developed into powerful political organizations
Machines provided immigrants with basic services and sense of belonging
Notorious for bribery and corruption
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties and U.S. Government Business and Reform: Fourth Party System (1896–1932)
The party system was initially defined as pro-business and experienced Republican Party dominance. 1920s dominated by business interests
The fourth party system ended with the stock market crash and the Great Depression. Collapse of the economy and the Fourth Party System
Democrats argued for the repeal of Prohibition, which came at the end of the fourth party system.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties and U.S. Government Depression and the New Deal: Fifth Party System (1933–1968)
The fifth party system is defined by the presidency of FDR, his policies, and the New Deal coalition in Congress that supported his efforts.
Democrats reign as the dominant political party, defined by FDR.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Political Parties and U.S. Government The Sixth Party System: the Parties at Equal Strength (1972–present)
The Republican Party take the South and force a realignment that produces close national electoral competition.
The era is also characterized by moves from both political parties to shrink the size of the national government.
Nixon and Reagan developed a “southern strategy” to win middle-class white votes
Emphasized small business, limited government, markets
Republican party conservative wing rose to dominance
1980s parties lined up
Democrats leaned left
Republicans leaned right
Neither party in control
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Party Organization and Identification Building Party Identification
Party identification is defined as strong attachment to one political party, often established at an early age.
Building party identification
Our powerful sense of party ID is a result of many factors, including parental influence, political context, and even personality type.
The power of party attachment
Straight-ticket voters, split-ticket voters, base voters
Both Democrats and Republicans publish an official statement of party positions during every presidential campaign. This statement is known as the party platform.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Trends in Party Identification
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Party Organization and Identification The Party Bureaucracy
Each party’s national committee raises funds for the party, coordinates election strategies, decides which local races to fund, organizes a national convention every four years, and prepares the party platform—the party’s statement of purpose and its position on issues.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Party Organization and Identification The Party in Government
These are the government officials in each party—elected leaders, appointed officers, individuals running for political office, and their staffs—who seek to enact the policies they support, and to stop their rivals from enacting theirs.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Party Organization and Identification The Party in the Electorate
The largest (and least organized) component of a political party, drawn from the public at large: registered members and regular supporters.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Party Organization and Identification The Big Tent
Political parties thrive when their members work together and share the same message, get enthused about shared principles, and embrace the party symbols.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Party Organization and Identification The Power of Party Attachment
Voting/Participation
Straight-ticket voting vs. split-ticket voting
“Base voting” is defined as party members voting loyally for their party’s candidates in most elections.
Party attachment causes people to “filter” political information, and party attachment often defines citizen ideology.
Filtering. Filters choose what signals in the media environment people are liable to accept or reject.
Ideology. Parties take divergent views on issue after issue, creating a political polarization.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Party Competition . . . and Partisanship Parties Rise Again
Each party is now organized around a clear set of ideas and principles, and each side can concentrate on defeating its foes rather than on negotiating the differences within its own ranks.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Party Competition . . . and Partisanship Partisanship Intensifies
Partisanship is taking the side of a party, or espousing a viewpoint that reflects a political party’s principles or position on an issue. Often decried by those who wish the parties would work together.
A party caucus is a meeting of all House or Senate members of one or the other main party, usually to discuss political and policy strategies.
Divided government: Periods during which at least one house of Congress is controlled by a party different from the one occupying the White House.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Party Competition . . . and Partisanship Competition Increases
Since 2000, the Senate has changed hands four times and the House twice. The close contests have made the parties more important and partisanship more intense.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Party Control by State
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Conclusion: A Political System Ripe for Reform? 1. Regulating Interest Groups
The Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act (1946) was the initial U.S. statute spelling out requirements on lobbyists active in Congress.
Register with Congress
Report the amount and sources of income derived from lobbying Congress.
The gift ban is a regulation that eliminates (or sharply reduces the permitted dollar amount of) gifts from interest groups to lawmakers.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Conclusion: A Political System Ripe for Reform? 2. Reduce Partisanship in Government
Ideas include limiting negative campaigning, reducing the role of outside advocacy groups in campaigns, and adopting public financing.
CHAPTER 9: INTEREST GROUPS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
