Transcript Interest Groups Influencing Government

Influencing Government
Public Opinion
The Mass Media
Interest Groups
Public Opinion
Forming Public Opinion
 Public Opinion is ideas and attitudes that most people hold
about elected officials
 Public opinion shapes the decisions of elected officials
Where Public Opinion Comes From
 Personal background-Age, gender, race, religion,
occupation, hometown
 Mass Media- TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, movies,
books
 Public Officials- Candidates share opinions in speeches and
articles
 Interest Groups- People unite who share a common view
– IG’s try to persuade people toward their view
Public Opinion
Components of Public Opinion
 Direction- Is public opinion on a topic
negative or positive
 Intensity- The strength of an opinion
on an issue
 Stability- How firmly people hold their
opinions are important
Public Opinion
Measuring Public Opinion
 Look at election results not reliable (ppl vote
for different reasons)
 Take a public opinion poll- survey
 Candidates and current presidents hire people to
ask citizens how they feel about issuespollsters
– Use random sample of citizens (1500/poll)
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Critics of polling say officials are more concerned
with being popular than leading
Our Founding Fathers tried to create a system that
would represent the people, but still keep politicians
isolated from the “whims” of the public
The Mass Media
Types of Media
 Provide link between the
people and elected officials
– Print Media:
newspapers, magazines,
books
– Electronic Media: Radio,
television, Internet
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TV stations are privately
owned businesses- they
choose what to cover
Most in depth info comes
from print media
The Mass Media
The Media’s Impact on Politics and Government
 The issues that receive the most time, money and
effort from gov’t make up the public agenda
 Media influence what becomes public agenda
 Since TV, ppl. just on TV, without political
experience can run for office (Steven Colbert)
 Elected officials and the press need each
othereach relies on the other for exposure
 Officials use the press to “leak” new ideas and
infotest the public
 Media acts as a “watchdog”- looking over gov’t
activities (Former Senator Edwards “lovechild”)
 Press walks a fine line between reporting news and
threatening national security
The Mass Media
Protecting the Media
 First Amendment protects
freedom of press
 Gov’t promises freedom
from prior restraintfreedom from gov’t criticism
before it is published
 No one is free to publish
false infolibel
 Gov’t regulates media
through FCC- Federal
Communications Committee
Interest Groups
Types of Interest Groups
 Interest groups are groups of people
who share a point of view and unite to
promote their viewpoints
 IG’s are biased support a particular
viewpoint
 A person can belong to many interest
groups at one time
Interest Groups
3 types of Interest Groups
1. Economic Interest Groups
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Largest types
Protect large companies, labor unions
AFL-CIO
Professional groups (lawyers, doctors)
2. Public Interest Group
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Some groups form to benefit all of society
Common Cause Group: pollution, homelessness
3. Other Interest Group
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Groups form to protect ethnic group, age group, or gender
NAACP, AARP
Groups covering special causes- National Wildlife Federation
Interest Groups
Influencing Government
 Interest groups are important because they
influence public policy course of action gov’t
takes in response to an issue or problem
 IG’s influence public policy by taking certain issues
to court
 IG’s hire lobbyistsrepresentatives for an IG by
contacting public officials directly
 Lobbyists are sometimes hired, sometimes
volunteers
Interest Groups
Techniques of Interest Groups
 Print and Media adsMilk, pork, US made products
 Use propaganda to reach society
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Endorsements
Stacked Cards
Name Calling
Just Plain Folks
Regulation of Interest Groups
 1946 law requires lobbyists to register
 Time limit between gov’t official and lobbyist
 Critics say PACs and lobbyists influence too much