Political Parties
a group of people who seek to control the government through winning elections
What are Political Parties?
Organization of people who have policy goals and try to influence policymakers to accomplish these goals
What are Special Interest Groups?
Most people rely on the media for all or most of their information regarding politics, meaning whatever the media chooses to talk about is the information that people receive
What is agenda setting?
organizations formed by businesses and corporations or labor unions to make donations to political campaigns
What are PACS (Political Action Committees)?
270
Nominating Candidates, Informing and Activating supporters, Bonding Agent, Governing, Watchdog
What are functions of Political Parties?
Bring lawsuits against the government, Make donations to candidates, Influence lawmakers (lobbying), Advertise issues on social media/ media
What is the purpose of Interest Groups?
Print Media, Newspapers , Magazines, Broadcast media, Television, Radio, Social Media
What are different sources of Media?
Hard Money is money given directly to candidates where limits and regulations apply and soft money is political donations given to the party that can avoid government regulations
What is the difference between hard money and soft money?
A proposed reform in which states would have 2 electors to represent state as a whole, each district in the state would also have an elector to represent them
What is the district plan?
A meeting of party delegates to vote on matters of policy and in some cases, select party candidates for public office
What are party conventions?
Lobbying, Electioneering, Litigation, Gaining public support
How can interest groups affect policy making?
A time where a political candidate has an organized press-interaction, press invited (i.e. press conference), Allows the candidate to control what is said
What is Media Staging?
PACS have limitations and regulations on how much they can donate ($5,000) and Super PACS are independent expenditure groups that do not give any limits on spending.
What is the difference between PACS and Super PACS?
Nowhere in the Constitution does it say electors must vote the way of the popular vote, diminishes purpose of the individual voter, House of Representatives are the tie breaker
What are major flaws of the electoral college?
Criticizes political party in power, Provides scrutiny and criticism (sometimes unfair) about the ruling politicians who differ from their party
What is the Watchdog Function?
Political parties work to get candidates elected, Interest groups work to get laws passed
What is the difference between political parties and Interest Groups?
The opinions of the media, many Americans believe the media has a conservative or liberal bias, Nevertheless, Most professional journalists strive to be fair and unbiased in their reporting
What is Media Bias?
A supreme court case that was passed as a way to try and close financing loopholes that allowed soft money to influence elections
What is the Bi Partisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain- Feingold Act)?
Each state only gets 1 vote with the electoral college. If state reps can’t agree on how to use that 1 vote, state forfeits its vote, since we have 50 states, this can end in a tie
Why is the House Of Representatives' involvement with the electoral college problematic?
Helps ensure a good performance of its candidate, background checks and ensures quality of candidates
What is Bonding Agent function?
Economic, Single-issue, Public Sector
What different kinds of Interest Groups are there?
A successful society must be informed, ensuring that every American has constant access to important and trustworthy news.
What is the role of free press in democracy?
Gives wealthy people/groups an unfair advantage in electing candidates they support, Impacts who votes/ impacts who can run as a candidate
How does campaign finance influence democracy?
a proposed reform of the electoral college in which each candidate gets same percentage of electoral votes as popular votes
What is the Proportional Plan?