Unit 7 - Personal Involvement Getting Interested -Personal Involvement- Of the people, by the people, for the people Abraham Lincoln used these words in a famous speech the Gettysburg Address. He was talking about the government of the United States. The United States government, at all levels, is based on the will of the people. This means that the people have the responsibility to stay informed about issues. Each individual should do all that he or she can to make sure that the government works. Three ways to do this are to get interested in the issues, get informed and get involved. -Get Interested- Media has a great influence over, what people are thinking and talking about. Public opinion can be described as those attitudes held by a significant number of people on matters of government and politics. Public affairs are those events and issues that concern the public at large. In its proper sense, public opinion includes only those views that relate to public affairs. Political socialization is the process by which people learn ideas and have opinions about issues. -The Formation of Political Opinions- Many factors influence our political opinions and political socialization over the course of a lifetime. 1. The Family a) Children see the political world from within the family and through the family s eyes. b) The strong influence the family has on the development of political opinions is due to the large amount of time children spend with the family 2. The Schools a) Children acquire political knowledge throughout their time in the classroom. b) Students are taught about political systems, patriotism, and great Americans. Some are even required to take a course on government in high school. 3. Peer Groups a) Peer groups are made up of the people with whom one regularly associates, including friends, classmates, neighbors, and co-workers. 4. Opinion Leaders a) An opinion leader is any person who, for any reason, has an unusually strong influence on the views of others. 5. Historic Events Historic events can have a major impact on public opinion. The Great Depression is one event that shaped the political views and opinions of a generation. 6. Mass Media a) The mass media include those means of communication that reach large, widely dispersed audiences (masses of people) simultaneously. People who have similar opinions on political issues are generally grouped according to whether they are left, right, or center on the political spectrum.
Getting Informed - Get Informed - Most people get informed using Mass Media; it includes those means of communication that reaches many people at the same time. A medium is a means of communication; it transmits some kind of information. Four major mass media are particularly important in American politics: 1. Radio - On average, Americans hear 20 hours of radio each week. Radio has been a source of news and entertainment since 1920. 2. Television - Politics and television have gone hand in hand since the technology first appeared. Today television is the principle source of political information for a majority of Americans. 3. Newspapers - The first newspapers carried mostly political news. Even with the total number of newspapers declining, they are still the second leading source of political information for most Americans. 4. Magazines - Some 12,000 magazines are published in the United States today. Several magazines are devoted to American news and politics. 5. Internet Today people can get up to the minute information, shared on social media like Twitter, YouTube, blogging and WebPages, etc. About 80% of the American population uses the internet and spend about 13 hours{2010} a week on it. It is not correct that the media tells the people what to think; but it is clear that they tell the people what to think about. -Measuring Public Opinion- 1. The Media - The media is frequently described as mirrors as well as molders of opinion; media reports reflect public opinion or may shape it in the way they tell it. 2. Personal Contacts - Public officials rely on frequent and wide-ranging contacts with their constituents, such as reading their mail, answering calls, and meeting people in public. 3. Elections - Candidates who win an election are said to have a mandate, or a command from the electorate, to carry out campaign promises. In reality, however, election results are seldom an accurate measure of public opinion. 4. Interest Groups - Interest groups are private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy. Interest groups are a chief means by which public opinion is made known. Public opinion is best measured by public opinion polls, devices that attempt to collect information by asking people questions. 1) A straw vote is a method of polling that seeks to read the public s mind simply by asking the same question of a large number of people. The straw-vote technique is highly unreliable. 2) Serious efforts to take the public s pulse on a scientific basis date from the 1930s: a) The best two Scientific Polling s are Gallup Poll and Harris Survey. b) The five steps are: 1) Choose who to survey 2) Get a representative sample 3) Prepare valid Questions 4) Select and control the polling process(in person or on phone) 5) report the results.
Interest Groups -Interest Groups- Interest groups are private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy. Public policy includes all of the goals a government sets and the various courses of action it pursues as it attempts to realize these goals. Interest groups exist in the hope to change public opinion through ads and actions. Political parties and interest groups differ in three striking respects: (1) in the making of nominations, (2) in their primary focus, (3) in the scope of their interests. -Valuable Functions of Interest Groups- Raise awareness of public affairs, or issues that concern the people at large. Represent people who share attitudes rather than those who share geography. Provide specialized information to government agencies and legislators. Vehicles for political participation. Keep tabs on various public agencies and officials. Compete against each other, creating limits to these groups. -Criticism- They might not have the best interest of the nation at heart. Some groups have an influence far out of proportion to their size or importance. It can be difficult to tell who or how many people are serving. Groups do not always represent the views of the people they claim to speak for. In rare cases, groups use tactics such as bribery, threats, and so on. -Influencing Public Opinion- Interest groups will use propaganda (a technique of persuasion aimed at influencing) to influence public thought or actions. Three ways to reach their goals: 1. They build a positive image for the Interest group. 2. They work to influence public elections. 3. They supply information and talk to officials to make public policy.
Propaganda & Lobbying Civic Virtue means that both citizens and their leaders are willing to set aside their private interests and personal concerns for the common good. -Propaganda- Propaganda is a technique of persuasion aimed at influencing individual or group behaviors. Its goal is to create a particular belief which may be true or false. Propaganda disregards information that does not support its conclusion. It is not objective. It presents only one side of an issue. Propaganda often relies on name-calling and inflammatory labels. Types of Propaganda Techniques: Celebrity Testimonial - Quotations or endorsements of a likable independent person, like a celebrity (actors, sports stars, etc) to create positive credibility. Scare Tactics - Creating an analogy between a disliked person or event to transfer negativity to their opponent. Bandwagon Argument - It aims at persuading people to do a certain thing because many other people are doing it. Name Calling- saying bad things about your competitor. Multiple Identities- It s all about you - vague statements using language associated with values and beliefs deeply held by the audience without providing supporting information or reasoning. -Lobbying- Many interest groups hire people to work toward their group s goal. These people are called Lobbyists( someone who waits in a lobby to talk to gov t officials). Lobbying is any activity by which a group pressures legislators and influences the legislative process. Nearly all important organized interest groups maintain lobbyists in Washington, D.C. Lobbyists must register with the government, so to be monitored and regulated. They speak before legislative committees or pressure politicians by using grassroots(going to voters and getting them to pressure their politicians) pressure. They send articles, reports and make campaign contributions to candidates. Lobbyists persuade political parties to add interest group s issues to the party platform and arrange for soft money contributions to be made to the party.
Political Parties -Political Parties- A political party is a group of people who seek to control government by winning elections and holding office. Societies form Political Parties because they have like ideas and want to take action - power comes in numbers. First American Parties: a) Democratic-republicans{Anti-federalists} Led by Thomas Jefferson b) Federalists Led by Alexander Hamilton The two major parties in American politics today are the Republican and Democratic parties. What makes Political parties different is Platform a series of statements explaining positions, principle and beliefs on election issues. Parties can be principle-oriented, issue-oriented, and election-oriented. - The American parties are election-oriented. Political parties work more effectively when they compromise with their opposition and do not polarize those who do not belong to their party. -Role of Political Parties- Nominate Candidates - Political parties select and offer candidates for public office; done through the nomination. Campaigning for Candidates - Raise money for campaigns, help candidates get across their ideas and views on public issues to voters and Get out the vote drives. Informing Citizens - Inform citizens through pamphlets, speeches, and ads. Help Manage Government - Parties help the elected official hand out jobs to supporters & link local, state, and federal party officials. Act as a Watchdog Parties that are out of power keep a close eye on the actions of the party in power for blunders to use against them in the next election. -Minor parties and several important roles- Some countries like China are One-party systems, but they aren t democratic. America is basically a Two-party System. Most countries are multi-party system. Minor parties/third Parties, lacking wide political support, have never made a successful showing, so people are reluctant to support them. They are important because they act as spoilers and take votes away, advocate for ignored issues and innovators of proposed solutions. Examples: Libertarian party, Bull Moose Progressive party, Green party, Socialists party -Paying for Election Campaigns- Purpose of campaigns is to convince the public to vote for a particular candidate. Campaign costs- money for advertising, transportation, salaries of campaign staff members, fees to professional campaign consultants. Elections for Congress generally run at about $1.5 million in expenses Presidential race costs over $300 million. In 1971, the U.S. Congress passed The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), which was further amended in 1974. Federal Election Commotion EC certifies the amount of public funds to which the candidate or convention committee is entitled. Hard Money - When cash is contributed directly to a political candidate. It s regulated, must follow the strict limits set forth by the FEC. Soft Money Cash is contributed indirectly to parties and committees
Political Identity -Super PAC s- Party-Building - Political Parties are allowed to spend as much Soft money as they want as long as the money goes to party-building activities, such as voter registration drives & ads that support party positions on issues are largely unregulated. Soft Money is often viewed as a king-sized loophole in campaign finance law. It is mainly comprised of gifts to political parties from corporations, labor unions, and wealthy individuals. Most money for campaigns comes from private sources (citizens, corporations, labor unions, interest groups, and PACS) In 2010, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that dramatically reshaped the business of politics in the U.S. In its Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court opened the campaign spending floodgates. The justices' ruling said political spending is protected under the First Amendment, meaning corporations and unions could spend unlimited amounts of money on political activities, as long as it was done independently of a party or candidate. The result has been a deluge of cash poured into socalled super PACs particularly single-candidate PACs, or political action committees -To vote or not to vote- Millions of Americans do not vote when elections are held. In the US around 61% voted(131 million votes) in the 2008 presidential election and in florida 59.8 % voted. Some people cannot vote for various reasons, such as physical or mental illness, unexpected travel, and resident alien citizenship status. However, most nonvoters do not vote because voting is in some way inconvenient, they do not believe that their vote will make a difference, or they distrust politics and political candidates. -Voting Behavior- Voter preferences can t be predicted by just one factor. Voter opinion is a combination of all of these factors and more: 1. Income 5. gender 2. Job 6. religion 3. Education 7. Geography{where you live} 4. Age 8. Family or interest group -Political Party- Voters perception of their political party significantly affects their voting. More likely to be a Democrat: Women Poor Blue collar Less education Young Urban Liberal Religious More likely to be a Republican: Men Rich White collar More education Older Suburbs Conservative Devoutly religious Those who don t hold to any political party are called Independents. They might Split-ticket vote, pick candidates from different parties at the same election.
-Voting = Getting Involved- The Framers of the Constitution purposely left the power to set suffrage qualifications to each State. Suffrage means the right to vote. Today nearly all citizens at least 18 years of age can qualify to vote. During the early 1800s, religious, property, and tax payment qualifications were gradually eliminated. National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the "Motor Voter" law. Made the voter registration process easier by providing uniform registration services through drivers' license registration centers, disability centers, schools, libraries, and mail-in registration. -Voting Machines and Innovations- Electronic vote counting has been in use since the 1960s. Punch-card ballots are often used to cast votes and absentee ballots for people not able to make it to their poll station. Vote-by-mail elections have come into use in recent years. Online voting is a trend that may be encountered in the near future. -Amending the vote- The 12th Amendment (1804) provides the procedure for electing the President and Vice President. The 15th Amendment (1870) was intended to end race-based voting requirements. The 19th Amendment (1920) prohibited the denial of the right to vote because of sex. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 guaranteed the right to vote for minorities. The 23rd Amendment (1961) granted citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote for presidential electors. The 24th Amendment (1964) eliminated the poll tax. The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18. States also have restrictions on the right to vote on certain members of the population: 1. Found to be mentally incompetent 2. People convicted of serious crimes(felons). How States Decide who can vote: a) All states require citizenship. Getting Involved b) Most states require an average of 30days residency. c) All states require an age of 18 to vote 26 th Amendment. d) 49 states require you to register to vote Except North Dakota. e) Literacy - You do not have to know how to read or write 1970 Voters Rights Act. f) All states require you to be mentally competent. g) Most States don t allow convicted felons to vote(some don t allow dishonorable dischargers). h) No poll tax - 24 th amendment outlaws paying to vote.