Interest Groups and Public Opinion

1
Interest Groups and Public Opinion

• Chapter 18

2
Interest Group Organization

• Power of Interest Groups
• Defining Interest Groups
• influence government officials to support certain
  policies
• do not run candidates for office, but may endorse
• concerned with only a few issues/problems
• organized based on common values
• Purpose of Interest Groups
• bridge the gap between the citizen and govt
• Political Power
• strength in numbers

3
Interest Group Organization

• Leadership and Membership
• leaders keep members unified and informed,
  speakers for the group, plan strategy, raise
  money
• why people join?
• promote economic interests, individuals beliefs,
  social
• Business and Labor Groups
• tries to influence government economic policy
  including how the government spends money
• business-related interest groups
• purpose to create the most favorable climate
  for their businesses to prosper

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Interest Group Organization

• labor-related interest groups
• purpose calls public attention to the needs of
  working people
• craft unions made up of workers with a similar
  skill
• industrial unions composed of skilled and
  unskilled workers in the same industry
• Agricultural Groups
• purpose seeks support for the faming families
  and industry in the United States
• examples The National Farmers Union, The
  American Farm Bureau Federation, the Grange

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Interest Group Organization

• Other Interest Groups
• Professional Groups
• purpose seeks to protect and advance their
  field
• examples American Dental Association and
  American Bar Association
• Environmental Interest Groups
• purpose conserving resources, protecting
  wildlife, impact of environmental regulation
• examples Sierra Club, NWF
• Public Interest Groups
• purpose work for the interest of all Americans
• examples Common Cause

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Interest Group Organization

• Interest Groups in Government
• National Conference of State Legislators
• National Governors Association
• Additional Groups
• purpose of Social Action Groups try to bring
  about changes in society
• members usually hold strong personal feelings
  about the issue focused on by the group
• Civil Rights Groups-attempt to establish, defend,
  and extend the rights of Americans
• Veterans Rights-represent the interests of men
  and women who are veterans of war

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Interest Group Organization

• Additional Groups
• Religious Groups-express definite views on
  certain public policy issues that affect their
  religion
• Public-Interest Groups-work for a goal that will
  benefit the common good
• Single-Interest Group focus all of attention on
  one issue
• members are extremely dedicated to the cause of
  the group
• problem with single-interest groups can cause
  voters to vote against or for a candidate based
  on a single issue

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Section 2 Affecting Public Policy

• The Work of Lobbyists
• Who Are Lobbyists?
• anyone employed by a client, made more than one
  contact on behalf of the client, and spent more
  than 20 of time serving the client
• must register, file semiannual reports, disclose
  issues addressed, agencies contacted, and money
  paid
• Providing Useful Information
• support interest groups position
• statistics, pamphlets, testifying before
  committees

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Section 2 Affecting Public Policy

• The Work of Lobbyists
• Drafting Bills
• Interest Groups Seek Support
• Media Campaigns
• inform public and create support
• Letter Writing
• letters to govt to demonstrate support for or
  against issue
• Limitations
• provide representation for the public, watchdogs,
  protest govt
• no single group controls govt, large groups,
  diverse goals, finances

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Section 2 Affecting Public Policy

• The Rise of Political Action Committees
• How PACs Began
• campaign finance reform, limit on individual
  contributions, corporate and labor union
  restrictions
• Laws Governing PACs
• register with govt, raise money from at least 50
  contributors, give to at least 5 candidates,
  strict accounting rules, limit of 5,000 directly
  to candidate
• Federal Election Commission
• issues regulations that control PACs
• Supreme Court Decisions
• Buckley v. Valeo-different divisions of a
  corporation may set up as many PACs as they wish

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Section 2 Affecting Public Policy

• PACs and the Groups They Serve
• Affiliated PACs
• tied to corporations, labor unions, trade groups
  or health organizations
• raise funds through voluntary contributions
• Nonconnected PACs
• independent, participate in elections
• raise money through direct-mail appeals

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Section 2 Affecting Public Policy

• Strategies for Influence
• Trading Support for Access
• promise support, contributions assure access to
  officials
• Influencing Elections
• support incumbents (usually win Congressional
  elections)

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Section 3 Shaping Public Opinion

• The Nature of Public Opinion
• Diversity
• Communication
• Significant Numbers
• Political Socialization
• Family
• influence opinion, join same political parties
• Schools
• learn history and political system democratic
  values
• Peer Groups
• influence and shape opinions

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Section 3 Shaping Public Opinion

• Political Socialization
• Social Characteristics
• economic and social status
• Mass Media
• provide information and images that influence
  political attitudes
• the way the media depicts different groups of
  people
• Government
• president and Congress influence opinions
• Political Efficacy
• an individuals feelings of effectiveness in
  politics
• high levels of efficacy are essential in a
  democracy

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Section 3 Shaping Public Opinion

• Political Culture
• A Context for Opinion
• sets boundaries within which citizens develop and
  express opinions
• Screening Information
• influence how citizens interpret what they see
  and hear
• Ideology and Public Policy
• ideology set of basic beliefs about life,
  culture, govt, and society

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Section 3 Shaping Public Opinion

• Ideology and Public Policy
• Liberal
• believe the govt should actively promote health,
  education, and justice increase equality govt
  should not restrict personal freedoms
• Conservative
• Limit govts role in the economy and in solving
  social problems protect moral life-style
• Moderates and Libertarians
• moderates fall between liberals and conservatives
• libertarians support both economic and social
  freedoms (free markets and unrestricted speech)

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Section 4 Measuring Public Opinion

• Traditional Methods
• Political Party Organizations
• Interest Groups
• make every attempt to get their opinion of their
  issue known
• may only represent a small group of people, not a
  safe indicator
• Mass Media
• officials get info of public opinion through
  news, magazines, radio talk shows, letters to the
  editor
• not accurate, sensationalism, a few people
  represented in the news may not reflect the whole

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Section 4 Measuring Public Opinion

• Letter Writing
• Electronic Access
• Straw Polls
• group of people questioned informally to
  determine public opinion
• telephone calls, surveys, interviews of people
• unreliable, do not represent the whole, do not
  represent a cross-section of the population

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Section 4 Measuring Public Opinion

• Scientific Polling
• Sample Populations
• must determine the universe population to be
  studied
• only need to take a poll of a small group who
  accurately represent the universe
• a small group can represent a universe according
  to the laws of probability (the likelihood that
  something will happen)
• key to scientific polling is that the sample is
  made at random
• non-random surveys are biased and inaccurate

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Section 4 Measuring Public Opinion

• Sampling Error
• scientific polls have a sampling error (the range
  of accuracy)
• can decrease sampling error by increasing sample
  size
• Sampling Procedures
• quota sample chosen based on characteristics
  found in a population, race, income, gender,
  religion-means the sample will not be random
• cluster sample groups people by geographical
  area, selections within the geographic area can
  then be made at random

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Section 4 Measuring Public Opinion

• Poll Questions, Mail and Phone Polls
• questions must be clear, fair, and unbiased
• usually personal or telephone
• success depends on interviewer, they make people
  feel relaxed and confident, not embarrassed of
  their answers
• surveys by mail should not be too long, and have
  clear directions and questions
• Interpreting Results
• include in results the polling method, type of
  sample, sampling error, date of survey