Influencing Government

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Influencing Government
Saleem McPherson Ramadan Jahad
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Introduction
Today were going to talk about how the public is
influenced by the government, public opinion
polls, mass media, and interest groups. We will
also discuss the importance of how mass media
affects the lives of the public.
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Forming Public Opinion
Public opinion is formed when a large percentage
of people converge on an issue. Public opinion is
the opinion or attitudes the public have towards
an elected candidate , government, or political
affairs. Public opinion has a strong influence on
the government, however a large mass of people
must share the same opinion on that issue for
government officials to listen
.
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Forming Public Opinion
Most candidates make effective decisions
according to the publics reaction to an issue.
Also presidents rely on the support of the public
and the Congress to carry out their program. If
that president's public popularity is high they
will most likely have the support of the public.

• Most candidates make effective decisions
  according to the publics reaction to an issue.
  Also presidents rely on the support of the public
  and the Congress to carry out their program.

If that presidents public popularity is high, he
or she, most likely will have the support of the
public.
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Component of Public Opinion
There are 3 components or pillars of public
opinion, These pillars are Direction The
direction of the public opinion is whether the
publics reaction on a given topic is positive or
negative. Intensity The intensity is the
strength of the public opinion on a certain
issue. Stability The stability is how strongly
the public holds on to their views, and how some
differ from issue to issue

• .

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Mass Media

• Media now has a major impact on public opinion,
  and plays an important role on influencing the
  government and U.S. Officials. Mass Media is the
  communication broadcast to a large mass of
  people. This media consists of
• Print Media (newspapers, magazines, and books).
• Electronic Media (radio, television, and
  internet).
• The media has an influence on which problems the
  government considers is most important.

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Mass Media

• About 98 of Americans have televisions in their
  homes so, most of the public now take the
  television as their most reliable resource for
  information. Without media we wouldn't have
  hardly any information on politics.

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Interest groups, Public interest groups and
Economic interest groups

• Interest groups are groups formed to influence
  and persuade the public to their point of view.
• Public interest groups are formed to benefit all.
  Public interest groups help and promote the
  common needs of all citizens in general.
• Economic interest groups are formed to promote
  the interests of one who's working. This group
  concern themselves with wages, working condition,
  and benefits such as medical care for workers.

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Public Opinion Polls and Pollsters

• Public opinion poll is when pollsters ask
  individuals that have voted to answer questions
  in a survey. Every major elected officials use
  polls to closely monitor the public opinion.
• Pollsters are individuals who work to conduct
  polls regularly. Pollsters measure the publics
  attitudes towards a proposal at the White House.

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Setting Public Agenda

• The public agenda is a problem that take the most
  time, money, and effort from the government
  leaders.
• When the media publicizes a problem ,the public
  begins to worry about the issue and expects the
  government to deal with that problem. If there
  were an oil spill in a lake, the media will
  continue to broadcast the problem until its
  resolved.

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Elected Officials

• Elected official rely on media to communicate to
  the public about government activities and
  decisions. Some officials give or leak
  information to reporters about proposed actions.
  Leaks allow officials to test the publics
  reaction of a proposal without having to
  acknowledge the fact that the government may
  consider it. If the public reacts in its favor,
  the government may move on with the idea, if the
  public reacts negatively, theyll quietly drop
  it. Politician also use leaks to make a opposing
  candidate look bad, or gain favor with a
  reporter.

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Prior Restraint and Libel

• Prior Restraint is the government censorship of
  materials before its published. Meaning the
  government cant tell the media what they can and
  cant publish. Reporter and editors decide what
  they say, even if its embarrassing to the to the
  government, public official or politicians.
• One cannot publish false about an individual to
  ruin their reputation. Libel is false information
  given about someone that could ruin someone's
  reputation.

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7 Propaganda Techniques

• There are 7 techniques Interest Groups use to get
  their point across to the public
• They are
• Endorsements
• An admired person, such as a movie star, that
  supports a candidate or product.
• Stack cards
• A technique that presents only one side of an
  issue, by distorting facts.

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7 Techniques of Interest Group

• Name Calling a attempt for a candidate to turn
  people against an opposing candidate or an idea
  by giving them unpleasant label or description.
• Glittering Generality a statement that sounds
  good but is essentially meaningless.

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7 Techniques of Interest Group

• Symbols when candidates use and misuse symbols
  when appealing to the public.
• Just Plain Folks political campaigns use various
  photographs of candidates being plain folk.
• The Bandwagon when individuals convince the
  public that everyone agrees with the view of
  that interest group, this is called getting on
  the bandwagon.

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Conclusion

• As you can see both mass media and public opinion
  polls, play important part in U.S politics. Each
  holds its own place in changing the public
  opinion to their point of view. Also, the media
  helps set the public agenda and presents
  political information to the public. The mass
  media have a big impact on the lives of the
  public. Interest groups are also an important
  part of influencing the government.

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Analysis

• In opinion, we believe without media most of the
  public would be ignorant about politics. Also we
  believe that the public help the media set the
  public agenda.