GOVT 2305 Chpt 8, 9, 10

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, what was roughly the amount spent on lobbying in the United States in 2009?

$3.5 billion

About ________ percent of people who regularly listen to National Public Radio do not donate money to their local station.

90

Which of the following are key players in the modern campaign?

All these answers are correct.

Why have the Democratic and Republican parties been so durable since the Civil War?

Analysts believe that the durability of the Democratic and Republican parties is due to their remarkable ability to adapt during times of crisis. These two major parties have survived many periods of social, economic, and political unrest not by maintaining a consistent ideology, but by adapting to the changing needs of the maintaining and realigning elections. (For example, the elections of the Great Depression of the 1930s produced fundamentally new Democratic and Republican parties.) Instead of being destroyed by these elections, the parties emerged with new bases of support, new policies, and even new philosophies. Democrats and Republicans remained the dominant parties in America. After the Great Depression, the Democrats became the country's majority party and emphasized a new social and economic role for national government. The party survived - indeed succeeded - only by responding to the crisis and adapting its policies to address the current needs of the people. Such capacity for adaptation has ensured the Democrats' and Republicans' longevity and dominance in America's two-party system.

What is a candidate-centered campaign, and how does it differ from a party-centered one? Identify some advantages and disadvantages of candidate-centered campaigns.

Candidates effectively control the candidate-centered campaign, while a party-centered campaign is dominated by parties. One advantage of candidate-centered campaigns is that they bring flexibility and new blood to electoral politics. This means the political system can more quickly adapt to new realities. Also, candidate-centered campaigns encourage national officeholders to be more responsive to local interests, because personal support among local constituents is the key to re-election. A disadvantage is that officeholders' accountability to the public is reduced, because an incumbent can always blame other officeholders for policy problems. Party-centered campaigns are characterized by collective accountability.

Explain why the single-member district system of elections tends to promote a two-party system. Also, compare the single-member district system with proportional representation systems.

In a single-member district system, each constituency selects only one representative for an office, on the basis of which candidate receives a plurality of the vote. This system promotes a two-party system in America. It discourages minor parties because it is, essentially, a winner-take-all contest. For example, if a minor party receives 20 percent of the vote in each congressional district, it would win no seats in Congress. Despite the fact that one in five voters voted for the minor party, the winning candidate in each district would be the major-party candidate with the larger proportion of the remaining 80 percent of the vote. In contrast, a system of proportional representation is not a winner-take-all contest. In European democracies, for example, seats in the legislature are allocated according to a party's share of the popular vote; if a minor party wins 20 percent of the vote, it receives 20 percent of the legislative seats. America's single-member district system disadvantages minor parties and, therefore, promotes a two-party system.

Identify the factors that account for the relative uniformity in news reporting among major American news institutions.

One reason for the relative uniformity of news reporting is objective journalism, in which the emphasis on facts and salient events provides journalists with a basis for agreement. Put differently, because almost all journalists view the world and their job in roughly the same way, they tend to report the same things. Another reason for the lack of diversity in reporting is that a small number of news organizations generate most of the news. For example, the Associated Press (AP) wire service is the major source of national and international news for most newspapers. National networks tend to report the same stories and to agree on what are the most important aspects of those stories, and network correspondents cover the same beats and rely on many of the same sources, which leads them to report more or less the same things.

The term "framing" is used to describe the

process of selecting certain aspects of reality and then crafting news stories around those aspects.

The FCC's equal time requirement

prohibited broadcasters from selling or giving time to political candidates while denying it to their opponents.

Effective inside lobbying is based upon

providing useful and persuasive information to key officials.

Democrats and Republicans have endured as the two major U.S. parties primarily due to

their ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

In acknowledging the dilemma inherent in group activity, James Madison

worried that government would be overly dominated by groups, but recognized that a free society is obliged to permit the advocacy of self-interest.

On average, how much money must a U.S. senator raise every week of his or her six-year term in order to acquire enough to launch a competitive bid for reelection?

$20,000

Under federal law, PACs can contribute up to ________ per candidate for federal office for a primary election and general election combined.

$10,000

Abraham Lincoln was first elected in 1860 with ________ percent of the popular vote.

40

During the twentieth century, American parties lost their exclusive control over

All these answers are correct.

Political parties serve to

All these answers are correct.

Which of the following organizations is NOT an example of a single-issue group?

American Conservative Union

Which of the following is an example of a single-issue party?

Greenback Party

Which demographic is key to the future of both parties?

Hispanic voters

In the recent elections, which voting demographic has become a more cohesive voting bloc and has sided heavily with the Democratic Party, seeing it as more closely aligned with their interests?

Hispanics

The major emerging voting blocs are

Hispanics and young people.

Which of the following statements is true?

Objective journalism is based on the communication of facts and fairness.

What party has made big gains in recent decades among white fundamentalist Christians, based on its positions on topics like abortion and school prayer?

Republican

Historically, the American press has shifted from

a political to a journalistic orientation.

How do the motivations of the press differ and often lead to a greater coverage of crime stories than the political process?

The press is motivated to produce news that attracts and holds audiences. This leads journalists to cover immediate events more than long-term policy issues. In political reporting, the result is a focus on tactics and poll results, for example, rather than to policy stances that have already been reported upon. Crime stories have the kinds of immediacy the press can use to attract an audience. As a result, in the early 1990s "If it bleeds it leads" became the mantra of local TV news, and crime became the most heavily reported national issue.

An interest group that focuses on policy benefits for senior citizens would be an example of

a single-issue group.

The term iron triangle refers to

a small and informal but relatively stable set of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists who are concerned with promoting a particular interest.

One consequence of today's high-choice media system is

a widening in the partisan divide.

The Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

allows corporations and labor unions to spend unlimited funds on campaigns.

An informal grouping of officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists who come together temporarily around a policy problem is

an issue network.

American party organizations

are still important, but their role in campaigns is secondary to that of candidates.

Most lobbyists receive support from elected officials in direct exchange for

information.

The media perform the signaling role by

informing the public of breaking events and new developments.

Roughly how many American workers currently belong to unions?

one in eight

The theory that society's interests are most effectively represented through group action is

pluralist theory.

The Watergate scandal illustrates the

power of the media to serve as watchdog to safeguard against abuses of power.

Grassroots lobbying is based on the assumption that officials will respond to

pressure from constituents.

At the state level the central committees

provide only general policy guidance for the state organizations.

One special contribution of Internet-based news is that it

provides the ordinary citizen with an opportunity to be part of the news system.

The "long tail" is a phenomenon related to the

rate of Internet news readership.

MSNBC responded to Fox's ratings success by

recasting themselves as the liberal alternative to Fox.

A(n) ________ party is a minor party that bases its appeal on the claim that the major parties are having a corrupting influence on government and policy.

reform

"Agency capture" occurs when

regulatory agencies side with the industries they are supposed to regulate rather than with the public.

Objective journalism is based on the idea that the reporter's job is to

report the facts and cover alternative sides of a partisan debate.

James Madison's solution to the problem of factions (special interests) has, in the modern policy process, actually contributed to the problem by

resulting in a fragmentation of authority among policymakers, thereby providing groups more opportunities to get their way.

Agenda-setting is an action that falls under which of the major roles played by the press?

signaling

The second-largest number of PACs are those associated with

single-issue groups, such as environmental groups and right-to-life groups.

Regarding state party organizations, the day-to-day operation is usually the responsibility of the

state chairperson.

The citizens of ________ are MOST actively involved in interest groups and community causes.

the United States

Which of the following represents the greatest blow to the organizational strength of U.S. parties?

the direct primary

What development brought about a dramatic reduction in television's capacity to generate an interest in news?

the rapid spread of cable

The federal government's licensing of broadcasting is based primarily on

the scarcity of broadcasting frequencies.

Citizens' interest groups are distinguished from economic interest groups by the fact that

their members receive no direct economic benefit from attainment of the group's goals.

Political scientist Theodore Lowi has questioned pluralist theory by suggesting that

there is no concept of the public interest in a system that gives special interests the ability to determine the policies affecting them.

Economic groups have an advantage over noneconomic groups because

they have greater access to financial resources.

In an effort to overcome the free-rider problem, noneconomic groups have

used Internet resources and computer-assisted mailing lists to target potential donors.

Proportional representation systems encourage the formation of smaller parties by enabling parties to

win legislative seats even though they do not receive a majority of votes in elections.

Hillary Clinton was the first ________ ever chosen as the presidential nominee of a major party.

woman

The air we breathe is an example of a

collective good

In comparison with today's newspapers, early American newspapers

could not have survived without political party support.

Which of the following was NOT part of the 2016 Republican Party platform?

cuts in military spending

The news provides a refracted version of reality because it

emphasizes dramatic and compelling news stories.

Super PACs have been criticized primarily for

giving too much influence to the wealthy.

Presidential candidates in the 1960s, compared with today,

had longer sound bites, on average, in broadcast television newscasts.

On both radio and television, the most successful partisan talk shows

have been hosted by conservatives.

In terms of news consumption, since the 1980s young adults

have been less informed than older ones.

The election of ________ was a realigning election.

1932

Television first became a major medium for campaign ads during the

1960s.

Define a PAC. What limitations do PACs face when raising funds? What limitations do they face when contributing funds? Who are the primary recipients of PAC contributions, and why? In what significant ways does a PAC differ from a super PAC?

A PAC is the political action committee of an interest group that tries to gain influence by contributing money to the campaigns of political candidates. PAC contributions account for roughly a quarter of total contributions to congressional campaigns. Their role is less significant in presidential campaigns, which are larger in scale and depend on a wider range of funding sources. PACs face limitations on their efforts to raise funds. They can raise money for election campaigns by soliciting voluntary contributions from group members. Limitations also exist on the levels of contribution. A PAC can contribute no more than $10,000 to a candidate for federal office - $5,000 in the primary and $5,000 in the general election. The primary recipients of PAC contributions are incumbents. Congressional incumbents are highly likely to win and thus to remain in a position to make public policy. For this reason, the great bulk of PAC contributions are given to incumbents seeking reelection. Super PACs are not allowed to give money directly to candidates or parties, but they are otherwise more or less free to spend as much as they want. They can accept contributions of any size and can focus their spending entirely on the election or defeat of a single candidate.

What is meant by a party realignment?

A party realignment occurs when many significant social groups alter their voting behavior and switch their allegiance from one political party to another. Political realignments have three basic elements: the emergence of unusual powerful and divisive issues; an election contest or contests in which the voters shift their partisan support; and an enduring change in the parties' policies and coalitions.

Members of the ________ generate more mail to Congress than any other group.

AARP

Which of the following groups primarily uses litigation as its lobbying method?

ACLU

The limits of interest groups' influence might be gauged by the Democratic backlash against the ________, which tried to block the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993.

AFL-CIO

Which of the following groups is MOST closely aligned with the Democratic Party, voting more than 80 percent Democratic in presidential elections?

African Americans

Which of the following is true of age differences in news consumption?

Age differences in news consumption shrink for Internet-based news but do not disappear.

A basic reason for the existence of so many interest groups in the United States is

All of these answers are correct.

Identify the defining characteristics of an interest group. How do interest groups differ from political parties?

An interest group is any organization that actively seeks to influence public policy. Interest groups are a linkage mechanism, serving to connect citizens with government. Although political parties are also linkage mechanisms, they serve a much broader range of issues in order to appeal to more constituents. Interest groups concentrate on trying to change specific policies, while political parties have winning elections as their primary goal. Interest groups also handle some issues, particularly controversial ones, that political parties neglect or deliberately avoid.

Compare iron triangles and issue networks.

An iron triangle is a small and informal but relatively stable set of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists who are concerned with the development of policies beneficial to a particular interest. All sides of an iron triangle benefit from the relationship, which is why such relationships tend to be iron-clad or likely to endure. An issue network is an informal relationship among officials and lobbyists who are linked by common expertise and concern with a given policy area, such as energy, communication, the environment, or trade, and who come together temporarily around an issue problem. Issue networks are different from iron triangles because the former are temporary and ad hoc (a response to a particular issue) and are based on shared expertise, while the latter are more enduring and are based on common interest. Although they are less stable, issue networks have become a more prevalent manner in which to wield political influence.

________ lost the 1964 presidential election in a landslide because his views were seen as too extreme.

Barry Goldwater

A candidate for which minor party in 1912 managed to earn more votes than one of his major party opponents?

Bull Moose

The Democratic Party's long-time regional stronghold, "the Solid South," stemmed from a realignment during which historical period?

Civil War era

Scholarly research has shown that, overall, the traditional media have

During the era of objective journalism, the commitment of newspapers to two-sided news reporting

________ was the only Republican elected president from 1932 to 1964.

Dwight Eisenhower

The FCC restriction requiring broadcasters to "afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views of public importance" was known as the

Fairness Doctrine.

What is the importance of the distinction between private goods (individual goods) and collective goods (public goods) in assessing why some interests are more highly organized than others? What type of group particularly benefits from this situation?

Economic groups offer members private (or individual) incentives that benefit them directly, which is a powerful reason to join the group. An example of a private good is a benefit that a labor union member obtains through the union. Citizens' groups offer collective goods (public goods), which are goods that all people share, such as a clean environment. The fact that such goods are available to nonmembers as well as members is a disincentive for many to participate. This situation, called the free-rider problem, can plague citizens' groups. Economic groups are less affected by the free-rider problem. Economic groups also have ready access to financial resources in the form of profits or dues, while citizens' groups typically have more trouble obtaining financial resources - though recent advances in computer-aided direct mail and Internet-based fundraising have improved the financing capabilities of many citizens' groups.

Define economic groups. Identify four types of economic interest groups and the constituencies they serve.

Economic groups promote the economic interests of their members. Corporations, labor unions, farm groups, and professional associations are among the types of groups that exist primarily for economic purposes. Business groups, which make up more than one-half of all lobbying groups in Washington, D.C., concentrate their activities on policies that are concerned with business. Business interests are also represented by associations such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Labor groups seek to promote policies that benefit workers in general and union members in particular. They have been politically active for a long time, and the AFL-CIO is the largest labor group. Farm groups represent various segments of the farm community; for example, the American Farm Bureau Federation promotes agribusiness and large farms, while the Farmers Union promotes the interests of smaller family farms. Professional groups, such as the American Medical Association, represent various professions and attempt to influence policy on their behalf.

Of the following television networks, which is typically considered the MOST partisan?

Fox News

The Gazette of the United States was founded to promote the policies of President

George Washington

________ warned Americans of the "baneful effects" of factions (political parties) in his 1797 farewell address.

George Washington

How do European parties differ from American parties?

In Europe, where there are no primary elections, parties are stronger and have much tighter control over nominations, campaigns, candidate funding, and elections. American parties, due to federalism and a tradition of individualism, remain loose associations of local, state, and national organizations. The European proportional representation system also results in the viability of smaller parties than can get representation in legislatures even with a small proportion of the vote.

Compare outside lobbying and inside lobbying.

Inside lobbying is based on close contacts with legislative, executive, and judicial officials and relies upon the use of information and personal persuasion as means of gaining support for the goals of the interest group. Outside lobbying aims to bring public pressure to bear on officials and rests upon grassroots activity (e.g., a letter-writing campaign) and electoral support in the form of group endorsements, votes, and financial contributions.

________, a Populist, won electoral votes in six states in the presidential election of 1892.

James B. Weaver

________ wrote that "Liberty is to faction what air is to fire."

James Madison

________ is associated with the Era of Good Feeling.

James Monroe

Political parties in the United States originated partly as a political feud between

Lincoln and Douglas.

All of the following use top-two primaries EXCEPT

New York.

Which of the following is an accurate representation of the public's opinion about leaders and their accountability?

Most citizens have a low opinion of Congress as a whole but say they have confidence in their local representative in Congress.

Which of the following statements has been shown by scholarly research to be true?

Network journalists tend to be negative.

The circulation battle of which two newspapers may have contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War?

New York Journal and New York World

Over the last century, which newspaper has had a lasting reputation as the country's best newspaper?

New York Times

In 1992, ________ won 19 percent of the popular vote in the presidential election.

Ross Perot

Economist Mancur Olson refers to what aspect of interest groups as "the size factor"?

Small groups are ordinarily more united on policy issues and often have more resources, enabling them to win out more often than large groups.

Yellow journalism contributed most notably to public support for the

Spanish-American War.

________ does not have a competitive multiparty system.

The United States

What steps did the government have to take to regulate broadcast media, and why were those steps necessary?

The development of the broadcast media brought initial chaos primarily because nearby stations often used the same or adjacent radio frequencies, interfering with each other's broadcasts. Congress passed the Communications Act, which regulated broadcasting, and created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to oversee the process. Broadcasters now had to be licensed, and because the number of frequencies is limited, licensing required political impartiality. The FCC enforced an "equal time" provision, which prohibits broadcasters from selling or giving airtime to a political candidate without offering to sell or give an equal amount of airtime to other candidates for the same office.

Explain the four functions of the modern media.

The modern media effectively perform four significant roles: those of signaler, common-carrier, watchdog, and partisan advocate. The signaling role requires the press to bring relevant events and problems into public view. In its common-carrier role, the press serves as a channel through which political leaders can address the public. The watchdog role requires the press to scrutinize official behavior and uncover evidence of deception, carelessness, or corruption. Finally, the press functions as a partisan advocate. Although the traditional media perform this last function to a degree, the newer media (the talk shows and blogs) specialize in it.

Which of the following is NOT a typical interest group function?

addressing a broad and diverse range of public issues

The influence of interest groups through the courts occurs through

both initiating lawsuits and lobbying for certain judges to be appointed to the bench.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has regulatory oversight over which of the following?

broadcast radio

The most numerous economic groups are

business groups.

The largest number of PACs are those associated with

business.

Some groups pursue collective goods. A collective good is one that

cannot be selectively granted or denied to individuals; it must be shared.

Prospective voting is characterized by

choices based on what candidates promise to do if elected.

Theodore Lowi's theory of interest-group liberalism

deals with the tendency of officials to support the policy demands of the interest group or groups that have a special stake in a policy.

Outside lobbying does NOT include

developing and maintaining close contacts with policymakers.

During the era of objective journalism, the commitment of newspapers to two-sided news reporting

did not extend to their editorializing.

The most fully organized interests are those that have which of the following as their primary purpose?

economic activity

In the dynamics of an iron triangle, what benefit do interest groups provide to friendly government agencies?

lobbying support for agency programs

The rise of the Internet as a news source has

substantially increased the partisan divide.

The Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) ultimately led to the creation of

super PACs.

Daily Kos and the Drudge Report are MOST similar to

talk shows.

What technology led editors to substitute news reports for opinion commentary?

telegraph

The main battleground for votes is

television.

The reason the news product is designed to fascinate as well as to inform is

that news organizations are fundamentally businesses and must obtain revenue to survive.

During what decade did the American television network news audience change from a growing to a shrinking one?

the 1980s

The dominant labor interest group is

the AFL-CIO.

Why have issue networks become more prevalent?

the increasing complexity of policy problems

A flaw in pluralism theory is the fact that

the interest group system is unrepresentative, because some interests are far better organized and more powerful than others.

One of the reasons the reporting of national news is relatively uniform among news sources is that

the network newscasts are brief and the day's top stories tend to dominate.

A purposive incentive is defined as

the opportunity to contribute to a worthy goal or purpose.