Test 3 Flashcards
Interest Groups
organizations that seek to influence public policy
AKA: factions
Purpose: connect citizens to gov.
Economic group
organized for economic reasons
organized to make profit, provide jobs, improve pay, and protect an occupation
Ex: chamber of commerce, Microsoft
Citizens group
People join because they believe the cause is worthy.
EX: NRA
Free Riders
gets the benefits even if they don’t contribute
EX: NPR
Who is the nations most powerful lobbying group?
AARP
Lobbying
when interest groups try to influence politicians.
Citizens United V. Federal Election Commission (2010)
Ruling brought along Superpacks
Not allowed to give money directly to candidate, free to spend as much money as you want to, can accept contributions of any size, do not have to tell where the money came from.
2010 Dodd -Frank Act
About the housing market
Exception: Auto Loans
“Too big to fail” Issue
Congress bails out the banks,
Tax payers pay back the money- $540 Billion
The gov. cannot use tax payer dollars to bail out banks unless it creates an economic crisis.
Watergate Scandal
one of the most famous news stories; caught by slip in the door. Helped bring down Nixon
Pursues the watchdog role under 1st amendment.
Yellow Journalism
false reports used to make money
EX: Brian Williams
Steps to make news more credible
Separate advertising from new’s department
objective journalism-reporting facts instead of opinions
Medias Purpose
Civil Imperative- duty to inform the public
Business Imperative- the need to make money
Fairness Doctrine
Receded in 1987
Had to be politically neutral
Had to cover political issues in a neutral and balanced way
Station owners embraced talk radio; made up largely of conservatives.
Functions preformed by journalists
Signaling- focus the public’s attention
Common carrier function- supposed to open communication between the gov. and the public; framing-shaping a message
Watchdog function- supposed to protect the public from incompetent individuals
Partisan function- media tries to influence public’s response
Media Bias
Major bias-network bias Talk shows= conservative EX: Ben Shapiro The Internet= Liberal EX: MSNBC
Why do incumbents (office holder) have advantages over other candidates?
They cater to consitituents ( the people)
They work to get pork (funding)
They get free frank (mailings) and free trips home and press releases.
Gerrymandering
Redrawing the lines for personal gain
Redistricting
Redrawing the lines
Incumbancy Pitfalls
Disruptive issues
Personal Misconduct - Mr. Weiner
Voter Turnout during Midterm
Superpacts- donate money to the incumbents
Restrictions for House
25, two year term, citizen for 7 years, live in the district you want to represent
Representative: James Comer
Restrictions for Senate
30, 6 year term, Citizen for 9 years, live in the state I want to represent. The president of the senate is the VP; only vote if tie.
Senators: Mitch McConnell & Rand Paul
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Took 1 year through congress, changed nations politics, Nearly all republicans are conservative and all democrats are liberals.
Example of a bill that made it through congress
2009 Economic Stimulus Bill
Example of a bill that did not make it through congress
2018 Immigration Bill
Major functions of congress
law making, representation, and oversight
