Today Student Will (TSW):Describe the importance of the roles interest

groups play in influencing the actions and policies of government.

Warm Up:

You are a Northwestern High School student who is unhappy with the late hours of your school.

What might some of your options be as far as influencing the existing person or group in charge of changing those hours according to your preference?

Warm Up

You are a Northwestern High School student who is unhappy with the late hours of your

school.

What might some of your options be as far as influencing the existing person or group

in charge of changing those hours according to your preference?

Interest Groups and Public Opinion

Local, State, and National Government

Interest Groups

An interest group is a group of people who share common goals and organize to

influence government.These groups spend a great deal of money

and put a lot of effort into persuading government officials to support bills or

policies the group feels will be beneficial.(USG, page 503)

Interest Groups are NOT Political Parties ...They do not nominate candidates. …Only concerned with a few specific

issues and do not try to gain members with different opinions.

…Organized on the basis of common values rather than on geographic location.

Why belong to an Interest Group? Economic self-interest Beliefs, values, and

attitudes Social reasons ***Most who join tend

to be from upper income levels.

Types of Interest Groups

Business and Labor (NAM and AFL-CIO)

Agricultural groups represent farmers. (Grange)

Professional Associations

Environmental groups Public Interest groups

Major Special Interest Groups

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People http://www.naacp.org

American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organization http://www.aflcio.org

American Medical Association

http://www.ama-assn.org/ National Education Association

http://www.nea.org/

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People http://www.naacp.org

American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organization http://www.aflcio.org

American Medical Association

http://www.ama-assn.org/ National Education Association

http://www.nea.org/

Purpose and Methods of Interest Groups Provide Americans with additional

Representation Seek to Inform the Public and Officials of

Issues Letter Writing CampaignsMedia Campaigns

Checking for Understanding How are interest groups different from

political parties? What methods do interest groups use to

influence public policy? Why are interest groups more effective in

influencing the government than are individual citizens?

Lobbying/Lobbyist

Lobbying is the process of making direct contact with government leaders in attempt to influence policy.

Lobbyists are the representatives of interest groups who conduct such work.

Political Action Committees(PACs) Another vehicle for interest groups to

influence government is through PACs. Organizations specifically designed to

collect money and provide financial support for a political candidate.

Pros and Cons?

Contributions to PACsGraphs on page 510 What has the general trend been in Total

PAC spending since 1978? By about how many dollars did PAC

spending increased between 1996-1998? By how much did the number of PACs

declined between 1996 and 1998? Which type of PAC spent the most $ in

1997?

Learning Log:

Do interest groups help make representative government truly “government by the people?” EXPLAIN!

Do you have any questions or comments on this topic?

TSW: Examine political ads in order to identify techniques used by politicians and the media to influence public opinion

Warm Up: Take a copy of the handout titled:

“Wanda’s Adventures in Government” Use vocabulary from last class to fill in the

blanks. Write your answers under “warm up” in

your journal.

Mass Media

Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, recordings, movies, and books

AKA—”The Fourth Branch of Government”

Strategic methods in influencing public opinion—the ideas and attitudes a significant number of Americans hold about government and political issues

Media in Political Campaigns Candidates use the

media to creatively persuade people’s opinions of themselves and opponents

Ads costs lots of $ Candidates spend

lots of time raising money to fund the expensive ads

Propaganda Techniques (page 496 in text) Testimonial: Celebrity endorsement

Mudslinging: negative ad

Transfer: using symbols to create negative attitude toward opponent

Card Stacking: use of stats & one-sided info to make opponent look bad

More Propaganda Techniques…

Plain Folks: attempt to appeal as “one of the people”

Glittering Generalities: introduce candidate to people with positive & broad words/phrases

Contrast Ad: Compare positive images of candidate with negative images of opponent in same ad

Your Turn…. In small groups, you will write & record a 30 second

political radio ad for a presidential candidate of your choice that uses at least one of the campaign advertising strategies we learned today.

Guidelines: Your group needs a written script to receive full credit

— the script needs to explain which advertising strategies you use.

Your group needs to practice a few times before recording and Be Creative!!

Learning Log:

How much of an influence do you think the media really has over people’s decisions?

Can you think of any examples from your daily life when the media had an effect on something you did?

Ideology and Public Opinion

Political Ideology effects how an individual approaches issues in public policy.

Liberal—believes gov’t should actively promote health, education, and justice

Conservative—believes in limiting the role of gov’t except in supporting traditional moral values

Moderates—fall somewhere in the middle

Measuring Public Opinion

Political Party membership Participation in Interest Groups Responses to Mass Media Letter Writing Volume Electronic Access ***Scientific Polling***

Conclusion

Why do we care about interest groups and public opinion? Because research shows that the government is indeed responsive

to the desires of the public.

Interest groups, political parties, mass media and the public opinion all weigh heavily on

government officials when designing public policy.