How Voters Influence the Government

Chapter 7 text

What is an “interest group?”

• A group of like-minded people who share a common concern for a specific issue

• Some common interest groups get involved with environmental issues, campaign reform, gun control, health care, etc.

What they AREN’T

• An interest group is NOT a political party

• It can’t nominate a candidate for office

• It has no legal status at all in the election process

What they DO

• Support political candidates whose stand on their issue is one they can support

• Purchase advertising or other media exposure to educate the public about their issue

• “Lobby*” public officials to get support for their issue

– *Lobby (v.) to meet with an official to educate him/her about an issue, and solicit legislative support for that issue.

Types of Interest Groups

• Economic Interest Groups, formed on the basis of a common economic interest

• Examples: labor unions, business groups such as Chambers of Commerce, professional groups such as the American Medical Association, American Bar Association, etc.

• Agricultural groups such as the Grange, National Farmers’ Co-op, etc.

Types of Interest Groups (cont’d)

• Groups that promote certain causes, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) or the National Rifle Association (NRA)

• Groups that promote the welfare of certain groups, such as the American Association of Retired People (AARP) or the Nat’l Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

• Religion-related groups, such as the National Council for Churches, or the American Jewish Congress

Types of Interest Groups (cont’d)

• Public Interest Groups are concerned with issues such as the environment, consumer protection, crime, civil rights, etc.

• Examples: Common Cause, League of Women Voters, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, etc.

How do they exert influence?

• influence elections by: getting their members to vote for certain candidates; contributing $ to candidates, especially through PACs

• lobby toward elected officials and ordinary citizens

• litigate (bring lawsuits.) For example, much of the NAACP work in the 1950s was in the courts, when Congress refused to address their concerns

• purchase advertising time, produce documentary films, make speeches about their issue.

Interest Groups can be regulated by Congress

• The Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act (1946) requires all lobbyists to register with the clerk of the House and/or Senate, stating that their purpose in visiting those chambers was to influence law-making.

• The Lobbying Disclosure Act (1995), made stricter rules about lobbying Congress or the president’s staff

• Also required legislators or members of the president’s staff to report gifts from lobbyists

• Also requires lobbyists to publicly report the names of all clients they represent.

The Media

• “Mass Media:” all forms of communications that transmit information to the general public.

• “The Media” refers to radio, TV, newspapers, the Internet as a group.

• The word “media” is plural; any of the above group by itself is called a “medium.”

Newspapers

• As TV and radio became more popular, newspapers have declined in influence since the 1950s.

• Still, politicians and other interest groups find newspapers an important way to get their message out to the general public.

Magazines

• Have less frequent publication than newspapers and usually smaller circulation (number of readers.) But some have a national circulation.

• Magazines were huge influences in politics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

• Since the 1920s, many Americans prefer a weekly news magazine such as Time to a daily newspaper.

Radio• Beginning in the 1920s, radio was primarily an

entertainment medium.• FDR used it to political advantage in the 1930s for

his weekly “fireside chats” with the American public.

• considered a “free public medium,” since it broadcasts its signal over the public airways.

• Congress since 1935 has ruled that the air belongs to the people of the United States, and access to it must be equal. Content of programs broadcast over the people’s air must meet standards of acceptability.

Radio

• In 1935, Congress created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

• FCC’s mission is to oversee radio stations and insure their compliance with the Federal Communications Act.

• FCC standards prohibit lewd or obscene content• Formerly required objective news reporting with

“equal time” standard

Television

• Since World War II, TV has claimed the largest audience of all mass media.

• Television news has vastly increased Americans’ access to knowledge about political events.

• Politicians such as Joseph McCarthy and John Kennedy used TV exposure much the same way FDR had.

• TV news programs have gradually grown from a scant 15 minutes nightly in the mid 1950s to 90 minutes or more nightly today.

Television

• TV, like radio, uses public airways for broadcasting and is regulated by the FCC.

• In recent years, cable-access and satellite TV (first called “pay TV”) was developed, in part to bypass FCC regulations

• Cable/satellite stations are less bound by strictures about obscenity, etc. since patrons choose which content they wish to purchase.

The Internet

• The Internet is fast outrunning television as a primary medium for news and entertainment content.

• Regulating the Internet has proved to be politically controversial

• So far, Congress has made no legislation placing the Internet under the jurisdiction of the FCC.

Roles of the Media

• Informing the public• Serving as a “watchdog” over elected officials,

particularly through investigative news reporting• Helping shape political agendas by giving news

coverage to controversial issues• TV coverage of the Viet Nam war, for example,

was instrumental in getting ordinary citizens to demand an end to the war.

Roles of the Media

• All media rely on advertising income

• Political ads form a large percentage of any medium’s annual income

• Media ad purchases are the largest part of any candidate’s campaign expenditures.

• The ability to buy media space and/or time can determine how successful a candidate can expect to be on voting day.

Media Ownership

• In the United States, all media outlets are privately owned

• (in Europe, government ownership of one media outlet is not uncommon.)

• Private ownership increases media freedom of content

• also means the media must get advertising revenue to survive.

Media Regulation

• The FCC deals primarily with broadcast media (radio, television).

• Print media are less regulated; because a citizen generally purchases a newspaper or magazine, the assumption is that the buyer wishes to read the content of the newspaper. Thus, the publisher is somewhat freer in using the medium for political propaganda*

Media Regulation

*Propaganda (n.): Information content that is heavily exaggerated, and is meant to influence the opinion of the viewer or reader

Propaganda is not necessarily untruthful, but makes no attempt to be fair or objective.

Media Regulation

• The FCC regulates not only content; it requires registration and licensing of radio and TV transmitters, telegraph cables, telephone lines, satellites, etc.

• The FCC regulates the ownership of broadcast media, so that competition is encouraged

• This helps ensure fairness in media.

What is “news?”

• Generally defined, “news” is any important event that occurred within the past 24 hours.

• As a practical matter, any news medium actually defines what is “news” because it decides which events to report, among the many that may have occurred

• Each medium also decides how to present these events to the public.

What is “news?”• Media managers thus play a “gatekeeper” role• They decide what gets in to a news broadcast or

newspaper, and what doesn’t.• Many things can influence what a media editor

selects:– How much time/space does the medium have available

for a story?

– What stories are exciting enough to make people watch/read?

– How famous are the people involved?

What is “news?”• Sometimes media will ignore a politically

important event because it’s too complicated• Or because a more sensational story is chosen

instead

“If it bleeds, it leads.”

Media and the President• Major media outlets have permanent staff

stationed in Washington DC, to cover events at the White House -- “the press corps.”

• The Press Corps receives daily briefings from the president’s Press Secretary

• Occasionally, the president’s staff will arrange a media opportunity such as an awards ceremony

• They are called “photo opportunities” or “photo ops” for short.

Media and the President

• The White House Press Corps doesn’t rely on photo ops and press briefings for their information. Other sources include:

• printed news releases, text sheets meant to be used verbatim

• news conferences, opportunities to question a government official as a group; these are sometimes rehearsed

• news “leaks,” information released by an official who wishes to remain anonymous

Media and the President• Politicians can talk to media in many ways:• “on the record” -- the speaker can be quoted by

name• “off the record” -- speaker and reporter both

understand that what is said cannot be printed• “on background” -- what is said can be printed,

but the speaker cannot be identified by name• “on deep background” -- what is said can be

printed, but the information cannot be attributed to anybody, whether by name or even by vague title (e.g., “a source close to the president”)

Media and the Congress

• The Congressional press pool is smaller

• Does not pay as much attention to individual members as it does to the actions of the entire body.

• Congressional coverage may cover hearings, investigations, or scandals among members.

Media and the Congress

• Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) was created to increase public coverage of Congress

• All meetings of the entire House and Senate, and some of the smaller committee meetings, are covered on C-Span I and II.

• Members of Congress may also use broadcast media to record messages to their constituents (the people whom they represent.)

• No federal office holder can afford to ignore the media.