Interest Groups

Who are interest groups and what do they do?
  association of people who hold similar views and/or goals
- interest groups organize people
    organize letter writing campaigns, demonstrations
- interest groups encourage and provide means for political participation
     GOTV campaigns, group engagement in political dialogue, "checkbook participation"
- interest groups supply information to the public and to policy makers
     spreading literature, lobbying Congress, informative advertisements

Various types of interest groups
- agricultural interests
   National Potato Council, Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association
- business interests
    US Chamber of Commerce, American Wind Energy Association
- labor interests
    United Auto Workers
- cause-based interests
    Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Texans for Life Coalition
- societal interests
    American Association of Retired Persons, National Organization for Women
- professional interests
    American Medical Association, American Bar Association

What interest groups do:
- endorse candidates
- lobby elected officials
- inform the public
- file lawsuits

What they don't do:
- donate money to political campaigns
   Political Action Committees (PACs) are created for the purpose of raising money and contributing money to candidates for their campaigns

The good and the bad of interest groups:
- give a voice to minority political interests
- too much influence
- emotional, narrowly-focused interest vs. good of the country

Public Opinion

Public opinion
    collection of views shared by a segment of society on issues of interest or concern

Who is 'the public'?
   - the totality of the populace
      i.e. - all Americans
     often opinions of this grouping are led by the actions of leaders

           

        --or--

           

   - smaller public groups
      i.e. - female Americans; black Americans
     often opinions of these groups drive the public agenda  








Why do we care about their opinions?
   public opinion helps shape public policy in the United States

How do we know the opinions of 'the public'?
  - writing letters to elected officials
  - speaking at a public hearing
  - public organizations
  - voting trends
  - public opinion polls


Political socialization
  the process by which people acquire their political beliefs

Influences on an individual's political socialization
- family
- peer group (school/work)
- age
- race
- gender
- religion
- socio-economic status


Impact of the media on public beliefs and opinion
- covers political happenings
- monitors and shapes public agenda by way of what it covers (and doesn't cover)

Media used to be small. Now we have mass media.
Media used to be openly biased. Then objective journalism was en vogue. Today, shaded journalism.
News agencies used to engage in broadcasting. Now they engage in narrowcasting.

Common criticism of the media
- bias in reporting
- bias in story selection
- factual inaccuracy
- media consolidation


Measuring public opinion through polling
For an accurate measure of public opinion, one must conduct a scientific poll. This is done by:
- determining your sample universe
- selecting an appropriate-sized random sample
- using carefully crafted, non-leading questions
- measuring results and determining the margin of error (roughly 3-4% is acceptable)