Review Topics/Vocab

Review Topics/Vocab

AP US GOVERNMENT

Review Topics/Vocab Political Parties & Interest Groups

  • Primary purpose of political parties
  • 3 subdivisions of political parties: party in the electorate (voters); party in government (elected officials); party organization (professionals who promote party on national/state basis)
  • Parties are a linkage institution- meaning?
  • Current trends: party dealignment; less party identification
  • Since 60’s, D party has declined in membership, Independents have increased, R has remained about the same
  • Most recent elections have seen party polarization – a move to extreme ideological party positions with no middle ground
  • Ticket-splitting on the rise – leads to party dealignment & divided government
  • Original parties – Federalists (Hamilton) & Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson)
  • First party era of Democrats – 1828-1856; Jackson
  • Second party era of Democrats – 1928-FDR
  • First party era of Republicans – 1860; Lincoln
  • Second party era of Republicans – 1896-1928; GOP; McKinley in 1896
  • Era of Divided Government – 1968 to present
  • “Party realignment” is signaled by a “critical election”
  • Last party realignment in U.S. is 1932 – FDR & Democrats take control
  • U.S. is two-party system – WHY?
  • U.S. has single member districts (winner take all) as opposed to proportional representation (votes allocated according to percentage won)
  • Types of third parties:
  • Splinter (or bolter) / Personality – split off from a major party…possibly to align with a strong personality [TR - Progressives]
  • Ideological (or doctrinal) – different ideology [Socialist; Libertarian]
  • Single-issue – Free Soil Party, Prohibition Party
  • Obstacles in U.S. to third party success: winner-take-all feature of election, funding, lack of access to ballots in states
  • Third parties don’t win (except for Jesse Ventura!) but have a role:
  • Serve as critics of major parties; serve as innovators with new ideas/policy for problems- a voice for the fringe; serve as spoilers in elections(who for ex.?)
  • Primary difference between America’s major parties: view of role of federal government (Dems– large / much federal control; Reps – smaller / more state control)
  • Know the characteristics of Republican & Democratic voters
  • Primary difference between parties and special interest groups (sigs): parties run candidates for office / try to get elected; sigs don’t run candidates for office but try to get their agenda in policy
  • Sigs are policy specialists (experts) in their area of interest and parties are policy generalists
  • Interest groups are also linkage institutions.
  • Theories of interest group politics:
  • Pluralism – no one competing group will become dominant / all interests have influence and are represented / lots of groups are good / BUT it actually limits the amount of influence sigs can have since there are so many competing groups
  • Elite/Class theory–only a few groups have all the power (rich, multi-nationals)
  • Hyperpluralism – “groups gone mad” – too many groups are getting too much of what they want – makes government weak
  • Interest group liberalism – government should advance goals of all groups…..results in conflicting programs, too many agencies, too much money
  • Iron triangle (or “subgovernment”) – alliance of a sig, government agency (& its bureaucrats), and congressional committee all wanting the same goal – use their $ and expert resources to get support from Congress and bureaucracy
  • Economic interest groups – AMA, ABA, AFL-CIO
  • Public interest sigs – NRA, Sierra Club, Christian Coalition
  • Most successful interest groups are SMALL – more intensity
  • Factors for success of interest groups: $, intensity, public image
  • Olson’s law of large groups – the bigger the group, the more serious the free rider problem. How have groups like the AARP solved the free-rider problem?
  • Interest groups shape public policy by: lobbying, electioneering, litigation
  • Lobbying:
  • Hire professional lobbyists to provide expert info to and persuade Congress re policy
  • Lobbyists have to be registered
  • Electioneering – have an impact on campaigns/elections through:
  • Raising campaign contributions; forming PACS
  • Running ads (issue ads/527 ads)
  • Getting volunteers to work campaigns
  • Grass movements to “Get Out the Vote” and to influence politicians
  • Endorsing candidates
  • Litigation:
  • Amicus curiae briefs (friend of the Court / to influence Court decision)
  • Class-action lawsuits
  • NAACP; ACLU
  • PACs are committees formed by interest groups to influence policy through campaign contributions
  • Authorized by the Federal Elections Campaign Act, 1974
  • PACS have to register with FEC
  • Contributions have to be reported
  • No limit to amount of $ a PAC can spend ---BUT is a limit on how much a PAC can give to any one individual -- $5,000
  • PACS typically support incumbents – WHY?
  • PACS also support House elections more often than Senate or P – get a lot more bang for the buck that way – more influence
  • 527’s – tax-exempt group used to support an ISSUE, not a CANDIDATE – a way around the $ limits of McCain-Feingold… not subject to FEC control since they are “political organizations” supporting an issue, not “political committees” supporting a candidate
  • [More on campaign finance in a separate review doc.]
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