Essay Number 9 Media in Politics

DATA for 2009_4 (below)

Viewer’s Ages and Frequency of Viewing of Network Nightly News: 1974 and 2002 Combined

1974                  frequently (%)                    rarely (%)

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18-29                  45                                                  13

30-44                  50                                                 12

45-64                  68                                                  8

65+                      71                                                  5

2002                 frequently (%)                    rarely (%)

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18-29                  19                                                  22

30-44                  22                                                17

45-64                  40                                                  11

65+                      53                                                  8

2009_4. One of the most important ways the news media influence politics is through agenda setting.

(a)  Define policy agenda.

A set of issues, problems, or subjects that gets the attention of the people involved in policy making

(b)  Explain how the national news media engage in agenda setting.

The media raises awareness, provides information, demonstrates importance, and draws attention of policymakers

(c)  Explain the primary reason the president tends to have an advantage over Congress in gaining media attention.

The president speaks with only one voice to represent the nation while Congress speaks with many voices to represent the states/districts

(d)  Consider the table above.

-Describe the difference in the viewing patterns of older and younger age-groups.

-Describe the change from 1974 to 2002 in viewing habits that exists for all age categories.

1. Younger people watch less TV news than older people

2. People in all categories watched less News in 2002 than 1974

(e)  Given the information in the table, describe one implication for presidents in their use of the media to promote their political and policy objectives to the American public.

The nightly news is not as effective in promoting the president's policy agenda as it used to be.

Essay Number 8 UNited States Congress

2009_3In the United States Congress, the majority party exerts a substantial influence over lawmaking. However, even when one party has a numerical majority in each chamber of the United States Congress, there is no guarantee that legislation supported by that majority party will be passed by both chambers. Rules of each chamber independently influence the likelihood that legislation will pass in that chamber; legislation passed by one chamber is not always passed by the other.

(a)  Describe two advantages the majority party in the United States House of Representatives has in lawmaking, above and beyond the numerical advantage that that majority party enjoys in floor voting.

(b)  Describe two differences between House and Senate rules that may make it likely that legislation may pass in one chamber but not in the other.

(c)  Explain how the differences identified in (b) can lead to the passage of a bill in one chamber but not in the other.

A)The majority Party holds more committee chairs. They also control the committee rules and the agenda

B) The Senate has Filibusters and the House does not. 
Rules Committe in the House not the Senate

C) Filibuster-even though the House may pass the bill, the Senate can kill the bill with a Filibuster
Holds-

Essay Number 7 Campaign Finance Reform Proposals

A: Raising Limits on individual contributions: the increase in money that individuals may give to a campaign, parties, or PACs
-Candidates can spend less time fundraising and more time focusing on their campaign
-This allows the rich to have too much power and can influence politics easy with their money

B: Eliminating Soft Money: Not allowing contributions to political parties and/or contributions for party building activities
-It levels the playing field and lets the campaigns be more even between different candidates
-Weakens political parties. With less money, they have little ability to have strong campaigns

Christmas Song

Republican Party
Republican Party
Republican Party
Their party platform is conservative

Democratic Party
Democratic Party
Democratic Party
Their party platform is liberal

The republicans want more tax breaks
The democrats want Obamacare passed
But we wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of our hearts

John Andrew Boehner
John Andrew Boehner
John Andrew Boehner
is the republican speaker of the house

President Obama
President Obama
President Obama
is our democratic president

The republicans want more tax breaks
The democrats want Obamacare passed
But we wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of our hearts

Essay 6 Elections and Linkage Institutions

In the United States political system, there are several linkage institutions that can connect citizens to government Elections constitute one such institution. Because of low voter turnout, however, other linkage institutions can connect citizens to government.

a. Describe how each of the following is related to the likelihood of voting.

-Age

-Education

b. Identify one current government electoral requirement that decreases voter turnout. Explain how it decreases voter turnout.

c. Identify one linkage institution other than elections and explain two ways it connects citizens to government.

A)
Age- the older you are, the more likely you are to vote. It has been an uprising issue in America where the younger generations don't seem to have the motivation or drive to vote for what they believe in.

Education- the more educated you are, the more likely you are to vote. With more education, people are more knowledgeable on the subjects that they are voting for and will vote more frequently than those who aren't.

B) Voting registration laws requires citizens to provide ID and information to register before they are allowed to vote. This causes a decrease in voter turnout because some people feel like they are wasting their time and don't want to put in the extra effort.

C) The media plays an important role in connecting people to government. People can find out about candidates for office, public officials' activities, and the burning issues through television, newspapers, radio, and the Internet. The media's power to shape the American mind allows people to give feedback to the government through bias and opinions.

Essay 5 Interest groups and techniques

Essay 5
Different interest groups will choose different techniques to achieve their objectives based on their resources, characteristics, and goals.
a) describe each of the following techniques and explain why an interest group would choose each technique.
Litigation
Campaign contributions
Grassroots Lobbying / mass mobilization.

b) Select one of the following groups and identify the primary technique it uses from the list in part (a). Explain why the group you selected would employ that technique over the other two techniques.
American Medical Association
Sierra Club
NRA
NAACP

A) Litigation is the process of taking political action. If interest groups fail in congress, the next step is for them to go to court and hope to get specific rulings. Many interest groups such as environmentalist link much of their success due to their use of lawsuits. These groups tend to hire lawyers that fill the amicus curiae briefs. The majority also fill class action suits to combine with other groups of common grievances into a single suit. Interest groups would choose to use litigation becasue they don't have popular supports. Campaign contribution provides an ample way  for interest groups to back up politicians running. They contribute to their campaigns in hope that if the politician is elected, he or she will return the favor and help their interest group get what they need. People or groups that have large financial support tend to contibute to campaigns by giving money. Grassroots Lobbying is lobbying with the intention of reaching the legislature and making a difference in the decision-making process. Companies, associations and citizens are increasingly partaking in grassroots lobbying as an attempt to influence a change in legislation. Gathers people (door to door, ect). They have popular support but have a lack of funds. Mass mobilization refers to mobilization of civilian population as part of contentious politics. Mass mobilization is a process that engages and motivates a wide range of partners and allies at national and local levels to raise awareness of and demand for a particular development objective through face-to-face dialogue.

B) The AMA uses campaign contributions because they have financial recourses that they can use to get access and have the support and loyality of candidates. They wouldn't use grassroots lobbying because doctors only make up a very small part of the population and wouldn't have the popular support. They also wouldn't choose to use litigation because they don't want to be sued back in court.

Ron Wyden

Biography:

Senator Ron Wyden was born May 3rd, 1949 in Wichita KS. He currently resides in Portland Oregon with his wife Nancy and five children. Wyden grew up in Palo Alto, California where he went to high school and played basketball. He then went on to attend University of California, Santa Barbara on a basketball scholarship. He got his JD at University of Oregon School of Law and his BA at Stanford University. Wyden ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1980 during the Democratic primary when he was just 31 years old. He was reelected seven times from the most Democratic district in Oregon. Wyden was elected January 30, 1996 during the special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Bob Packwood. He is now the senior United States Senator for Oregon and a member of the Democratic Party.

Committees:

• committee on the budget
• committee on finance
• committee on energy and natural resources (Chairman)
• select committee on intelligence
• special committee on aging
• joint committee on taxation

Discussion:

Education--Because students are forced to take on record levels of debt in order to keep up with tuition costs, Wyden along with other Senators have authored the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act. This act provides all potential college students with reliable information on what students can expect to make in the workplace. With this information, students will have the ability to choose their schools, majors, and career paths with insight of the financial return on their higher education investments.  Wyden also authored the College Tuition Savings Act which became a law in 2001.

Agriculture--Senator Wyden pushes for a farm policy that addresses the needs of Oregon's many specialty crop, fruit, and vegetable growers. During the discussion of the most recent Farm Bill in 2008, Wyden supported provisions like the Specialty Crop Research Initiative and the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program which bring almost $700 million into the state over ten years. Wyden authorizes provisions in this bill that provided millions of mandaatory funding for advanced biofuels development. He would ensure that the biofuels focus on existing agricultural production and not vigin grasslands or forests

Questions:

• What issue do you feel is most important to deal with in America today?
• What was your stance when the government shut down?
• What is your most important role as a Senator?