U.S. Government POL 110 Political Parties and Interest Groups Topics • The evolution of the two-party system and the form it takes today • The discernable differences between the two parties, and; • Interest groups and why they proliferate Two-Party System • The definition of interest groups, or factions, and political parties • The Progressive Party and machine politics Two-Party System, Continued • • • • Institutional interests Interest groups as organizations Interest groups and American politics Political Action Committees (PACs) Two-Party System, Continued • The ideological, or third, party • The solidarity association and sponsored parties Two-Party System, Continued • • • • • Machine politics Ideological party Third party Solidarity association Sponsored parties The Differences Between the Two Parties • Two explanations for the two-party system – Election laws – Opinions of voters • The differences between parties • Candidates capturing the nomination PROPERTIES On passing, 'Finish' button: On failing, 'Finish' button: Allow user to leave quiz: User may view slides after quiz: User may attempt quiz: Goes to Next Slide Goes to Next Slide At any time At any time Unlimited times Interest Groups and Their Proliferation • Three reasons why interest groups are important to American politics – There are differences between voters – A decentralized constitutional system – The two major parties are inherently weak political structures Interest Groups and Their Proliferation, Continued • The four factors accounting for the growth of interest groups since 1960 – Economic development – Government activism – The Progressive Party and reform – Government expansion Interest Groups and Their Proliferation, Continued • • • • • • Upper class bias Pluralism Description of lobbyists Insider and outsider strategies Political Action Committees The revolving door to employment with private industry PROPERTIES On passing, 'Finish' button: On failing, 'Finish' button: Allow user to leave quiz: User may view slides after quiz: User may attempt quiz: Goes to Next Slide Goes to Next Slide At any time At any time Unlimited times Summary • The evolution of the two-party system and the form it takes today • The discernable differences between the two parties • Interests groups and why they proliferate POL110 Week 5 Scenario Script: The Two-Party System Slide # Slide 1 Slide 2 Scene/Interaction Introductory screen, containing the environment (an outside view of a government office building) and a title showing the scenario topic. There will be a “begin” button on the screen allowing students to begin the scenario. Scene 1 Amanda and Dr. Ryan standing in Dr. Ryan’s office. Narration Dr. Ryan: Hello Amanda. Last week we surveyed the relationship between the media and public opinion in American politics. This week we are moving on to the two-party system present in the United States. We will complete an analysis of parties and show how interest groups affect their behavior. What do you think about this issue, Amanda? Amanda: Well…I believe it’s important to emphasize that political parties are far from united on their platforms and ideologies. Both the Republicans and Democrats have wings, or factions, that are in total disagreement with the main party functionaries. And they cause no end of trouble when votes come to the floor of the House and Senate. Dr. Ryan: Excellent! That being said, what are some examples of this? Amanda: Republicans are the more conservative of the two parties because they represent many large scale corporations who don’t like to see the status quo change too quickly. But they have in their ranks so-called tea party members who are ultra conservative. They also have liberals who are at the other end of the political spectrum. These people do want changes made, and rather quickly. Slide 3 Dr. Ryan: And, of course, Democrats have the same problems. Amanda: Of course. They are the more liberal of the two parties because they represent a wider array of minority groups and endorse more public spending measures. But they have conservatives from southern states, and a group known as Blue Dogs who are fiscal conservatives and who try to bridge the differences between the conservative and liberal wings of the party. Imagine being a House whip and trying to reconcile all of these different views sometime! Dr. Ryan: That’s a good point, Amanda! Two features that distinguish us from European political parties are our decentralization and political culture. That is, Americans don’t really join parties except to vote. But what we do have that Europeans do not is a very strong influence exerted by lobbyists. Before we get into that, however, what do you know about the national party structure as it exists today? Amanda: Let me see…from what I know, both parties have national and congressional committees that help members run for office. They are funded by federal and soft money. Am I correct? Dr. Ryan: Yes, yes! Keep going you’re on the right track. Amanda: Ok, well, the first type regulates how much any one person can donate to an individual candidate. But the second type is not regulated by the government and can be spent by the committees for the party in general. Dr. Ryan: It sounds like a fine line, and it is. We’ll talk more about campaign finance reform next week, but political parties must be very careful about how they spend donations so that they abide by the law. Slide 4 Amanda: This issue of financing leads me to another matter I’ve been wondering about. Why do we have only the two-party system in America? Dr. Ryan: Good question. We used to have something called machine politics, where parties recruited members with the promise of jobs. However, they were broken early in the twentieth century by progressives like Teddy Roosevelt. We still have ideological parties like the Greens and Communists which campaign on very specific issues, but they’re insignificant at the national level. Amanda: So they’re not large enough to qualify for government funding, is that right? Dr. Ryan: Exactly! You have to be large enough to rate government financial campaign funding and only the Republicans and Democrats are traditionally that strong. Third parties historically have not fared well in the U.S. because these two traditional parties seem to capture the country’s political preferences well enough. Hence, the two-party system. Amanda: I guess it’s a good thing to keep in mind. Most Americans are moderates and so the Republican and Democratic parties are the two that are best equipped to embrace the ideological middle, aren’t they? Dr. Ryan: That’s a very good way of phrasing it, Amanda. So now let’s look at this two party system of ours in more detail. Do you know how our electoral system is set up? Amanda: Not being a parliamentary government, the voters select two senators from every state and congressmen on the basis of the state’s population. Every election in the country, whether it’s local, state or national, is based on this same plurality system where the winner is the one who receives the most votes. It gets a little quirky with presidential elections because of the electoral college, but this is the general principle. Slide 5 Dr. Ryan: But do you think these elected officials in Congress really represent the public’s interests? Amanda: Good question, Dr. Ryan. Theoretically, they are supposed to. But sometimes they vote based on their conscience and it does not always necessarily mesh with that of their constituents. Then it’s up to them to explain their vote…and it’s not always well received in local town hall meetings when they return to their states. Dr. Ryan: Right! And at the presidential level, candidates are selected on the basis of a series of primaries and caucuses that are held in various states. The one who wins the most is the nominee. At some national conventions in the past, however, there were serious disputes over who would be nominated. This is because states’ delegates disagreed with one another, but eventually they settled their differences and one candidate emerged as the party nominee. Amanda: But after all of that, the burning question I have is, do the two major parties really differ? Dr. Ryan: On many domestic issues like abortion, gun control, same-sex marriage, immigration, tax reform, deficit spending, social entitlements and health care, the answer is a resounding Yes. But on other matters like national defense and foreign policy, they are somewhat closer together. They will say they aren’t, but in practice they end up differing very little. Slide 6 Scene 2: Amanda and Dr. Ryan do a visual tour of a museum or historical exhibit in Capitol Hill that showcases the material that is covered. This is sort of a visual tour of Washington D.C. as well as a visual component to the conversation. Dr. Ryan: Now, let’s examine the real power behind the American political process. This is the interest group. In this country there is an interest group for almost every imaginable policy. The largest represent corporations and the smallest, quite naturally, represent the poor. Amanda: Is that because corporations have the most money and the poor are unable to fund large interest groups? Dr. Ryan: Yes, Amanda, that’s the way the world works, I’m afraid. But we need to distinguish between institutional and membership interest groups. The first is the classic organization that works on behalf of other organizations. Whereas the second is composed largely of individuals who come together to engage in civic or political action. We’ll be referring to the first group because these organizations influence so much of the agendas that go before legislators. Amanda: This has to be costly, so where does all of their funding come from? Dr. Ryan: Fundraising is a full-time job for these groups, so they solicit foundations, the federal government, and private individuals through direct mail campaigns. We should note here that there is an inherent bias in this process because the poor, understandably, don’t contribute much. Most of the activity of these interest groups is done on behalf of upper class interests. Slide 7 Scene 3 Amanda and Dr. Ryan do a visual tour of a museum or historical exhibit in Capitol Hill that showcases the material that is covered. This is sort of a visual tour of Washington D.C. as well as a visual component to the conversation. Amanda: So what exactly do interest groups do then? Dr. Ryan: Well, by law, their activities must be completely transparent, so they file a lot of reports. But one of their primary functions is to disseminate information that is topical, accurate, and what’s at stake in a vote. Congressional representatives need all of this in order to make informed decisions, and interest groups get it to them almost instantaneously. It’s really quite impressive how well organized these groups are. Amanda: And, of course, you have those four thousand political action committees, or PACs. Dr. Ryan: Right. What would we do without them and all the money they raise? In 2008 alone, they collected and gave over four hundred million dollars to federal candidates. Amanda: The beauty of it is that anyone can begin a PAC. Corporations, labor unions, and ideological groups across the political spectrum can organize one to get their voices heard…depending, of course, on how much money they can raise. Slide 8 Scene 4 Amanda and Dr. Ryan do a visual tour of a museum or historical exhibit in Capitol Hill that showcases the material that is covered. This is sort of a visual tour of Washington D.C. as well as a visual component to the conversation. Dr. Ryan: And that’s not the only influence they have. There’s such a thing as a revolving door. This is where interest groups hold out the prospect of lucrative jobs for retiring politicians. Many people correctly think that this may well influence their votes on certain legislation. It’s unethical but almost impossible to prove. Amanda: It sounds like there is an enormous amount of money at stake here, as well as other nontangible issues that need to be regulated. So who’s responsible for all of this? Dr. Ryan: The federal government, of course. Since 1995, the registration and disclosure requirements have been severely tightened governing the activities of these groups. This means that a lobbyist now is defined as anyone who spends at least twenty percent of his time lobbying or earns more than five thousand dollars doing this. It could also be a corporation that spends more than twenty thousand dollars in a six-month period on their lobbying staffs. Amanda: But there are exceptions? Dr. Ryan: Yes, a few. Grass-roots organizations are exempted, but that’s about it. Even tax-exempt, non-profit organizations like the AARP are forbidden from receiving federal grants. But well before this, to receive and retain a taxexempt classification, an organization had to show that it did not devote a substantial part of its activities towards influencing legislation. Amanda: But who determines what the meaning of extensive is? Dr. Ryan: That’s the question. It’s never been clearly defined by the law, but in 1968, the IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of the Sierra Club. This was because it was found to have lobbied Congress so extensively. Slide 9 Scene 5 Dr. Ryan: So that takes us to the end of our examination of the relationship between political parties and interest groups, and next week we can look forward to a closely related topic in campaigns and elections. And now, I have a couple of questions for you on this week’s material? Amanda: Sure! Slide 10 Check Your Understanding Which of the following would best describe the American political party system? A. B. C. D. E. highly centralized parliamentary X decentralized multi-party run by political machines Answer: C. The federal government has made sure that parties are so closely regulated at the local, state and national levels that it even determines how parties’ candidates are chosen. Of the following, which group is least likely to define the average interest group in American politics? A. it can represent for-profit organizations B. X it often represents the interests of the poor C. it can represent institutional organizations D. it may be funded by a large foundation E. it is not regulated by the government Answer B. Without money, you have no influence and influence is power. Slide 11 Scene 6 Dr. Ryan: Good job. In the interim, keep up with your reading and I will see you again next week. We’ve covered a lot of important topics about the two-party system, including a look at the national party structure and the influence of interest groups. Make sure to participate in this week’s discussions on the two-party system. I’m very impressed with your progress, Amanda. Take care for now, and I’ll talk to you again later.