American government unit 2

1. Interest Groups

2. Section 1
Power of Interest Groups
• An interest group is a group of
people who share common goals
and organize to influence
• government. differ from political
Interest groups
parties in several ways:
– Interest groups may support
candidates for office who favor their
ideas, but they do not nominate
candidates for office.
– Interest groups usually are concerned
with only a few issues or specific

3. Section 1
Power of Interest Groups (cont.)
– Most interest groups are organized on
the basis of common values, rather
than on geographical location.
• Interest groups help bridge the gap
between the citizen and the government.
• By representing more than one individual, an
interest group has a strong bargaining
position with leaders in government.

4. DFS Trans 1

5. Section 1
Power of Interest Groups (cont.)
• On the state and national levels, an
interest group draws from the financial
resources and expertise of its many
members.

6. Measuring Public opinion

7. Section 4
Nonscientific Methods
• Elected officials use a number of sources
to stay abreast of public opinion, including:
– political parties and interest groups;
– mass media;
– letters and e-mails or faxes;
– straw polls—which offer only a biased
sampleof the population; and
– political Web sites and blogs.

8. Section 4
Scientific Polling
• Scientific polling involves three basic steps:
– selecting a sample of the group to be
questioned;
– presenting carefully worded questions to
the individuals in the sample; and
– interpreting the results.
Presidential Approval Ratings Since 1940

9. Section 4
Scientific Polling (cont.)
• The group of people that is to be studied in
a poll is called the universe.
• Since it is not practical to interview
everyone in a universe, pollsters question
a representative sample.
Presidential Approval Ratings Since 1940

10. Section 4
Scientific Polling (cont.)
• Random samplingis the technique in which
everyone in that universe has an equal
chance of being selected.
• A sampling erroris a measurement of how
much the sample results might differ from
the sample universe.
• Sampling error decreases as the sample
size becomes larger.
Presidential Approval Ratings Since 1940

11. Section 4
Scientific Polling (cont.)
• One way to draw a random sample is by
using a cluster samplewhich organizes, or
clusters, people by geographical divisions.
• The way a poll question is phrased can
greatly influence people’s responses and,
in turn, poll results.
Presidential Approval Ratings Since 1940

12. DFS Trans 4

13. Figure 2

14. Lobbyists

15. Section 2
The Work of Lobbyists
• Lobbyingis the process by which interest
groups try to influence government policy
by making direct contact with lawmakers
or other government leaders.

16. Section 2
The Work of Lobbyists (cont.)
• One of the most important ways that
lobbyists make their case is by providing a
member of Congress with facts and data
about the policy they want.

17. Section 2 Committees
The Rise of Political Action
• Political action committees (PACs) are
specifically designed to collect money and
provide financial support for a political
candidate.
• While federal law prevents corporations and
labor unions from making direct contributions
to any federal candidate, the law
permits their political action
committees to do so.
PAC Contributions

18. Section 2
The Rise of Political Action
Committees (cont.)
• The Federal Election Commission issues
regulations and advisory opinions that
control PAC activities.
PAC Contributions

19. Section 2 Serve
PACs and the Groups They
• PACs can be classified into two categories
according to the groups they serve:
– Affiliated PACs are those tied to
corporations, labor unions, trade groups,
or health organizations.
– Independent, or nonconnected, PACs
are groups interested in a particular
cause that are not connected to any
existing interest group.

20. Section 2 Serve
PACs and the Groups They (cont.)
• 527 organizations—named for part of the tax
code—emerged in the 2004 election.
• 527 organizations do not directly urge
citizens to vote for a specific
candidate, but instead focus on advocating
an issue.

21. Figure 1

22. DFS Trans 2

23. DFS Trans 3

24. Section 2
Strategies for Influence
• PACs use their money to gain access to
lawmakers and to influence election
outcomes directly.
• Interest groups, especially PACs, raise
much of the money used in political
campaigns.
• PACs generally support incumbents, or
government officials already in office.