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APS Day 9

APS Day 9. Enduring Understanding(s) 1. Interest Groups are organized groups which seek to influence government activity through representation, participation, education, agenda building, and program monitoring.

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APS Day 9

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  1. APS Day 9 Enduring Understanding(s) 1. Interest Groups are organized groups which seek to influence government activity through representation, participation, education, agenda building, and program monitoring. 2. Political Action Committees are created to pool money from campaign contributors and direct those funds towards candidates (usually incumbents) for public office, in order to influence public policy. Course Review Questions 12. Explain how modern political campaigns are financed and regulated, and describe the current proposals for campaign finance reform 15. What is the purpose for interest groups? How do interest groups influence government 16. What is a PAC, what is its purpose, and how does it achieve its goals?

  2. Campaign Finance • Define the changes in Campaign Finance (#1-6 on pg. 13) using your textbook pg. • FECA- Passed in 1971, required campaigns to fully report all of their spending (expenditures). Changed over time to limit how much certain groups could donate to the campaign (Political Action Committees) 2. Federal Election Commission (FEC)- Created in 1974. This bipartisan agency enforces the limits on campaign spending and maintains a very thorough database of all donations. Campaigns must report donations to the FEC. Also contributes towards the public financing of campaigns (matching funds).

  3. Campaign Finance 3. BCRA (McCain-Feingold Bill): 1 - Banned soft money 2 - Increased contribution limits 3 - Strict disclosure requirements – every donation to every party, PAC and campaign is reported to the FEC with donor’s names, addresses, jobs, and amounts 4 - Ads must have approval voiced by candidate him/herself 5 - Independent expenditures/advertisements which contain candidate’s names are strictly limited within 60 days of an election 6 - Union dues cannot be spent on elections, and union members can opt out of union PAC donations without penalty

  4. Campaign Finance • Hard Money: Money that is donated directly to a campaign for a specific candidate. It is strictly regulated and individuals can only donate up to $2,300 to any campaign and PACs can donate up to $5,000 to any campaign per election (therefore, they can donate it twice per election cycle-primary & general election) • Soft Money: Is now ILLEGAL under BCRA. Soft money was money donated to the national party (Republican, Democratic, etc.). This money was used to promote certain issues, grow party membership, and register voters. Money spent for this cannot be limited due to first amendment rights of free speech but BCRA limits how it can be raised. • “527 Committees”: Tax-exempt, non-profit organizations created to raise awareness about an issue. They can use unlimited amounts of money. They cannot donate money towards a political campaign, thus they are different PACs. They cannot specifically support a candidate within 60 days of an election.

  5. Spends money for: Advertising Travel Office staff Campaign consultants Office supplies Mailing Polling Election spending ave. House - $900,000 Senate - $4 million President - $125 million $ Committee to Elect Roy Blunt, Inc. Receives ONLY HARD money from: Individuals – $2,300 per election PACs - $5,000/election Federal Gov’t – matching funds up to $250/private donation Prohibited – companies, labor unions, banks may NOT donate any $ Soft $ spent on “issue ads” “Informational ads” Party-building activities Political Action Committees (PACs) Receive $ from: Individuals - $5,000/yr Other PACs - $5,000/yr Prohibited – companies, labor unions, banks may NOT donate any $ BCRA ‘ 02 National Political Party – gets $ from: Individuals – $25,000/yr PACs – $15,000/yr National Political Party – got Soft Money$ from: Individuals – unlimited Businesses - unlimited PACs – unlimited Unions - unlimited

  6. Special Interest Groups/Political Action Committees Go to pg. 14 of your packet • Interest Groups • Interest Group roles • What do members of an interest group do? • What do Lobbyists do? • What is a PAC? • What is the purpose?

  7. Interest Groups are…

  8. What do members of an interest group do? • What do Lobbyists do?

  9. What is a PAC? • What is the purpose of a PAC?

  10. Examples of Special Interest Groups Examples of Political Action Committees Operating Engineers Union $1,988,300 Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $1,499,650 AT&T Inc $1,398,525 National Community Pharmacists Assn $1,206,000 National Beer Wholesalers Assn $1,130,000 American Bankers Assn $1,125,250 Honeywell International $1,122,650 American Assn for Justice $1,070,000 Boeing Co $928,000 American Crystal Sugar $899,000 Lockheed Martin $894,500 Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union $892,500 American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees $874,500 Laborers Union $799,500 Carpenters & Joiners Union $798,000 National Air Traffic Controllers Assn $774,750 United Parcel Service $755,046 International Assn of Fire Fighters $732,400 Credit Union National Assn $712,555 Teamsters Union $698,800 • American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) • National Rifle Association (NRA) • National Organization of Women (NOW) • American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) • Planned Parenthood • Sierra Club • Veterans of Foreign Wars • NAACP • PETA

  11. E-4. Fundraising Strategy • Pg. 12-13 • You will be researching your Senator’s fundraising history to see where they get their support. After gathering this information, you will explain your candidate’s fundraising strategy. (You do not have to do the fundraising invitation) E-5. Campaign Strategy • Pg. 14-16 • First Part: Campaign Strategy. How will you change you message from Primary to general election? (must shift policies from the edge of spectrum to the middle-modifications to formal platform). • Second part: Follow the directions. You will be printing out a map of your state and mapping the population density, to decide which areas of the state are most important to visit at the end of your campaign. Both assignments are due Wednesday. Half of your group should complete Web Quest E-4 and the other half should complete Web Quest E-5 and then share your answers with the rest of your group. These Web Quests will be checked on Wednesday for completion.

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