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How Government Is influenced. Things that influence government:. 1. Public Opinion 2. Political Parties 3 . Mass Media 4 . Money 5. Mass Media. 1. Public Opinion. Popular Sovereignty Ideas and attitudes people have about government Public Opinion Poll: survey to see how people feel
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Things that influence government: • 1. Public Opinion • 2. Political Parties • 3. Mass Media • 4. Money • 5. Mass Media
1. Public Opinion • Popular Sovereignty • Ideas and attitudes people have about government • Public Opinion Poll: survey to see how people feel • Polls and Democracy: important to find out how people feel
2. Political Parties • Group of people with broad common interests who try to influence the government by getting people elected
Mass Media • Communication for everyone • Print Media: newspapers, magazines, books • Electronic Media: radio, TV, internet
We Like the Media • 70% of adults read newspapers • 90% of American homes have TV • 62% of Americans have 1 or more computers
Protecting the Media • 1stAmendment • Freedom of Press • Freedom of Speech • Prior Restraint: government censorship before it is published
Politicians and the Media • Frenemies • Media needs Politicians- give them news • Politicians need media: lets the people know what’s going on • Leak: information given to reporters about certain actions
Limits on the Media • Libel: printing false information that will harm someone’s reputation • FCC: Federal Communications Commission • Choose ratings, show times, what channels can show what
Media and National Security • Sometimes can’t let people know everything (war time) • World War 2 • Depth charges of Japanese too shallow • Media reported it
Social Media • Facebook, Twitter, etc. • Facebook: over 1 billion users (1/5 of world pop.) • Twitter: 500 million users, 362 million active users
Social Media and the World • Arab Spring: First time Social Media is used as a major communication • Egypt: Revolution made possible by social media • Organized rallies, protests bc of Facebook
Members in World • United States -166.1 million • Brazil-58.4 million • India-55.3 million • Indonesia-47.5 million • Mexico-38.3 million
Media Today • Becoming increasingly partisan • Partisan: strongly supporting one side • Media Bias: Media reporting with prejudice for one side
Examples of Media Bias: • Neutral: Israeli tanks ready to attack the Gaza Strip • Bias: Israeli tanks ready to murder and destroy innocent people living within Gaza Strip • Bias: Heroic Israeli soldiers ready to destroy the evil enemy living inside the Gaza Strip
Different Interest Groups • Interest Groups: people who share a point of view and unite to promote their beliefs • 1. Economic Interest Groups • 2. Special Interest Groups • Public Interest Groups
Economic Interest Groups • Based on Economic Interests • Chamber of Commerce: promotes free enterprise (gov’t lets companies go free) • Tobacco Institute: promotes cigarette companies • Labor Unions: promotes workers
Special Interest Groups • Organized for other reasons • Race, Ethnicity, Age • NAACP: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Public Interest Group • Public Interest Groups: support causes that affect Americans in general • Common Cause: fights for things all Americans care about
Influencing Government • Public Policy: course of action taken in response to a situation • Lobbyists: representatives of interest groups who contact lawmakers to influence policy making
Political Action Committees (PACs) • Corporations and Unions come together to collect money for elections
How to win an Election • Canvassing- talking to people • Endorsements- people who support you • Advertising and Image Molding • All this costs money
Elections are Expensive! • 1. Average election cost for Congress- $1.5 million • 2. Presidential race can cost hundreds of millions of dollars- • 3. 2012 campaign: $6 Billion • 4. 2008: $700 million
Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) • All campaign contributions must be made public • Limit on hard money: money given directly to a candidate
PACs: Political Action Committees • Soft money: donations are given to a political party instead of for an election campaign
Super PACs • Citizens United ruling: corporations are people and have the same rights as people have (freedom of speech) • Super PACs- can raise unlimited amounts of money as long as it does not go to the candidate (both sides used them in 2012)