Political Science Assignment: Interest Groups, Media, and Politics

This political science assignment delves into several key aspects of US politics. It begins by defining interest groups and political parties, differentiating their roles and strategies, including lobbying and election activities. The assignment explores economic interest groups and citizen groups, highlighting their funding sources. It then examines insider and outsider lobbying tactics, the functions of Political Action Committees (PACs), and the pluralist approach versus elite critique in the context of US politics. The assignment further traces the evolution of media from newspapers to the internet, analyzing its functions like agenda setting and its role as a watchdog, while also addressing the importance of reliable sources. Finally, it discusses divided government, unified government, and gerrymandering, providing a comprehensive overview of the US political landscape.

Running head: POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political Science
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Answer 1)
Interest group refers to organization of the people who have common interest and they
want the promotion of the interest by exerting influence on the government. The interest
groups can be said to vary greatly in terms of size, tactics along with aims. A political party
refers to group of the people who are organized so that they can win the election whereas
interest groups want to influence the policy makers (Berry 2015). The interest groups seek
influence by taking recourse to lobbying and by engaging in the election activities. The
political parties are generally larger groups and the interest group on the other hand
comprises of small group that has a specific interest. The interest groups want to create
influence by educating and mobilizing the public. The interest groups want to educate
government officials along with interest group members.
Answer 2)
Economic interest group is indicative of collection of the people who have the
common concerns. Economic interest group is instrumental in advocating economic benefit
for the members (Gilens and Page 2014). Citizen group refers to organization which is built
around an issue which is not related to the vocational interest of the members. The Economic
groups receive the money from dues of the members and the citizen groups on the other hand
get the funds from the aspect of fundraising of the members (McFarland 2018).
Answer 3)
Insider lobbying makes use of tactics which includes meetings and the members are
enlisted to call the elected representatives. The members mail the letters and they send the e-
mails. These kind of interactions can help in the creation of invaluable opportunities for that
of the members of advocacy committee (Baumgartner and Talbert 2018). It can help in
educating the policy makers regarding issue of concern of organization. The process of inside

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lobbying helps in building relationship with the politicians who can act as advocate in
relation to certain causes. Outside lobbying acts as grassroots work which is meant for
general public. It helps in raising awareness among the public that helps them in pressurizing
elected officials (Hanegraaff, Beyers and De Bruycker 2016). Tactics made use of in the case
of insider lobbying along with outsider lobbying can be said to be similar as the goal of both
is building broad coalition that can help in affecting change (Dellmuth and Tallberg 2016).
Answer 4)
Political Action Committees (PACS) are made use of for contributing money to the
campain of the candidates. The PAC can contribute to any number of the candidates however
there exist laws that have restrictions in relation to the amount that can be contributed to each
of the candidates. In the case of general election, ceiling amounts to $ 5000 and in primary
election, ceiling is $5000 which makes it $ 10,000 for each candidate (Junk 2016). State
along with local laws helps in the regulation of PAC and it can be said that there exist some
states which allow the aspect of unlined contribution. Contribution of PAC can be said to be
one-fourth of that of the total money that is donated to the campaigns. Most of the PAC are
related with business and they contribute in making up around 60 % (Godwin 2018). PAC’s
are well aware of the fact that incumbents have more chances of winning elections which will
allow them in staying in power.
Answer 5)
Pluralist approach states that competition that exists among the diverse interest can be
said to be good for a democracy. The approach states that completion that exists in between
the groups by citizens can pave the path for a strong democracy. Elite critique points out the
viewpoint that all the civil engagement are not equal and the policies of the government are

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affected by the interest groups which is associated with the wealthy individuals. Elite critique
has emerged to be true in the scenario of US politics (Baumgartner and Talbert 2018).
Answer 6)
The primary source of media that was available in relation to American public at the
time of founding of nation were newspaper along with political publication. In the course of
the years, technology helped in making the process of production of newspaper faster. Print
media along with newspaper continued to exist till the modern time but they are recently in
the declining stage. Radio evolved as an outlet pertaining to news in year 1920 (Schlesinger
and Doyle 2015). Television was a source of media in the later part of 1930 and it became
mainstream in 1950. In the recent age, television has succeeded in expanding with the help of
satellite along with internet sources. Internet started in 1980 and it was widely used in the era
of 2000. The developing of computer along with mobile devices became an important source
pertaining to media that helped in serving the citizens. In the recent age, internet has been
successful in connecting the people across the world (Newman et al. 2017). Everyone has
been provided with a voice in the modern age of technology and the internet. There are
various kinds of apps like Face book along with Twitter that allows the exchange of
information. Internet has opened opportunities for allowing the aspect of media coverage.
The news is distributed at the moment any special event occurs. Advancements made in the
field of media has helped the public in knowing about the different kinds of biases that exist
in the society. There are dangers that makes it important for the citizens to take care of the
fact that the news are received from reliable sources and their content should be readily
checked by the public.
Answer 7)

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The media is instrumental in performing various functions. Agenda setting takes place
when the media takes a decision regarding which are the issues that should be revealed to
public. A new outlet has to make the decisions on each day regarding the stories that should
be published. These are the decisions that have an effect on what is seen and heard of by the
public. The media plays a crucial role in the promotion of public good and it plays the role of
watch dog for the convenience of the citizens. The media helps in monitoring activities of
government pertaining to impropriety and it makes reports on different aspects like
corruption along with civil rights (McFarland 2018). It helps the citizens in staying informed
and it helps in the formation of public opinion. Media is called forth estate and it makes
participation in checks that helps in the running of a government. It opposes corruption along
with the abuse of the power. Three branches of the government: Executive, Judicial and the
legislative make up the rest of the three estates.
Answer 8)
Divided government takes place in the event of a party leading White House and
another party leading either one or both the houses of the Congress. Example of unified
government can be said to be United States that occurred in the event of Democratic Party
controlling both executive along with legislative branches. At the time of the first two year of
the presidency of Obama, Executive along with branches of the Legislative were Democratic.
It was the same in the case of the first two year of the presidency of Clinton (Farhang and
Yaver 2016). A unified government can exist as is evident in recent times in the American
history. Unified government can be said to be present in the event of a part controlling White
House along with both of the houses of the Congress. Gerrymandering can be said to be a
practice that can help in establishing political advantage in the case of a particular party.
Gerrymandering takes place by the manipulation of district boundaries. The two tactics that
are used in the case of gerrymandering are that of “cracking” along with “packing”.

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“Cracking” refers to dilution of voting power of supporters of opposing party across that of
many districts (Katz 2016). “Packing” on the other hand is concentration of voting power of
opposing party within one district that can reduce voting power in that of the other districts.
Third tactic in relation to gerrymandering is homogenization of all the districts.

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References
Baumgartner, F.R. and Talbert, J.C., 2018. Interest groups and political change. In The New
American Politics: Reflections on Political Change and the Clinton Administration (pp. 93-
108). Taylor and Francis.
Berry, J.M., 2015. Lobbying for the people: The political behavior of public interest groups.
Princeton University Press.
Dellmuth, L.M. and Tallberg, J., 2016. Advocacy Strategies in Global Governance: Inside vs.
Outside Lobbying.
Farhang, S. and Yaver, M., 2016. Divided government and the fragmentation of american
law. American Journal of Political Science, 60(2), pp.401-417.
Gilens, M. and Page, B.I., 2014. Testing theories of American politics: Elites, interest groups,
and average citizens. Perspectives on politics, 12(3), pp.564-581.
Godwin, R.K., 2018. Money, technology, and political interests: The direct marketing of
politics. In The politics of interests (pp. 308-325). Routledge.
Hanegraaff, M., Beyers, J.A. and De Bruycker, I., 2016. Balancing inside and outside
lobbying: The political strategies of lobbyists at global diplomatic conferences. European
Journal of Political Research, 55(3), pp.568-588.
Junk, W.M., 2016. Two logics of NGO advocacy: Understanding inside and outside lobbying
on EU environmental policies. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(2), pp.236-254.
Katz, E., 2016. The Impact of Divided Government on Legislative Output.
McFarland, A.S., 2018. Interest groups and the policymaking process: Sources of
countervailing power in America. In The politics of interests (pp. 58-79). Routledge.

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Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Kalogeropoulos, A., Levy, D.A. and Nielsen, R.K., 2017. Reuters
Institute digital news report 2017.
Schlesinger, P. and Doyle, G., 2015. From organizational crisis to multi-platform salvation?
Creative destruction and the recomposition of news media. Journalism, 16(3), pp.305-323.