Interest Groups and Intro to Parties

From: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/p/political_lobbyist.asp

Hello.

First your IG questions:

1. Iron Triangles are often called ‘subgovernments’. Why is that an apt descriptor? Provide an arguable explanation.

2. Iron Triangles are partly responsible for the growth in the size of government and the steady increase in the size of the budget. Explain why.

3. Explain why efforts to decrease government spending will be very difficult because of the presence of Iron Triangles.

Now enjoy this little clip on Interest Groups in action:




Read pp. 417-423. Focus on how parties and IGs are different, but interdependent.

1. What’s the difference between an interest group and a political party?


2. What are the three separate entities of political parties?


3. List the most important events and parties in Party history on pp. 419-423.

Thanks and see you Thursday.

Exploring Polls

Polls play an important role in the arena of politics. Surely you saw many polls for the recent mid-term elections regarding both individual candidates and the major parties as well. If conducted in a scientific manner they can prove to be a fairly authentic reflection of how the country, or sub-groups within the country, view certain issues.

Criticisms of polls abound. Even scientific polls are not without their flaws. People assume polls indicate the imply some level of importance to a particular subject. And, polls may be used by candidates or interest groups to influence, instead of reflect, public opinion.

The saavy student of government and politics knows how to evaluate polls, what they actually mean, and whether or not they make politicians leaders or followers.

Before you begin reading your reading assignment, check out the following brief video about polls:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HgYat0AEM4


BE SURE TO JOT DOWN SOME NOTES FROM THE VIDEO!


After viewing the video and completing your reading assignment (SEE YOUR CALENDAR!):
1. make a list of why it is important to measure public opinion.
2. make a list of characteristics of what makes an "effective" poll.

Bring to class tomorrow.

Coming soon...an online discussion on your research of the Pew Center for the People and the Press.