...contributions from corporations or businesses should be illegal because corporations are buying politicians. This makes the politician vulnerable to pressure from the highest donor and, the persuasive power of money clouds people’s judgment. In the 2012 Presidential election, the US political system spent $1,107,114,702.00 for the Democratic presidential candidate and $1,238,097,161.00 for Republican presidential candidate for a total of $2,345,211,863.00 just to get elected to office (www.opensecrets.org / Center for Responsive Politics). All contemporary democratic societies are based on systems of representation. In a theoretical representative democracy, citizens form positions on issues and convey their views to elected representatives, whose job is to make policies consistent with those positions. (Bey, D. and Mizruchi, M. 2005). This is the theory however, if a corporation or a group of corporations donate money to a political party, they expect something in return. Like favoritism when the politician votes for certain bills or political contracts awarded in their favor. This type of structure in government is known as elite pluralism. American society was dominated politically by a small group of leaders that included both the heads of major organizations as well as top political officials. These elites, having formed a largely cohesive community, unified not only through common interests in maintaining their privileges but also through common socialization experiences (including...
Words: 1100 - Pages: 5
...United States; including the interest groups, laws and regulations, and the president and Congress are all key factors in access to health care. Now the question remains; what makes a nation? People, are ultimately the backbone of a country. Because of them a country has an economy, culture, defense, education and government. It is the government’s responsibility to...
Words: 986 - Pages: 4
...1. Who do you know is most likely to believe fake news? Why do you think these people are more likely to believe fake news? I find that the generation or age group who are most likely to believe fake news would be those who are now in their sixties to early seventies. These people grew up in a time that news stories and journalism were all about telling the truth. Back when things like Watergate happened, the real reporters were all about telling all of the facts in the case. They took time to verify sources and print a majority of truth. At that same time, the majority of other events of the nation and the world were reported truthfully. I feel that this leads the people of this age-group to believe the things reported today, no matter...
Words: 1107 - Pages: 5
...the world or how far some galaxy cluster is away from Earth. It is the amount of money spent during the 2012 Presidential Campaign. Politicians consistently use unprecedented amounts of money during campaigns to ensure victory. According to the Gale Encyclopedia of American Law, “Election campaigns for public office are expensive. Candidates need funding for support staff, advertising, traveling, and public appearances. Unless they are independently wealthy, most must finance their campaigns with contributions from individuals and from businesses and other organizations.” The issue that arises is the matter of how this money is collected. Incumbent politicians have the biggest advantage in regards to campaign financing because of the connections they have already made. Super PAC’s, interest groups, corporations, and private individuals are the biggest contributors in campaign donations. Some people see these contributions and unlimited funds as unconstitutional and call for major reform in campaign finance laws. Campaign Financing Private campaign donors can provide unlimited amounts of funding; therefore, politicians often use these private donors in order to finance their massive campaigns. The most recent attempt at reform in the 2010 Supreme Court case of Citizen’s United vs. FEC instead served to worsen the problem. In “Non Profit Groups and Partisan Politics,” Christina Lyons explains how, (Q) “that ruling permitted unlimited spending on partisan political advertising...
Words: 1149 - Pages: 5
...2: Special Interests What Are Special Interests Groups Special interest groups are often referred to as pressure groups, single issue groups, vested interest groups, lobbyist and several other titles. Through there are many names they essentially are all the same meaning; “An organization of people or a “letterhead” organization, sharing a common goal that seeks to influence the making of public policy” (Wilson, 2009, pp. 141). There is a lot of debate as to the negative and practical aspects of interest groups. Interest groups come in forms of Unions, Economic groups, Ideology groups, Social Policy groups or Public interest groups. They exclusively are engaged to influence the president and congress by promoting what values enforced by the government. Interest groups play a vital role in shaping public policies. They are one of four linkage groups which also include the media, elections and campaigns as well as political parties. These groups keep the citizens connected to the government. James Madison explains in Federalist #10 that public views are refined and enhanced "by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may discern the true interest of their country..." (Independance Hall, 2008). This was written in the essence of how to mitigate the effects of particular interest groups. It is hard to know what he would think of this design today. Impact on Government in the Creation of Public Policy Special interest groups can have negative...
Words: 2034 - Pages: 9
...Interest groups are diverse organizations formed to protect and promote the shared political objectives of their members. Interest groups have become important than political parties in some ways. Interest groups influence campaign assistance and direct democracy as well as legislatures in the lobby's beneath the capitol dome. Interest group influence is found throughout California's link the constitution. Such protections are often written into the Constitution making alteration difficult because of constitutional amendments require the approval of the electorate. Different interest have benefited throughout California's current full history. Agriculture interest have remain strong through all these periods. Banking and service businesses tower over manufacturing well high-tech industries have surpassed defense and aerospace. Vocation related associations are routinely lobby stay government. Public interest groups are also part of the ever-growing a mix. California politicians often find themselves in responding to the demands of interest groups rather than governing them. Interest groups vary in size, resources, and goals. Economic groups seek various financial gains our hope to prevent loss is dominate the state interest group environment. Often individual corporations or businesses with similar goals...
Words: 833 - Pages: 4
...Microtargeting Politicians use microtargeting all the time and it has been more obvious to voters with this last election for President Obama. Technically, “microtargeting is the use of political parties and election campaigns of direct marketing data mining techniques that involve predictive market segmentation” (Microtargeting). Microtargeting is not just one type of marketing technique but rather a bundle of them that “identify consumer tastes and behaviors” (Brennan). Politicians now have a third arm to reach swing voters with the use of microtargeting. It is a rather uncomfortable term but sometimes the details are in the data that will get those final voters to vote for them. Campaigns can use the information they get from this data to “give pollsters, campaigns and interest groups a sharper idea of how candidates and issues may fare at the ballot box” (Brennan). Political strategy firms compile this information either buy gathering it themselves or buying it. They will then “match it to the publicly available voter rolls that were digitized as a part of a new federal law aimed at efforts to help improve voting procedures after the ballot controversies at the 2000 election” (Brennan). They then aggregate the information to user IP addresses on line and track them from there hoping they will glean some information as to how voters might vote. Should we be concerned about what campaigns do with the data after they have used it for their political gain? Possibly yes...
Words: 704 - Pages: 3
...Andrew Martinez Research Paper 1) The Exposition In Christopher Papagianis’s and Arpit Gupta’s article, “Making the Housing Market Work Again,” the two provide a descriptive summary of the causes of the housing market collapse in the United States which spurs the Great Recession of the late 2000s. The authors use the actions taken by two groups before, during, and after the recession, as tools to show what not to do when dealing with the housing industry. They then build off these mistakes and offer advice for the future to the two main players in their article, the borrowers and the policy makers. The article does a great job of identifying the problems and raising flags on mistakes made by all parties, but in my opinion the authors did not redirect the blame equally. I believe that the general public was not criticized enough for their part in the collapse, as illogical decisions, specifically with their reliance on credit, led large scale loss in the long term. Where the authors point fingers at borrowers and policy makers for allowing ill-fit people to take out a loan, I blame the people for taking out a loan that they should have known they could never afford in the first place, and explain how we can avoid these economic downturns in the future. The two begin their article by discussing the causes of the housing market crash. They pinpointed the main reason for the crash by discussing how a large number of loans being taken out for things such as homes, cars and...
Words: 2633 - Pages: 11
...For example, government officials tend to operate with the mindset of quid pro quo. Politicians are passing legislations on behalf of who is investing in their campaign instead of serving the interest of the population. Politicians must take the public needs into consideration and find ingenious ways to gain interest groups’ support while still managing to curtail their power in critical respects (Mettler, 2011, p. 114). If politicians were to passed legislation that benefit the population instead of various interest groups who are deeply rooted in their pocket, laws could be passed that would help the population. Instead, money played a major factor in how political campaign turns out and who will get elected which would create problems for fixing these types of...
Words: 1537 - Pages: 7
...responsibility (CSR) is at best irrelevant and probably socially damaging. The heart of his argument lies in the assumption of a neat separation between markets and politics. In this idealized world, politics can be counted on to deliver the regulations needed to rein in corporate greed and malfeasance. Then corporations can safely be left in the hands of managers whose sole interest is maximizing profits. I have a lot of sympathy for this perspective. If politics really worked as advertised, it would make perfect sense to leave social issues to the deliberation of our elected officials. The problem with this perspective is that government failure is just as common as market failure. Certainly markets can fail because there are too few firms, consumers have inadequate information, or because pollution affects innocent bystanders who do not even buy the product that is polluting their air or water. But government can fail, too, sometimes because it is just too big and bloated to deliver what it promises. Often, government fails because of the vigorous lobbying efforts of special interest groups. Sometimes these groups extract special favors that protect them from foreign competition (think sugar quotas that prevent Brazil from selling us cane sugar). Other times lobbying protects firms from regulations that would force them to pay for the environmental damage they cause (think former Vice President Cheney's "secret energy task force," which worked behind closed doors to ensure the...
Words: 914 - Pages: 4
...Matthew Sandoval 1 Government 2301 Spring 2012 Interest Groups and Politics The “interest industry” or Interest Groups is often pointed out as one of the unusual features of the American political system. A structurally weak state is seen as being penetrated by wealthy and vigorous lobbying groups, raising the questions of to whom. Elected politicians are in practice accountable, and how real political power is allocated. While these interest groups are sometimes effective in achieving their own aims, the bias towards business groups suggests that, far from improving policymaking, the influence of interest groups actually worsens it. The strong presence of interest groups is certainly not in doubt. The representation of interests is the third-largest source of employment in Washington D.C., providing work for around 40,000 active lobbyists (Twyman, 1). Groups are also organized in state capitals, especially in Sacramento, CA and Austin, TX. This impressive presence, in comparison to other countries, stems at least partly from the structural weakness of other parts of the American political system. The framers of the Constitution fragmented the state into competing institutions, thus providing plenty of leverage points for interest groups; those which do not get satisfaction in the one branch of government can pursue it in another (Debbie, 4). In addition the main political parties are ill-disciplined and weak; legislators who vote against the party line...
Words: 2855 - Pages: 12
...Erin Rocker AP Gov Per 4 10/30/13 Interest Groups Litigation- the act or process of bringing or contesting a legal action in court. Litigation is used to put pressure on officials in order to achieve their goals. Legal strategies are used to affect public opinion on certain issues that the interest group is advocating. In addition to litigation, interest groups also use the media to make their stand on certain issues known to the general public. Campaign Contributions-refers to all funds raised in order to promote candidates, political parties, or policies in elections, referendums, initiatives, party activities, and party organizations. Interest groups use campaign contributors because they give faster results than lawsuits or mass mobilization- you are dealing with one person (the politician you are funding); it buys the candidate's loyalty and support; it provides access when the interest group needs assistance; it is more effective on a single, focused issue; you don't need a large group of people to back you up (as with mass mobilization). Grassroots Lobbying- asking the public to contact legislators concerning the issue at had, as opposed to going to the legislators directly. A grassroots lobby puts pressure on the legislature to address the concerns of a particular group by mobilizing that group, usually through raising public awareness and running advocacy campaigns. A group or individual classified as a lobbyist must submit regular disclosure reports; however,...
Words: 605 - Pages: 3
...We are a nation gripped by consumerism. We want we we do not need and can ill afford. We are taught that we must attain, the American Dream, gaining things we do not need nor want to build a façade to but on display for others. We want the house, the car, the clothes, the education and more so we force ourselves into debt. While the rich have the ability to play this game, the vast majority of us do not. We must buy these things with a credit card. You want to go to school, go get a loan. You want a house, go get a loan. What about a car, go and get a loan. We keep diving further and further into debt for these things, some of which are necessary for society but, there are many things that we truly don’t need but to keep up with the Jones’...
Words: 1186 - Pages: 5
...Until recently, we had observed a slight resurgence in the power of political parties. A lot of this was demonstrated by the increasingly polarised ideological stances of the Republican Party and the Democrat Party, because as the divide between the two parties became more apparent, ideological differences were more visible, with less policy overlap. The exploitation of primaries by the Republican Party over the last 20 years has also proved an effective deterrent for any Republican who dared to oppose the party line. In recent years, the Tea Party’s hijacking of the process has resulted in more extreme candidates being elected. The Democrats have in turned voiced their support for unpopular Republican social issues all the more readily, such as gay marriage or abortion. Therefore, it would appear that the parties have represented the core beliefs of their voters more successfully than during the 1960s, for example, when the New Deal Coalition comprised both the traditional support of white Southerners who had always voted Democrat, and the African American community that had gained employment through the construction of federally funded infrastructure. This draws a sharp contrast to the Republican Party that swept Bush to the White House in 2004, when the support was made up of almost unanimously social and fiscal conservatives, although Bush’s immigration stance won him a slice of the Hispanic vote as well. Moreover, the parties’ running of government has also generally...
Words: 1821 - Pages: 8
...Cost and Benefit analysis 3.1.4. Recommendation for resolving the Dilemma 3.2. Dilemma faced by Corporates 3.2.1. Role of Corporates 3.2.2 Ethical Theories 3.2.3. Cost and Benefit analysis 3.2.4. Recommendation for resolving the Dilemma 3.3. Dilemma faced by Government 3.3.1. Role of Government 3.3.2. Ethical Theories 3.3.3. Cost and Benefit analysis 3.3.4. Recommendation for resolving the Dilemma 3.4 Dilemma faced by Media 3.4.1. Role of Media 3.4.2. Ethical Theories 3.4.3. Recommendation for resolving the Dilemma 4. Recommendations for avoiding recurrence of the issue 4.1 Plan to avoid recurrence of such a scam 1|Page 5. References 5.1. Websites 5.2. Books 2|Page 1. Abstract 1.1. Introduction: The 2G spectrum scam involved politicians and government officials in India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would then use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones. The shortfall between the money collected and the money that the law mandated to be collected is estimated to be 176,645 Crore (US$32.15 billion), as valued by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India based on 3G and BWA spectrum auction prices in 2010. However, the exact loss is disputed. The Supreme Court declared allotment of spectrum as "unconstitutional and arbitrary" and quashed all the 122 licenses issued in 2008 during tenure of A. Raja(then minister for communications & IT) the main official accused in the 2G scam case. In 2011, Time magazine...
Words: 4651 - Pages: 19
