POLS 2312 1st Edition Exam 2 Study Guide Lectures 8 15 Lecture 8 Political party an organization influenced by political ideology whose primary interest is to gain control of government by winning elections Not mentioned in constitution 1992 Ross Perrot Reform Party 3rd party affected the national level and splitting votes by winning 20 of votes Conservative Right wing minimal government involvement in economic and social welfare reduce taxes and government spending to boost economy Liberal Left wing want strong regulation of economy for equal distribution of wealth Favor government involvement in social and economic programs like Medicare Obama care believe in individual freedom and rights Political ideology set of doctrine beliefs that form the basis of political system AKA political orientation Lecture 9 1st female governor was Maul Ferguson she put pressure on KKK and improved TX roads Dealignment voters go away from party to become independents Realignment voters shift from one party to another Straight ticket voting vote for all one side during election 3rd parties achieve success by making public aware about certain issues and eventually the dominant party will adopt those ideas Lecture 10 Political campaigns reflect the influence of the media via tvs trash talks and money TV and radio ads popular form of campaigning for people Political action committee am organization device used by corporations labor unions and other organizations to raise money for campaign contributions Texas Ethics Commission a state agency that enforces state standards for lobbyist and public officials including registration of lobbyist and public officials Campaign Reform Act enacted by the US congress and signed by George Bush in 2002 this law restricts the donation of soft money and hard money for election campaign Soft money donations made to national parties for federal election purposes Hard money campaign money donated directly to candidates or political parties and restricted in amount by federal law Lecture 11 Consultants negative campaigning works Electorate tolerates negative campaigning by their apathy Campaign Finance the money used to finance a campaign Personal wealth Individuals who supports a candidates views Political Action Committees PACs Texas Campaign Finance Laws Focus on disclosure not enforcement Universal Suffrage the right for all citizens 18 years or older to vote did not become a reality until the 1970s Lecture 12 14 and 15 amendment to constitution gave everyone the right to vote 14 due process equal protection under law 15 all males can vote Now black males can legally vote 19 gave suffrage to woman 24 amendment prohibited poll tax 26 amendment voting age 18 Many Jim crow laws were obstacles that prevented minorities from voting Examples literacy test grandfather clause poll tax all white primaries racial gerrymandering Primaries select nominees for public offices Closed primaries must declare party affiliation Open does not Low voter turnout b c lower percentage of eligible voters apathy and ignorance don t think vote matters leave it to others voter fatigue and turned off by negative campaigns All white primaries were declared unconstitutional in 1944 Poll tax abolished in 1964 Gerrymandering drawing dividing lines to dilute minority votes so they basically do not count Lecture 13 Interest groups organization seeks to influence government officials and their policies on behalf on narrow interest of members Members in interest groups often share common objectives and views and goals Political parties want to gain control of the government by having people get elected into office and propose policies Interest groups may include the NAACP Nation Association for the Advancement of Colored People AARP American Association for Retired Persons NRA National Rifle Association Veterans of Foreign Wars and National Organization for Women When political parties are divided it is easy for interest groups to pick particular politicians from the divided parties to cater to their opinions Lecture 14 Texas power groups include business oriented trade associations representing oil gas tobacco chemical manufactures insurance and railroads professional association physicians lawyers and teachers and labor unions Others would be bankers realtors truckers etc Common traits of interest groups strong links with both legislatures and bureaucrats Interest groups techniques an action such as lobbying personal communication giving favors and gifts grassroots activities Interest groups must have good leadership Social interest groups are concerned primarily with social issues such as civil rights raicial and ethnic matters religion and public interest Public interest groups represent a broad public interest Lobbying communicating with legislatures or other government officials on behalf on an interest group for the purpose of influencing decision makers Electioneering active campaigning by an interest group in support of or opposition to a candidate actions urging the public to act on an issue Lecture 15 Bribery and blackmail commonly take place in TX politics 72nd legislature proposed constitutional amendment to create an 8 member Texas Ethics Commission The ethic law declares activities illegal such as any campaign contribution accepted with an agreement to act in the contributor s interest prohibits a candidate or official from receiving a contribution in the Capitol Building itself Texas Ethics Commission a state agency that enforces state standards for lobbyist and public officials including registration of lobbyist and reporting of political campaign contributions A highly valuable factor that depends largely on the size of a group s membership financial resource quality of leadership and degree of unity to measure its effectiveness