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UNIT 3 - POLITICAL PARTIES, INTEREST GROUPS, and MASS MEDIA

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Unit Objectives:

1. Define the term political party and distinguish between a multi-party system as in many European
countries and the American two-party system.
2. Trace the development of the United States party system through four major periods. What are
major differences between the parties?
3. Explain the decline of the party system and the growth of independent voters.
4. Describe the structure of a major party. Distinguish between major and minor parties.
5. Demonstrate the differences between the party-oriented campaigns of the 19th century and the
candidate-oriented ones of today.
6. Discuss the importance of campaign funding to election outcomes. What are the major sources of
funding under current law and recent reform legislation?
7. Distinguish the differences in the processes of running for President and Congress.
8. Explain the high re-election rate of incumbents in Congress.
9. Explain why the characteristics of American society and government encourage such a large
number of special interest groups.
10. Indicate the historical conditions under which interest groups are likely to form and specify the
kinds of organizations Americans are most likely to join.
11. Describe the methods special interest groups use to formulate and carry out their political
objectives, especially the lobbying techniques. Explain how the courts are used as a forum.
12. List the laws regulating conflict of interest and describe the problems involved with revolving door
government employment.
13. Describe how the characteristics of the electronic media have effected the actions of public officials and candidates.
14. Describe the impact of the pattern of ownership and control of the media on the reporting of news.
15. Discuss the issue of "media bias" and how it affects the electorate.

Schedule:

TEXT - Chapters 7-10

Day 1
Political Parties: Two party system, parties in decline, recent voting patterns (chart)
Read: “Vote or Else” by Allison Hayward (Annual Edition, 07/08, # 38)

Day 2
Democratic Party: Historical view
Read: “Has the Democratic Party Revived Itself?” by Marr Bai (Annual Edition, 07/08, # 33)

Day 3
Third Parties: an analysis of other political parties found in the U. S.

Day 4
Republican Party: Historical view
Read: “Is the Republican Party Dead?” by Andrew Sullivan (Annual Edition, 07/08, # 30)

Day 5
Elections and Campaigns: role of money; the road to the Presidency

Day 6
The Electoral College
Debate – Should the Electoral College Be Abolished? (Taking Sides, 15th Ed.)

Day 7
Internet Groups: function of internet groups. Lobbyists.
Read: “Movin’ On” by Carl M. Cannon (Annual Edition, 07/08, # 41)

Day 8
Political Action Committees (PAC); Evaluating citizen’s impact into the selection of leaders and the shaping of public policy.
Read: “The Misplaced Obsession with PACs” by Larry J. Sabato (Woll, pp 244-251)

Day 9
Discuss the Role of the Media in a free and open society.
Debate: Does the Media Have a Liberal Bias? (Taking Sides, 15th Ed.)

Day 10
The Media: background, goals, concerns of the media, investigative reporting.
Read: “Bush’s War on the Press” by Eric Alterman (Annual Edition, 07/08, # 18)

Day 11
The Media: manipulation of the media, decline of newspapers, the rise of web news, blogs, radio/satellite radio

Day 12
Media Bias: Compare articles from different media sources – The Nation, National Review, The Weekly Standard, Time, Newsweek, The Economist, etc.

Day 13
Review for Unit 3 Test.
Practice writing Free Response Questions (FRQs)

Day 14
Review for Unit 3 Test.
Practice writing Free Response Questions (FRQs)

Day 15
Unit 3 Test
15 – 20 Multiple Choice Questions
1 - FRQ