Amanda Labrado

3/14/10
Homework #7
1. Argument in favor of reinstating the “fairness doctrine” and argument against:
The Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated because it would allow the public to hear more of both sides
rather than having to switch channels or stations on TV and radio to find the opposing view on the
situation or subject.
The Fairness Doctrine should not be reinstated because it would be hard for Congress to manage all the
stations and channels that we have now on TV and Radio and it would probably end up like Prohibition
did in the 1920s. The Doctrine would also probably cost a lot of money to enforce with so many stations.
2. (a) 4 main impacts of media on public opinion with examples of each.
The media “reinforces” the opinions of the public who generally read newspapers, for instance, a
conservative can choose to read a conservative newspaper which would influence and reinforce his
existing view on whatever the topic and then “forget info that is opposite of their beliefs” that the
conservative might see elsewhere because he would rather believe the paper.(Hague 129)
The media has influence upon what we think and talk about because the news reported is the news that
will be talked about and the news that isn’t reported is the news that won’t be talked about. The news
ultimately decides what the public will care about. (Hague 129)
The media can make us all think the same way by “framing” stories so that certain features are
highlighted to elicit a single perspective from the audience. For example, when a journalist focuses on the
negative aspects of the war, then the audience will too because there is no other side presented. (Hague
130)
The media has the power to make people act and think a certain way by “priming” its audience, meaning
the media mostly presents one topic or policy, in turn, influencing the public to think about it a certain
way as to influence their actions concerning it. For instance, a newspaper might focus on same-sex
marriage often enough so that it’s readers begin to agree with the newspapers viewpoint; it would cause
the readers to vote yes on same-sex marriage, perhaps. (Hague 130)
(b) Which effect do you think is the most powerful nowadays? Explain and make
references to Print Media, Radio, TV, and the internet.
The most powerful effect of media is their ability to set the “agenda”. Agenda-setting creates society and
its values, when Hurrican Katrina wiped out New Orleans, it was all anyone talked about, everyone talked
about that and how they could help and it influenced Americans to be more caring about people in other
states. It was the same with the Hatian earthquake. If the media had not covered these two events, no one
would have known or cared, but because of the media, these places received help and recognition. The
pictures in the papers, the videos on TV and the internet and the voices of the victims on the radios all had
the effect of moving Americans to action and arousing a care that the country had just begun using.
3. Are television broadcasters responsible for the low level of knowledge about –
and interest in – politics and government among American voters, or do they
provide minimal political information because viewers/ readers are uninterested in
the subject? Explain with examples from the readings.
Television broadcasters are to blame for the low level of knowledge concerning politics and government,
because if broadcasters would present politics like Saturday Night Live does or as Comedy Central’s
Colbert Report or Daily Show do, then people would be more interested in politics because these shows
portray government figures an policies in a way that allows the public to understand and relate to them.
Also broadcasters aren’t paid by big corporations to inform more about politics because the less people
know the more they can be influenced by political ads when elections come. It can also be true that the
public just is not as interested in politics are they are in sur-realities because if a show on the History
channel were about how politics works, not many people would watch it because they could assume that
since they can vote and they watch the news that they know enough about the topic, which makes for an
ignorant person or society. Perhaps an increase in the number of campaign commercials would help
voters acknowledge lesser candidates running for Congress, however, an increase would be hard if the
candidate can’t afford it; hence, the reason TV does not dedicate much time to the candidates, because the
candidates simply can’t afford the commercial time they need. Furthermore, the lack of trust by the public
of the media can result in an apathy for politics on television because of all the distortions of the speech
of candidates (Hudson 195).
Interest Groups
4. (a) What is a protective group?
A protective group is a group that focuses on influencing government for the benefit of its members such
as “unions, professional associations and employer’s organizations” They are the most influential because
they are “well established, well connected and well resourced” (Hague 210) They protect the rights of
people and wish to better their conditions.
(b) Give at least two examples of protective groups.
NAACP or the APA
(c) In their efforts to influence public policy, what part (branch) of government do
American protective groups focus on?
Protective groups focus on Congress, or the legislative branch
(d) Is this different from other liberal democracies. Explain.
The focus on the legislative branch in the US is different from other liberal democracies because usually a
“parliament is more reactive than proactive” and the interest groups usually treat the “members of
parliament as opinion leaders” unlike the way American interest groups treat them as “decision makers”.
In other democracies, interest groups are more easily heard and less likely to be known about since in a
parliamentary system group members can just walk up to parliament and present their case. (Hague 217)
5. (a) What is a promotional group?
A promotional groups “advocate ideas, identities, policies, and values.” (Hague 211)
(b) Give at least two examples of a promotional group.
ACLU and ASPCA
(c) Do promotional groups try to influence public policy directly or indirectly?
Promotional groups influence public policy indirectly. (Hague 210)
(d) What means do they employ to do this?
Promotional groups take actions that are usually effective enough to be shown on the news where the
public learns about the groups’ motives.
6. (a) Discuss in detail the differences between the pluralist and corporatist models.
The pluralist model allows interest groups to “exert influence over a responsive government”, while the
corporatist model takes the concept a step further to where “protective groups join with other
organizations such as firms and labour unions” to influence public policy that is relative to “capital and
labour”. In the pluralist model, government is an authority unlike in the Corporatist model where the
government is a figure that one can just negotiate with. A Pluralist governemnt treats all interest groups
equally, while a corporatist government is more biased toward capital and labour.
(b) In what way does the US seem to deviate from the pluralist model?
The US is biased against interest groups that do not agree with the interests of big business.
The government does not usually hear all voices and sides of an interest group.
Our democracy does not seem to be ruled by minorities but that aspect of pluralism is maybe just
beginning with Obama becoming president.
We “weigh” votes rather than interests. (Hague 213)
(c) Do you think that the US would be better off trying to adopt a more corporate
approach? Explain.
No, the US should not take a corporate approach because then big business would have even more power
than it does already, because if they took a more corporate approach, businesses would have interest
groups more representing the corporations rather than other minor things such as same sex marriage or
human rights, these things might even become under looked if big business doesn’t support them in a
corporatist society.
Political Parties
7. (a) Describe the main differences between cadre, mass, and catch-all parties.
A cadre party is one that is made up of “elitists” who share a “common concern” and wish to “fight
effective campaigns in an enlarged electorate”. A cadre is “committed to the leader’s authority” and gains
its income from “personal contacts”. (Hague 233) A mass party is formed outside of an assembly and it
“seeks representation in the legislature as a way of achieving their goals”; also, their representatives “in
parliament were kept on a tight reign’ or under the party’s control. A mass party gains a large amount of
members and holds influence over them “through affiliations [with] organizations” and through “local
branches” in which the member had to “carry cards” and pay a monthly fee (Hague 233-4). Catch-all
parties wish to gain support through mass media and wherever they can find it, they are formed from old
cadre or mass parties and their prupose is more to govern based on the public’s interests. (Hague 234)
(b) Which type(s) are the Democratic and Republican Parties of the contemporary
US?
The Democratic and Republican parties are more or less mass parties that formed into Catch-alls.
8. Explain at least two key differences between political parties in Western Europe
and the US.
The U.S. uses its parties primarily for election purposes and W.E. uses them for both election purposes
and supporting the PM during his term. Also, In W.E. voters choose which party’s proposals they like
rather than how in the US voters choose which party’s candidates proposals they like. (Hudson 51)
9. (a) Are two-party systems or multiparty systems more common among
democracies?
Multiparty systems seem to be most common among democracies and two-party systems appear only in
the US and sometimes Britain, which is turning into a multiparty system. (Hague 247-8)
(b) What is the main reason why some countries develop two-party systems and
others develop multiparty systems?
Some countries develop two party systems because they have an electoral method and some form
multiparty systems because they emphazise “ the representative and consensus seeking function of
parties” which creates a need for more since the public have many different opinions and values. (Hague
248)