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Chapter 11. Parties and Interest Groups

Exercises



Comparing the two major parties

    1. Go to the Republican Party's web site.
    2. Click on "Issues" in the top left-hand corner.
    3. Read about the GOP's stances on the issues listed.
    4. Then, go to the Democratic Party's web site.
    5. Click on "Agenda" at the top, middle of the page.
    6. Read about the Democratic Party's positions on the issues listed.
    7. Answer the following questions:
      • How do the parties' positions on issues differ? What do these differences indicate about how the parties view the role of government?
      • Were there any issues on which the parties agreed? If so, why do you think the parties agreed with each other?

Learning about minor parties

    1. Go to a web site of a minor party listed in the Explore section.
    2. Answer the following questions:
      • What positions does the party take on issues such as taxes, abortion, gay marriage, and the environment?
      • What issues seem most important to the party?
      • Why does this party believe it is needed? What do they see wrong with the Democratic and Republican Parties?

Scoring on the issues

Mixing two of their roles as interest groups, some groups educate the public about whom they are lobbying. In other words, they rank lawmakers on how much the lawmakers remain loyal to the group's issue positions. As a result, constituents can gauge how much representatives or senators champion particular issues. Go to Project Vote Smart's Issue and Interest Group Ratings web site. How would James Madison feel about interest groups grading elected officials?

    1. Scroll through the issues listed in the "Pick a national issue" section, choose one, and click on "Go" to see which interest groups Project Vote Smart uses to rank lawmakers on that issue. How many interest groups are active on that issue?


    2. Click on some of the organization names. What is the organization's position on the issue? To see if your state has a local chapter of a particular interest group, select your state under the "Or pick a state" section and click on "Go".


    3. If the "Key Votes" link appears after you've selected an issue, click on it. How many votes in Congress have involved this issue in recent years?


    4. To see how leaders in your state rank on these interest group ratings, go to Project Vote Smart's state-by-state interest group ratings. Click on your state, and see how current officials (president, Congress, governor, and state offices) are rated by various interest groups. If you do not know your representative or senators, you can type in your nine-digit ZIP code, and the web site will bring up the names of your elected officials.
      • Are your elected representatives similar in their ratings by interest groups, even if they are members of opposing parties? What does this mean? Or do elected officials break out by party?
      • Do your elected representatives fit with your views on issues? Have you found some interest groups that you would like to join?

Campaign finance

Another key role of interest groups is electioneering, or financing electoral campaigns. How much do different interests in America spend on campaigns? To whom do they give? The Center for Responsive Politics Opensecrets.org web site provides an Industry Profiles searchable function to see how much has been given in campaign contributions across particular economic and interest group industries, as well as which interest groups have given how much, and to whom.

    1. Scroll down to a particular industry by economic sector, or an industry that's been "front-page news." How much has been given by this economic sector in recent election cycles?


    2. On the left side of the web page, under "Data for this Industry," click on "Top Contributors." Make sure you choose the election cycle you're interested in—are the records for the 2006 elections, 2004 elections, 2002 elections, etc.
      • How much did this sector raise in campaign funds?
      • Which party was the biggest recipient of contributions?
      • What particular interest groups ranked highest among the different interest groups within this sector? Which party did they tend to support?
      • Was the funding mostly from political action committees (PACs)?


    3. Also on the left side of the web page is the "Top Recipients" link. Who in Congress received the most in contributions from this sector? Remember to choose the election cycle you are interested in.