Political Science: How the Mass Communications Media set the Public Agenda

Political science
Name
Course
Institution
Date

1] In our discussion of representation in the United States, we discussed the various amendments to the U.S. Constitution that increased citizen representation. Name three amendments to the U.S. Constitution that increased citizen representation in our government, and explain specifically, how each either expanded our electorate or made the government more representatives of its citizens.
Amendment XV (15) recognized that no person is to be denied the right to vote based on race or color or previous condition of servitude. This fully recognized that African Americans as citizens of the U.S who should be allowed to vote. Amendment XIX (19) - This provision highlighted that no one was to denied the right to vote on account of sex, and this was associated with women suffrage Amendment XXVI (26) - The Amendment held that citizens of the U.S who were eighteen of age or older could not be denied the right to vote.
2] Drawing upon your understanding of the essential functions of legislatures, as well as the basic characteristics of California’s State legislature, as presented in Matthew Jarvis’s chapter on the California State legislature in California Government in National Perspective, explain the most important similarities and differences between the U.S. Congress and the California State legislature.
The California State legislature has a lower house as the California state Assembly and the senate. The U.S Congress and California State legislature share similarities sine both are bicameral houses with the Senate as the upper House, with speakers being leaders of the assembly. The California Assembly members have term limits compared to the U.S Congress, while the senate members serve for 4 year terms compared to 6 year terms for senators with no limit, where assembly members or senate members can now serve for more than 6 years in either house.
3] Define agenda setting in general terms & demonstrate how congressional leaders set Congress's agenda as well as how the mass communications media set the public agenda
Congressional members advance the legislative agenda through a deliberative process that allows the participation of all the members. Typically, members set agendas by seeking the support of fellow party members, by also through bipartisanship. When parties are more united in cases where the members have a united front, and the leaders consolidate power. However, agenda setting has become more fractured because of centralized power held by the committee chairs and party leadership, and this limits the participation of the minority party members in congressional deliberations. Congress is tasked with ensuring there is effective policy implementation while also playing the oversight role while reviewing the policies. The influence of lobbying and the mass media in agenda setting also affects the way policies are framed. The media informs and at times focus on certain aspects of proposed policies, and may influence the public depending on the issues at hand.
4] Do interest groups allow greater representation for citizens or do they inevitably allow small well organized groups to prosper at the expense of everyone who pays taxes?
The interest groups are formed to influence policies on specific issues. Even though, they are common in democratic societies they do not necessarily represent the interest of the societies. This is because of the no rational government growth and efficiency. As the interest groups become more powerful they serve narrow interests. There is likely to be political gridlock when interest groups with divergent agendas try to influence policies. Additionally, the interest groups are associated with the powerful and wealthy whose input is taken into consideration and this likely corrupts power. In any case, this does not allow the democratic involvement of the average person who cannot influence interest groups.
5] Name two sources of interest group power and explain how an interest group lobbyist could use those powers to gain influence over government policymakers?
Interest groups have power because of members vote and they provide information to the voters, but focus on selective sharing of the information the groups with vocal suppers and voters are more likely to get attention. Another source of power is resources, since interest groups that are able to undertake advertising campaigns reach out to more people and get noticed, while they are better placed to coordinate activities. At the same time, interest groups with connections make it easier to rally people behind them as they are connected to many people and many issues.
6] Explain how & why presidents “go public”, giving at least one example of a president going public in pursuit of enacting their policy agenda.
Presidents “go public” to appeal to the voters directly so that Congress can pass legislations. Presidents prefer this option in cases where negotiation and bargaining are likely to be problematic and his can be a successful strategy in such circumstances. President Bill Clinton tried this strategy to rally support for healthcare reform, but failed to garner the expected support. President Obama also would also “go public” as the debate on healthcare reform became intense and had mixed success since his efforts were mainly supported by the Democrats. On the other hand, President Reagan was successful to call for the passage of tax and spending cuts in 1981, with both Democrats and Republicans passing the bill.
7] Explain what an interest group is and why many people believe that they are detrimental to the general public good of society.
Interest groups are formally organized associations with people who have shared goals and concerns as they to influence public policy. The interest groups seek to influence the government policies for specific causes and to meet their needs, with policies that benefit a particular group of people or the group themselves. Lobbying is the most common technique to influence government policy outcomes. Even though, the interest groups encourage political participation their backers may only pursue narrow interests. The public interest groups do not benefit the group members, but the society. Nonetheless, there are economic interest groups that merely benefit the group members. One of the problems associated with interest groups lobbying Congressional leaders, is that some groups may yield so much power compared to their size. For instance, the Israel lobby has garnered controversy over time, with legislators across the political divide keen to be seen as pro-Israel. At the same time, the most influential interest groups tend to be well-funded highlighting that the will of the political elite may not necessary reflect what the average person desires. The political power of interest groups also means that dissenting voices and the minority party members in congress do not have a say in shaping the public discourse on policy adoption.
Sample Short-Answer Questions
Be able to define a congressional committee and explain what they do and why they're important in allowing Congress to complete its work.
Congressional committees are the organizations entrusted with passing or rejecting bills before they become laws. Both interest groups and agency bureaucrats are provided with an opportunity to air their views. The committees are then important in policy making as they conduct hearing and hold votes before passing bills.
Memorize the summaries of the important U.S. Supreme Court decisions listed on your handout.
3. Understand the three forms of political parties and how they relate to parties accomplishing their ultimate goal: translating their members' policy preferences into public policy.
Party in electorate – refers to the largest party, with the party membership that is voluntary, but there are no extra charges to belonging to the parties, while an electorate can engage with party officials of other parties.
Party as Organization - This refers to the leaders and members of a party where the major parties have office holders who are recognized as well as bylaws and offices. There are also state or local headquarters. The aim of the leaders and the party delegates is an electoral victory.
Party in government-This refers to the elected officials who are the party members who implement promises into policies. The officeholders tend to agree on certain policies to push the party agenda, and this includes the President, Congressional members and the governors. Party officials may identify police that drive their agenda, but they need to make deals with like-minded pelicans to be successful.
4. Understand what a filibuster is and why senators filibuster
A filibuster is an obstructive approach used by senators to derail debate and extend the time spent debating in order to change the voting patterns on a bill. Senators may choose this option when they do not agree with the contents of a bill, and this prevents action on the bill. Additionally, senators choose this option to delay other businesses
5. be sure that you understand what civil liberties are (specifically and generally), how they differ from civil rights, and be able to discuss policy issues, arising from civil liberties protections (e.g. eminent domain requirements, Miranda Rights and the Exclusionary Rule).
Civil liberties refer to protections form government actions as enshrined in the constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights and Amendments. On the other hand, the civil rights are the positive government actions undertaken to ensure equality especially for the minorities.
Eminent domain requirements is a legal doctrine that government can seize property for public use, but then the actions undertaken must not violated the 4th and 5th amendment.
Miranda Rights –Refers to the requirement that police officers must remind suspects about their 5th amendment rights, while the citizens do not self incriminate.
The Exclusionary Rule – is a law that forbids use of evidence that has been illegally acquired in a criminal trial.
6. Understand and be able to explain the three theories of constitutional interpretation presented in class.
Living constitutionalist theory- This approach to constitutional interpretation holds that the meaning changes over time.
Plain meaning theory- this approach focuses on the literal meaning of the state language, where ordinary words carry ordinary meaning. In cases where the meaning is not plain and clear, interpreters then focus on the original intention of the Framers.
Original intent theory- this approach to interpretation highlights that meaning is to be construed based on the intention of the founder documents, and may entail looking at historical documents to interpret the constitution.
7. Explain what the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Griswold vs. Connecticut (2014); and explain how the U.S. Supreme Court used this decision as the foundation for their landmark decision in Roe vs. Wade, which made a woman’s right to an abortion Constitutionally protected.
The Griswold vs. Connecticut case highlighted that the use of contraception was seen as a privacy issue, unlike earlier times when there were prohibitions against use of contraceptive. This case laid the foundation for the support of Roe v Wade and reproductive rights with the ruling that mandated legal abortion.
7. Be able to define agenda setting in general terms.
Agenda setting refers to the focus on policies and issues to engage the public on specie matters. Congressional members set the agenda by choosing policy initiatives and seeking the support of fellow legislators, and the lobbyists may push the agenda that is then taken up by the congressional members. The media also highlights specific issue and starts a conversation, and hence influence the public mood especially when there is repeated coverage of an issue.
8. Understand what civil service protection is (sometimes referred to as Civil Service status). Understand the two basic principles for government employment enacted in civil service reform, and be conversant about its purposes, advantages and disadvantages.
The civil service protections relate to process of the on meritocracy when hiring government employees, while they can only be fired when there is a good cause to do so. The first principle is hiring based on the employees’ merit, where all the workers go through the same job evaluations while working for the government agencies. Each is selected because they deserve the job and not based on their political affiliation and views.
Another equally important principle is that one cannot be fired without a good cause, especially gross incompetence and unethical practices.
9. Memorize the definition of bureaucracy that you received in our classroom discussion.
A bureaucracy is a group hierarchy where tasks are assigned to specific people to ensure efficiency is a rationalized and compartmentalized manner
10. Know the formal (Constitutional) and informal (non-Constitutional) powers of the Presidency.
The constitutional roles of the President of the U.S are the formal powers, and there are checks for each role
Formal powers
Chief diplomat
Chief executive of the country
Commander-in chief
Emergency power
Veto power
Power of appointment
Making treaties
Power to convene Congress
Informal powers
Executive clemency
Power to call Congress for special sessions
Power of persuasion
Power to go public
Making legislative proposals
Issuing executive orders
11. Be sure that you are aware of the main issues debated in both the Democratic and Republican primary election debates.
Both political parties focus on the economy, national security, social issues and foreign policy. However, Republicans are more likely to focus on support for the national security, deregulation and support of traditional values including traditional marriage. On the other hand, democratic debates focus on progressive agendas including civil rights for minorities, environmentalism, and tax increase to improve revenue collection.
12. Understand the "Power to Persuade" and “Going Public” theses, regarding how presidents exercise their informal powers discussed in class.
Even though, Presidents command they have to rely on the power to persuade to convince the constituents, and the officials are the one who get the work done. As such, the president needs to persuade the people that he has the interest at heart. The President also goes pubic to by using mass communication avenues to influence the public who then put pressure on congressional members to pass specific laws.
13. Be able to explain how the U.S. federal bureaucracy is organized (be able to explain the various units of the bureaucracy (how it is organized) presented in our lecture discussion.
The federal bureaucracy in the U.S. relates to civilians who work for the federal agencies, while the state and local bureaucracies have a large pool of workers. The workers implement government policies from the legislature Judiciary and the Executive. The federal bureaucracy also regulates public policies from government corporations, cabinet departments and regulatory agencies. There are other agencies that carry out government tasks including the independent agencies, which are not within the federal executive departments
14. Know the constituencies and terms in office for the President, members of the House of Representatives and U.S. senators.
Senators have 6 year terms compared to 2 year terms for the President and the House of Representatives members, but only the President who cannot be reelected after serving the two term limit. Other requirements are that the aspiring legislators have to be resident of the state where they intend to stand, with the President being a natural born citizen of the U.S
15. With respect to congressional elections, understand what reapportionment and Redistricting are.
Reappointment refers to the government actions to determine the most appropriate districts, where census data after every 10 years are taken into account. This influences the distribution of the Hose of Representative members. On the other hand, redistricting are the actions by legislators to define electoral legislators in a state. The party with the majority in t...