Test 3 Flashcards
(31 cards)
News management
Manage the media in how people see a candidate
“look how great my candidate did in this debate”
Free media
media is financially free (private) and free to say whatever they want
Ways politicians try to get free coverage
Sound bites
Sound bites
media message from politician member to get media coverage
About 8 seconds- simple and easy to understand
Talking points- message of the day
Candidate/ party have a message that they want to get across
use coordinated sound bites- repeat the 8 seconds over and over again so the point gets across
Intermediary organizations
relations between the people and the government
media, interest groups, political parties
advertising
important in elections to promote candidates
focus on swing states
New York Times vs US 1971
New York times tried to publish information about the US involvement in war with China
Government has little influence on media
US government tried to use prior restraint to stop them from publishing
Gatekeepers
people who decides what media to run/ show
media bias
How is the US media system unique?
they are all private except a few
NPR is public- they get less money
outlets in the UK are publicly owned- get less money
Duverger’s law
proportional representation systems = multiparty systems
plurality election system= two party systems
How do parties help candidates?
helps brand recognition for a candidate- if you are a democrat and don’t know much about the candidates then you will vote for the democrat
parties will help candidates with financial funding
dealignment
citizens don’t identify themselves with the two main parties
Party polarization
parties were less “polarized” - less overlap in the 60’s
as time has gone on, parties have become more polarized and move further apart
puzzle of parties
people don’t really like political parties
why do we have parties if people don’t even seem to like them?
parties help the politicians, not the people
collective action/ free rider problem
people don’t pay dues because they figure that other people will do it
this affects interest groups- best interest groups are the ones that can overcome the collective action problem
selective incentives
something you get for being a member of an interest group
can get something or be excluded from something
selective incentives
something you get for being a member of an interest group
can get something or be excluded from something
Partisan bias
bias for a certain party
Prior restraint
government ca prevent the publication of material it finds to be objectionable
violates free speech
Result of private news system
news is more boring
less biased
removes profit motive
media coverage and public opinion
Doesn’t change people’s opinion but it gets people to focus on some issues rather than others
Goals of party as an organization
recruit candidates, raise money, register voters, endorse candidates
Secondary goals of party as an organization
develop issues- figure out stances on certain issues
