•       Organizations trying to achieve at least some of their goals with government assistance

•       “special interests”

Lobbying – the efforts of interest groups to influence government 

Why do people join interest groups?

•       Political goals or a cause

•       Economic Reasons

•       Social Benefits

“Coercion” (ex. state bar associations)

Tracking polls

Tele polls

Internet polls

Push polls – "...if you knew he was ___ 

would you vote for him in the next election?"

• Limited amount of responses
• Lack of information --> most people can’t form coherent political opinion.

–      making personal contacts

–      providing expertise

–      testifying at Congressional hearings

–      contributing money to campaigns

–      lobbying the bureaucracy

–      lobbying the courts 

•       Private: seek economic benefits for their members

•       Business: most numerous and powerful

•       Labor: principal competitor with business

•       Economic/social justice/rights issues

•       Single issue vs. multi-issue

**Single Issue examples:

–      National Rifle Association (anti-gun control)

–      National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) – (pro-choice)

**Multi Issue examples:

–      ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)

–      CWA (Concerned Women for America)

•       Protests (e.g. Occupy Wall Street movement)

•       Civil disobedience – peaceful but illegal protest activity where those involved allow themselves to be arrested and punished

–      used effectively by the civil rights movement

•       Mostly found in Bill of Rights

•       Mostly has to do with freedom FROM government to realize individual rights

•       Words, actions, and symbols are protected. 

•        Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses.  

The individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend common interests.

The right to bear arms along with ready standing militia. 

Prohibits, in peacetime, the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner's consent.  Makes quartering legally permissible in wartime only, and then only according to law. 

Protects against searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.  Ex case: Mapp v. Ohio

Can’t incriminate yourself.  Protects against Double jeopardy – cant be tried twice on same crime.  Grand jury indictment.  

Due process amendment - right to speedy trial, counsel, impartial jury, notice of accusation, and confrontation with accuser.  

The right to jury trial in civil cases

Protects against cruel and unusual punishment

 Gives us the right to have rights.

Rights not given to federal govt are given to the states or the people

•       Rebellion against government

•       Brandenburg v OH (1969) – anti-govt speech ok if it doesn’t incite “lawless action”

•       Flag burning/wearing black armbands are examples

•    Texas v Johnson (1989) permitted flag burning and reinforced symbolic speech as part of 1^st amendment

Libel - Written false statements about a person; mostly allowed of public figures;

Slander – spoken false statements

*New York Times v Sullivan (1964) – can libel if not “careless to the point of recklessness”

Obscenity – miller case – outcome was that certain works when taken as a whole, if they lack political value or social value, it is obscenity.

FALSE

•       Not explicitly in constitution like others but found in “penumbra” according to Supreme Court Justices

What are examples of Right to Privacy and what were 4 landmark cases with these issues?

Birth Control & Abortion

Engel v. Vitale

-  Under Establishment Clause, ruled unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and require its recitation in public schools.

TX v. Johnson

-  Invalidated prohibitions on desecrating the American Flag enforced in 48 of the 50   states.

-  Ruled that the defendant's act of flag burning was protected speech under the 1^st Amendment.

-  Unanimously ruled that state courts are required under the 6^th Amendment to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants who are unable to afford their own attorneys.

Miranda v. Arizona

-  No confession could be admissible under the 5^th Amendment Self-Incrimination Clause and 6^th Amendment right to an attorney unless a suspect had been made aware of his/her rights and the suspect had then waived them.

New York Times v. Sullivan

*  Can libel if not “careless to the point of recklessness”

*  Established the actual malice standard, which has to be met before press reports about public officials can be considered defamation and libel; and hence allowed free reporting of the civil rights campaigns in the southern United States. It is one of the key decisions supporting the freedom of the press. 

If you know it is untrue, it is libelous                    

Roe v. Wade

Decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the 14^th Amendment extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests for regulating abortions: protecting prenatal life and protecting the woman's health.

Hustler v. Falwell

Ruled that libel or slander is permissible as long as no reasonable person knows or expects it to be true.  If they can look at it and know its false, its protected speech.

Fighting words that inflict injury or intend to incite immediate breach considered libelous or slanderous.  

Rights delegated to certain groups

Protection from govt interference, actions by govt that are arbitrary or discriminatory.

Provides that "no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws".

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

     Court ruled public school segregation violates the 14th amendment.

-  Overturns Plessy v. Ferguson

-  Orders desegregation “with all deliberate speed”

-  Court–ordered busing: transporting African American children to white schools and white children to African American schools to end de facto segregation 

Established the separate-but-equal doctrine.  Absolutely segregate all aspects of life (entrances, rest rooms, schools, movie theaters, etc.)

Any person who was not born free were not and could not become citizens of the United States.  Case has not been overturned, but ruled unconstitutional by an amendment. 

Civil Rights Act of 1964 (LBJ)          

- Forbids discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender and national origin

- Public accommodations

- Voter registration

- Public schools

- Employment 

13^th - Prohibits Slavery

14^th - Grants citizenship to blacks. Cannot deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

15^th - Cannot deny vote based on race, color, previous servitude

* 14^th and 15^th amendments did NOT explicitly include women despite women’s abolition efforts

* Constitution amended in 1920 with the 19th amendment to allow women’s suffrage

- Southern states enacted practices to disenfranchise black voters even after 15^th amendment: grandfather clause, poll tax, literacy tests, violence, and intimidation.

Equal Rights Amendment

•       Would have amended the US Constitution

•       Introduced in 1923 and every year since until passed by Congress in 1972

•       Failed to get ¾ of states to ratify

•       Many women opposed and led by Phyllis Schlafly the STOP-ERA organization helped defeat it

Title IX

            -Schools cannot have federal funding if they have sexist or discriminatory practices towards women. 

19^th Amendment - prohibits any citizen from being denied the right to vote based on sex.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 (LBJ)                          

•       Outlawed discriminatory registration tests

•       Authorized federal administration of voting where discrimination took place

•       Resulted in massive voter registration drives of African Americans in the South 

•       a meeting where candidates are nominated by a small number of party leaders and officeholders

–      closed primary – limits participation to those who are registered with the party

–      open primary – voters can vote in either party’s primary

**Primaries/caucuses held in each state to pick national party convention delegates. 

àWinners of each state primary get all or most of the delegates.

•       System for election of U.S. president

•       Candidates needs 270 electoral college votes

•       Each state gets votes = # of Reps + # of Senators

•       In most states the candidate with most popular votes gets ALL electoral college votes

•       Encourages campaigning in bigger and “swing” states

****Nebraska and Maine are exceptions; all others are Winner Take All

Nebraska:  winner of electoral votes gets 2 votes from DC.***

•       Organizations between government and people

•       Recruit, nominate and elect people to office

•       Organize people ideologically

•       Identification is usually through socialization (what parents are); over time some people change (even elected officials)

•       Party in government – elected officials identify with party and often respond to goals of party and its leaders

•       Lack of public and private funding

•       Voter fears of “throwing away vote”

•       Can swing elections

What are sources of funds for campaigning?

•       Individuals

•       Political Action Committees

•       Parties

•       Personal fortune

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

-  Established new contribution limits.

            -  Bans soft-money to national political parties à leads to creation of 527’s

•       Over 4000 exist

•       Union, business, issue based

•       Give more to incumbents and House members

*527 groups or organizations are types of tax-exempt organizations after “Section 527” of the U.S. IRS Code.  They are created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates to public office at any level.

à No upper limits on contributions to 527’s and no restrictions on who may contribute.  There are no spending limits on these organizations; however, they must register with the IRS, publicly disclose their donors, and file periodic reports of contributions and expenditures. 

à Run by interest groups and used to raise money to spend on issue advocacy and voter mobilization outside of the restrictions PAC’s.  

•       It deters the recruitment of good candidates

–      Average Senate race costs almost $7M and House race is almost $1M

•       Money helps win elections and is necessary for candidate legitimacy, but other factors influence also who wins elections

•       Money buys access, can sway votes in Congress and influence the executive

Buckley v. Valeo

•         Case ruling on provisions of the Federal Elections Campaign Act of 1971. 

-->Overturned limitations on what an individual could spend on his or her own election unconstitutional.  Upheld outside contributions limits. 

FECA also instituted public disclosure, public $ of presidential campaigns and established the FEC. 

Citizens United v. FEC

•         Court overturned provision of BCRA that said corporations, unions and other outside groups could not engage in electioneering communications within 60 days of an election.