lecture_4 英美国家概况 教学课件.ppt

Why a two-party system? winner-takes-all Reliance on primary elections to nominate partisan candidates Interest Groups Lobby, a group of people or businesses who organize themselves to influence public policy on certain issues. Lobbyists=Wheelerdealers American Automobile Association The United Catholic Conference The National Retail Federation/ the Food Marketing Institute “It’s fairly typical for Americans, people love their doctor, but don’t like doctors; they love their member of Congress, but don’t like politicians; the groups that represent our interest aren’t special interest, it’s the other guy.” Tactics of interest groups Public relations Obtaining access: “revolving door” Providing information Grass-roots lobbying Building coalitions Organizing protests Providing campaign support Interest Groups: the two sides Bright side: Allow Americans to express their views and preferences constantly Expand democracy by letting minority groups and interests be heard Dark Side: Groups with greater resources in terms of members, expertise, and money have disproportionate influence on policy debates E.g. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Summary Overall, the American political system is a blend of elite, plural, and democratic interests. Lecture 4: Participatory Democracy09/2010 Two basic forms of participatory behavior for individual or group action: Conventional: the regular voting (including referendum), party system, interest groups etc. Unconventional: demonstration etc. Two Major Parties The Democratic Party: the older of the two Andrew Jackson as the first Democratic president in the 1820s The Republican Party GOP Abraham Lincoln as the first Republican president Liberals (less government on social affairs and more control on economic affairs) Conservatives (more government control on social affairs and less control on economic affairs) Social affairs economic affairs More government More government Rein in the red tape factory on W