POLS 206 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Fireside Chats, Yellow Journalism
14 Dec 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lobbying: Attempting to influence government/policy
• Private individuals, corporations, fellow legislators or advocacy groups (NRA, Sierra
Club etc)
Pluralism: Social Interests freely compete with one another for influence over government policy
• Assume equal access to power
• Problem with Pluralism
•
o E.E. Schattschneider "the flaw of the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly choir
sings with a strong upper class accent"
o Collective Action Problem
o
▪ Just because people have a common interest does not mean they will
organize and lobby the government
▪ See most lobby efforts from those with narrow focus and large
financial/material stake
Direct Lobbying: Personal contact with lawmaker
Indirect lobbying: Using he public as a lobbying tool
Evidence is not strong that lobbyists have lop-sided influence
• Donate to those already sharing their interests
• Can reframe issues, de(mobilize) members but are not converting outright opponents
The Media
• Media provides us with civic information but they are incentivized by money
• Media History
•
o Newspaper to rally support for independence (Common sense 1776)
o Newspaper serving the parties (Jackson)
o Advances in technology= more media independence
o Late 1800s-early 1900s: Golden age of newspapers
o
▪ Use of yellow journalism: screaming headlines/sensationalism
o 1900s: Rise of radio
o
▪ Fireside chat: FDR
o Television: Popular by late 1940s
o Today, the TV is still a top source of news, but #1 is the INTERNET
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