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Section three of the book, State and Local Government 1999-2000, discusses the role of political parties, interest groups, and political action committees in state and local governments. Recently there has been evidence that political party affiliation is becoming less of a factor in voters' decisions on Election Day. In 1956, only 28% of voters who identified themselves as either Democrats or Republicans voted for candidates of the opposing party. In 1980, however, that number increased to 51%. In 1986, 20% of Democrats and 17% of Republicans voted for U.S. Senate candidates of the opposing party. One possible reason for this trend may be the increasing popularity of direct primaries. Direct primaries allow the voters to have a direct influence in the nomination process rather than having party leaders choose for them. Other experts say that independent political consultants and mass media have kept voters better informed through the use of polls and other techniques. Another possible contributing factor could be the rise of independent and self-starting candidates with economic and political resources of their own. Despite evidence that political parties are weakening, some experts believe that they still play an
With another campaign season on the horizon, the issue of special interest groups and their donations to candidates and political parties is among the issues being addressed by three of the four main presidential candidates. John McCain, Bill Bradley, and Vice President Al Gore are all advocates of campaign-finance reform. John McCain, in fact, has made limiting campaign contributions his main priority. However, he was recently asked the embarrassing question of why he wrote letters to various federal agencies supporting fifteen of his top campaign contributors. An article in the January 17, 2000 issue of TIME magazine entitled, "When Does Money Matter", investigates McCain's motives. The debate began over letters McCain wrote to the FCC asking to vote quickly on whether to allow Paxson Communications, one of the nation's largest broadcast companies and a major contributor to McCain's campaign, to acquire a license to a public television station in Pittsburgh. Paxson has ownership in 72 stations and 51 affiliates that carry its programming. Pittsburgh is the only major city where it has no broadcast time. The FCC quickly replied to McCain's letter, telling him to stop interfering with the agency's business. In an effort to cover up for McCain's actions, his campaign team then canceled a Florida fundraiser sponsored by Paxson, and released several letters McCain had written as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee to agencies under the committee's jurisdiction. This was to show that McCain helped companies who didn't contribute to his campaign as well as those that did. McCain insists that he merely wanted to get a timely decision on the license, not necessarily an approval (Zagorin and Dickerson). However, McCain's request was not the only thing he has done for Paxson. Last June he attempted to attach a provision to a telecommunications bill that would have made it easier for broadcast groups to own more than one TV station in the market. The provision was dropped. However, in August the FCC moved to allow many of the changes McCain wanted. As a result, Paxson's stock price jumped more than 30% (Zagorin and Dickerson). Beyle's book also discusses the role of special interest groups in state politics. Some feel that special interests groups are a necessary part of politics, while others feel that they serve only themselves with no regard for what is best for the state as a whole. The article, "North Carolina: In Search of Clarity" by Ferrel Guillory, discusses how the problem of rearranging the voting districts in North Carolina were affected by special interests groups. The question at hand was whether or not the state's black population would be better served to have to have as many majority black districts as possible or to have more votes in each district, with no district having a black majority. The 12th voting district, which runs through the middle of the state, was originally set up to be a black majority district. However, after several court rulings the state legislature revised the district twice, cutting it's black population to 37%. As a result of unclear rulings by the Supreme Court on the voting districts in the past, the state is undecided on what it should do. The court is now reviewing the matter for the third time this decade. It is no secret that some special interest groups have corrupted politics. Althou
Some common words found in the essay are:
Barlett Steele, Christopher Swope, Democrats Republicans, John McCain, Similarly Republicans, Washington Lewis, Responsive Politics, North Carolina, United Senate, Pittsburgh Paxson, political parties, campaign contributors, sway politicians, barlett steele, political party, john mccain, candidates opposing party, special politics, letters mccain, magazine entitled, special politics feel, republicans offered, sway politicians favorable, politicians favorable direction, political action committees,
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Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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