Legislation and the parties (essay 8)

     The majority party has the most influence in decisions made in the government. On occasion there are upsets when the minority wins, but for the most part these wins are minor. The majority party has many advantages in lawmaking, above and beyond the numerical advantage in congress.  They hold committee chairs, which gives authorization of decision-making. The majority party also sets the policy agenda. This benefits the party by allowing them to put the legislation they want onto the agenda. 

     There are differences that make it likely for legislation to pass in one chamber but not in the other. The house has many more formal procedures and rules than the Senate. Also, filibusters are possible in the Senate, but not in the House of Representatives.
     Filibusters can kill legislation in the Senate that was passed in the House. Even if a majority wants to pass the bill, a filibuster can kill it. The House of Representatives deny the passage of a bill because of certain rules, not applicable in the Senate.

Interest Groups and Political Parties (essay 10)

     While interest groups and political parties each play a significant role in the United States political system; however, they differ in their fundamental goals. Interest groups are social groups with a common understanding or goal they want to achieve. Political parties are organizations that want to gain power in government.
      The fundamental goal of interest groups in the political process is influencing public policy and the government. The fundamental goal of major political parties is to elect people into office and gain control of government.
     Interest groups support the fundamental goal of political parties by monetary contributions through PACs. The groups also provide the mobilization of people. While the interest groups are aiding political parties, they are also helping themselves. They help themselves by gaining access to political officials, such as policymakers. They also gain the fact their legislation is put on the policy agenda.

Agenda Setting and the Public (Essay 9)

Viewer’s Ages and Frequency of Viewing of Network Nightly News: 1974 and 2002 Combined

1974                  frequently (%)                    rarely (%)

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18-29                  45                                                  13

30-44                  50                                                 12

45-64                  68                                                  8

65+                      71                                                  5

2002                 frequently (%)                    rarely (%)

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18-29                  19                                                  22

30-44                  22                                                17

45-64                  40                                                  11

65+                      53                                                  8

     One of the most important ways the news media influence politics is through agenda setting. Policy agenda can be defined as the issues that people are concerned about that the government is dealing with. The national news media engages in agenda setting by giving the people, voters, information. The people then can go to interest groups and linkage institutions to put these issues on the political agenda. 
     The president tends to have an advantage over Congress in gaining media attention because the president has more power than congress. He is the national representative for the government and has the power to change and affect laws more so than Congress. 
   
     In the table above it is shown that the older population watch news more often than the younger people. From 1947 to 2002 the viewing habits changed for all age categories. The viewing of TV news in all of the age categories decreased. This is because there are now more options for what can be viewed on TV instead of the news. 

     In order to promote their political and policy objectives to the American public, the president should use other media to increase viewing because other people watch other stations more often. They should be interviewing on Jimmy Fallon or Comedy Central, which are stations more often viewed by the whole population than the news.
 

NoKoBloPo

     Until the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established, North Korea was run by the Soviet Union. Shortly after the Republic was set up with Kim Il-sung in charge, Korea split into a North and South through the Korean War of 1950. Kim Jong-il took over in 1980 where both North and South Korea joined the United Nations. Throughout the years, North Korea has allowed inspections of Atomic Energy, but refused access of suspected nuclear weapons productions when asked. In 2002, they withdrew from a nuclear agreement that prevented the spread of atomic weapons.

     The current state of affairs in North Korea is not good. Tensions are very high between North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and the United States. The tension rose because the Security Council accused North Korea of violating a ban on ballistic missile testing. This accusation created anger towards all parties in the Security Council. Soon after, North Korea stated, "United States [as] the sworn enemy of the Korean people". The United States have tried to amend and resolve conflicts with North Korea, but the country has taken a stubborn approach and is determined to continue with nuclear war experimentation and threats in order to get what they are after, control.

     I don't think there will be a regime or state change any time soon. With increasing tension with North Korea, the worst thing the Security Council and the United States can do is apply more pressure to sign peace agreements or force any action upon them. The best course of action is to take the pressure off North Korea for signing agreements, but also prevent them from creating their own treaties and provisions. Let the tensions decrease and then begin to create treaties that both North Korea and the Security Council approve of. 

Citations: article 1: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2010/02/a_nation_of_racist_dwarfs.html - North Korea Present Issues

Article 2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15278612 - Background of North Korea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Korean_crisis - Current State of Affairs

Campaign Finance Reform (essay 7)

     The debate over the reforming of campaign finance is inconclusive after a decade, however, the debate will continue until a decision is made. The possibilities for change are eliminating soft money and raising limits on individual contributions. There are arguments for and against the reforms by politicians, but knowing from the past, the decision will alter the measure that is in place now.

     The definition of soft money is prohibiting or regulating campaign contributions to political parties and or contributions for party building activities. Some argue that it takes millions of dollars to run a campaign, and with all the money in one place the possibilities of fraud are very much possible. On the other side of the argument, the first amendment declares that prohibiting contributions is unlawful because it is a personal right defined in the Bill of Rights.

     The government is considering reforming individual contributions by increasing the dollar amount people may give to campaign parties or PAC's. This reform would decrease the influence of PAC's in the campaign and would decrease restrictions on the first amendment, just like the soft money proposal. However, the reform would also allow the rich to have more influence because they have more available money. It would also drive up the already skyrocketing costs of campaigns.

     Campaign finance reform is necessary in government. Whether by eliminating soft money, or increasing individual contribution limits, the reform will cause a response. No matter what happens, the first amendment will be challenged by those who are against, and the rich will be in favor of the reform that best suits their needs. There is no completely correct answer, but if reform in inevitable, it should be done to suit the needs of many different classes and people.

Voting and Linkage Institutions (Essay 6)

    Voting is the most common way of people communicating with the government. However, an increasing number of people are not voting as often; this has two factors, age and the type of education the person recieved. Some government programs are also decreasing voter turnout, but linkage institutions are fighting back for a higher turnout.

    Age and education play great roles in the probability of voter turnout. It has been proven that older people, over the age of sixty-five, vote more than people under the age of twenty-one, also known as the young people. The middle aged people vote, but it is not of great interest since the rates continue on a similar, unmoving, trend. People with a college education are more likely to vote than those who only graduated from high school. The principles are true, however voters can be different from what has been said about them. If an older person didn't graduate from college, he or she still has a higher probability of voting more often.    

    The requirement of people to register to vote before Election day decreases voter turnout. It takes too much time, and is inconvenient for the working class and young people. However, old people who are retired have the luxury of bring able to register during the odd hours registration is open, which may be a cause of the higher voter turnout for older people. 

    Another linkage institution besides the government is an interest group. It connects people to the government by addressing issues that truly matter to the people. They also provide a voice for the people who don't have the power or money to create change on their own. Voting is important, but interest groups provide changes all throughout the year, not just on certain days at a voting booth.

There are many correlations between characteristics of people and voting patterns. Older people tend to vote more than young people, and highly educated people tend to vote more than uneducated people. This is common sense, but the government is at fault as well. They are enabling the older people to vote by writing guidelines that better fit older people than younger people. If we truly want to have a democratic government, rules need to be out in place to give everyone an equal opportunity to vote, no matter what type of person.