Ch 10 - Interest Groups - Class 3

1. Create: Oral Arguments 
• Boy Scouts v. Dale

Ch 10 - Interest Groups - Class 2

2. What are the goals and activities of interest groups in American politics?

1. Analyze: Activities of Interest Groups 
• "The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States. A religious sect may degenerate into a political faction in a part of the Confederacy; but the variety of sects dispersed over the entire face of it must secure the national councils against any danger from that source." - James Madison (Federalist #10)
• "Sunshine is said to be the best of disinfectants." - SCOTUS Justice Louis Brandeis
• In order for pluralism (Madison) to work well, citizens need a transparent (Brandeis) government so they can analyze factions.
• What were the various ways Jack Abramoff exerted influence on Congress? 
• What were the various ways Grover Norquist exerted influence on Congress?
• What do interest groups do at Congressional committee hearings?
• What are other techniques used by interest groups?
2. Analyze: The Iron Triangle 
• What is the iron triangle present in the The Battle over Crusader? 
• How did the three corners interact to make public policy in this case study?
• Who went through the revolving door?
3. Research: Revolving Door
• Can you find a lobbyist who used to work on a congressional committee that oversees your policy area?  Tweet your finding to the class hashtag.
• Can you find a lobbyist who used to work for a federal agency that oversees your policy area?  Tweet your finding to the class hashtag.  

Ch 10 - Interest Groups - Class 1

CH 09

3. How does the electoral college work, and why do we still have it?

4. What are the various stages of the modern Senate and House elections, and why does incumbency advantage exist despite low approval ratings for Congress?

CH 10

1. How do unions and management engage in the collective bargaining process?

1. Quiz: Ch 10 - Interest Groups 
2. Analyze: Electoral College
• Why do we have the electoral college?
• How are each state's electoral votes allocated?
• How does it actually work?
• What is the biggest obstacle to replacing it with the popular vote?  Why?
• What would be the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact?
3. Analyze: Congressional Elections
• What are the stages of a Congressional election?
• How do the average re-election rates compare between the House and the Senate?
• What are the causes of incumbency advantage?
• Name Recognition, Fundraising Gap, Experience, Federal Funding for Projects ("Pork"), Constituent Service, Franking, Gerrymandering
4. Create: Collective Bargaining
• Unions and businesses are examples of interest groups
• The collective bargaining agreement at Blue Shipping is set to expire tomorrow
• We will have two separate simulated negotiations today
• Within each negotiation, there are three groups: 
• the Blue Shipping management 
• the Blue Shipping union 
• Let's review the expiring contract and compare it to other shipping companies:   
• Step #1: You have five minutes to meet with your side and prepare for negotiations
• Step #2: You have fifteen minutes to negotiate a new contract
• Step #3: You must announce the outcome
• Reach an agreement
• Union goes on strike
• Management announces a lock-out
• What were the results of the various negotiations? What did we learn about collective bargaining? What did we learn about leadership?