In this issue, the Johnson & Girls
found out how people got their information. 
Most people get their information  from the internet. 
The Johnson & Girls have been putting up all of our
 information up on a blog so we can get our views out
 to the world. We have a great chance to win this 
campaign.

The Effect of Public Opinion

“The publics opinions can affect public policy because, when the public's opinion is voiced very strongly about particular issues, public policy has no choice but to address these issues” (Kull, 2009). Johnson & Girls believe that, public opinions can affect government and politics very strongly because people have many opinions and want different things. Sometimes though, it can get out of hand and that’s when public issues occur with the people amongst themselves. Normally people, that believe that the government is what helps society have an opinion on everything. Their opinions are what the government bases their public policies off of, in search of making the society better, or in search for the good of others. Sometimes the government does not know which opinions they want to fallow or listen to and answer to. If they don’t answer some of the publics opinions, then the public is going to have stronger opinions on everything. The publics opinions are normally very selfish and self-centered because, normally humans really only think about themselves, but the government has to think about the society as a whole, and tries to do the best they can by listening to all of the publics opinions.

             Most people find out their information from some type of technology. Without technology, most people wouldn't know what is happening throughout the world. Citizens, get their “facts” from television, radio, press, and the internet, and from that information, people normally have an opinion on everything. Johnson & Girls gets a lot of their information from the internet. We, depend on this information and take it and form opinions on it,  just like the majority of the population. So, for example, when you figure out how liberal or conservative you are, may determine on what channel of news you watch. Those channels like FOX news are generally more conservative, making them biased, giving you the conservative information, may be giving you somewhat false information, making your opinion not so reasonable. “If there is a scandal going on, the press, television, and the internet will be the way the citizens get their information” (Lopatic, D, 2008). At this point individuals trust in an organization and this allows shaping and molding of opinion to happen (Akkanen, 2013).

           From experiencing campaigning, Johnson & Girls have seen that technology comes in handy when it comes to campaigning. Political parties, and electorates, use the media to get their views and thoughts out there to the public. When parties use technology, they get their ideas out to the public. By doing this, the parties are potentially getting more people to vote for them. We see commercials on the television all the time, the press on the internet and TV, the radio has it all too. The campaigning is everywhere in the media.  For us it gets more annoying.

Politics, especially campaign politics, is ever-changing. The strategies, tactics and technologies employed in the last cycle are dated the second the new cycle begins (How The Consulting, 2013). “The biggest impact technology has on campaigning is how the information is spread” (Entwistle, 2012). Before, people had to actually travel or go to a library to find out information in the world. In todays times, people can figure out what happened across the world in seconds. The internet has made everyone's lives easier and has made voting way easier. In the past, people just circled peoples names and had no clue who they were voting for.

Works Cited

Akkanen (2013) Social Sciences, Explain why media is so influential in influences public opinion
Retrieved On: February 8, 2013

From:http://www.enotes.com/soc/discuss/explain-why-media-influential-influencing-pub-66505

Campaigns & Elections (2013) How the consulting industry changed in 2013
Retrieved On: February 8, 2013

From:http://www.campaignsandelections.com/magazine/us-edition/344932/how-the-consulting-industry-changed-in-2012.thtml

Entwistle, S (2012). How social media and technology have changed the election process.
Retrieved On: February 8, 2013

From: http://www.techerator.com

Kull, S. (2009, December 4). Does public opinion matter? world attitudes on global      

governance. Retrieved (2013, February 4)  from  

http://www.cfr.org/media-and-foreign-policy/does-public-opinion-matter-world-attitudes-global-governance/p20934
Lopatic, D (2008) Public opinion, the media and their influence on public policy. Retrieved on February 8, 2013 from http://www.helium.com

In the first few weeks of our campaign, we have been working together very well. I think we have a very good chance of getting this job over the other candidates of this class. Johnson & girls will be posting updates for the society to see. Thank you for your time.

Political Parties and Other Actors

There are many different political parties. The biggest two are Democrats and Republicans. The purpose of a political party is to express people's beliefs and stances for different issues.  When choosing what party, the person is choosing who they want to represent them in the government. Political parties can influence and determine the public agenda by using propaganda. Their propaganda helps persuade people to vote for their beliefs. Democrats originated in 1792, in response to the idea that government should represent the people and that wealth and status should not be an entitlement to rule (History of the, 2013). Their mission statement is; "The history of our country is a history of change. Year after year, we have evolved, innovated, and overcome the major challenges of our time. America's genius throughout has been its ability to renew our promise to provide citizens the opportunity for a better life - and though our own history isn't perfect, the mission of the Democratic Party has been to make that promise a reality" (Mission Statement, 2013). Republicans originated in 1854, which started with with people opposing slavery (History of the, 2013). Their mission statement; "Republicans believe individuals, not government, can make the best decisions; all people are entitled to equal rights; and decisions are best made close to home. These basic principles are as true today as they were when the Party was founded. For all of the extraordinary leaders the Party has produced throughout its rich history, Republicans understand that everyday people in all 50 states and territories remain the heart and soul of our Party" (Mission Statement, 2013). Political parties can influence and determine the public agenda by how liberal or conservative they are. Just like, FOX news are more conservative, so they generally go towards the republican party. Or, how MSNBC is more liberal, so they are generally more on the democratic side. Media, interest groups, and individual citizens influence the public agenda, and political parties. Most people go to the media to find information on their political party or parties, even though a lot of the time the media is very biased. Interest groups, Political parties can lose potential voters if an interest group has similar ideas as the political parties. ex: if an interest group has the same principles as the republican party, then during the election the republican party can lose votes to that interest group (How do interest..., 2013). Although the political parties share traits their political organizations differ from state-to-state, setting them apart (Party Organizations, 2013). Political action committees exist to make donations to candidates, for financial support (Political Action Committees, 2013). Interest groups give out information to the public on their party, normally biased (How do interest...,2013). Religion influences politics by, how far a party wants to take religion in the U.S. Normally conservative religious people are more conservative and republican, showing the leader of the republican party that if he will earn their vote if he is for it (Sex, secularism, and...,2013). Campaigns and elections allow “We The People” to choose who is going to rule our country. Democrats accuse republicans of  being in the hands of big business, of not caring for the welfare of the average middle to lower class American, clinging to guns at the expense of peoples' lives, starting and pushing America into stupid wars, trying to impose Christian fundamentalism on everyone else (Criticisms of political...,2013). Republicans accuse democrats of of being elitist intellectuals, bleeding hearts, naive, politically correct race-baiters who want to impinge on the freedom of speech of anyone they don't like, godless, welfare queens, lazy slobs, unpatriotic, un American, big city socialists, big government loving spendthrifts and communists too (Criticisms of political...,2013). A campaign finance reform is the political effort of the U.S. to change the involvement of money in politics (Campaign Finance Reform, 2013). We believe that both political parties should still be able to have money involved in campaigning but, each party should be able to spend the same amount of money so that it is fair. 

Answers (2013) How do interest groups influence politics

Retrieved On: February 3, 2013
From: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_interest_groups_influence_politics
Answers (2013) How do interest groups influence political parties?
Retrieved On: February 3, 2013
From: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_interest_groups_influence_political_parties
Google (2013) Definition of campaign finance reform
Retrieved On: February 3, 2013

From:https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+a+campaign+finance+reform%3F&rlz=1C1CHVZ_enUS511US512&oq=what+is+a+campaign+finance+reform%3F&aqs=chrome.0.57j0l3j62l2.14156&sugexp=chrome,mod=15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

History Learning Site (2013) Political Action Committees
Retrieved On: February 3 2012
From: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/political_action_committees.htm
Pollick, M (2012). What is the purpose of political parties.

Retrieved on February 1, 2013

from http://www.wisegeek.org

Prentice Hall (2013) Party Organizations
Retrieved On: February 3, 2013
From: http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_berman_democracy_4/7/1858/475893.cw/index.html
ProCon (2013) History of the Republican Party
Retrieved On: February 3, 2013

From:http://2012election.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004483#republican_party

ProCon (2013) Mission Statement (Democrat)
Retrieved On: February 1, 2013

From:http://2012election.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004483#democratic_party

ProCon (2013) Republican Mission Statement
Retrieved On: February 3, 2013

From:http://2012election.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004483#republican_party

ProCon (2013) U.S. Political Parties (Democrat)
Retrieved On: February 1, 2013

From:http://2012election.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004483#democratic_party

Yahoo Answers (2013) Criticisms of political parties....10 points?
Retrieved On: February 3, 2013
From: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101204085026AAc7y3p