Public Opinion, the Media, Special Interest Groups Under the rubric of the governmental system of t

Under the rubric of the governmental system of the United States of America, political and social constraints are, in theory, supposed to exist between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the government. In practice, it is often the case that one branch or another is more powerful. This may be caused by a variety of reasons, and the perception from the public is that special interest groups, the media, and other extraneous factors combine in a variety of ways to influence political decisions. There is a relatively vague area in which influence peddling becomes lobbying. Lobbying is rather restrictive, yet it is often difficult to substantially prove that lobbying has occurred, and the various social engagements in which political activities are discussed are one of the most difficult areas of governmental life to police (Cowan, 1989).

Similarly, although many in government realize that influence peddling is a serious problem, they are rife to find a cogent solution to the problem. One of the ways of addressing such situations is to legislate certain "ethical" standards, and force members of the government into compliance (Glazer, 1989). This, of course, is only viable while the person under scrutiny is actually in office. However, one of the most lucrative areas of employment for governmental officials and staffers after their term of office or appointment has expired is to become a lobbyist, political consultant, or political advisor. These people

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nder to receive a majority of press coverage was Colorado Senator Gary Hart. The Republicans received almost thirty percent of the national media coverage, and represents only the direct mention of the primary since the Reagan administration and policies received far more coverage as part of both domestic and national reporting (Newsweek, 4 January 1988, 18 January 1988, 25 January 1988, 1 February 1988, passim). One of the reasons for so much coverage and public attention was the role of the conservative interest groups, who had the ability to pour large amounts of funding into the primary and allow for national media attention. This appeared to be indicative of some of the policies that they used during the 1980s. In fact, one author noted that there is an increasing problem with political contributions by interest groups by commenting: The political contributions of business groups have only recently been made openly and honestly. Careful observers of political contributions have long known that though 18 US Code 610 forbids companies to make political contributions, many have long done so . . . In brief, the most popular techniques were for funds to be laundered by foreign subsidiaries, or for employees to make politic

Category: Government - P