Summary of the political action committee
Political action committees are created for the purpose of raising money in a private manner in order to produce an impact on elections or impact legislation. One of the largest PACs in the USA is Honeywell International. This is an international political action committee that has been in existence since the 1990s.
The purpose of this political action committee
The purpose of this PAC is to collect funds from its members and their families and use them as donations to federal office candidates (“Honeywell International PAC,” 2018). Some of the main focuses of this PAC are the improvement of energy efficiency in the United States and the support for forward-thinking regulations that can help establish a better public infrastructure (Honeywell, 2018).
The finances of this political action committee
When it comes to the finances of this PAC, it can be noticed that the activities of Honeywell International have seen significant growth since the election cycle of 2004 (“Honeywell International,” n.d.). Namely, from under 1 million dollars raised that year, the PAC has increased its fundraising capacity by over 9 million dollars in 2016 (“Honeywell International,” n.d.).
Do political action committees help or hinder our democracy?
As for the influence of PACs on the US democracy, the debate goes on because such organizations bring about both advantages and disadvantages to the political system. On the one hand, PACs generate unfair relations in which financial power dictates the strength of campaigns. Also, it increases the cost of campaigns and diminishes the influence that can be made by regular citizens as voters. On the other hand, at the same time, PACs also can help put forward useful initiatives supported by such organizations and provide business establishments with a way to foster political influence. However, the latter is hardly an advantage in the world where large and wealthy corporations and individuals have almost unlimited power. Judging from the rationale of fair elections and democratic choice, PACs hinder the US democracy giving power to individuals and groups who possess more money.
What is the impact of lobbyist on Congress and individual state legislature?
Lobbyists attempt to influence Congress and individual state legislatures by means of promoting initiatives expressed in bills, killing the bills they oppose or modifying the ones with which they disagree in their current state. Even though today theorists argue about the exact nature of the influence of lobbyists, it is obvious that it works well and often active and aggressive lobbyists achieve their goals (Conley, 2014). Sometimes the nature of the lobbyist influence is seen as persuasion while there is an opinion that it is done for the purpose of training for contribution.
Do Political Action Committees (PACs) help or hinder this nation?
Political Action Committees also known as PACs represent organizations whose major purpose is to raise funds. These funds are spent as donations to political candidates at the federal level. One PAC can support candidates from both parties. PACs increase the influence of businesses on politics and weaken the voices of average people as voters. Also, PACs boost the cost of election campaigns. Even though PACs can potentially help promote effective initiatives in forms of legislation, they still stand for the financial dependence of political forces and hinder the core of this nation – its democratic state.
How does the ‘campaign’ process limit third party success?
The limitations faced by third-party representatives are inflicted by the laws regulating campaign finance. These laws dictate who can and cannot campaign. To be more precise, the laws limit their access to government funding, so they are left to fund their campaigns in their own. Moreover, the lack of attention from mass media is another significant disadvantage that takes away from the visibility and social support provided to third party candidates.
What is the role of today’s partisan news media?
Partisan news media are the media that support certain political powers or parties. The existence of such media makes the overall inflow of information published online or broadcasted on TV and radio biased towards certain political views (Kranish, 2013). Consequently, taking over news channels politicians can increase the power of their propaganda and dictate their views to the members of general public. This way, partisan news media decrease the democratization of information on the national scale.
References
Conley, B. M. (2014). How do lobbyists influence bills in state legislatures?
Honeywell. (2018). Political contributions.
Honeywell International. (n.d.).
Honeywell International PAC. (2018). Web.
Kranish, M. (2013). The role of partisan media. Boston Globe. Web.