How Does the First Amendment Affect Political Ideology - Assignment Example

Module Q No Should media be regulated to relate only proven facts? Should our freedom of speech be substantively regulated? What has Supreme Court decided about nature of speech? How does the first amendment affect political ideology? Ans: The majority of the media in United States is owned privately. Although there are some public television channels and radio frequencies that get their fundings and dictations from government, yet as compared to the private firms, they hold a small market share. Due to the enhanced competition among certain TV channels in the recent times, there has been a considerable drop in the trend of newspaper agencies and newspapers reading in U.S. Majority of the modern cities have only one newspaper daily. The major media game is however played via TV now. The main networks like NBC, CBS and ABC which are not affiliated bear strong challenge from reputed news channels like Fox News etc Media role in the political monopoly of America has been discussed widely. Media is accused on posing threats to the national sanctuary, neglecting the main issues of nation, stressing on irrelevant agendas, presenting pessimistic and disappointing picture of government and possess a hallmark of political discrimination. Furthermore it is also observed that the leaders and experts who are against the power of media over general public, uses the same source to make a message or an impression over the common people. Media and politics both are interrelated to each other. General public is looking towards media for the news related to political affairs and the politicians are looking towards it at the time of elections and even after at the time of important proceedings. According to estimation by the Bureau of Labor statistics, in 2008, there have been almost 69 thousand journalists that are working in United States. Such a huge mass can only be control with the help of proper regulation that bounds them to release and talk about proven facts only so as to snub the chaotic and disrespectful environment that gives the right to say anything to anyone without proper investigation and research. There has been a continuous effort to control and de-power the mass media as it’s a proven fact that journalists consider themselves as democracy’s watch dogs. This is a perception that they would give immediate response over such a little effort against it so it’s a accepted strain between the two i.e. the political affair dealers and the mass media as media is considered to be the only bridging factor between the leaders and their lead. Assessment done in 1940, stresses on the fact that the only source of political information to public is the media. Thus, the political parties put great effort to govern the influential medium that controls the mindsets of Americans. United States of America is associated with both International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and together they stress the right of freedom of expression, which involves seeking, imparting and receiving all types of information and ideas. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution also protects the right of speech by providing the statement that “No law shall be formulated by Congress that may respect = religion’s establishment, free exercise prohibition, linking freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to assemble peaceably, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” This first amendment safeguards the political ideology of U.S. as it demonstrates the patient and well tolerated leaders that have power to bear the criticism and show their strength by the continuous effort for the advancement of nation and not by criticizing the media itself. Even the U.S. law protects the contentious and unpleasant speech from the media and represents a system that is based on the open and free way of communication that respects other people opinion and open ways of demeanor and tolerance. So the first amendment affects political ideology by taking out the stronger image of United States leaders and political policies and promotes social stability and clearness. This permission of expressing opinion freely by neglecting the level of disagreement of opponents shows a broad-mindedness and non-judgmental attitude of Americans. This unrestricted and unobstructed public discussion also brings new thoughts into the intellectual and rational thinking, where they must compete intellectually with the freely articulated thoughts by other individuals. This contest of constant debate and argument takes out the best ideas which promote noetic brain storming. Q no 3: Are lobbyists regulated? Are there limitations on what they can do and when? How do lobbyists affect the political platform of major parties in US? Are the tactics employed by lobbyists constitutional? Ans: Lobbyist is defined as a campaigner whose job is to convince members of parliament to pass such laws and bills that are in the best interest of their own domain. This career is not only legal but also an important part of the political part of an elected government but not very understandable by the common public. Many people consider lobbyist as a paid professionals like they take money from a certain group and speaks in favor of that only but there are also some volunteer activists who perform such tasks without any benefit to themselves. The act of lobbying is using convincing evidences from laws and legislations and then applying them as armor for persuading government for taking necessary action. Lobbyists not only investigate and explore the rules and regulations but also attend certain judicial hearings and then work on changing mind sets of government, executive administrators and general public through different promotional and educational campaigns. In United States of America, almost every association and organization has its lobbying representation. Since 1940, there has been a consistent discussion and argument on whether there has been a regulation on lobbyists or not. The favorable group on lobbyist argues that the lobbyists are a bridging group who highlight different queries about laws that are pending and calls for needs of action on that. The deniable group regarding working of lobbyist argues that these are not more than the pushers who look for the political and judicial favors having their personal motives behind. Those who are not in favor of putting restrictions of lobbying debates over the issue that the U.S. first amendment certifies the equal rights and preserve the right of speech and right of criticism of every citizen, and when restrictions are placed on lobbyists this nullify this right. Contrary to this the opposers of this concept argues that restriction and regulation are only imposed for preserving the democracy and ensures the proper hold of rules and regulations. Some people think that only lobbyists have the support of general public and except them neither the politicians nor government have any influence on the mindsets of people. Over the past decade there has been an increasing trend over the presence of register lobbyists. According to estimation there are almost 40,000 lobbyists working at both state and central level and among these around 15,000 are the lobbyists of federal division. Majority of them have their head offices at K lane in Washington DC. According to legislation there has been a limit on the working capacity of these lobbyists. There is a specific ratio on the amount any organization can spend on lobbying activities with respect to what it can spend on other activities. According to Section 4911 (c) (2), maximum permittable amount that can be spend on lobbying is the accumulated computation of, “A 20 percent of initial 500,000 spendings with a 15 percent of the next 500,000 expenses including a 10 percent of further 500,000 expenses and a 5 percent of remaining of such spendings with a restriction of not more than 1 million expenses on lobbying annually. Furthermore any institution is not allowed to expend more than the 25 percent of all allowable lobbying on the proletariat lobbying. The term lobbying expenses here include the allotted space, salary and even the time for indulging in the phenomenon of lobbying. Time expense is estimated through an authentic mean of using time records. Lobbies also affect the political platforms in United States. George Neumann from Northern Illinois University, a scholar from Bell foundation states that even if permittable through law, the acts of lobbyists can be damaging if the discriminative and prejudice influence occurs from behind the curtains. For example Marsha Blackburn who was a Tennessee representative, was supported in 2008 by National Rifle Organization for her re-election, that has a debt of supportive action later after selection and that turns out to be an elimination of rule that restricts use of guns and rifles at places of general public. So the current industry for lobbying is even trying to interfere with the construction and base of certain rules and regulations that were made by the founder of state. Overall there is not much need of a lobbyist, as if the general public finds any fault in the elected Member of Parliament, He or She can be banged with the power of voting by pulling him or her out of the house the very next time. Work Cited i. Cliffsnotes.com,. The Structure Of The Mass Media And Government Regulation. N. p., 2014. Web. 20 Jun. 2014. ii. Corwin, Edwin S. 1978. The Constitution and What It Means Today. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Univ. Press. iii. Gov.iu.edu,. Federal Lobbying: Policies: Government Relations: Indiana University. N. p., 2014. Web. 20 Jun. 2014. iv. Hickok, Eugene W., Jr., ed. 1991. The Bill of Rights: Original Meaning and Current Understanding. Charlottesville, Va.: Univ. Press of Virginia. v. Iipdigital.usembassy.gov,. Freedom Of Expression In The United States | IIP Digital. N. p., 2014. Web. 18 Jun. 2014. vi. Jeffrey, S, Esq Tenenbaum, and LLP Venable. Limitations On Lobbying Activities: Guidelines For 501(C)(3) Organizations - Whitepapers - Resources - ASAE. Asaecenter.org. N. p., 2012. Web. 20 Jun. 2014. vii. Lobbyingdisclosure.house.gov,. Guide To The Lobbying Disclosure Act. N. p., 2008. Web. 18 Jun. 2014. viii. Oecd.org,. Fighting Corruption In The Public Sector - OECD. N. p., 2014. Web. 20 Jun. 2014. ix. Pear, Robert. Limits On Lobbyists As Hosts? Simply Unworkable, They Say. New York Times 2012 : A1 paper. Web. 19 Jun. 2014. x. Services.online.missouri.edu,. Lesson 1: The Media And Democracy: Theory And History. N. p., 2014. Web. 20 Jun. 2014. Read More