Tabakian Pols 5 - Fall 2014. Western Political Thought

1. Western Political Thought
John Paul Tabakian, Ed.D.
Political Science 5
Fall 2014 – Power Point #5

2. COURSE LECTURE: WEEK #5
Today’s Lecture Covers The Following:
• Media Propaganda Discussion
• Chief Joseph “Indian Perspective”
• Homestead and Transcontinental Railroad Act
(1862)
• Dawes Act (1887)
• Turner from “The Frontier”
• Andrew Carnegie “The Gospel Of Wealth”
• Upton Sinclair “The Jungle”

3. VARIABLES
We have examined how
our system allows interest
groups to openly compete
for market share. What
motivates these groups to
act in the manner that they
do? What about our own
individual behavior? This is
the result of variables.
Enjoy the video
demonstration.

4. CHIEF JOSEPH “INDIAN PERSPECTIVE” (1)
•Best known for his resistance to the U.S. Government's attempts
to force his tribe onto reservations.
•Spent much of his early childhood at a mission maintained by
Christian missionaries.
•The Nez Perce were a peaceful nation spread from Idaho to
Northern Washington. The tribe had maintained good relations with
the whites after the Lewis and Clark expedition.
•In 1855 Chief Joseph's father, Old Joseph, signed a treaty with the
U.S. that allowed his people to retain much of their traditional
lands. In 1863 another treaty was created that severely reduced
the amount of land, but Old Joseph maintained that this second
treaty was never agreed to by his people.

5. CHIEF JOSEPH “INDIAN PERSPECTIVE” (2)
•A showdown over the second "non-treaty" came after Chief
Joseph assumed his role as Chief in 1877. After months of
fighting and forced marches, many of the Nez Perce were
sent to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma, where many
died from malaria and starvation.
•Chief Joseph tried every possible appeal to the federal
authorities to return the Nez Perce to the land of their
ancestors. In 1885, he was sent along with many of his band
to a reservation in Washington where, according to the
reservation doctor, he later died of a broken heart.

6. HOMESTEAD & TRANSCONTINENTAL
RAILROAD ACT OF 1862
Industrialists looked to the Northwest Territory as a
market for manufactured goods. A protective tariff
restricted the American market to American industry
alone. The Homestead Act in 1862 opened more
land to settlers, and the Transcontinental Railroad
Act of 1862 gave the railroads incentives to link
western markets to eastern industry.

7. PROPAGANDA & COMMERCIALISM
Private business utilizes propaganda to
market products and services through
various methods. Television remains
the best method of content distribution
even though the Internet continues to
claim greater market share. This is the
famous Pepsi commercial starring
Britney Spears and Senator Bob Dole.
Though the commercial is selling
“Pepsi” one may notice the patriotic
symbolism tying the “company” with the
United States. The first airing of this
commercial was in March 2001.

8. DAWES ACT (1887)
•The attempt to assimilate Indians into the population.
•Senator Henry L. Dawes: “Till this people will consent to
give up their lands [reservations], and divide them among
their citizens, so that each can own the land he cultivates,
they will not make much more progress.”
•Emphasis on private property as a means of citizenship. To
“civilize” the savage, eliminate cultural patterns.
Plains Indians were hunters; other tribes claimed the land
was not arable.
•Actually resulted in the reduction of Indian lands as the act
permitted sale of land to government at @$2.50/acre.

9. TURNER FROM “THE FRONTIER” (1)
•Turner’s thesis: “The existence of an area of free land, its
continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement
westward, explain American development.”
•As a type of determinism, Turner’s thesis ties geography to national
ideology/culture, defining the character of Americans and American
society: a type of “primitivism” where “[T]he wilderness masters the
colonist.” (“meeting point between savagery and civilization.”).
•American social development “continually beginning over again on
the frontier.” (“perennial rebirth,” “fluidity of American life”).

10. TURNER FROM “THE FRONTIER” (2)
•“European life entered the continent” and “America modified and
developed that life and reacted on Europe.”
•“New Product” “away from the influence of Europe, a steady
growth of independence on American lines.”
•“Composite Nationality”; “tides of continental immigration”; “mixed
race”
•Dangers of individualism out of control; relate to DeToequeville.
•What endures? The notion of going west for opportunity, ground
for new ideas? Consider that the real move was to the towns and
cities along with the expansion into free, wilderness land.

11. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES
Political Action Committees (PACs) are
established organizations that serve to
advocate policy recommendations for
various interest groups. Private companies,
corporations, unions, and other various
Public Interest Groups (PIGs) and Single
Interest Groups (SIGs). PACs are primarily
utilized to influence public policymakers
through campaign donations, offering
legitimate information regarding their
various interests and even coordinating
issue based campaigns directed to a
constituency. Enjoy this campaign example
created by People For The Ethical
Treatment Of Animals (PETA).

12. RELIGION
Religion is one sphere of
great interest as it
definitely influences
public policy. This video
examines the link
between the Christian
Coalition, Friends Of
Israel and the Israeli
Government. Enjoy this
special report from
“Nightline”. It originally
aired on November 26,
2002

13. CARNEGIE FROM “WEALTH”
Andrew Carnegie (18351919) was a massively successful
business man - his wealth was based on the provision of iron
and steel to the railways, but also a man who recalled his
radical roots in Scotland before his immigration to the United
States. To resolve what might seem to be contradictions
between the creation of wealth, which he saw as proceeding
from immutable social laws, and social provision he came up
with the notion of the "gospel of wealth". He lived up to his
word, and gave away his fortune to socially beneficial projects,
most famously by funding libraries. His approval of death taxes
might surprise modern billionaires!

14. UPTON SINCLAIR’S “THE JUNGLE”
•Upton Sinclair was a poor reformer who sought to write the Great
American Novel.
•“The Jungle” examined the unsanitary methods of Chicago’s
meatpacking industry of Chicago. It was released in 1906.
•President Theodore Roosevelt received advanced copy. Used his
influence to push Congress to pass a law establishing the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA). Roosevelt coined the term “muckrakers”
to describe Sinclair and other reformist crusaders.
•Roosevelt’s phrase was not meant to be wholly complimentary.
•Muckrackers are journalists who expose political and commercial
corruption.

15. POLITICAL MESSAGE (1)
This is the famous “This Land”
cartoon. It is seen as a strong
influential message during the
2004 Presidential Election.
What is the message behind
this cartoon? Was it the
motivation of those behind its
creation to influence our political
system or was the primary
purpose to produce publicity for
their company?

16. POLITICAL MESSAGE (2)
Snide TV produced a funny political
cartoon during the Presidential
Primary Election of 2008. “Obama
On the Run” Hillary Clinton and
Barack Obama musically argue it
out over who is the better candidate
in this song satirizing "Anything You
Can Do I Can Do Better." The
cartoon focuses on the narcissistic
characteristics of both Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama. All
candidates are narcissists at heart.

17. DISCUSSION:
SELLING ISSUES TO SOCIETY
The mass media’s greatest power is
the ability to decide what will be
decided. How do interest groups
direct mass opinion today? We will
examine a marketing campaign led by
the “Consumers Union” that
addresses the issue of prescription
cost. Humor very effective in pulling
on emotional heartstrings. The ending
directs viewers to a website that
states the primary purpose of this clip.