[Music] foreign friends it's your friendly YouTube edu Guru hip Hughes and I'm back I uploaded my first video after four years a couple of days ago and four comments specifically mentioned how happy people were that I was not dead so thank you for being happy that I'm still alive in the near future I am planning a boatload of new variety of videos but there's always been one curricular video that I never made so students of AP Government American government crammers and cray-cray on the internet let me introduce to you the wonderful world of linkage institutions [Music] thank you foreign so before we dive into examples of linkage institutions it's probably a pretty good idea to know just what the Gemini crickets they are not unlike chain-langed fets you know like one behind your house please do not think of like a high security prison you know but linkage institutions are the connections or the channels where citizens communicate with the government and this could be your local government your state government or the federal government yet there are no linkage institutions which connect us with the interstellar galaxian government yet and vice versa it's a two-way street the government also now has a way to connect with us we the people they have always played a key role in our political system and their intentions have in the past been to promote democracy me worry a little bit these days about they might be having the opposite effect but okay yada yada yada there are four examples you need to know for test day for Lincoln's institution drum roll please and they are foreign one the media now I'm not sure nowadays that I want to open this linkage can of worms but let's lay it out as simple as we can whether it's print Publications you know the old-timers read on the subway the Radio podcast internet social media platforms online websites or the good old boob tube the TV the media harnesses the usefulness and reach of all of these to inform American citizens about the going ons of its governments and its elected leaders who serve them but it's been a long time since Walter Cronkite broke the news to us that we're losing the Vietnam War which turned American public opinion against the conflict we could do a whole nother video about how media has changed and the need for media literacy through Discerning the accuracy and the truthfulness of the media that we are digesting but that put aside there are four functions the media is responsible for as our first critical Lincoln Institution [Music] does anybody know where the gatekeeper is sorry for the Ghostbuster reference but that's the first characteristic being a gatekeeper for information means determining what content is reported to the public and it also means that media is responsible for holding the government accountable for its actions [Music] number two they are also referees hopefully Fair ones but they do act as a scorekeeper during elections reporting information about who is winning or losing in the polls on Election Day who let the dogs out who the third characteristic said that they are dogs more specifically they're supposed to be fair neutral Watchdogs reporting on scandals Corruptions and other potentially questionable activities by government officials and the fourth characteristic is they should also have the ability to convey information to us we the people about which candidates are running for offices what their platforms are what their IDs are all right let's go for the second example of a linkage institution [Music] the second example of linkage institutions are interest groups which allow for citizens to help influence policy makers by joining together informing their own special interest organizations then they work to get policies passed that favor their group's missions members of interest groups seek to influence passing and blocking legislations and sometimes they even write legislation and then they bring it to their favorite legislatures and of course they also help to influence presidential decisions now while the selling point is they focus on issues that are important to the United States they really are focused on issues which are beneficial to their own members and their own views and their own values now here are some of the more influential interest groups in the United States the number one and probably the most powerful is the AARP the American associations of retired persons think of it lobbying on behalf of the elderly when it comes to issues of Medicare or Social Security and then we have the National Rifle Association the NRA bang bang now that helps explain well even though there's some gun measures that are extremely popular they're also extremely likely to fail the NAACP the National Association for the advancement of colored persons that's another special interest group where recently they were a driving force for a new national anti-lynching law and then we have lots of business interest groups like The American petroleum institution let's just say they're not writing new green legislation they're advocating for fracking more drilling expanding our reservoirs of gas and oil but you get the idea generally the more money an interest group has available to itself the more influence it can have on public policy citizens join interest groups because there is strength in numbers one person individually can only do so much to enact change how however when citizens join interest groups they're hoping to join a group who has the means and the numbers to influence the government to get what it needs and what it wants to [Music] the third example of a Lincoln institution are political parties themselves yes Charlie Brown political parties are our linkage institutions but yes the third example political parties allows us the people to influence policy through winning elections by joining political parties citizens join political parties to connect themselves with interests that align with their own and yes political parties inform us We The People by publishing platforms which list their objectives now you're not always going to get fair and balanced information when you're walking this chained fence but nevertheless it is an example of a linkage institution are you ready for one more pretty please can we just do one more now take a deep breath and stay thank you elections themselves are linkage institutions it's pretty simple elections connect us directly with our government by needing the majority of our votes to obtain power and most of our examples we're sort of powerless at the whim of our chosen media Outlet the party we join who's the president of the NRA but this ain't North Korea baby so whether you are voting for your local dog catcher or the president of the United States elections serve as linkage institutions by directly connecting we the people with the entity that we create or we destroy the pilotox our government there we did it and I'm not dead and I hope you're not either thank you as always for tuning in and here is where you want to earn some good karma points and subscribe with notifications like comment share sing the Praises of hip Hughes from the rooftops just make sure you do it on a one-story dwelling and I don't want anyone to get hurt and as I always end I remind you my learning friends that where attention goes energy flows and I wish you and your circle love and life in your lives and I'll see you the next time that you press my buttons and don't forget that you can go down to the description below where you'll find the link to the video Arsenal and please subscribe to hip Hughes on Twitter Instagram Facebook there's even a chance that you might win a free unicorn yeah a free unicorn all right we'll see you guys next time it's press my buttons [Music] thank you [Music]