Party Platforms


1. What is the impact of money from education based PACs on education policy?



PACs donate money in the form of campaign contributions to candidates who they feel most strongly support education reform and/or the increased funding of schools. This money is used to run the campaign of said candidate. If this candidate is to win their election (at any level) they will often remember this contribution and in turn, with the help of the PAC members, introduce legislation supporting the PACs policy goals. In this way the PAC is able to influence public policy without directly taking office.


2. How is education policy included in campaign promises or platforms?


A candidate’s campaign platform, his manifesto, is filled with list of the principles which he supports in order to appeal to the general public for the sole purpose of getting votes and getting put into office. This platform often takes the form of a list of support for, or opposition to, controversial topics. Each individual topic is sometimes referred to as the plank of the campaign platform. Candidates invariably have education policy included in their campaign promises- since education reform is a controversial topic in American politics, a politician will include his position on education in his platform in order to gain crucial votes from those people who are primarily interested in education reform. These campaign promises that deal with education are often broken, as are all other election promises.