Transcript Chapter 1

Chapter 7
Interest Groups
What Are Interest Groups?
 An organized group that tries to
influence public policy
 David Truman
 One of first to study interest groups
 Posed Disturbance Theory
 Theory that interest groups form
in part to counteract the efforts of
other groups.
What Are Interest Groups?
 Robert Salisbury
 Expanded Truman’s theory
 Groups form when resources are
inadequate or scarce
 Stressed the role that leaders play:
entrepreneurs
Why Interest Groups are
Common
 Many kinds of cleavages in the
country mean that there are many
different interests
Why Interest Groups are Common
 The Constitution provides many
access points to government
 Political parties are weak so interests
work directly on government
Kinds of Organized Interests
 Generally, interest
groups is a term used
to describe the
numerous organized
groups that try to
influence government
policy.
 Public Interest Groups
 Economic Interest
Groups
 Governmental Units
 Political Action
Committees
 Multi-Issue versus
Single Issue Groups
Profiles of Selected Interest
Groups
The Roots & Development of
American Interest Groups
 National groups emerge (1830-1889)
 Communication networks enabled nationalization
of groups
 First were single-issue groups deeply rooted in
the Christian religious revivalism
 Temperance, Peace, Education, and Slavery
 Other groups emerged after the Civil War
 Lobbyists
 Interest group representative who seeks
to influence legislation that will benefit his
or her organization through political
persuasion.
NRA membership
The Roots & Development of
American Interest Groups
 The Progressive Era (1890-1920)
 Grew out of concern for impact of rapid
industrialization, influx of immigration, monopolistic
business practices, crime, poverty, poor working
conditions
 Organized Labor
 AFL
 Clayton Act: allowed unions to organize free from
prosecution and guaranteed their right to strike
 Business Groups and Trade Associations
 Trade Associations: a group that represents a
specific industry
 National Electric Light Association
Labor Union Membership
The Rise of the
Interest Group State
 1960s and 1970s saw
a reappearance of the
Progressive spirit.
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Civil Rights
Women’s Rights
Elderly
Poor
Consumers
Environment
 Common Cause and
Ralph Nader’s Public
Citizen
 Conservative
Backlash: Religious
and Ideological Groups
 Jerry Falwell and the
Moral Majority
 Pat Robertson, the
700 Club and the
Christian Coalition
 National Rifle
Association
Business Groups, Corporations, and
Associations
 Rise in business advocacy groups
 More political than Chamber of Commerce
 Example: The Business Roundtable
 Created in 1972
 Urges member to engage in direct lobbying to influence
the course of public policy
 Most large corporations have
 Own governmental affairs department
 Employ D.C.-based lobbyists to keep them apprised
of legislation
 Gave substantial soft money in the past
 Still use PACS, 527s, and thus contribute a great deal
of money
Organized Labor
 Began to emerge as powerful player
early in the 20th century
 Could turn out members
 Focus not only on labor issues, but also
other issues of concern to its members
 More recently labor has lost some
clout
 Membership down
What Do Interest Groups Do?
 Lobbying
 The activities of a group or
organization that seeks to influence
legislation and persuade political
leaders to support the group’s
position
 23 ways for lobbyists and organizations
to lobby on the state and national level
 Most often they: testify at legislative
hearings, contact government officials
directly, help draft legislation
Groups and Lobbyists
Lobbying Congress
 Members of Congress = targets
of lobbyists
 Many lobbyists former members
 Former Senators Bob Dole (R-KS)
and George Mitchell (D-ME) earn
well over a million dollars a year as
Washington lobbyists.
Lobbying Congress
 Today lobbyists try to develop
close relationships with members
to gain access to the process of
policy making.
 Information is critical.
 Lobbyists also work most closely
with representatives who are
their friends.
 “Revolving Door”
The “Revolving Door”
 Federal government workers leave to
take more lucrative positions in
private industry (lobbying, consulting,
executive positions)
 This may give private interests a way
to improperly influence government
decisions
Attempts to Reform
Congressional Lobbying
 Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act, 1946
 Lobbying Disclosure Act, 1995
 Employs a strict definition of lobbyist
 Requires lobbyists to:
 Register with the clerk of the House and the
secretary of the Senate
 Report their clients and issues and the agency
or house they lobbied
 Estimate the amount they are paid by each
client
 Makes it easier for watchdog groups to track the
lobbying activity
The Ethics in Government Act
Lobbying the Executive Branch
 As the scope of federal government
has expanded, so has lobbying of the
executive branch
 Many potential access points
 Lobbyist seek influence at formation and
implementation stages.
 An especially strong link exists between
interest groups and regulatory agencies.
Lobbying the Courts
 Can take two forms
 Direct sponsorship
 Filing amicus curiae briefs
 Brief that informs the court of the group’s
policy preferences, generally in guise of
legal arguments
 Interest groups also attempt to
influence who is nominated and
placed on the bench.
Grassroots Lobbying
 A form of pressure-group activity that
attempts to involve individuals who
contact their representatives directly
in an effort to influence policy
 Persuading ordinary voters to act as
the group’s advocates
Astroturf Lobbying
 Efforts - usually led by interest
groups (or Corporations) with
deep financial pockets - to
create synthetic grass-roots
movements by aggressively
encouraging voters to contact
their elected officials about
specific issues.
Protest Activities
 Some groups resort to more forceful,
legal as well as illegal measures to
attract attention to their cause.
 Sometimes violent, illegal protest
(Boston Tea Party, Shay’s Rebellion)
 Civil Rights Movement
 Marches with permits legal
Election Activities
 Candidate recruitment and
endorsements
 Getting out the vote
 Rating the candidates or office
holders
 Political action committees
Incentives to Join
 Solidary incentives—pleasure,
companionship
 Material incentives—money, things,
services
 Purposive incentives—goal/purpose of
the organization itself
 2 types –Ideological and Public Interest
What Makes An Interest
Group Successful?
 Leaders
 Patrons and Funding
 Person who finances a group or
individual activity
 Members
 Free riders: potential members fail to
join a group because they can get the
benefit, or collective good, sought by the
group without contributing to it.
Potential Versus Actual Interest
Group Members
Interest Groups as Factions
 Madison (Federalist 10) – his description of
factions defines the interest groups found
today
 Madison’s broad language “The latent causes
of faction are sown in the nature of man..”
predicted the potential for multiple factions on
many topics
 Definition: People who share common goals,
interact with each other, and organize to affect
the public agenda.
Interest Groups
as linkage institutions
 Strategies to influence the public agenda
* Information & education of public,
Congress, White House, etc.
* Mass media appeal
* Mass mailings
* Electioneering activities:
campaigning, issue ads, etc.
* Political Action Committees (PACs)
Interest Groups’ Influence
 Positive: Advantage for democracy
because it allows individual citizens to
influence government in ways that are
beyond their ballot – links them to the
public agenda
 Negative: The poorer citizens & those in
minorities are poorly represented / there is
too much money involved in the process
(elitist) / and there is too much opportunity
for influence of the public agenda to be
purchased