Chapter 10Interest Groups

The Role of Interest Groups

• Interest group• An organization of people with shared policy

goals entering the policy-making process to try to achieve those goals

• Interest groups are distinct from parties.• Political parties fight election battles; interest

groups do not field candidates for office but may choose sides.

• Interest groups are policy specialists; political parties are policy generalists.

Theories of Interest Group Politics

• Pluralist Theory• Politics is mainly a competition among groups,

each one pressing for its own preferred policies.• Elite Theory

• Societies are divided along class lines and an upper-class elite rules, regardless of governmental organization.

• Hyperpluralist Theory• Groups are so strong that government is

weakened. This is an extreme, exaggerated form of pluralism.

Theories of Interest Group Politics

• Pluralism and Group Theory • Groups provide a key link between the

people and the government.• Groups compete and no one group will

become too dominant.• Groups play by the “rules of the game.”• Lobbying is open to all so is not a

problem.

Theories of Interest Group Politics: Elites

• Elites and the Denial of Pluralism• Real power is held by the relatively few.• The largest corporations hold the most

power.• Other groups may win minor policy

battles, but elites prevail when it comes to big policy decisions.

• Lobbying is a problem because it benefits the few at the expense of the many.

Theories of Interest Group Politics: ElitismWould you say the government is pretty much run by a few big interests

looking out for themselves or that it is run for the benefit of all the people?

Theories of Interest Group Politics: Iron Triangles (aka Subgovernments/ Issue Networks)

• Relationships between interest groups (lobbyists), government agencies (bureaucracies), and congressional committees that handle particular policies.

• These networks exercise a great deal of control over specific policy areas.

• Example: AARP can lobby Congress (House subcommittee on Aging) to not make changes to Social Security and Medicare (which are both run by the Executive Branch bureaucracy)

Types of Interest Groups

• Economic Interests• Labor – Union organizations press for

policies to ensure better working conditions and higher wages.

• Business – Interests generally unified when it comes to promoting greater profits but are often fragmented when policy choices have to be made.

Types of Interest Groups

• Environmental Interests• Environmental groups promote policies to

control pollution and to combat global warming, wilderness protection, and species preservation.

• They oppose supersonic aircraft, nuclear power plants, drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and strip mining.

Types of Interest Groups

• Equality Interests• Two sets of interest groups, representing

minorities and women, have made equal rights their main policy goal.

• Equality groups press for equality at the polls, in housing, on the job, in education, and in all other facets of American life.

Types of Interest Groups

• Consumer and Other Public Interest Lobbies• Public interest lobbies – Groups that

seek a collective good, and the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit the membership or activists of the organization.

What Makes an Interest Group Successful?

What Makes an Interest Group Successful?

• The Surprising Ineffectiveness of Large Groups• Potential group: all the people who might

be interest group members because they share a common interest

• Actual group: the part of the potential group consisting of members who actually join

• Collective good: something of value that cannot be withheld from a group member

What Makes an Interest Group Successful?

• Free-Rider Problem• Some people don’t join interest groups because

they benefit from the group’s activities without officially joining.

• Large groups are difficult to organize• Olson’s law of large groups:

• “The larger the group, the further it will fall short of providing an optimal amount of a collective good.”

• Overcome Olson’s law by providing selective benefits: Goods that a group can restrict to those who pay their annual dues

What Makes an Interest Group Successful?

• Intensity• Single-Issue groups: groups that focus on

a narrow interest, dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics

• Groups may focus on an emotional issue, providing them with a psychological advantage.

• Intensity encourages non-conventional means of participation, i.e.—protests

What Makes an Interest Group Successful?

• Financial Resources• Not all groups have equal amounts of

money.• Monetary donations usually translate into

access to the politicians, such as a phone call, meeting, or support for policy.

• Wealthier groups have more resources—and presumably more access—but they do not always win on policy.

What Makes an Interest Group Successful?

How Groups Try to Shape Policy

• Lobbying• “communication by someone other than a

citizen acting on his own behalf, directed to a governmental decisionmaker with the hope of influencing his decision”

• Two basic types of lobbyists:• Regular, paid employees of a group• Temporary hires

FIGURE 10.1: Industries’ big spenders on lobbying, 2009-2011

10.4

How Groups Try to Shape Policy

• Lobbying• Lobbyists:

• are a source of information• help politicians plan political strategies for

legislation• help politicians plan political strategies for

reelection campaigns• Mixed evidence as to whether lobbying

works

Two Types of Lobbyists

• “Regular, paid employees of a corporation, union, or association.”

• Temporary hire, usually from a law or lobbying firm within the District of Columbia. Most often these firms have a specific focus and provide expertise in a specific area.

Background: most lobbyists have either law or business educations. A recent trend sees many ex-members of Congress being hired on at lobby

firms in Washington, DC

VIDEO: Tracy is a Lobbyist

What does a lobbyist do???

• testifying at congressional hearings[What is testimony?]

• contacting government officials directly• engaging in informal contacts with

government officials…

VIDEO: IFAW Testimony

What does a lobbyist do???

Helping Congress: • Providing specialized expertise and

information on a specific topic.• Strategizing with members of Congress or

their staff on ways to pass specific pieces of legislation.

• Creating campaign strategies to get individuals elected or reelected to Congress. This often involves providing techniques to reach a specific audience and volunteers to help with the campaign.

VIDEO: Billy Wants a Dog

How Groups Try to Shape Policy

• Electioneering• Direct group involvement in the election process

• Groups can help fund campaigns, provide testimony, and get members to work for candidates; some form PACs.

• Political Action Committee (PAC): Political funding vehicles created by 1974 campaign finance reforms, PACs are used by interest groups to donate money to candidates. • PACs help pay the bill for increasing campaign costs.• Most PAC money goes to incumbents.

Members of Congress engage in three primary activities that increase the probability of their reelections.

• Most congressional advertising takes place between elections and takes the form of contact with constituents. Credit claiming involves personal and district service, notably through casework and pork barrel spending.

• Members of Congress must also engage in position taking on matters of public policy when they vote on issues and when they respond to constituents’ questions about where they stand on issues.

Government Officials Must Campaign Often

• Representatives every 2 years[incumbents win 90% of the time]

• Senators every 6 years• President every 4 years

Political Action Committees (PACs)

• Political Action Committees (PACs) seek access to policymakers. Thus, they give most of their money to incumbents, who are already heavily favored to win.

• Critics of PACs are convinced that PACs are not trying to elect but to buy influence.

How corporate PACs have shifted toward the majority party

Who does the NRA give money to?

How Groups Try to Shape Policy

• Litigation• If an interest group fails in one arena, the courts

may be able to provide a remedy.• Interest groups can file amicus curiae briefs to

influence a court’s decision.• amicus curiae: briefs submitted by a “friend of the court”

to raise additional points of view and present information not contained in the briefs of the formal parties

• Class Action lawsuits permit a small number of people to sue on behalf of all other people similar situated.

How Groups Try to Shape Policy

• Going Public• Because public opinion makes its way to

policymakers, groups try to:• cultivate a good public image to build a

reservoir of goodwill with the public• use marketing strategies to influence public

opinion of the group and its issues• advertise to motivate and inform the public

about an issue

Understanding Interest Groups

• Interest Groups and the Scope of Government• Interest groups seek to maintain policies

and programs that benefit them.• Interest groups continue to pressure

government to do more things.• As the government does more, does this

cause the formation of more groups?

Summary

• Group theories: pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism

• A number of factors influence a group’s success, i.e., being small

• Interest groups affect policy process through lobbying, electioneering, litigation, and going public.

Madison and Federalist 10 on “factions”

• wants to eliminate the negative effects of faction

• He defines a faction as "a number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community."

Who/What did Madison fear?

• Diversity of opinion over which regime or religion should be adopted by the Republic.

• Feared Direct Democracy because those with property would always abuse the rights of those without property.

Understanding Interest Groups

• Interest Groups and Democracy• James Madison’s solution to the problems posed

by interest groups was to create a wide-open system in which groups compete.

• Pluralists believe that the public interest would prevail from this competition.

• Elite theorists point to the proliferation of business PACs as evidence of interest group corruption.

• Hyperpluralists maintain that group influence has led to policy gridlock.

Interest groups are often policy .

1. specialists2. generalists3. regulators4. implementors

Interest groups are often policy .

1. specialists2. generalists3. regulators4. implementors

Which of the following is NOT an element of the pluralist group theory of politics?

• Groups provide a crucial link between people and government.

• Groups usually follow the rules of the game.

• Groups compete with each other.

• Groups become too dominant.

Which of the following is NOT an element of the pluralist group theory of politics?

• Groups provide a crucial link between people and government.

• Groups usually follow the rules of the game.

• Groups compete with each other.

• Groups become too dominant.

The more a group has, the more successful it tends to be.

1. intensity2. financial resources3. potential members4. all of the above

The more a group has, the more successful it tends to be.

1. intensity2. financial resources3. potential members4. all of the above

Which of the following is NOT a tactic interest groups use?

• Lobbying to influence policy.• Forming political action

committees to influence elections.

• Fielding candidates for office in general elections.

• Litigating to influence policy through the courts.

Which of the following is NOT a tactic interest groups use?

• Lobbying to influence policy.• Forming political action

committees to influence elections.

• Fielding candidates for office in general elections.

• Litigating to influence policy through the courts.

Which of the following type of interest group tends to push for a collective good?

• Consumer groups• Environmental groups• Equality groups• All of the above

Which of the following type of interest group tends to push for a collective good?

• Consumer groups• Environmental groups• Equality groups• All of the above

Which theory of interest group politics best correlates with Madison’s ideas for controlling interest groups?

1. Hyperpluralist Theory2. Elite Theory3. Pluralist Theory4. Class Theory

Which theory of interest group politics best correlates with Madison’s ideas for controlling interest groups?

1. Hyperpluralist Theory2. Elite Theory3. Pluralist Theory4. Class Theory

Recent trends in the mass media and the rise of interest groups have combined to

have significant negative effects on America’s political system.

• List two factors relating to the mass media AND discuss how they have damaged democracy.

• List two factors relating to interest groups and discuss how they have damaged democracy.

National interest groups often target national-level policymaking institutions to achieve their policy

objectives.

a) Identify a national interest group.b) For the group you have chosen, discuss two

common tactics used to influence the Legislative Branch.

c) For the group you have chosen, discuss two common tactics used to influence the Judicial Branch.

d) Identify two resources or characteristics of the interest group and explain how each acts as an influence on national policymaking institutions.