methods and tactics used by PGS

what are the maim methods used by PGs to influence decision making? (5 methods)

• lobbying

• electoral campaigning

• grassroots campaigning

• going through the courts

• direct action

How do pressure groups use electoral campaigning to influence decision making?

• they endorse candidates

  • they may openly endorse candidates and encourage their members and public to vote for them

• make campaign donations

  • money given to official campaigns is limited however

  • so they tend to give money via PACs and Super PACs

• release voting ‘scorecards’

  • this may be analysis of their voting record and a comparison of their positions with other candidates

    • they do this to hold politicians accountable and make it clear where elected officials stand on key issues

examples of voting scorecards used by PGs

• US Chamber of Commerce releases ‘How they Voted’ scorecards for each Congress member

  • allows voters to analyse candidates stance on business

• NRA → allocates each candidate a grade from A to F based on their voting record on gun rights

• League of Conservation Voters releases a dirty dozen list of politicians who have the worst environmental records:

  • successful : 5/12 of candidates on the federal list were defeated in 2020

  • 6/12 lost their seats

examples of campaign donations

• 2018 → League of Conservation Voters spent $85 million on electoral campaigning

  • was able to achieve its aim of winning the HoR back for Democrats

  • nearly 60 of their congressional candidates were elected

• EMILY’s List → a PG aiming to get pro-choice Democratic women elected to office:

  • $37 million spend in 2018 election cycle led to record numbers of female members in Congress

  • spent $5.5 million on digital advertising for Harris→ successful as she was elected as VP

    • 7 new EMILY’s List candidates were elected to the House

What is lobbying and how is it done?

process by which PGs try and influence members of the executive/ legislature by meeting with them

Pressure groups share detailed knowledge of their policy area and are useful sources of info for politicians or govt officials → try to convince the executive and legislators to adopt positions that favour them

they involve:

• insider contacts

• professional lobbysists

How are insider contacts used to lobby?

• many PGs have offices in Washington DC that allow them to across the federal govt and Congress

• insider contacts= having relationships with members of Congress who might be persuaded to introduce/support legislation that would help their cause

  • offers important influence since Congress members/white house can convince their bosses

• they may also meet key govt officials connected to their policy area

examples of PGs using insider contacts to lobby

• representatives from JPM and GS have had over 350 meetings with federal agencies from 2010-2012

  • agencies were writing regulations for banking sector in response to 2008 financial crisis

How do pressure groups use professional lobbying to gain influence?

• usuallly wealthy PGs → PGs hire them to advocate for specific policies that would benefit them

• professional lobbying firms are on ‘K-Street’ in Washington DC →’K Street Corridor of Influence’

examples of professional lobbying

• in 2019

  • $3.47 billion + spent on federal lobbying

  • companies and business PGs lobbied the govt regarding Trump’s new trade deal with Mexico and Canada

• 2010:

  • highest value lobbying year on record

  • $3.51 billion spent was by healthcare companies and groups in an attempt to influence the format of Obamacare

• evidence that it is effective → lobbying spending by US corporate groups led to $90 million worth of subsidies for business

What is the revolving door syndrome?

• when lobbying firms hire lobbyists who have worked within the executive branch/ Congress

• allows them to take advantage of ready-made insider contacts within government

• lobbyists may then return to political roles at later stages in their careers

examples of revolving door syndrome

• Eugene Scalia

  • became secretary of labor in 2019

  • first worked for W Bush’s administration before lobbying on behalf of US Chamber of Commerce and represented tech companies and GS

• Ballad Partners -a lobbying firm :

  • Brian Ballard spent year lobbying state govt on behalf of Trump Organisation

  • when Trump became president, Ballad Partners gained 100 clients in less than 2 years

  • example of the revolving door syndrome because many of its lobbyists have worked for previous government administrations or in Congress

How can professional lobbying be elitist + counterargument?

• wealthy PGs have been able to buy influence

  • described therefore as elitist and anti-democratic

• e.g. US Chamber of Commerce generally spends more on lobbying than any other org

  • $77 million in 2019

  • COUNTERARGUMENT :yet high spending doesn’t also guarantee results:

    • the chamber could not convince trump’s administration to reverse tariffs on goods from China and the EU

• counterargument 2: Congress has tried to regulate lobbying through Lobbying Disclosure Act 1995 and the Honest Leadership and Open Govt Act 2007

  • Lobbying must be disclosed and there are restrictions on ‘gifts’ from lobbyists to members of` Congress

Why do PGs use the courts and through which 2 ways do they do this?

• productive strategy since the SC has a lot of power to interpret the Constitution and check the power of the executive

• done through":

  • legal challenged

  • amicus curiae briefs

How do PGs use legal challenges to change law?

• PGs can target an area of the law where they wish to see a change and support cases that hinge on this legal point

  • they will hope for a landmark ruling in the Supreme Court as it marks a transformative change in the law and accomplishes the PG main objective

successful examples of PGs using legal challenges to change law

• NAACP → funded Brown v Topeka (1954)

  • SCOTUS decided that the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ was unconstitutional

• ACLU → Obergefell v Hodges (2015)

  • SC ruling on the case legalised same-sex marriage across the USA

examples of how PGs also hold the executive to account by challenging its actions in courts

• ACLU mounted 56 legal challenged against Trump’s administration from 2017-2018 , including:

  • ban on immigrants from Muslim-majority countries was halted by federal court in 2017

  • ACLU also challenged Trump’s 2017 ban on trans people in military

    • was initially halted by SCOTUS but proceeded

What are amicus curiae briefs?

• amicus curiae → ‘friend of the court’

• they set out specific evidence/ research that PGs will hope will influence the justices

• PGs can involve lawyers to write them

• can also be submitted by academic legal experts, the executive or anyone else who has an interest in the case

examples of the impacts of amicus curiae briefs

• number of them has increased from just 1 per case in 1950s to 16 per case in 2019-20

  • more briefs given to landmark cases:

    • e.g. Brown v Topeka had just 6 amicus briefs but 148 submitted to Obergefell v Hodges 2015

• Brown v Board of Education 1954

  • the NAACP amicus brief helped persuae the Cort that segregation was harmful to children

• justices often refer to amicus briefs in their opinions:

  • e.g. Justice Kennedy cited an amicus brief in Lawrence v Texas 2003 to highlight evolving societal views on LGBT rights

  • in 2019-20, justices mentioned 10% of the nongovernmental ‘green briefs’ submitted to them

• COUNTERARGUMENT : use of amicus briefs are elitist

  • amicus briefs are more likely to be cited by justices if they are written by legal experts → favours PGs with experience of preparing amicus briefs, such as the ACLU

    • in 2019- around 40% of cited green briefs were written by ACLU

  • writing a brief is expensive → favours wealthy PGS

  • although crowdfunsing does offer chances for less wealthy PGs, it still has problems:

    • in 2018, the SC rejected a brief by the US Alcohol Policy Alliance in 2018 as some of the crowdfunding donors were anonymous

What a PGs’ ‘grassroots’?

their membership

How do members campaign on behalf of pressure groups?

• they pay their membership fees, giving the PG revenue

• contact members of govt by writing emailing , phoning or social media

  • communications ‘blitz’ allows them to demonstrate than an issue has mass support

  • can be effective if targeted at politicians who are keen to secure the support of their constituents or the general public

• fundraising

• petitions

• social media to gain momentum

• marches

• demonstrations - more extreme activites are considered as direct action

What does direct action refer to?

• any methods used by PG that go beyond the standard methods of campaigning

• the aim is to put public pressure on the executive to force them to take action

examples of US PGs using direct action

• 21st century:

  • BLM demonstrations

  • Occupy Wall Street → protesting corporate greed and income inequality in NYC

  • Extinction Rebellion 2021 - invasive techniques like blocking roads

• older examples:

  • 1960 Greensbro Sit-Ins

    • Civil rights activists from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) staged sit-ins at segregated lunch counters, pressuring businesses to end segregation.

  • early 1970s:

    • war in Vietnam motivated anti-war PGs to publicly protests

      • 1967 → 500000 protested in NYC against it

Why can direct action be deemed effective?

• it generates publicity and media attention

  • e.g. BLM movement:

    • the authorities immediate offensive response to the protests (with tear gas and rubber bullets etc) made appaen the same attitudes that BLM condemned as racist

    • meant that celebrities and public continued to express support

Why can direct action be deemed ineffective?

• sometimes in violent civil disobedience

  • e.g BLM:

    • protestors defied the risk of getting COVID to join these large demonstrations in 140 cities across the US

    • some were peaceful however some involved riots, looting , arson and violence against the police

what effects do pressure groups funding of elections produce? (3)

• funding of Washington insiders

• reinforcing incumbency

• iron triangles

how and why do pressure groups fund Washington incumbents?

• pressure groups focus their resources on key figures within DC

  • a lot of money is spent on the main two presidential candidates

• PGS will also spend on the campaigns of influential congress members

  • Senate campaigns increasingly receive more donations than House contexts since they have a 6 year term

• can make it difficult for outsider congressional candidates to break through

  • since PGS will favour a certain type of candidate who is pro-business and supportive of the ‘establishment’ → e.g. favouring Hilary Clinton over Donald Trump

examples of pressure groups funding Washington insiders

• a total of 96% of the NRA’s 2016 budget was spent on 6 Senate races and the presidential campaign

How can PGS use their money to reinforce the incumbency advantage?

• incumbents have a higher profile and a record to run on and have an existing relationship with their constituents

• therefore they find it easier to attract campaign donations

  • gives them a financial advantage

What is the iron triangle?

the relationship between an interest group, Congress and the executive branch. The theory is that they are bound together in a close network of mutual advantage meaning that each benefits from supporting the other

How does iron triangle work?

• interest groups influence Congress by making donations to their electoral campaigns

  • as wealthy PGs are usually responsible for a large proportion of employment in certain congressional districts

• Congress is responsible for funding executive depts so it gives the govt an incentive to develop policy that Congress will approve of

• exec depts have power over interest groups as they create regulations that those groups must follow

example of iron triangle - defence : militrary industrial complex

• powerful cooperations could have a negative influence on govt as stated by Eisenhower in 1961

  • The military-industrial complex (MIC) refers to the close relationship between a country's military, its government, and the defense industry that supplies arms, equipment, and services. It suggests that these groups can influence national policy in ways that prioritise military spending and defense contracts, sometimes at the expense of other societal needs.

  • can lead to defence and foreign policies that are not of public interest

• defence companies can send a large amount on professional lobbyists to induce members of Congress to support them, which gives them influence over a large number of members in Congress

  • and congress members of Congress who are keen to ensure the companies keep receiving the govt contracts that secure continued employment for their constituencies

example of defence iron triangle and congress members supporting defence companies

• when bidding for the contract to build the USA’s most expensive weapons system, the f35 fighter jet, Lockhead Martin claimed that the programme would create 125,000 jobs for 46 states

  • put pressure on those states’ members of Congress to support it

• in 2018 election cycle, these donations amounted to more than $30 million

• Defence contractors were the biggest contributors to Courtney’s 2019-20 fundraising as he is the chair of the Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee

• in 2019, 51 members of COngress owned a total of $5.8 million worth of shares in defence companies, meaning they profit if defence contracts are awarded to them:

  • e.g. Senator Roy blunt owned up to $100,000 of stock in Lockhead Martin (LM) so his subcommittee awarded a $1.85 billion contract to LM in 2020

what phenomenon also contributes to the iron triangle?

• the revolving door syndrome

• personnel move from one of the 3 institutions of the triangle to another

• e.g. Patrick Shanahan served as Trump’s depurty defense secre

How is the pharmaceutical industry an example of the iron triangle

• big pharma companies pursue ctrong links with federal govt agency that regulates pharmaceutircals (the FDA)

• therefore pharma companies focus attention on members of key congressional committees such as the House Energy Subcommittee on Health

  • e.g. its chair Democrat Anna Eshoo received large donations from them in the 2020 election cycle

example of pharmaceutical industry involving the revolving door

• Scott Gottlieb worked for the FDA 2005-2007 → pharma compaies 2007-2017 → Trump appointed him to head FDA in 2017 → then moved to Pfizer company

How does NRA choose to fund candidates?

• in 1992 → 37% of its campaign spending went to Democrats

• however as us has become more polarised, they spend on Republican pro-gun canddiates

  • e.g. in 2016, Republicans received 98% of congressional campaign funding

    • $52.5 million on electoral campaigning

Why is NRA’s funding of candidates not entirely partisan?

• the NRA has spent money to try and oppose moderate republicans

  • e.g. 2012 → spent $169000 opposing the re-election of senator Richard Lugar (he supported gun control)

• NRA has also funded centrist Democrats (Blue Dog democrats), but not all support guns

  • e.g. in 2018, the Blue Dog PAC returned a donation from the NRA after criticism from its members

Why may have support for NRA decreased?

• success in electing a Republican president and Senate who supported gun ownership

• revenue fell from 2016 to 2018