Module 4 PAF 112 Identity and Mobilization

Interest group

Any formal association of individuals or organizations that attempt to influence government decision-making and/or the making of public policy. Often, this influence is exercised by a lobbyist or a lobbying firm. They also monitor government activity, serve as a means of political participation for members, and provide information to the public and to lawmakers. In recent years, there has been an increase in both the number and type of groups.

Mobilization

When people are inspired to take action collectively on a particular public problem.

Collective action problem

The situation that occurs when people have a disincentive to take action.

Free rider problem

The situation that occurs when some individuals receive benefits (get a free ride) without helping to bear the cost.

Associations

The relationships that people form with one another to accomplish specific tasks. Alexis de Tocqueville was especially interested in the non-political purposes that caused Americans to form associations where, in other countries, a government would have taken the lead. Associations can be informal or formal organizations.

Identity

A shared characteristic that can cause people to form a group, such as race, gender, class, religion and sexuality. Shared beliefs (i.e., being anti-drinking) or shared experiences (i.e., employment-based, such as a specific employer or around a specific career path) can also lead to a sense of identity.

Group

When individuals come together around a common cause to accomplish a specific purpose.

Lobbyist

Someone who represents the interest organization before government, is usually compensated for doing so, and is required to register with the government in which he or she lobbies, whether state or federal. The lobbyist’s primary goal is usually to influence policy.

Grassroots movement

These often begin from the bottom up among a small number of people at the local level. Interest groups can amplify the voices of such individuals through proper organization and allow them to participate in ways that would be less effective or even impossible alone or in small numbers.

Membership organizations

Individuals join these organizations voluntarily and usually pay dues. Membership groups often consist of people who have common issues or concerns, or who want to be with others who share their views. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is a membership group consisting of members who promote gun rights.

Public interest groups

These groups attempt to promote public, or collective, goods. Such collective goods are benefits—tangible or intangible—that help most or all citizens. These goods are often produced collectively, and because they may not be profitable and everyone may not agree on what public goods are best for society, they are often underfunded and thus will be under-produced unless there is government involvement.

Factions

minorities who would organize around issues they felt strongly about, possibly to the detriment of the majority.

In-house lobbyists

Work for one interest group or firm and represent their organization in a lobbying capacity, and/or will hire a contract lobbyist.

Contract lobbyist

Individuals who work for firms that represent a multitude of clients and are often hired because of their resources and their ability to contact and lobby lawmakers, to represent them before the legislature.

Legislative liaison

present issues to decision-makers.

Inside lobbying

Also called direct lobbying, which takes the interests group’s message directly to a government official such as a lawmaker.

Outside lobbying

Also called indirect lobbying tactics, whereby the interest attempts to get its message out to the public.

Material incentives

tangible benefits of joining a group

Solidary incentives

provide the benefit of joining with others who have the same concerns or are similar in other ways.

Purposive incentives

focus on the issues or causes promoted by the group

Disturbance theory

explains why groups mobilize due to an event in the political, economic, or social environment.

Efficacy

refers to the conviction that you can make a difference or that government cares about you and your views.

Pluralist

suggest that people naturally join groups and that there will be a great deal of competition for access to decision-makers.

Elite-critique

suggests that certain interests, typically businesses and the wealthy, are advantaged and that policies more often reflect their wishes than anyone else’s.

Iron triangle

a hypothetical arrangement among three elements (the corners of a triangle): an interest group, a congressional committee member or chair, and an agency within the bureaucracy.

Issue network

includes a number of different interests and political actors that work together in support of a single issue or policy

Neopluralist scholar

argue that certainly some interests are in a privileged position, but these interests do not always get what they want. Instead, their influence depends on a number of factors in the political environment such as public opinion, political culture, competition for access, and the relevance of the issue.

Voting cues

give lawmakers an indication of how to vote on issues, particularly those with which they are unfamiliar.

Trail of Tears

The forced removal of the Cherokees to Oklahoma Territory, which had been set aside for settlement by displaced tribes and designated Indian Territory, and resulted in the death of one-quarter of the tribe’s population.

American Indian Movement (AIM)

a more radical group than the occupiers of Alcatraz who temporarily took over the offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC.

Mobilization around identity

Finding the shared characteristics that will bring people together and willing to take action collectively.

Identity divide

A divide that exists when people do not share a shared sense of identity with each other. An identity divide can be overcome through engaging in an activity that brings people together who might not otherwise interact with one another.

The challenges of identity

Identities can lead: to distrust of those who do not share that identity; an willingness to compromise with those who are different; and it diminish collective action by limiting the size of the group. 

Two-party system

A system in which two major parties win all or almost all elections.

Party realignment

Political parties exist to win elections in order to influence public policy. This requires them to build coalitions across a wide range of voters who share similar preferences. When the groups that have felt that the party has served their causes in the past feel their needs are no longer being met, the party system will be upended with a shifting of party allegiances within the electorate.

Divided government

When one or more houses of the legislature are controlled by the party in opposition to the executive.

Political polarization

When political parties grow farther apart ideologically.

Bipartisanship

Cooperation among political parties through compromise.

Gerrymandering

The manipulation of legislative districts in an attempt to favor a particular candidate.

Safe seats

When map designers create safe seats so members of their party could be assured of winning by a comfortable margin.

Political parties

groups of people with similar interests who work together to create and implement policies.

Party platform

adopted at each party’s presidential nominating convention every four years. If successful, a party can create a large enough electoral coalition to gain control of the government.

Proportional representation

a model where legislative seats are allocated to competing parties based on the total share of votes they receive in the election.

Party realignment

a shifting of party allegiances within the electorate

Critical election

represents a sudden, clear, and long-term shift in voter allegiances.

Party-in-the-electorate

members or the voting public who consider themselves to be part of a political party and/or who consistently prefer the candidates of one party over another.

Party identifiers

voters that usually represent themselves in public as being members of a party, and may attend some party events or functions.

Party organization

the formal structure of the political party, and its active members are responsible for coordinating party behavior and supporting party candidates

Precinct

The lowest level of party organization.