Intro to Am Pol - Lecture 12 (Interest Groups and Lobbying)

What are interest groups?

• A formal organization representing the stated interests of a segment of the polity

• Primary goal is to influence public policy

Why are interest groups different from political parties?

• Unlike political parties, interest groups may not be interested in the financial alone

Why do interest groups form?

• Disturbance model

• Pluralist model

• Elitism model

• Collective-action model

Disturbance model

• Interest groups form when their interest is “disturbed”/threatened

• Implication → existing groups won’t abuse power, for fear that latent groups will form

Pluralist model

• Interest groups emerge organically whenever multiple groups, classes, or ideologies exist

• Implication → overlapping memberships will limit the scope of group demands, no permanent winner or losers

Elitism model

• Well-structured, resourceful interests will organize

• Implication → “the flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings w/ a strong upper-class accent”

Collective-action model

• Narrow, concentrated interests will organize; groups w/ broad membership will struggle to come together

• Implication →policy-makers will deliver concentrated benefits and socialize the costs

What kind of interest groups will be formed under each model?

• Disturbance?

  • The disturbed

• Pluralist?

  • Everybody!

• Elitism

  • The 1%! The upper-class! The wealthy!

• Collective-action?

  • Specific groups (Farmers, tech giants, etc.)

What are some routes for achieving influence for interest groups?

• Interest groups can try to influence the selection of officeholders

  • Broad-based, more poorly resourced groups

• Interest groups can try to influence the decisions of officeholders

  • More specific, well-resourced groups

What are the different strategies for influencing selection and decision-making?

• Inside strategy

  • Provide technical, informative, and political intel

• Outsider strategy

  • Mobilize voters/key constituencies; use as leverage w/ candidates and office holders (no direct access necessary)

• Astroturf strategy

  • Feign public activism on issue to pressure candidates + officeholders

• Litigation strategy

  • Sue!

If lobbying doesn’t buy votes, what does it get you?

• Lobbying doesn’t really persuade, but buys participation

  • Lobbying makes it cheaper for lawmakers to intervene on issues important to lobbyists and the lawmaker (“legislative subsidy”

  • Lobbying is more successful on issues that are in the electorate’s blindspot

Does money buy elections?

• Better-funded challengers are more likely to beat incumbents

• But, incumbent expenditures do not affect vote share

• What should we make of these findings?

  • High-quality candidates receive more money

    • They’re good at fundraising!

  • High-quality candidates receive more votes