Courts , Interest Groups, and Bureaucracy

Court of Appeals (Circuit Courts)

Supreme Court

Judicial Review

Interpretation

Precedent

Judicial restraint and Judicial activism

Modern bureaucracy

Bureaucratic authority

Regulations and deregulations

Implementation, or removing of, control over certain behaviors.

The bureaucratic burden/The time tax

Huge externality, typical of improperly thought through policy, in which the people who need a certain policy the most are affected by. The time-consuming nature of policy making comes at a cost, to typically marginalized groups. Example: Medicaid regulations over employment time or income, which limits who can receive it.

The other burden is the idea of needing to follow the rules.

Influences on Bureaucratic policy making

President (the agencies follow their leadership), Congress (control budget and creates laws), interest groups (regulatory capture, working through them and lobbying agencies), courts

Example: DMV long lines due to limitations on how many people they can hire, about 600, because of NC legislature.

Interest groups and who they represent

Groups that use the political process to advance their group’s objectives, or part of, and influence the government. They can represent any dedicated group or issue.

Lobbying

while controversial, lobbyists are people who advocate for a certain group’s or interest group’s interest. People coming together to bring a group’s interest to legislators. Can also not just be money, even if wealthy interest groups do use that tool, and can be concentrated influence.

Can range from clean air to raising pharmaceutical drug prices.

An example of concentrated influence is prohibition, which was a small group of many housewives who wanted their drunk husbands to stop beating them.

IG Insider strategies: PACs

Political action committees, which funds politicans and legislators, and chooses who will be leading the political party. They typically target people who already believes in the cause, but can influence those who are uncertain on issue. They also largely donate to incumbents.

Lobbying Congress

Supported in First Amendment, the right to petition Congress. Typically people who are already experts in their fields, while legislators might not know or have the time to become experts. Have to tell the truth, but still can manipulate it to their advantage.

Lobbying the bureaucracy

Can influence agency regulations

Example: Like when an agency is thinking about what drug prices to reduce, a pharmaceutical lobbyist can give input what drugs should be price reduced.

Outsider strategies: Courts

Interest groups often sue agencies to try to halt certain regulation. In many cases, lobbyists are blocked off from insider strategies due to lack of capital, interest, political clout; think education interest groups. A lot of environmental and citizen groups go through this route.

Grassroots lobbying

Work on public opinion and having the public put in the work, used by many big lobby groups as well. Getting the public engaged in an issue. Like when the ACLU tells you to contact your representative.

Factors affecting success in influencing policy

group resources (membership, capital, public image), intensity of the group (their passion for it), competition, goals (the more specific the better), status quo

Interest groups: Regulatory capture

an agency we expect to regulate an interest or policy consistent with the public good, but they end up helping the industry they’re supposed to regulate. These organizations end up becoming your clients in bureaucratic agencies.

Example: The gun lobby doesn’t want bowhunters to use deer urine and were successful in its efforts.

Another are airplane regulations and the issues facing the Boeing 737, which its crashes were used to blame foreign pilots.

Iron Triangle

Congressional committee, interest group, and an agency working in a single policy area. Interest group influence on Congress and in turn Congress implements these regulations onto the agencies. The public is often left out. Broader concept as to how policy is made. Meat production is commonly affected by this as the USDA cannot implement forced recalls, most are voluntary.

Issue Networks

more complex way of making policy, with multiple organizations involved.

Such as fishing groups and Greenpeace making policy on fishing. Or cable versus streaming.

Protest

When everything else has failed, and the chances are low. Many still fail, unfortunately

Example: Black Lives Matter protests after the death of George Floyd. Another big example is the Civil Rights movement; and the most prominent example. Controversial ones are the Stop Oil protestors which threw soup onto art.