chapter 11: interest groups

Role of Interest Groups 

• Voter turnout in elections has declined since 1960 but participation in interest groups have mushroomed. 

• Freedom to organize (the right to “peaceably assemble and to petition” guaranteed by the First Amendment) is fundamental like the freedom of speech and of the press. 

• Interest Group is an organization with similar policy goals and tries to influence the political process (at every branch and every level of government) to achieve those goals 

• Interest groups may support candidates but they do not run their own slate of candidates 

• Interest groups are policy specialists while political parties are policy generalists. Interest groups do not have to appeal to everyone for their votes.  

Theories of Interest Group Politics 

• Pluralist Theory says interest groups compete and counterbalance each other. Their activity brings representation to all 

• Elite theory says a few groups (the wealthy) most of the power 

• Hyperpluralist theory says that too many groups are getting too much of what they want, resulting in gridlock and a government policy that is contradictory 

Pluralist Theory

• Completing groups have widely dispersed influence. Groups win some and lose some but no group always wins or loses. 

• Some groups are stronger than others and competing interests don’t always get an equal hearing. Lobbying is open to all and not a real problem. 

• Group theory of politics have several key points: 

  • Groups are a key link between people and the gov’t where all legitimate interests can get a hearing from gov’t 

  • Groups compete and make claims against each other r

  • No one group is too dominant. When one group grows too powerful, opponents work too hard to restore that balance 

  • Groups usually play by the “rule of the game” with few groups lying, cheating, stealing, or engaging in violence 

  • Groups work in one resource can use another to affect public policy 

Elite Theory 

• Elite theorists say that the real power is held by a few people, key groups, and institutions. Gov’t is run by a few groups looking out for themselves 

• There are interlocking and concentrated power centers. ~⅓ of the top institutional position are held by people who have more than one position 

• Groups are extremely unequal in power. The power of corporations can easily push aside the consumers’ interests

• Honest lobbying is a problem because it benefits the few at the expense of the many 

Hyperpluralist Theory and Interest Group Liberalism 

• It is the pluralist system out of control and called interest group Liberalism because of the government's excessive deference to groups 

• Interest Group Liberalism is when all pressure group demands are legitimate and it is the job of the government to advance them all. The result is government agencies proliferate, conflicting regulations expand, the number of programs multiply, and their budgets skyrocket.

• It is promoted by the network of subgovernments (aka iron triangles). Iron Triangle are made of: 

  • Key interest groups interested in a government policy 

  • Government agency in charge of administering that policy 

  • Congressional members on the committees and subcommittees handling that same policy 

• Relations between the groups are that the government has become too cozy. Hard choices rarely get made because the government tried to favor all groups leading to policy paralysis (policy gridlock) 

• Recent increase in the number of interest groups might have weakened the power of subgovernments. With more groups competing, a cozy relationship found in iron triangles is more difficult to sustain. 

Successful Interest Group

• Some factors that affect the success of an interest group include the size of the group, the intensity of the group, and its financial resources 

• Large groups are surprisingly ineffective when compared to small groups. Small groups have organizational advantages over large groups 

• Potential Group is made of all the people who might become group members because they share some common interest 

• Actual Group is made of those in the potential group who choose to join. Groups vary in the degree of enrollment from their potential gorp 

• Collective Good is something of value (like clean air of higher minimum wage) that can’t be withheld from potential group members. Members of the potential group share inthe benefit that members of the actual group work to be secure. 

• Economist Olson said that all groups are in the business of providing collective goods and suffer from the Free-Rider Problem. Happens when potential group members decide not to join, but rather sit back and let other people (actual group members) do the work which the potential group will still benefit from.  

• Olson’s Law of Large Groups says that the bigger the group, the more serious the free rider problem. 

  • Easier to organize a small group with clear economic goals than to organize a large group with broader goals.

  • Small groups have an organizational advantage. Small group member’s share of the collective good may be great enough that they will try hard to secure it. In a large group, each member can only expect a tiny share of the gains or rewards. 

• The advantage of small groups explains why public interest groups have a hard time financially while the lobbying costs and benefits for businesses are concentrated. Large corporations also enjoy a size advantage. Small potential groups like businesses have an easier time organizing for political action than large potential groups like consumers.  

• The best way to overcome Olson’s law is to provide Selective Benefits (goods that a group can restrict from the potential group). Pay yearly dues to get benefits like publications, discounts, and group insurance rates.  

Intensity of Groups 

• One way a large group may be mobilized is through an issue that the group feels intensely about life abortion or gun control 

• Both small and large groups have psychological advantages when intensity is involved. Politicians are more likely to listen to groups that show they care deeply about an issue. 

• Single-Issue Group (the group has a narrow interest, dislikes compromise, and single-mindedly pursues its goals) deals with issues that evoke strong emotions like nuclear power, gun control, and abortion 

Financial Resources 

• PACs can distort the government process in favor of those who can raise the most money 

• Big interests do not always win even on the most important issues. 

Interest Group Explosion 

• A major factor for the explosion in the number of interest groups has been the development of new technology such as computerized mail lists 

• Over 90% of interest groups have their headquarters in Washington, D.C. Large number of highly specialized and seemingly trivial groups. Almost every group has a staff and publications. 

• Many interest groups are mostly economic. 80% of the interest groups come from occupational, industrial, or professional memberships 

Interest groups try to shape policy 

• Interest groups have three traditional strategies of lobbying, electioneering, and litigation. They have also developed other sophisticated techniques to appeal to the public for support

Lobbying 

• Lobbyists are political persuasion who are representatives of their organized groups. They usually work in WAshington, handling the groups’ legislative business. 

• Two types of lobbyists: 

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

  • Lobbyists for hire on a temporary basis (hired gun) 

• Lobbyists try to influence Congress members but can also help in four other ways: 

  • Lobbyists can be a source of information. Because they usually confine themselves to a single policy area, they can provide specialized expertise. 

  • Lobbyists can act as free consultants by helping with political strategy. 

  • Lobbyist can help formulate campaign strategy and get their group’s members to back a politician’s reelection campaign 

  • Lobbyists can be a source of new ideas and innovations. 

• Is lobbying effective? Some say that lobbyists’ power over policy is exaggerated. There is evidence that lobbying can persuade legislators to support or oppose a policy like when the NRA opposed certain gun control legislation. 

• It is difficult to evaluate the effects of lobbying because it is hard to isolate its effects from other influences. Lobbying is geared more toward activating and reinforcing a group's supporters like campaigning 

Electioneering 

• Many groups get involved in electioneering (aiding candidates financially and getting their members to support them) Getting the right people into office or keeping them there is a key strategy for interest groups 

• Political Action Committees (PACs) are a way for interest groups to participate in electioneering. Nearly half of the reelection candidates from the House of Representatives received most of their campaign funds from PACs. Most funds go to incumbents because incumbents are more likely to provide a return on the PACs‘ investment money 

Litigation

• Litigation(using the judicial system) is used by an interest group when it fails in Congress to get what it wants 

• Environmental laws, like the Clean Air Act, often include provisions that allow citizens to sue for enforcement. The threat of lawsuits increases the chances that businesses will consider the environmental impact of what they do. 

• The most famous victories in the court by interest groups were by civil rights groups in the 1950s. The groups won major victories in court cases about school desegregation, equal housing, and labor market equality 

• One way for interest groups to get their views heard by the courts is to file amicus curiae briefs(“friend of the court”). The briefs are written arguments submitted to the courts in support of one side of a case. 

• A more direct judicial strategy used by interest groups is to file Class Action Lawsuits which allows a group of similar plaintiffs to combine similar grievances into a single lawsuit 

Going Public 

• Many interest groups find it important to shape a good image by employing public relations techniques to present themselves in the most favorable light. The practice of appealing to the public for support has a long tradition in American politics. 

Types of Interest Groups

• Interest Groups can be divided into four main policy areas: economic issues, environmental issues, equality issues, and consumer issues 

Economic Groups

• All economic groups are concerned with wages, prices, and profits. The American government doesn't determine these factors directly. Public policy has economic effects through regulations, tax advantages, subsidies and contracts, and iteration trade policy 

• Businesses, labor, and farmers worry about government regulations. Every group wants its share of direct aid and government contracts. Executives, workers, and farmers want to influence the government because regulation, taxes, subsidies, and policy affect their livelihoods.

• Labor groups have more members than any other interest group except the AARP. The American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a union of unions. Labor reached its peak in 1956 with 33% of the workforce belonging to a union; unions are at a 70-year low with only 11.9% in a union. 

• Unions have fought to establish the union shop (requires new employees to join the union to keep the job). Business groups support right-to-work-laws (outlaws union membership as a condition of employment). Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act (1947) which allowed states to adopt right-to-work laws. (south and Midwest)

• Business groups represent 70% of all interest groups within Washington. Business PACs have increased more dramatically than any other category of PACs. Most large corporations have additional offices in Washington to monitor legislative activity. 

• Business interest groups are mostly unified to get greater profits but they often fragment when policy choices need to be made. The national association of manufacturers (NAM) and the Chamber of Commerce are two umbrella organizations that represent the general business interests of most corporation 

• Hundreds of trade and product associations fight regulations that could reduce their profits. They seek favorable tax treatments, government subsidies and contracts. Like American trade associations, foreign corporations and governments are concerned about policies like tariffs and tax treatments. 

Environmental Groups 

• Environmentalists have a good deal of influence in Congress and state legislatures. Some groups like the Sierra Club (1892) and Audubon Society(1905) have been around since the late 1800’s. Many groups trace themselves back to the first Earth Day in 1970 where ecology-minded people marched to symbolize their support for environmental protections. 

• Group police intensifies when two public interests clash like environmental protection versus an ensured supply of energy. 

  • Environmentalist insists that energy supplies can be ensured without harming the environment or risking radiation from nuclear plants 

  • Energy producers argue that environmentalists oppose nearly all new energy projects. They say some limited risks need to be taken to fulfill energy demands. 

Equality Interest Groups 

• Interest Groups representing women and minorities have made equal rights their main policy goal 

• Equality at the polls, in housing, on the job, in education, and in other facets of American life has been the dominant goal of African-American groups with the oldest being the NAACP. They have won many victories in principle but equality in practice has been much slower in coming. 

• Civil rights groups today continue to push for more effective affirmative action programs to ensure educational and employment opportunities. NAACP’s Fair
  Share program negotiates agreements with businesses to increase minority hiring and the use of minority contractors. 

• The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote but other guarantees of equal protection remained absent from the Constitution. Women’s rights groups like the National Organization for Women (NOW) have lobbied for the end of sexual discrimination. They had a primary goal of passing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) which was approved by Congress in 1972 but fell 3 states short of the 38 needed for ratification. NOW is still committed to enacting protections the ERA would have conditionally guaranteed by advocating the enactment of many individual statutes at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Consumer/Public Interest Groups 

• Public Interest Lobbies (groups that champion causes or ideas “in the public interest”) are organizations that seek a “collective good” where everyone would be better off, regardless of whether they joined in the lobbying or not. 

• Consumer group movement was started by Ralph Nader who became famous with his book, Unsafe at Any Speed, which attacked the safety of GM’s Corvair. Nader successfully sued DM for invasion of privacy after GM had a private detective dig into his background and follow him. Nader used the money from the damage settlement to start the first major consumer group in Washington. 

• Consumer groups have won many victories like the Consumer Product Safety Commission (1973) which has the power to regulate all consumer products and ban dangerous ones 

• Other public interest groups include the groups that speak for those who can not speak for themselves like children, animals, and the mentally ill; religious groups; and good-government groups like Common Cause

Understanding Interest Groups 

• The problem with interest groups today is the same as when James Madision defined it over 200 years ago. A free society must allow for representation of all groups but interest groups are usually more concerned with their own self-interest groups not be allowed to get a dominant position

• Madison’s solution was to create an open system where many groups would be able to participate . Groups with opposing interests would counterbalance each other. 

• Pluralist Theorist believe that a rough approximation of the public interest emerges from this competition 

• Elite theories look at the proliferation of business PACs as evidence of more interest group corruption in politics. They note that the wealiter interests have the advantage of the PAC system. 

• Hyper Pluralist Theories say that when a major interest group objects to some legislation, policy makers will bend over backwards to try to accommodate it. They argue that this behavior has made it harder to accomplish policy changes and has led to policy gridlock 

• The power of interest groups through PACs and other means have an effect on the scope of government. Most groups try to maintain programs that benefit them thus they promote a government with a broader scope. President Carter and Reagan tried to cut federal waste but were frustrated by interest groups. 

• As the federal government became more involved in more areas, more interest groups have risen to influence policy