Interest group: Any formal association of individuals or organizations that attempts to influence government decision-making and/or the making of public policy.
The term interest group is not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.
Lobbyist: Someone who represents the interest organization, usually compensated for doing so.
Lobbyists are required to register with the government (state or federal).
Categorizing Interest Groups
Membership organizations: Individuals join voluntarily and pay dues.
In-house lobbyists: Lobbyists who work for one interest group or firm and represent their organization in a lobbying capacity.
Contract lobbyist: Individuals who work for firms that represent a multitude of clients and are often hired due to their resources and ability to contact and lobby lawmakers.
Legislative liaison: An individual whose job is to present issues to decision-makers.
Associations and Lobbying Techniques
Associations: Groups of institutions that join with others, often within the same trade or industry (trade associations), and have similar concerns.
Inside lobbying or direct lobbying: Taking the interest group’s message directly to a government official such as a lawmaker.
Outside lobbying or indirect lobbying: Interest group attempts to get its message out to the public.
Issuing press releases,
Placing stories and articles in the media,
Entering coalitions with other groups,
Contacting interest group members.
Interest Group Functions
Influence policy
Monitor government activity
NAACP keeping track of voter identification bills
NRA keeping track of gun-control bills
Serve as a means of political participation for members
Provide information to the public and to lawmakers
Public vs. Private Interest Groups
Private Interest Groups: Seek particularized benefits from government that favor either a single interest or a narrow set of interests.
For example, corporations and political institutions may lobby government for tax exemptions, fewer regulations, or favorable laws that benefit individual companies
Public Interest Groups: Promote public, or collective, goods that help most or all citizens.
10.2 Collective Action and Interest Group Formation
Explain the concept of collective action and its effect on interest group formation
Describe free riding and the reasons it occurs
Discuss ways to overcome collective action problems
Collective Action and Free Riding
Collective Action Problems: People tend not to act when the perceived benefit is insufficient to justify the costs associated with engaging in the action.
The Free Rider Problem: Some individuals can receive benefits (get a free ride) without helping to bear the cost.
Small interest groups are more able to prevent free riding than the large ones.
The Disturbance Theory: Explains why groups mobilize due to an event in the political, economic, or social environment.
Why Do People Join Interest Groups?
Material incentives: Tangible benefits of joining a group.
AARP, for example, offers discounts on hotel accommodations and insurance rates for its members
Solidary incentives: Provide the benefit of joining with others who have the same concerns or are similar in other ways.
For example, people joining NAACP to fight inequality and injustice
Purposive incentives: Focus on the issues or causes promoted by the group.
Someone concerned about protecting individual rights might join a group like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
10.3 Interest Groups as Political Participation
Analyze how interest groups provide a means for political participation
Discuss recent changes to interest groups and the way they operate in the United States
Explain why lower socioeconomic status citizens are not well represented by interest groups
Identify the barriers to interest group participation in the United States
Group Participation as Civic Engagement
Contribution to Civic Engagement: Joining interest groups can help facilitate civic engagement.
Make people feel more connected to the political and social community
Grassroots movements: Interest groups provide a means of representing people and serve as a link between them and government
Interest groups also help frame issues to benefit their causes
Interest groups try to get issues on the government agenda and to monitor a variety of government programs.
Trends in Public Interest Group Formation and Activity
The most significant change is the tremendous increase in both the number and type of groups.
Reasons for the Increase:
Reflecting new interests in society
The devolution of power to state governments
Fragmentation of existing interests
Increase in professionalization in lobbying and in the sophistication of lobbying techniques
Increased number of contract lobbying firms
How Representative is the Interest Group System?
Predictors of Political Engagement: Wealth and education, components of socioeconomic status, are strong predictors of political engagement.
The plight of poverty and interest groups: The poor may also have low levels of political efficacy.
The conviction that you can make a difference or that government cares about you and your views.
Minorities may also participate less often than the majority population
Lack of political skills to influence government
Perspectives on Interest Groups Influence
The Pluralist Theory: People naturally join groups, leading to a great deal of competition for access to decision-makers
The Elite Theory: Businesses and the wealthy, are advantaged and that policies more often reflect their wishes than anyone else’s
Interest Groups and Policymaking
The Iron Triangle: Interest group, Congress, and bureaucracy cooperate to make policies
Issue network: Policy-making process includes a number of different interests and political actors that work together in support of a single issue or policy.
Neopluralism: Some interests are in a privileged position, but these interests do not always get what they want
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.
10.4 Pathways of Interest Group Influence
Describe how interest groups influence the government through elections
Explain how interest groups influence the government through the governance processes
Influence in Elections
Interest Groups and Political Candidates: Support for the candidates who are sympathetic to their views in hopes of gaining access to them once they are in office
Political Action Committees: Some interests groups form political action committees (PACs), groups that collect funds from donors and distribute them to candidates who support their issues.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010): Granted corporations and unions the right to spend unlimited money in form of independent expenditures
Influencing Governmental Policy
Voting Cues: Interest groups and lobbyists provide lawmakers with information about the technical details of policy proposals Information about fellow lawmakers’ stands on policy Information on constituents’ perceptions
Targets of Interest Groups
Relevant lawmakers
Relevant committees
Relevant lawmakers when bill is on the floor
Target the budgetary process
Try to defeat legislation
Target the executive and judicial branches (amicus curiae brief)
10.5 Free Speech and the Regulation of Interest Groups
Identify the various court cases, policies, and laws that outline what interest groups can and cannot do
Evaluate the arguments for and against whether contributions are a form of freedom of speech
Interest Groups and Free Speech
The First Amendment
The Right to Free Speech
The Right to Assemble
The Right to Petition Government
The Federal Election Campaign Act (1971)
Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
Soft money: A way in which interests could spend money on behalf of candidates without being restricted by federal law
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010): Banned soft money
Regulating Lobbying and Interest Group Activity
The 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act
Defined who can and cannot lobby
Requires lobbyists and interest groups to register with the federal government
The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007
Increased restrictions on lobbying
The act prohibited contact between members of Congress and lobbyists who were the spouses of other Congress members.
Lobbying the Executive and Legislative Branches
President Obama’s Executive Order 13490
Prohibited appointees in the executive branch from accepting gifts from lobbyists
Banned them from lobbying for a period of two years.
Revolving door laws: Prevent lawmakers from lobbying government immediately after leaving public office.
Members of the House of Representatives cannot register to lobby for a year after they leave office
Senators have a two-year “cooling off” period before they can officially lobby.
Key Terms
Association: groups of companies or institutions that organize around a common set of concerns, often within a given industry or trade
Astroturf movement: a political movement that resembles a grassroots movement but is often supported or facilitated by wealthy interests and/or elites
Citizens United: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was a 2010 Supreme Court case that granted corporations and unions the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections
Collective good: a good such as public safety or clean air, often produced by government, that is generally available to the population as a whole
Contract lobbyist: a lobbyist who works for a contract lobbying firm that represents clients before government
Disturbance theory: the theory that an external event can lead to interest group mobilization
Efficacy: the belief that you make a difference and that government cares about you and your views
Elite critique: the proposition that wealthy and elite interests are advantaged over those without resources
Fragmentation: the result when a large interest group develops diverging needs
Free rider problem: the situation that occurs when some individuals receive benefits (get a free ride) without helping to bear the cost
Grassroots movement: a political movement that often begins from the bottom up, inspired by average citizens concerned about a given issue
In-house lobbyist: an employee or executive within an organization who works as a lobbyist on behalf of the organization
Inside lobbying: the act of contacting and taking the organization’s message directly to lawmakers in an attempt to influence policy
Iron triangle: three-way relationship among congressional committees, interests groups, and the bureaucracy
Issue network: a group of interest groups and people who work together to support a particular issue or policy
Legislative liaison: a person employed by a governmental entity such as a local government, executive department, or university to represent the organization before the legislature
Lobbyist: a person who represents an organization before government in an attempt to influence policy
Material incentives: substantive monetary or physical benefits given to group members to help overcome collective action problems
Membership organization: an interest group that usually consists of dues-paying members who organize around a particular cause or issue
Neopluralist: a person who suggests that all groups’ access and influence depend on the political environment
Outside lobbying: the act of lobbying indirectly by taking the organization’s message to the public, often through the use of the media and/or by issue press releases, in hopes that the public will then put pressure on lawmakers
Particularized benefit: a benefit that generally accrues to a narrow segment of society
Pluralist: a person who believes many groups healthily compete for access to decision-makers
Public interest group: an interest group that seeks a public good, which is something that accrues to all
Purposive incentives: benefits to overcome collective action problems that appeal to people’s support of the issue or cause
Revolving door laws: laws that require a cooling-off period before government officials can register to lobby after leaving office
Soft money: money that interests can spend on behalf of candidates without being restricted by federal law
Solidary incentives: benefits based on the concept that people like to associate with those who are similar to them
Voting cues: sources—including fellow lawmakers, constituents, and interest groups—that lawmakers often use to help them decide how to vote, especially on unfamiliar issues
Critical Thinking Questions
How might we get more people engaged in the interest group system?
Are interest groups good or bad for democracy? Defend and explain your answer.
Why does it matter how we define interest group?
How do collective action problems serve as barriers to group formation, mobilization, and maintenance? If you were a group leader, how might you try to overcome these problems?
Is it possible to balance the pursuit of private goods with the need to promote the public good? Is this balance a desired goal? Why or why not?
How representative are interest groups in the United States? Do you agree that “all active and legitimate groups have the potential to make themselves heard?” Or is this potential an illusion? Explain your answer.
Evaluate the Citizens United decision. Why might the Court have considered campaign contributions a form of speech? Would the Founders have agreed with this decision? Why or why not?
How do we regulate interest groups and lobbying activity? What are the goals of these regulations? Do you think these regulations achieve their objectives? Why or why not? If you could alter the way we regulate interest group activity and lobbying, how might you do so in a way consistent with the Constitution and recent Supreme Court decisions?