Chapter 10: Interest Groups
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 2 Interest Groups in America Interest group: an organized body of individuals that seeks to influence public policy Interest Groups: Good or Evil? –Alexis de Tocqueville celebrated Americans’ ease in forming groups as a reflection of strong democratic culture –Madison, in Federalist No. 10, warned of the dangers of faction and the need to control their effects
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 3 Interest Groups in America Roles of Interest Groups –Representation –Participation –Education –Agenda Building –Program Monitoring
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 4 Group Stimulation
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 5 How Interest Groups Form Disturbance Theory: interest groups naturally form when people are adversely affected by a disturbance Interest group entrepreneur: an interest group leader or organizer
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 6 How Interest Groups Form Who is Being Organized –The wealthy, well-educated, and politically motivated are more likely to form and join lobbies –Factors affecting group organization A disturbance or adverse change may make people aware that they need political representation The quality of leadership The higher the socioeconomic level of potential members, the more likely those members are to join Establishment by an institution (a hospital or University)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 7 Interest Group Resources Membership –One of the most valuable resources a group can have is a large and politically active membership –Members provide political muscle and financial resources –Maintaining Membership Ideological appeals Direct mail The Internet –Free-rider problem: a situation in which people benefit from the activities of the organization but do not contribute to those activities
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 8 Interest Group Resources Lobbyists –Can be either full-time employees of the organization or hired from law firms or public relations firms –Lobbyists can be fundraisers for candidates –Typical interaction between lobbyists and policymakers is transmission of information –Earn $800k per year at some agencies
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 9 Interest Group Resources Political Action Committees (PACs): an organization that pools contributions from group members and donates those funds to candidates for office
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 10 Political Action Committees Most PACs are small and give less than $50,000 in total during a 2-year election cycle About 50 PACs contributed at least $1 million during the last election cycle Primary goal of contributions is generally to gain access to incumbents
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 11 Lobbying Tactics Direct lobbying: attempts to influence a legislator’s vote through personal contact –Grassroots lobbying: lobbying activities performed by rank-and-file interest group members and would-be members Information campaign: are organized efforts to gain public backing by bringing the group’s views to public attention High-Tech lobbying: using , polling and the World Wide Web to expand an organization’s reach Coalition building: the banding together of several interest groups for the purpose of lobbying
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 12 Who Lobbies?
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 13 Interest Groups and Bias At issue is fairness in a pluralist system All significant interests in the population should be adequately represented Government should listen to the views of all major interests –Membership Bias: profound bias in favor of those who are well-off financially
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 14 Interest Groups and Bias Citizen Groups: lobbying organizations built around policy concerns unrelated to members’ vocational interests –Poverty groups represent the interests of the poor –Other citizen groups focus on environmental protection, consumer protection, family values, good government, equality for various groups
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 15 Interest Groups and Bias Business Mobilization: Business lobbies increased in 1970s and 1980s –Almost 2/3 of all organizations lobbying on all issues are business-related
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.10 | 16 Interest Groups and Bias Reform –Difficult to put limits on interest groups without limiting fundamental freedoms