Chapter 10

Interest Groups and the American Political Tradition  Interest group: organized group of individuals who share some goals and want to INFLUENCE public policy (LAWS)  Lobbyists can be employees or volunteers  A threat to the political system or contributors to its proper functioning?  Alexis de Tocqueville  James Madison  Federalist 10: 2

Figure 10.1 Investing in Public Policy 3

The Roles of Interest Groups  Negative:  Each group pushes its own selfish interests  Positive:  Represent people before their government  Provide vehicle for political participation  Educate members, the public, and elected officials  Highlight new issues through agenda building  Monitor programs important to members 4

Figure 10.2 Labor Pains 5

How Interest Groups Form  Pluralists view interest groups as positive way to foster discussion about issues  Groups form as needed  However, group organization not always a given  Or ineffective groups may form  Also important to consider how well a group is represented 6

Interest Group Entrepreneur  Skills of interest group entrepreneur forming group key  Development of United Farm Workers good example of the importance of leadership  Initial efforts to organize farm workers failed  Cesar Chavez’s efforts and tactics made group a viable force in negotiations for better wages and working conditions 7

No Contract, No Wine! 8

Who is Being Organized?  Main factors in successful interest group formation:  Presence of adverse change or disturbance  Strong leadership  High socioeconomic level of potential members  Well-to-do, educated, and politically experienced  Not all interest groups have real membership 9

Interest Group Resources  MEMBERS -one of the most valuable resources  Pool of potential voters  Source of financial resources  Groups use newsletters and s to keep membership informed of work  Membership retention key  New members needed to increase resources and influence  Internet important in this effort 10

The Free-Rider Problem  Many persons and businesses support a group’s goals but see no need to join  Benefits of a group’s efforts not always limited to that group  Public television and radio  Many times groups offer other benefits only to members  Information and networking 11

Lobbyists  Persons who represent the organization before the government and provide information to the membership  Can be full-time employees of the organization or hired on retainer  Important to lobbying success: skill, knowledge, and contacts  Primary job is to pass information on to government officials 12

You Got Problems? Call Us 13

Political Action Committees  Organization designed to pool contributions from group members  Donations then made to candidates for political office  Can be affiliated with an interest group or corporation, or organized separately  Limited to $5,000 per congressional candidate in each separate election  Contributions in 2008 totaled $413 million from 3,600 PACs 14

Largest PACs Name of PACContributions in Last 2- year Reporting Cycle National Association of Realtors$4.0 million International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $3.3 million National Beer Wholesalers$2.9 million American Bankers Association$2.8 million United Parcel Service$2.1 million 15

Political Action Committees  PACs pragmatic and adaptable  Want to achieve immediate policy goals  Political scientists have found no direct link between the way members of Congress vote and PAC contributions  Contributions do seem to affect work in congressional committees 16

Figure 10.3 Friendship is a Wonderful Thing 17

Lobbying Tactics  Tactics depend on stage of process and institution targeted  Three major types of lobbying tactics:  Direct lobbying  Grassroots lobbying  Information campaigns  Groups also use coalitions to influence policymaking 18

Figure 10.4 The Tactics of Advocacy 19

Politics of Global Change  European Union formed in 1992 by the Treaty of Maastricht  Currently 27 member countries  Purpose is to harmonize economies of member countries  Fragmented government; structure facilitates pluralist system and many interest groups 20

Lobbyists Swarm at the European Union 21

Direct Lobbying  Personal contact with policymakers  Not directly asking for a certain vote  Lobbyists must provide good data to frame issue in light most positive to their viewpoint  Testifying at public hearings or committee hearings  Legal advocacy, or litigation 22

Sanchez Reaches Out 23

Grassroots Lobbying  Involves members of an interest group  May include supportive outsiders  Many tactics used, sometimes together with direct lobbying  Letters, s, faxes, and phone calls  Demonstrations and protests  Direct lobbying by important members  Internet facilitates communication and coordination of efforts 24

Tea Party Activists 25

An Image That Angered a Nation 26

Information Campaigns  Organized efforts to bring an interest group’s viewpoints to the public to gain public backing  Public relations campaigns  Sponsoring research 27

Coalition Building Where several organizations band together to lobby  Use resources more efficiently  Usually informal arrangements  Diverse coalitions strongest 28

Is the System Biased?  American political system more pluralist than majoritarian  Among Western democracies, U.S. is one of most pluralistic nations  For fairness, all interests in population must be represented and government should listen to the views of all major interests 29

Pluralism Worldwide 30

Membership Patterns  Public opinion surveys show some sectors of society better represented than others  Bias towards the well-off financially  One survey: “the 10 percent of adults who work in an executive, managerial, or administrative capacity are represented by 82 percent” of organizations involved in advocacy on economic issues 31

Citizen Groups  Lobbying organizations built around policy concerns unrelated to members’ vocational interests  Benefits largely ideological and aesthetic  “Public interest” groups  Some groups supported by other sources than their membership  These groups have “free riders” who benefit from programs without directly supporting the organization 32

Business Mobilization  Businesses mobilized in 1970s and 1980s when new regulatory agencies established  Business organizations can mobilize both members and their corporations  Much greater resources than citizen groups  Business interests often divided, with one industry facing another 33

Figure 10.5 Interest Group Participants 34

A Lott of Connections 35

Reform  Difficult to eliminate or reduce biases in interest group system  Interest groups are organized way to petition government  If advantages of some groups too great, restrictions can be imposed  Campaign finance reform efforts; restrictions on PACs; disclosure rules for lobbyists  Recent Supreme Court ruling on corporate contributions negates some restrictions 36