1. Interest Groups III
GOVT 2306, Module 6

2. Professional Associations

3. Professional Associations
Doctors, lawyers, realtors, and other professionals form associations to advance their interests.
The Texas Medical Association (AMA) is an interest group representing the concerns of physicians.
The Texas Association of Realtors (TAR) is an organization of realtors.
The Texas Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA) is an organization of attorneys who represent plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits.
The Texas Bar Association (TBA) is an organization representing the interests of attorneys.
The Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) is an association of teachers.

4. What professional associations want
Professional associations are concerned with public policies that affect their members. Real estate professionals are primarily concerned with public policies affecting real estate transactions, such as home equity lending and professional licensure. Teacher organizations focus on teacher pay and pensions as well as the whole range of education issues.

5. Strengths
Professional associations benefit from the size and dispersion of their membership. Professionals are numerous and spread throughout the state, giving them influence in most legislative districts. Furthermore, professionals earn sufficient income to support political activities, including lobbying and political campaign support. Many professionals are highly regarded by the general community.
Professional associations are most influential on issues on which their memberships are united and on which they face little opposition from other groups. They are particularly successful when they are allied with other powerful interests in Texas politics. Consider the controversy over tort reform.

6. Doctors v. Lawyers: Tort Reform
Tort reform is the revision of state laws to limit the ability of plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits to recover damages in court. The Texas Medical Association supported changes in state law to limit the ability of patients to file medical malpractice lawsuits and recover damages. Doctors believe that medical malpractice lawsuits drive up the cost of their malpractice insurance.
The Texas Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA) opposed tort reform as an unfair attempt to limit the ability of injured patients to recover damages from incompetent physicians. Tort reform hurts trial lawyers who earn their living from contingency fees on successful lawsuits.

7. Tort Reform in Texas
Doctors won the tort reform battle in Texas because of the strength of their alliance with business groups who created Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) to promote the cause. Consumer groups joined the trial lawyers to oppose tort reform, but they were no match for the TMA-TLR alliance.

8. Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups

9. Racial & Ethnic Minority Groups
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an interest group organized to represent the concerns of African Americans.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is a Latino interest group.

10. Group Goals End to discrimination Improved access to higher education
Better public services for low- and middle-income Texans, including education, healthcare, housing, and public assistance
Immigration
Increased minimum wage
Regulation of payday lending

11. Racial Profiling What is racial profiling?
Racial profiling is the practice of a police officer targeting individuals as suspected criminals on the basis of their race or ethnicity.

12. Political Influence
Organizations that represent the interests of racial and ethnic minorities have some influence in the state’s largest cities with large minority populations who are organized politically.

13. Nonetheless, in Texas . . .
Racial and ethnic minority groups are not as powerful as the more established interest groups in the state. Racial and ethnic minority groups are sometimes divided among themselves and are almost always short of funds. Many minority residents are not registered to vote; others stay home on Election Day.

14. Other Groups

15. Agricultural Groups
Agricultural interests such as the Texas Farm Bureau have long been powerful in Texas politics. They are concerned with state policies concerning pesticide use, transportation, and water. Access to water is an increasingly important issue for Texas farm interests because of the drought as farmers compete with urban homeowners and fracking for the scarce resource.

16. No. Oil industry & developers are too strong.
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization. It advocates for government policies aimed at clean air and water, and the conservation of resources. It favors efforts to address the issue of climate change.
No. Oil industry & developers are too strong.
Would you expect the Sierra Club to be especially influential in Texas? Why or why not?

17. Texas Civil Liberties Union
The Texas affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a group organized to protect the rights of individuals as outlined in the U.S. Constitution. It helps individuals who believe that the government is abridging their freedom of religion, freedom of speech, etc. by filing lawsuits on their behalf.

18. Cause Groups
Cause groups are organizations whose members care intensely about a single issue or a group of related issues. Texas Right to Life Committee, for example, opposes abortion whereas NARAL Pro- Choice Texas favors abortion rights.

19. More cause groups
The Texas Freedom Network is a civil liberties organization created to oppose Christian conservative initiatives, including school vouchers and textbook censorship.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is a cause group organized to promote women's rights.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) is a cause group organized to defend the rights of gun owners and defeat efforts at gun control.

20. What You Have Learned
What are some of the professional associations are active in Texas politics?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of professional associations?
What is tort reform? Which groups were on either side of the issue? Who has won the tort reform battle so far?
What racial and ethnic minority groups are active in state politics and what are their goals?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of racial and ethnic minority groups?
What are some of the other groups active in the state?