1. Interest Groups
Chapter 3

2. Learning Objectives
Explain why interest groups create a dilemma for democracy, and why government cannot resolve the dilemma by outlawing such groups.
Define the term “interest group,” and list some of the types of such groups.
Explain the biases in the formation of interest groups, and give the consequences of those biases in terms of who is more likely to be organized, and who is less likely.

3. Learning Objectives
List the major resources possessed by interest groups, and explain how the use of one of them disturbs people who take democratic theory seriously.
Provide the reasons that governments sometimes try to regulate lobbying activity, and evaluate the effectiveness of those activities in Texas.

4. Learning Objectives
Explain how the activities of the insurance industry, the credit-service industry, the NAACP, Public Citizen Texas, and the video game industry illustrate some general principles about interest groups in Texas.
List a half-dozen of the major interest groups in Texas, explain why some of them are more or less influential in state politics, and why some have risen or declined in influence over the last quarter century.

6. Banning Corporate PACs?
Con
Political speech is protected
PACs facilitate individual participation
They are overtaxed and overregulated
Inequality caused by other factors
Pro
Money is not protected speech
They crowd out individuals
They are already at an advantage
They contribute to inequality

7. Table 3-2 The ‘Revolving Door’ at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

8. Table 3-3 Classification of the Fifty States According to Overall Impact of Interest Groups, 2007

9. Citizen Lobbying Be persistent, outgoing, and friendly Be informed
Forget form letters
Explain clearly
Be personal
Have brief written details
Be flexible
Start early
Summarized advice from Dave Harmon’s article “Texans Mobilize to Fight Cuts in their Lifelines.” (p. 85)

10. What Lobbyists Do and How they Do It
Money or equivalent best way to gain access
Line between bribery and gaining attention is thin
Discussion: Is Texas government democratic or plutocratic?

11. Regulation of Lobbying
1. Candidates must disclose cash balances in their campaign accounts and report the employer and occupation of larger donors. 2. Legislators who are lawyers must disclose when they are being paid to try to delay trials during a legislative session and their referral fees. They are forbidden to represent a paying client in front of a state agency.
3. Candidates must file campaign finance reports via the Internet unless they raise or spend less than $2,000 a year and do not use a computer to keep their records. 4. Local officials in cities of more than 100,000 population and school districts with more than 5,000 students must file personal financial statements like those filed by other state officials.

12. Major Interest Groups in Texas
Texans for Lawsuit Reform
Doctors
Lawyers
The Christian Right
Organized Labor
League of United Latin American Citizens
Teachers
Discussion: which is more influential in Texas—business or labor? Why?

13. Table 3-4 Comparison of Four Largest Texas Teacher Organizations, 2000 & 2011