1.  Unit III Module 1 Special Interest Groups AP Gov Miller

2. Objectives  By the end of this module, SWBAT  Identify the different types of and describe the purpose of linkage groups in American politics  Describe the political tools that interest groups to affect public policy  Describe how interest groups interact with other linkage groups

3. Linked In  Americans reach out to institutions of public policy and vice versa via linkage groups  Political Parties  Special Interest Groups  Mass Media  These three also regularly interact with each other during campaigns and elections

4. What’s an Interest Group?  Madison called them “factions”  De Tocqueville called them “voluntary associations”  Interest groups exist whenever group of people with a common interest begin to cooperate to push that group’s political agenda

5. Tools of the Trade  Interest groups are diverse so they can affect the policy process in many ways  Voting blocs – if SIG (special interest group) has many members, its voters can be used as leverage against politicians  Campaign finances – if SIG is wealthy, it can leverage these funds as either support for an incumbent (a politician already in office) or fund a new challenger via the actions of the PAC (political action committee)

6. Tools of the Trade  More tools  Media spotlight – very active SIGs can use a variety of media (TV, radio, Internet, billboards, newsprint, etc.) to either support or attack politicians and/or policies  Legal action – SIGs can sue government entities directly or support plaintiffs or defendants in court proceedings with either pro bono attorneys or amicus curiae briefs  Lobbying – consultants reach out to elected and appointed officials to try to persuade them to adopt the POV of the interest group

7. Types of SIGs  There are four main types of interest groups  Corporate  Public interest  Single interest  Government

8. Corporate IGs  Most powerful of the four  Preferred tools  Campaign finances  Lobbyists  Legal action  Includes the following  Trade associations (AMA), labor unions (Teamsters), business associations (chambers of commerce)

9. Public Interest IGs  Broad objectives of stakeholders, broad policy objectives  Preferred tools  Voting blocs  Media  Lobbying  Includes the following: AARP, taxpayers groups, NOW, NAACP

10. Single Interest IGs  Focused on single policy objective  zealous membership  Preferred tools  Media  Legal action  Lobbying  Includes the following: Greenpeace, NRA, WWF, VFW, church groups

11. Government IGs  Local, state government bodies attempting to influence federal government  Preferred tools  Lobbying  Media  Voting blocs  Includes the following: regional associations, county associations, National Governors Association

12. SIGs and Political Parties  “Balloon Model” – political parties conglomeration of different SIGs like a bunch of balloons is simply made of individual balloons  Democrat sample “balloons”  NOW, NAACP, SEIU, ACLU, Urban League  Republican sample “balloons”  NRA, NAM, AMA, chambers of commerce, police associations, VFW

13. SIGs and Political Parties  SIGs with different aims can sometimes force elements of political parties apart  More difficult for politicians to keep coalitions together – coalitions must shift in support of another party or politician  essence of Madison’s pluralism  If SIGs become too narrow in their agendas, won’t reach out to other SIGs to form coalitions, then gridlock is the result (hyperpluralism)

14. The Future of SIGs  In the late 20 th, early 21 st centuries, SIGs have grown more powerful at the expense of political parties  Supreme Court has given them more rights to  Contribute to political campaigns both directly and indirectly  Run issue campaigns in parallel with national, state, local elections  As a result they are spreading and growing in influence and financial strength

15. The Future of SIGs  Bureaucracy affected as well  Insidious sometimes problematic relationship between interest groups, Congress, and bureaucratic agencies called “iron triangles”  All these groups have “revolving doors” – individuals rotate jobs working for each of the three sides – develop a unique working relationship that can undermine other greater policy objectives

16. The Future of SIGs  Iron Triangle Example  Lockheed Aircraft (SIG), Senate Armed Forces Committee (Congress), US Air Force (bureaucracy)  Result – F-35 boondoggle (waste of public money)  Why it’s bad – Most military experts agree that the F-35 isn’t worth all of the money, not even a good airplane, but Lockheed needs the contract and uses its influence with the Air Force to push the funding through Congress anyway  Current damage – over 500 billion dollars