In the American Political System
INTEREST/PRESSURE GROUPS

U.S. Government Chapter 6
INTEREST GROUPS

Interest Group - A Definition
 An interest group is a private organization of like-minded people whose goal is to influence and shape public policy.

Interest groups are “extraconstitutional”.

The Nature of Interest
Groups
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Interest groups are private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy.
Interest groups exist to shape public policy
Interest groups are “extra-constitutional”.


Valuable Functions of
Interest Groups
Interest groups raise awareness of public affairs , or issues that concern the people at large, seek to influence legislation

Early Development
 Date back to the time of the
“Founding Fathers”
 Seen as power-hungry

Believed to “promote instability, injustice, and confusion”

Criticisms
 Some groups have an influence far out of proportion to their size or importance
 In rare cases, groups use tactics such as bribery, threats, and so on.

Lobbying
 Lobbying is any activity by which a group pressures legislators and influences the legislative process

Types of Interest Groups
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Economic
Ideological or single-issue
Public interest
Foreign policy
Governmental

Types of Interest Groups
 1. Professional: Such as the American Medical
Association
 AMA building in
Chicago

Economic Groups
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Business
Trade Associations
Labor
Professional Associations

 2. Labor Unions

 3. Business- Example:

 Ideological: A cause or idea such as environmental organizations, issues such as gun ownership

Public Interest Groups
 Motivated by such issues as the environment, safe energy, consumer protection, and good government.

 4. Religious

 5. Certain group of people, such as retired persons

Foreign Policy Interest
Groups
 Concerned with the relationship between the
United States and foreign nations. Examples include the Council on Foreign Relations, and
AIPAC—the American-Israel Political Action
Committee.

Government Interest Groups
 Represent the interests of government employees, as well as elected officials from state and local governments.

Characteristics and Power of
Interest Groups
 Size and resources
 Cohesiveness
 Leadership
 Techniques
 Intensity

Interest Group Techniques
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 Appeals to the public and mass media
Mass mailings
Influence of rule making
Litigation
Election Activities/electioneering
Forming a political party
Lobbying

Growth of Interest Groups
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
1960 1970 1980 1990
Number

Interest Groups vs.
Political Parties

Interest groups…
 support candidates, but cannot nominate them
 take a narrow focus on most issues
 compete for influence over elected officials

Interest Groups vs.
Political Parties ( con’t.)

Political parties…
 can nominate candidates
 focus on a broad range of issues to appeal to a broad range of people
 compete for control of the branches of govt. to control policy making

Proposals for Reform
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Increasing the number of groups
Full disclosure
Increased federal and state regulations

The Influence of Lobbyists
 A. Who are the lobbyists
 1. Employees of associations who try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and especially legislative branches of government.
 2. The revolving door is the employment cycle from government to interest group.

IRON TRIANGLES
 3. Iron triangles are mutually supporting relationships among interest groups, congressional committees and subcommittees, and the government agencies that share a common policy concern

B. What do Lobbyists do?
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1. Provide money for congressional election campaigns
2. A “third house” of Congress, representing people on the basis of interests
 3. Interest groups provide 2 types of info
 A. political-who supports/opposes legis.
 B. Substantive-impact of proposed laws

Contributions regulated by the federal government that are given directly to a candidate

 Previously unlimited and unregulated campaign contributions to federal candidates and the national parties
 Supposedly for generic "party building" activities (ex: get-out-thevote drives, bumper stickers, yard signs, and “issue ads"

Federal Election Reform Act
1974
1.
2.
Created Federal Election Commission
Required disclosure
3.
1.
Limited amount of money that could be contributed
– HARD MONEY
Individual contributions may not exceed $1000 per candidate per election per year
4.
5.
No foreign contributions
Soft Money unlimited

Federal Election Reform Act:
Unintended Consequences?
1.
The rise of Political
Action Committees
2.
Millions of dollars of unregulated “ soft money ” used to finance campaigns

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 a.k.a. McCain-Feingold Bill
 Ban on national parties and officeholders raising and spending “soft money”
 Special interest groups can only use regulated “hard money for pro-candidate communications with increased limits
 Ban on non-partisan “issue ads
60 days before election

B.C.R.A (McCain-Feingold):
Unintended Consequences?
1.
2.
Rise of 527 tax exempt groups and ads
Independent
Expenditures
3.
Laundering of
“ dirty money ” through political parties that ends up with candidates
Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay indicted for conspiracy and laundering of illegal campaign funds

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A 527 group is created primarily to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office.
Tax-exempt organizations that engage in political activities, often through unlimited soft money contributions.
Most are advocacy groups trying to influence federal elections through voter mobilization efforts and so-called issue ads that tout or criticize a candidate's record.

Campaign Finance Reform:
Supreme Court Decisions
 Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
 McConnell v. Federal
Election Commission (2003)
 Citizens United

 1996
 $425.7 million.
Presidential Races
Trends in Spending
 2000
 $528.9 million.
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.
2004
 Receipts
 George W. Bush: $367,228,801
 John F. Kerry: $328,479,245
 Overall: $880.5 million.
2008
Obama: 730 million spent http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08
/
McCain: 333 million spent
FIRST BILLION DOLLAR PRESIDENTAL ELECTION

Money and Politics
 A. Role of political action committees(PAC’s)
 1. PACs link tow techniques of influence a. Giving $ and other political aid to politicians b. persuading office holders to act or vote “the right way” on issues.
2. PACs are categorized by the type of interst they represent

B. The Growth of PACs
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1. The committee on Political
Education(COPE) –model for most PACS
2. The 1970’s brought a near revolution in the role and influence of PACs as a result of reforms increase from 150-1970 to over 4,000 today

C. How PACs invest their $
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1. Main influence is in their contribution to candidates
2. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 limits PACs to $5,000 per election or $10,000 per election cycle; individuals have limit of
$2,000 per candidate per election
 3. Through “bundling” their contributions,
PACs increase their clout with elected officials

The Effectiveness of PACs
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1. Depends on the context in which money is given and received
2. Significant relationship between PACs $ and outcome of elections
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3. PACs can help friendly incumbents with soft money contributions
“soft money”-unlimited contributions that go for “party-building” activities

Curing the problem of factions: 200 years after
Federalist #10
 A. Americans’ fears about the power of faction
 1. The struggle among factions is not a fair fight
 2. The interest group battle leads to great inequities because lower-income people are grossly underrepresented

Fears contin …
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3. Single-issue groups have led to incoherent policies, waste, delays, inability to plan and react quickly
4. The role of interest groups in elections has made incumbents more secure and enhanced the power of interest groups
 5. Safeguarding the value of liberty, but also threatening equality

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B. Federal and state regulation
1. Federal legislation, 1925 Federal Corrupt
Practices Act and the 1946 Federal
Regulation of Lobbying Act—not effective
2. FECA-Federal Election Campaign Act of
1971
 3. Problems with FECA include the soft money loophole and ineffective FEC

Regulations contin …
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4. Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995-definition of lobbyist was expanded to include parttimers, whose who deal with congressional staff/executive branch agencies, and those who represent foreign-owened companies and foreign entities.
5. Clinton signed into law legislation expanding disclosure requirements on issue ads(freedom of speech issues involved)

Regulations contin …
 6. Issue advocacy ads/soft money very important in competitive elections

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C. The Effects of
Regulation
1. Increased the number and importance of such groups; increased PACs, especially corporate PACs
2. PAC money goes to incumbents(committee chairs, party leaders)
 3. Disclosure of how politicians fund their campaigns is issue, also their personal finances