Pattern: interest groups are beginning to supplant parties
as the non-official creator of power – may mean there is
an upper-class bias since most special-interest groups draw
from that demographic

What is an interest group?

A group of individuals and organizations that share a
common set of goals and have joined together in an effort
to persuade the government to adopt policies that will
help them







Corporations (National Federation of Independent
Businesses)
professional lobbies (American Bar Association),
labor groups (AFL-CIO, NEA)
financial institutions (American Bankers
Association)
universities and the “research lobby”
“public interest” groups (National Resources
Defense Council)
(Among the most feared: NRA, AARP,)




Attract members (through their political goals,
direct benefits like the AARP, NRA, or NEA,
and/or social interaction)
Financial structure (usually dues, contributions, or
selling some ancillary services)
Leadership and decision making structure
& an agency that pursues the group’s goals
through research, lobbying or public relations



Educated
upper-income
management or professionals

why? They have the education that gives them the skills,
concerns and resources to participate

Expansion of government (which is often encouraged
by special interest groups) sparks the creation of even
more groups in response
Increased regulation of industry creates pro-industry groups
that want to influence those decisions
 Court decisions on abortion and school prayer spark the
creation of fundamentalist groups


“New Politics” movement – spawned a variety of
“public interest groups”

Liberal professionals inspired by the anti-war and civil rights
movements
 Common Cause, Sierra Club, NOW, Nader’s PIRGs
 Successful in courts and the media largely because their claims of
being concerned with the “public interest” are largely
unchallenged


Grassroots conservative activity (fostered by
conservative talk radio)
Property rights activists, The Christian Coalition,
National Federation of Independent Businesses,
NRA, Family Resource Council -- Have had some
success federally, but a real presence in state and
local government

Going public – creates a favorable climate of public
opinion


Can be constant
Institutional advertising (the touch, the feel of cotton)
 Creates a positive association with the organization

Boycotts, sit-ins, protests – Conservative groups
boycott Disney because of perceived “prohomosexual” policies, Act-Up stages protests and sitins to try and increase funding of AIDS research

Grassroots lobbying – people write, call their
representatives


Interest groups in recent years have spent nearly $1
billion on grassroots lobbying
“Astroturf lobbying” – fake grassroots effort (letters
are generated by PR firms and not by constituents)

Lobbying- direct pressure on members of Congress
through information, support or threats

history of the term – term came in vogue to refer to a
large anteroom near the House of Commons where
members of parliament could be approached by people
pleading their cases – in US term came about because
people were meeting their reps outside the House and
Senate chambers

lobbyists are required to register under the Lobbying Disclosure
Act which requires lobbyists to say who they are representing, who
they are lobbying, what they are lobbying for and how much they
are paid


can act as an important source of information
Forms of lobbyists:
 loyal members who know a lot about their field but not about Washington
 professional staff lobbyists
 for-hire lobbyists who are experienced in Washington – sometimes these
lobbyists have served as Representatives, Senators, staffers or Cabinet
members, the practice of hiring ex-officials to try and influence current
officials is pejoratively known as “influence peddling”
“cross lobbying” – lobbying another lobby to help them support or
oppose something
 “reverse lobbying”- member of Congress try to raise support from lobby
groups

CONGRESS EXECUTIVE
AGENCIES & INTEREST GROUP
MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
(EISENHOWER-1961)

Gaining Access- interest groups are
actually involved in the decision-making
process - Iron Triangle (such as the
Military-Industrial Complex) - a mutual
and self-supporting relationship
develops between an executive branch
program, a legislative committee, and an
interest group (other examples may be
in agriculture or education industries)
once a law is passed a close relationship
with the executive branch agency helps
ensure its implementation (lobbying a
bureaucratic agency is called
“corridoring”)
 “the revolving door” is the tendency of
former members of the federal
bureaucracy to seek and receive
employment from those industries they
either regulated or purchased materials
from

Bring Suit Directly
Financing Suits brought by individuals
filing amicus briefs
1.
2.
3.

Successful use of the courts
 women’s groups with Roe and Griswold
 Civil rights – brown v board

Environmental groups
 1973 – Endangered Species Act – includes a “citizen suite” provision that gives environmental
groups ability to sue to challenge executive branch or private decisions that impact the
environment
 Section 1983 of US code – establishes “fee shifting” if you win a suite against public officials
then the government needs to pay court fees and attorney costs
 1992 – Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife – the “citizen’s suite” provision violates traditional rules
on standing – if the court consistently rules that way it will be harder for environmental groups
to sue

Disability rights Groups

1990 – Americans with Disabilities Act – allowed for the physically or emotionally disabled
to sue businesses, private organizations or local government agencies if their procedures or
buildings deprived them of access, employment, or other opportunities – the legislation
encouraged people to use litigation to secure new rights