8
Interest Groups
Interest Groups
Interest groups are groups of citizens who share a
common interest, whether a political opinion,
religious affiliation, ideological belief, social goal, or
economic objective, and that try to influence public
policy to benefit their members.
• Constitutionally, they are protected under the 1st
Amendment’s right of freedom of association (right to
assemble).
• They are also the very factions that Madison warned about.
Types of Interest Groups
Most interest groups arise from conditions in public
life.
• A proactive group arises when an enterprising individual
sees an opening or opportunity to create the group for
social, political, or economic purposes.
• A reactive group forms to protect the interests of the
members in response to a perceived threat from another
group, or to fight a government policy they believe will
adversely affect them, or to respond to an unexpected
external event.
The Right of Petition
Interest groups do not exist in a void. The form for the
specific purpose of influencing public policy.
• The right of petition gives individuals with a claim against the
government the right to ask for compensation, but it also
includes the right to petition to ask for a policy change or to
express opposition to a policy.
Lobbying
Today, the rights of association and petition most often
take the form of lobbying.
• Trying to persuade elected officials to adopt or reject a specific
policy change.
• Lobbying is a legitimate form of petitioning, and interest
groups of all sizes and purposes engage in it.
How Does Lobbying Work?
Interest groups lobby the legislative, executive, and
even judicial branches of government, at the state
and federal levels.
• Meet with staff aides to members of Congress to make the
case for their policy goals.
• Try to influence the executive branch by meeting personally
with key bureaucrats and policy makers.
• Lobbying of the judicial branch takes the form of lawsuits
against government policies that interest groups see as
fundamentally unconstitutional or that go against the original
intent of a law.
The History of Interest Groups
Abolition
• American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833
Women’s rights
• National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869
Trade Associations
• National Association of Wool Manufacturers in 1864
The History of Interest Groups
Abolitionists used stark
imagery and words to rally
citizens against slavery.
In 1843 Lydia Maria Child
compiled The American
Anti-Slavery Almanac. Its
cover alone makes the case
for abolition. Child was a
writer and editor who was
also active in the women’s
suffrage movement.
The History of Interest Groups
continued
Veteran’s rights
• The Grand Army of the Republic in 1866
Prohibition
• Anti-Saloon League of America in 1895
Labor Organizations
• International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union in 1900
– Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Interest Groups Today
Today, business and trade associations, unions,
citizens’ organizations, and grassroots movements
are a familiar part of the landscape of interest group
politics.
• Business and Trade
– The Chamber of Congress
• Unions
– American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial
Organizations (AFL-CIO)
• Citizen’s Organizations
– National Rifle Association (NRA)
• Grassroots Movements
– Greenpeace
Interest Groups Today –
Union Membership
Economic Interest Groups
Economic interest groups form to advance the
economic status of their members and are defined by
a specific set of financial or business concerns.
• Trade associations are a subcategory of economic interest
groups that focus on particular businesses or industries.
– Chamber of Commerce
• Professional associations are similar, as they are formed by
individuals who share a similar job.
– American Bar Association
Economic Interest Groups continued
• Large corporations can be included as a type of economic
interest group, because they try to influence policy on their
own as well as joining trade associations comprised of
businesses with similar goals.
– Wal-Mart
Economic Interest Groups continued
• Unions are a type of economic interest group. They are
comprised of people who share a common type of employment.
Unions seek safer working conditions and better wages for their
members.
- Collective bargaining is protected by the National Labor
Relations Act, passed by Congress in 1935.
- The act provides that only one union can be selected to
represent workers in a specific location
- Power rests in the ability to call strikes or work
stoppages.
- Power to mobilize members to vote for or against a
candidate.
Ideological Interest Groups
Ideological interest groups form among citizens with
the same beliefs about a specific issue.
• Citizens’ Groups
– Citizens groups are typically formed to draw attention to
public issues that affect all citizens equally, such as
environmental protection, transparency in government,
consumer product safety, ethics reform, and campaign
finance reform.
Ideological Interest Groups continued
• Single-issue groups form to present one view on a highly
salient issue that is intensely important to its members, such as
the right to carry a concealed weapon is to Students for
Concealed Carry on Campus.
• Grassroots groups form in response to an economic or political
event, but do not focus on only one issue.
Ideological Groups and Polarization
• Because ideological groups get power from the fact that they
have agreement within their ranks on a highly salient issue, it
discourages debate and disagreement within the group and
any type of compromise outside the group. This leads to
polarization between ideologically opposed groups.
– Polarization is the condition in which differences between
parties and/or the public are so stark that disagreement
breaks out, fueling attacks and controversy.
Foreign Policy Groups
Foreign policy groups form to generate support for
favorable U.S. policies toward one or several foreign
countries.
• American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
• Coalition to Save Darfur
The Coalition to Save Darfur
The Coalition to Save
Darfur is an interest group
that mobilizes people to email, call, or send letters to
their legislators on behalf
of its effort to end violence
and famine in the Darfur
region of the African
nation of Somalia.
In 2006 thousands joined a
grassroots rally in New York
City to express their
support for sending United
Nations troops to Darfur to
help stop the violence
there.
What Interest Groups Do
Interest groups perform a number of functions in the
political process.
• Inform
- All interest groups provide information to their members, the
media, government officials, and the general public.
• Interpret
- Interest groups do more than merely report on current policy
developments; they also provide members and the government
with an interpretation of how these developments will affect the
group’s mission and goals.
What Interest Groups Do continued
• Lobby
– Almost every kind of group, with every kind of economic
interest or political opinion, engages in one form of
lobbying or another.
– Lobbyists
• According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in 2009
there were 13,739 individuals registered as active
lobbyists in Washington, D.C.
• Phone, e-mail, or meet with congressional staffers,
their clients, and possibly members of the media to
gather information about relevant issues for their
clients or to promote their clients’ policy positions.
Top Spenders on Lobbying
What Interest Groups Do continued
• Lobbying Strategies
- Inside Lobbying is where lobbyists deal directly with
legislators and their staff in asking for a specific policy benefit
or in trying to stop a policy that they oppose.
- Public or Outside Lobbying is where a group may go straight
to the press to provide details about the adverse effects of
the proposal, in the hopes that journalists will then inform
the general public.
- Grassroots Lobbying is where groups encourage an action
among their own members and the larger public to try to
influence public policy.
What Interest Groups Do continued
• Campaign Activities
– Interest groups also promote their views by engaging in
campaign activities, though federal law regulates their
participation.
– 501(c)(3) Groups have a tax-exempt status and are prohibited
from engaging in any activity on behalf of a candidate or party in
an election campaign.
– Political Action Committees raise funds to support electoral
candidates and are subject to campaign finance laws.
– Issue Advocacy is the practice of running advertisements or
distributing literature on a policy issue rather than a specific
candidate.
Top Twenty PAC Contributors
The Impact of Interest Groups
on the Democratic Process
Do interest groups provide a natural balance or do they
create disproportionate power?
• Robert Dahl argued that in a pluralist society, the varied
interest groups that emerge to represent their members will,
in their battles over public policy, produce a consensus that
serves the public’s common interest.
– Pluralist is a view of democratic society in which interest
groups compete over policy goals and elected officials are
mediators of group conflict.
The Impact of Interest Groups
continued
• Theodore Lowi argued that in a democracy some voices are
louder than others and that government is more responsive
to louder voices and will consistently serve those groups at
the expense of those who cannot make their voices heard.
– Elitist is a view of democratic society in which only a select
few interest groups shape policies in favor of a small group
of wealthy or powerful citizens.
– Special Interests are a set of groups seeking a particular
benefit for themselves in the policy process.
Interest Groups as a Threat to
Democracy
In his Farewell Address in 1961, President
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–61) warned of what
he called the military-industrial complex.
• A self-serving interconnection among the U.S. military,
the defense manufacturing industry, and federal agencies
overseeing military expenditures and production.
– Iron Triangle describes the insular and closed relationship
among interest groups, members of Congress, and federal
agencies.
– Revolving Door describes the movement of members of
Congress, lobbyists, and executive branch employees into
paid positions in each other’s organizations.
Interest Groups as a Threat to
Democracy – Iron Triangle
Issue Networks
Interest group scholar Hugh Heclo claims that the
interconnections of interest groups and the government is
more benign, suggesting that the term “issue networks” is
better than “iron triangle” to describes the relationship.
• View of the relationship among interest groups, members
of Congress, and federal agencies as more fluid, open, and
transparent than the term “iron triangle.”
• Congress and the federal bureaucracy each have an
elaborate set of rules governing their behavior with respect
to interest groups and lobbyists, and most members and
bureaucrats follow them closely.
Characteristics of
Successful Interest Groups
Leadership Accountability
• Transparency
• Membership feedback
Membership Stability
• Whether a group is small or large, attracting and keeping
members over time are essential to its survival.
– Selective benefits
– Solidarity Benefits
– Expressive Benefits
Successful Interest Groups continued
– The Free Rider Problem
» Many of the benefits that large interest groups
seek on behalf of their members—clean air by the
Sierra Club, or gun rights by the National Rifle
Association—are public goods. That is, they are
available to all.
- Tangible Benefits
- Economic and Political Changes
Financial Stability
• Membership dues
• Not for profit status
– Donations
Interest Groups and Public Policy
Immigration
• Interest groups align along both sides of the debate.
– Proponents of amnesty argue that bringing illegal residents into legal
society would make it possible for them to earn fair wages, participate
in politics, and pay taxes on their earnings.
• National Council of La Raza
– Opponents of immigration reform argue that the previous amnesty
program has only encouraged more people to enter the United States
illegally and that illegal immigrants take away jobs from the legal
resident population.
• NumbersUSA
Interest Groups and Public Policy
Through the use of mass media and advanced
technology, groups can organize protest marches
on a much larger scale than ever before.
On March 21, 2010,
Reform America staged
a huge march on the
National Mall in
Washington, D.C.,
calling for immigration
reform that includes a
secure border strategy,
expansion of the
number of legal
immigration visas, and
amnesty for illegal
immigrants currently in
the United States.
Focus Questions
• How do interest groups influence economic and social policy?
• How do interest groups help or hinder government
responsiveness to all citizens in an equal and fair way?
• Are interest groups themselves democratic organizations? Are
their leaders accountable to their members? Explain.
• Do interest groups balance each other out, across income
levels, regions, and ethnic backgrounds? Explain and give
examples.
• Are interest groups gates, or gateways, to democracy?