Chapter 10
INTEREST
GROUPS
Interest Groups and the
American Political Tradition

Interest group: organized group of
individuals who share some goals and want
to INFLUENCE public policy (LAWS)
 Lobbyists can be employees or volunteers

A threat to the political system or
contributors to its proper functioning?
 Alexis de Tocqueville
 James Madison
 Federalist 10: http://wwwlcengage.com/politicalscience/janda
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Figure 10.1
Investing in Public Policy
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The Roles of Interest Groups

Negative:
 Each group pushes its own selfish interests

Positive:
 Represent people before their government
 Provide vehicle for political participation
 Educate members, the public, and elected
officials
 Highlight new issues through agenda building
 Monitor programs important to members
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Figure 10.2
Labor Pains
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How Interest Groups Form
 Pluralists view interest groups as positive
way to foster discussion about issues
 Groups form as needed
 However, group organization not always
a given
 Or ineffective groups may form
 Also important to consider how well a
group is represented
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Interest Group Entrepreneur
 Skills of interest group entrepreneur
forming group key
 Development of United Farm Workers
good example of the importance of
leadership


Initial efforts to organize farm workers failed
Cesar Chavez’s efforts and tactics made group a
viable force in negotiations for better wages and
working conditions
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No Contract, No Wine!
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Who is Being Organized?
 Main factors in successful interest group
formation:
 Presence of adverse change or disturbance
 Strong leadership
 High socioeconomic level of potential members
 Well-to-do, educated, and politically experienced
 Not all interest groups have real
membership
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Interest Group Resources

MEMBERS -one of the most valuable resources
 Pool of potential voters
 Source of financial resources

Groups use newsletters and emails to keep
membership informed of work
 Membership retention key

New members needed to increase resources
and influence
 Internet important in this effort
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The Free-Rider Problem
 Many persons and businesses support a
group’s goals but see no need to join
 Benefits of a group’s efforts not always
limited to that group
 Public television and radio
 Many times groups offer other benefits
only to members
 Information and networking
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Lobbyists

Persons who represent the organization
before the government and provide
information to the membership

Can be full-time employees of the
organization or hired on retainer

Important to lobbying success: skill,
knowledge, and contacts
 Primary job is to pass information on to
government officials
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You Got Problems? Call Us
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Political Action Committees

Organization designed to pool contributions
from group members

Donations then made to candidates for political
office
 Can be affiliated with an interest group or
corporation, or organized separately
 Limited to $5,000 per congressional candidate in
each separate election
 Contributions in 2008 totaled $413 million from
3,600 PACs
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Largest PACs
Name of PAC
National Association of Realtors
Contributions in Last 2year Reporting Cycle
$4.0 million
International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers
$3.3 million
National Beer Wholesalers
American Bankers Association
United Parcel Service
$2.9 million
$2.8 million
$2.1 million
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Political Action Committees
 PACs pragmatic and adaptable
 Want to achieve immediate policy goals
 Political scientists have found no direct
link between the way members of
Congress vote and PAC contributions
 Contributions do seem to affect work in
congressional committees
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Figure 10.3
Friendship is a Wonderful Thing
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Lobbying Tactics
 Tactics depend on stage of process and
institution targeted
 Three major types of lobbying tactics:
 Direct lobbying
 Grassroots lobbying
 Information campaigns
 Groups also use coalitions to influence
policymaking
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Figure 10.4
The Tactics of Advocacy
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Politics of Global Change
 European Union formed in 1992 by the
Treaty of Maastricht
 Currently 27 member countries
 Purpose is to harmonize economies of
member countries
 Fragmented government; structure
facilitates pluralist system and many
interest groups
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Lobbyists Swarm at the
European Union
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Direct Lobbying
 Personal contact with policymakers
 Not directly asking for a certain vote
 Lobbyists must provide good data to frame
issue in light most positive to their
viewpoint
 Testifying at public hearings or
committee hearings
 Legal advocacy, or litigation
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Sanchez Reaches Out
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Grassroots Lobbying

Involves members of an interest group
 May include supportive outsiders

Many tactics used, sometimes together with direct
lobbying
 Letters, emails, faxes, and phone calls
 Demonstrations and protests
 Direct lobbying by important members

Internet facilitates communication and coordination
of efforts
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Tea Party Activists
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An Image That Angered a Nation
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Information Campaigns
 Organized efforts
to bring an interest
group’s viewpoints to the public to gain
public backing
 Public relations campaigns
 Sponsoring research
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Coalition Building
Where several organizations band
together to lobby
 Use resources more efficiently
 Usually informal arrangements
 Diverse coalitions strongest
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Is the System Biased?

American political system more pluralist than
majoritarian

Among Western democracies, U.S. is one of
most pluralistic nations

For fairness, all interests in population must
be represented and government should listen
to the views of all major interests
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Pluralism Worldwide
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Membership Patterns

Public opinion surveys show some sectors of society
better represented than others
 Bias towards the well-off financially

One survey: “the 10 percent of adults who work in an
executive, managerial, or administrative capacity are
represented by 82 percent” of organizations involved
in advocacy on economic issues
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Citizen Groups

Lobbying organizations built around policy concerns
unrelated to members’ vocational interests
 Benefits largely ideological and aesthetic
 “Public interest” groups

Some groups supported by other sources than their
membership

These groups have “free riders” who benefit from
programs without directly supporting the
organization
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Business Mobilization
 Businesses mobilized in 1970s and 1980s
when new regulatory agencies
established
 Business organizations can mobilize both
members and their corporations
 Much greater resources than citizen groups
 Business interests often divided, with one
industry facing another
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Figure 10.5
Interest Group Participants
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A Lott of Connections
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Reform

Difficult to eliminate or reduce biases in interest
group system

Interest groups are organized way to petition
government

If advantages of some groups too great, restrictions
can be imposed
 Campaign finance reform efforts; restrictions on
PACs; disclosure rules for lobbyists
 Recent Supreme Court ruling on corporate
contributions negates some restrictions
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