Interest Groups
How They Do Business
What if Firefighters Ran the World?

Sprint Commercial

What comment is this commercial making
about how government works?
The interest in corn
Ethanol
Producers
Consumer
Groups
Food
Companies
Feed
Producers
Grocers
Soda
Producers
Farmers
Genetics
Corporations
Insecticide
Companies
Pesticide
Companies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A4oAyK
OGHg&feature=related
 http://www.nbc.com/saturday-nightlive/video/corn-syrup-commercial/1313759

Interests in cars
Exporters
Importers
Labor
Union
(UAW)
Parts
Oil
and
Gas
Road
Construction
GPS,
Gadget
Consumers
Parking
Corn,
Ethanol
Banks
Clean
Cars
Used
Car
Sales
UAW Ad
 NEA Ad

Assignment: Choose one,
brainstorm all the interests
Pluralism in Action
INTEREST GROUP POLITICS
What is an interest group?

An organization that actively seeks to
influence public policy
How do interest groups differ from parties?

Parties seek to win
elections

Interest groups seek to
influence policy
But both are linkage institutions
(they link people to the government)
What are the trends?
Groups that have economic interests tend to
be better organized than noneconomic
groups; thus they often have more power
 Lobbying and electioneering are the main
ways in which interest groups access political
leaders
 Interest groups represent myriad interests,
but are over-represented by business
interests

ECONOMIC INTEREST
GROUPS
Why are economic groups significant?
Most effective, best organized
 Goals are primarily economic in nature

Profit
 Protect jobs/industry/markets/raw materials
 Improve pay


Outnumber all other groups more than 2 to 1
WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES
OF ECONOMIC INTEREST
GROUPS?
Business/Corporate Interests



Big Oil
US Chamber of
Commerce
National Association of
Home Builders
Labor Interests




AFL-CIO
Sheet metal workers
NEA
Labor union
membership has
dropped off
significantly over time
Farming

Family Farms?

Or Agribusiness?
Professional




AMA
ADA
ABA
AAUP
NON-ECONOMIC INTEREST
GROUPS
“CITIZENS’ GROUPS”
What is significant about
citizen’s groups?
Their interests may not be economic in
nature, rather they have a “worthy goal”
 Protect the environment
 Protect prayer
 Feed the homeless
 Kittens?

WHAT ARE SOME
EXAMPLES?
Social Groups
NAACP
 NOW
 La Raza

Political Ideology Promotion
American Conservative Union
 MoveOn.org
 Americans for Democratic Action
 Christian Coalition

Single Issue Groups
NRA
 Right to Life groups
 Pro-Choice groups

Environmental
Sierra Club
 Greenpeace
 Audubon Society

Generally speaking, economic interest groups have more
advantages and are more successful than citizens’ interest groups.
WHY?
Economic groups have the edge:

They have deeper pockets


They offer economic incentives


Higher profits/higher salaries/better working
conditions
They are smaller and less diverse in their
policy goals


They don’t have to rely on donations
Think the “big three” American auto makers
So, will the 99% ever prevail?
Case study: AARP
Largest, most powerful lobbyist arm in DC
 Why?
 Medicare & Social Security = 40+% of the
national budget
 Citizen’s group that is in the top 20 in terms
of expenditures on lobbying; all others are
business groups

Interest Groups
Make policy related appeals to government
 Enhance Democracy
 Represent the Evils of Faction
 Have Economic Interests
 Need Money, Leadership and Members
 Have an upper class bias
 Respond to political changes

Enhancing Democracy
Groups educate members about issues
 Mobilize members
 Monitor government behavior
 Lobby Congress and the Executive Branch
 Engage in litigation (use the courts)

Represent the “Evils of Faction”
Madison feared the power of interests
forsaking the public good
 But had to balance that fear against
suppressing the freedom to organize
 Competition of interests will produce balance
of compromise (known now as pluralism)
 But not all interests are “created equal.”


Those who are more organized and more
resourceful are better at influencing policy
Interests are predominately economic

Producers/Manufacturers


Labor


AFL-CIO
Professional Lobbies


National Petrochemical Refiners
AMA, ADA, ABA
Public interests – mostly consumer
protection and environmentalism

Natural Resources Defense Council, Common Cause
All Groups Need Money,
Leadership, and Members
Example: AARP
Policies:
 Social Security
 Medicare
Benefits:
 Insurance
 Discounts
Organization:
 Dues, Structure,
Offices
The Upper Class Bias
Increased political efficacy
 Higher income levels
 Higher education levels
 Time and money to spare

Groups Respond to Changes in
Politics
Great proliferation in the last forty years
 Stimulated by new laws, court decisions, and
election financing laws



Public interest groups have grown


Roe v. Wade, Campaign Finance, Civil Rights
Common Cause, Sierra Club, EDF
Direct Mail
Computerized databases
 Internet/email

Your Homework

Choose either:
Pharmaceuticals
 Fish
 iPods/ Cell Phones
 Salt


Make a diagram showing all the interests in your
choice
American Farm Bureau


“We Are Farm Bureau”
Their purpose: making
farming more profitable
AFB: Policy Positions

Disaster Relief:


Supports: more
assistance for
farmers that suffer
economically from
natural disasters
Immigration:

Supports legal labor
programs
Policy Influence

Energy



Supports – renewable
energy initiatives
Opposes cap and trade
Federal Clean Water
Act

Opposes – because the
bill would regulate
farming and control
runoff into ditches,
gullies, and culverts
Benefits

Economic



Banking
Insurance
Social




Food Check Out Week
Celebrates the
abundance and safety of
food (and farmers!)
37 working days to pay
for a year of food
77 for income taxes
Allies and Enemies
Allies: United Farm Workers of America
 http://www.conversationsoncare.com/home.a
spx
 America’s Heartland
 http://www.americasheartland.org/
 Enemies: Animal Rights Activists
 Consumer Rights Activists year of plenty

Policy Influence
Legislative Branch
 Writing letters, grassroots organization, elists, litigation
 Voting Records


Colorado Farm Bureau
Dollars and Cents
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.ph
p?ind=A
Voting Records
Obama
 http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.ph
p?can_id=9490&type=category&category=4
&go.x=14&go.y=17
 McCain
 http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.ph
p?can_id=53270&type=category&category=4
&go.x=7&go.y=10
