• Political and social organizations
• Represent special interests
• Range from very liberal to very conservative
• Lobby officials to improve personal or societal conditions

• Organization is essential!
▫ Small, well-organized groups may be more influential than a big, poorly organized group
• Need access to an official
▫ Sometimes use a celebrity (Michael J Fox, Angelina Jolie, Bono)
• Must persuade and inform officials
▫ Offer arguments, evidence, & research
▫ Publish findings  influence public opinion  influence policy decisions
• Can offer material incentives
▫ Laws limit officials from taking gifts, but, they can still be wined and dined or flown to enticing locations for meetings
• Use economic leverage to get what they want
▫ Rich interest groups contribute to campaigns, run advertisements, pay for research, etc.
▫ Boycotts & strikes work too
• Disrupt activities, generate publicity, and apply pressure on those they oppose
▫ Strikes, riots, sit-ins
• Sue groups they oppose (litigate)
▫ Example: NAACP sued segregated schools, leading to Brown Vs. Board of Education in 1954

• Attempts to persuade government officials through direct inside contact
• Lobbyists work for special interest groups, corporations, or law firms that specialize in lobbying
• Requires $$$$
▫ Even maintaining an office in DC is expensive
▫ Pay for meals, trips, operational expenses
• Requires honesty & good reputation
• Target members of all 3 branches in government
▫ Affect legislation generated in Congress
▫ Target regulatory agencies in the executive branch
▫ File amicus curiae briefs presenting arguments in favor of a particular issue to the courts

• Convince ordinary citizens to pressure representatives
• Grassroots Activism – mobilize people to achieve the interest group’s goal
▫ Shows officials that the public supports a cause
▫ Rallies & marches
▫ Letter-writing campaigns
▫ Petitions
▫ Hill visits
▫ Institutional advertising
• Electoral Strategies – officials want to be reelected, so they listen to their constituents
▫ Rally voters to the cause
▫ Contribute money to reelection campaigns through PACS
 Political Action Committees are theoretically independent of interest groups
 Can only give $10,000 total to each candidate
 Use of soft money (contribution to political party) was banned in 2002 by the
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

• Economic Groups – seek economic advantage for their members
▫ 4 types: business, labor, agricultural, and professional associations
▫ Work to win private goods ( benefits for only members of the group)
▫ Example: labor union members benefit from new contract, while nonunion members do not
▫ Business Groups – most common type
 Some lobbyists work for a single corporation, while some work for associations of businesses in the same industry
 Tend to be well funded & very influential
▫ Labor Groups – represent unions

• Noneconomic Groups – citizens’ groups – fight for causes, not material gain
▫ Seek public goods that benefit everyone in society
▫ 4 main types: public interest groups, single-issue groups, ideological groups, & government groups
• Public Interest Groups – try to improve society (environment, democracy, etc.)
• Single-Issue Groups – work solely on one issue
▫ Number growing
▫ Examples: National Rifle Association & Operation Rescue
• Ideological Groups – broader aims rooted in a common philosophy
▫ Work to change culturla norms, values, & stereotypes
▫ Examples: Christian Coalition & Traditional Values Coalition (conservative);
NOW and NAACP (liberal)
• Government Groups – represent levels of government (city or state lobbies in Washington)

• Interest groups generate controversy
• Pluralism – interest groups work against each other, balancing each other out so the common good is achieved
(Federalist #10)
▫ Prevent a minority from imposing its will on the majority
▫ Flaw – is there a common good when there are so many interests in society?
▫ Interest groups advocate for a minority of people (NRA Example)
▫ Interest group system only really effective for economic groups
▫ Groups ignore desires of the poor
• Hyperpluralism caters to interest groups, not people
▫ Leads to demosclerosis – inability of gov. to accomplsh anything substantial

• What are the 2 big categories of interest groups?
• What is lobbying?
• Why are financial resources critical to success for interest groups?
• What is the ‘good side’ of pluralism?
• Why do some people criticize pluralism?
• What is the difference between an interest group and a Political Action Committee?