U.S. Government
Mr. Sanders
04_Special Interest Groups
1 of 5
Interest Groups Past and Present: The “Mischiefs of Faction”
A Nation of Interests
• The founders of the Republic referred to what are present day interest groups as Factions.
• Interest groups are also sometimes called “special interests.”
• Some Americans identify with groups distinguished by race, gender, ethnicity, age,
occupation, or sexual orientation.
• Others form groups based on common issues or interests, i.e. gun control, tax reduction,
education. Such groups or associations that seek to influence government in some way are
called Interest Groups.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Social Movements – a large body of people who are interested in a common issue, idea, or
concern that is of continuing significance and who are willing to take action to support or
oppose it.
Interest groups sometimes begin as movements.
Social movements represent groups that has felt unrepresented by government.
How do they differ?
Interest groups usually work within the framework of government and employ tactics such as
lobbying to achieve their goals.
Movements seek to change attitudes or institutions, not just policies.
Types of Interest Groups:
• Economic Interest Groups
• Business – large corporations, including multinationals
• Trade and Other Associations – businesses with similar interests join together as
associations which are as diverse as the product and services they provide.
• Labor – workers’ associations with shared interests, ranging from professional
standards to wage and working conditions. Examples: American Farm Bureau
Federation, United Farm Workers Association, AFL-CIO.
•
•
•
•
•
Economic Interest Groups (continued)
• Professional Associations – professional associations with shared interests. Examples:
American Medical Association, American Bar Association, American Federation of
Teachers, American Realtors Assoc.
Ideological or Single-Issue Interest Groups
Public Interest Groups (PIRGs)
• Seek to influence policy on Capitol Hill and in several state legislatures on
environmental issues, safe energy, and consumer protection.
Foreign Policy Interest Groups
(NGOs )
Types of Interest Groups: Public Interest Groups
Foreign Policy Interest Groups
• Council on Foreign Relations
• American-Israel Political Action Committee
U.S. Government
Mr. Sanders
04_Special Interest Groups
2 of 5
Public Sector Interest Groups
• National Governors Association
• National League of Cities
• National Educational Association
Characteristics and Power of Interest Groups
• Collective Action: Refers to how groups form and organize to pursue their goals or
objectives, including how to get individuals and groups to participate and cooperate.
• Public Choice: Synonymous with “collective action.” Public choice specifically studies how
government officials, politicians, and voters respond to positive and negative incentives.
•
•
•
•
Size and Resources
• Incentive to participate
Cohesiveness
Leadership
Techniques
• Publicity and Mass Media Appeals
• Mass Mailing
• Direct Contact with Government
• Federal Register – an official document, published every weekday, listing the
new and proposed regulations of executive departments and regulatory
agencies. Organized groups have ready access to this to influence Congress.
Interest Groups: Size and Resources
Resources can be used to provide selective benefits, which can be used to overcome
organizational barriers
• Material benefits
• Solidarity benefits
• Purposive benefits
• Interest Groups: Cohesiveness
• Types of members in an organization
Characteristics and Power of Interest Groups
• Techniques (continued)
• Litigation
• Amicus curiae (“friends of the court”) briefs – filed by an individual or
organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the
immediate parties to a case.
• Election Activities
• Forming a Political Party
• Cooperative Lobbying
• Protest
• Candidate Support
U.S. Government
Mr. Sanders
04_Special Interest Groups
3 of 5
The Influence of Lobbyists
• Who are the Lobbyists?
• A person or persons employed by and acting for an organized interest group or
corporation to try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and
legislative branches.
What do Lobbyists Do?
 Engage in activities aimed at influencing public officials, especially legislators and
the policies they enact. Lobbyists primarily provide money for campaigns.
The Influence of Lobbyists
Who Are the Lobbyists?
• Lobbyists are former public servants.
• Lobbyists are experienced in government.
• Lobbyists often go to work for one of the interests they dealt with while in government.
What Do Lobbyists Do?
• Many lobbyists participate in issue networks or relationships among interest groups,
congressional committees, subcommittees, and government agencies that share a
common policy concern.
• Interest groups provide money for incumbents.
• Interest groups provide information of two important types.
What Do Lobbyists Do? (cont.)
Interest groups sometimes attempt to influence legislators and regulators by going
• directly to the people and urging them to contact public officials.
Interest groups seek to influence politics and public policy by spending money on elections in
several ways.
• to candidates for their election campaigns, especially in contested races.
• to political parties.
• to other interest groups.
• to the members of their group, including employees.
Money and Politics
• The Growth of Political Action Committees PACs
• PACs – the political arm of an interest group that is legally entitled to raise funds on a
voluntary basis from members, stockholders, or employees in order to contribute to
favored candidates or political parties.
• Types of PACs:
• Corporations
• Trade and health organizations
• Labor unions
• Ideological organizations
U.S. Government
Mr. Sanders
04_Special Interest Groups
4 of 5
Political Action Committees (cont.)
• More recently, elected officials have begun to form their own PACs called Leadership PACs.
• Leaderships PACs are formed by an officeholder who collects contributions from individuals
and other PACs and then makes contributions to other candidates and political parties.
• PACs are important not only because they contribute such a large share of the money
congressional candidates raise for their campaigns but also because they contribute so
disproportionately to incumbents.
Political Action Committees (cont.)
• The law limits the amount of money that PACs, like individuals, can contribute to any single
candidate in an election cycle.
• The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) doubled individual contribution limits and
mandated that they increase with inflation while leaving PAC contribution limits unchanged.
Other Modes of Electioneering
• Another way interest groups can influence the outcome of elections is by persuading their
employees, members, or stockholders to vote in a way consistent
with the interests of the group.
Other Modes of Electioneering (cont.)
• Until the 2004 election cycle, interest groups and individuals could avoid the contribution
limitation to political parties by contributing so-called soft money to political parties.
• Soft money is money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building
purposes.
• Issue Ads: Interest groups could also help fund so-called issue ads supporting or opposing
candidates as long as the ads did not use certain words.
Independent Expenditures
• The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals, groups, and parties can spend unlimited
amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently
from the candidates. When an individual, group, or party does so, they are making an
independent expenditure.
Money and Politics
Campaigning Through Other Groups
• Interest groups found a way to circumvent disclosure and contribution limits through issue
advocacy.
• Use of ads that avoided the words “vote for” or “elect” but which were clearly for one
candidate
How Much Do Interest Groups Influence Elections and Legislation?
• Because PACs give more money to incumbents, challengers have difficulty funding their
campaigns and have to rely more on individual contributors.
• Mass-membership organizations fail to mobilize their full membership in elections, while
they can effectively mobilize when their interests are directly attacked.
• Only a fraction of any candidates funds come from a single group.
U.S. Government
Mr. Sanders
•
•
04_Special Interest Groups
5 of 5
It is debatable how much campaign contributions affect elections.
There is no guarantee that money produces a payoff in legislation.
The Effectiveness of Interest Group Activity in Elections
• Tendency of PACs to give money to incumbents has meant that challengers face real
difficulties in getting their campaigns funded.
• “Too often, members’ first thought is not what is right or what they believe, but how it will
affect fundraising. Who, after all, can seriously contend that a $100,000 donation does not
alter the way one thinks about--and quite possibly votes on--an issue?” - Former U. S.
Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY)
How Much Do Interest Groups Influence Elections and Legislation?
Curing the Mischiefs of Faction:
• Regulating lobbying
• Regulating political money
• Serious campaign finance reform began in the 1970s with the Federal Election Campaign
Act (1973)
• Under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, the definition of a lobbyist was expanded
to include part-time lobbyists, those who deal with congressional staff or executive
branch agencies, and those who represent foreign-owned companies and foreign entities.
Curing the Mischiefs of Faction–Two Centuries Later
The 2002 Campaign Finance Reforms
• In 1992, President George H.W. Bush vetoed a bill.
• Increased momentum with Sen. John McCain and Enron collapse.
The Effects of Regulation
• Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 signed by George
W. Bush limiting soft
money and PAC contributions.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
 Passed in 2002 to update FECA of 1973.
 Outlaws use of soft money.
 Limits individual and political action committee funds.
 Political parties become larger players.
 Allows donations from “leadership PACs.”
 Does not regulate use of personal money.
 Regulates the use of public and matching funds.
Curing the Mischiefs of Faction–Two Centuries Later
2007 Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
 Bans gifts, toughens disclosure, increases time limits.
 Other Attempts: 1978 Ethics in Government Act