Interest Groups
Chapter 12
Interest Groups
• The American System is one where
groups organize around every
conceivable issue
• Single Issue Politics
- The situation in which separate groups are
organized around nearly every conceivable
policy issue and press their demands and
influence to the utmost.
Interest Groups
• Interest Groups
– Organizations that seek to influence
government decisions.
• Pluralism
– The theory that all groups are well
represented and no single interest
controls government decisions.
Interest Groups
• Disturbance Theory
– The theory that when social, political, and
economic relationships change, individuals
form groups in response.
Interest Groups
• Economic Groups
- Interest groups that are organized
primarily for economic reasons but that
engage in political activity in order to
seek favorable policies from government.
Interest Groups
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Business Groups
Labor Groups
Agricultural Groups
Professional Groups
Interest Groups
• Citizen’s Group
- Organized interests formed by individuals
drawn together by opportunities to
promote a cause in which they believe but
that does not provide them significant
individual economic benefits.
Interest Groups
• Public Interest Groups
• Single-Issue Groups
• Ideological Groups
Interest Groups
Interest Groups
• Private Good (Selective Benefits)
- Benefits that a group (usually economic) can
grant directly and exclusively to individual
members of the group.
- Can only be accessed by those who participate in
the group and thus encourage group activity.
Interest Groups
• Material Benefit
– Good or service offered to encourage
participation in group activity.
Interest Groups
• Social Benefit
– Benefit that encourages individuals to join
a group in order to enjoy the company of
those who share similar opinions and
interests.
• Purposive Benefit
– Benefit that encourages group
participation by connecting individuals to
a political purpose
Interest Groups
• Public Good
- Benefits that are offered by groups (usually
citizens’) as an incentive for membership but
that are non-divisible and therefore are available
to non-members as well as members of the
particular group.
Interest Groups
• Free rider problem
– A barrier to collective action because
people can reap the benefits of a group
without participating.
– The incentive to join the group and to
promote its cause is reduced because nonmembers (free riders) receive the benefits
without having to pay any of the group’s
costs.
Interest Groups
• Lobbying
– Communicating with government officials
to persuade them toward a particular
policy decision.
Interest Groups
• Inside Lobbying
– Form of lobbying in which an interest
group meets directly with public officials
to influence political decisions.
• Outside Lobbying (Grassroots lobbying)
- A form of lobbying in which an interest
group seeks to use public pressure as a
means of influencing officials.
Inside Lobbying
• Meeting privately with public officials
• Testifying before congressional committees
• Testifying before executive rulemaking
agencies
• Assisting with the drafting of legislation
• Meeting public officials at relaxed social
functions
• Providing political information to public
officials
• Supplying nominations for federal
appointments
Outside Lobbying
– Generating public pressure
– Using constituents as lobbyists
Interest Groups and Money
• While there are laws restricting the
ability of labor unions, interest groups
and corporations to donate directly to
candidates, these groups will often
form PACs so that they are still able to
use money as an influence.