Transcript Chapter 11 Interest Groups

Interest Groups
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Def’n: A private organization that tries to
persuade elected officials to respond to
the shared attitudes of its members
Examples: AIPAC, American Cancer
Society, PUSH
Considered dangerous by the Founders
(Madison, Federalist 10 and 51)
Help to stimulate interest in public affairs,
represent shared attitudes, and often
provide technical, detailed information to
legislators (frequently, lobbyists will write
bills)
Lobbying
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Def’n: Those activities by which group pressures are brought to
bear on legislators and the legislative process
About 20,000 lobby Congress
Very money-based
Lobbyists sometimes bring “grassroots” pressure, are rated on
success
Regulation: Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act (1946) requires
lobbyists to register with the clerk of the House and Secretary
of the Senate
1954: U.S. v. Harris: Supreme Court decision that upheld the
constitutionality of the registration requirement, but only
applied it to Congressional lobbying
1995 Act: Still requires two reports/year, including client
names, expenditures. Grassroots still exempted and no
enforcement (although Justice department can investigate)
Reasons for Proliferation of
Interest Groups in the U.S.
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The more diversity in society, the greater the
diversity of opinions and factions
Federalism multiplies the # of places that
interest groups can gain access to the
government
The weakness of political parties encourages
interest groups to bypass the parties and go for
the jugular—the individual legislators
Americans have a proclivity to join organizations
Differences Between Political
Parties and Interest Groups
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Parties nominate candidates
Interest groups are chiefly concerned with
influencing policy, not winning elections
Case in point: PACs give to both runners
in an election
Interest group focus tends to be tightly
focused on a series of interrelated issues.
Interest groups can share members
Interest Group History
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Nearly half started after 1970, but interest
groups were around even at the time of the
Revolution
1830s-1840s: lots of religious groups
1860s: Trade/craft unions
1880s/90s: business unions
1900-1920: biggest era; Chamber of Commerce,
NAACP some of the headliners
1960s: environmental, consumer, and political
reform organizations
Reasons for the RISE
in Interest Groups
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Broad economic developments create new
interests and redefine old ones; Farmers are a
good example (need to market crops widely after
1900), so are Unions—don’t need them until mass
production begins
Government policy: Veterans’ Affairs, professional
societies spring up as government cedes its
authority
Religion: Antislavery, temperance
College attendance expansion creates leaders
Growth of government since the 1930s opens
Criticisms of Interest
Groups
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Influence is disproportional (Gray
Panthers)
Difficult to establish identity of those
controlling/benefiting from a group
(Women’s Alliance for Israel)
Usually, a small minority within the group
makes policy
Litigation issues
Interest Group Litigation
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Often used if an interest group fails in Congress or only
gets a weak piece of legislation
Relies on activist judges
Major victories in 1950s: School desegregation, equal
housing, labor market equality
Consumer groups have used suits against businesses
and federal agencies as a means of enforcing consumer
regulations
Lawyers file amicus curiae briefs: written arguments to a
court in defense of 1 side of a case
Class-action lawsuits enable a group of similarly situated
plaintiffs to compile grievances into 1 lawsuit (Paypal
suit)
Types of Interest Groups
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Public Interest Groups—seek to improve life for everyone by
encouraging the government to adopt certain public policies
that will benefit all. (many times try to help defenseless—
mentally ill, children, animals, etc)
Institutional Interests—individuals or organizations representing
other organizations (ex: GM). Concerned with bread and butter
issues for clients (GM-CAFÉ standards)
Agricultural groups
Professional groups (AMA, ABA)
Labor Unions—organization of workers in the same industry
(AFL-CIO, UAW)
Trade Associations (American Bankers Association)
Religious organizations (National Catholic Welfare Council,
Christian Coalition)
Why Join?
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Solidary incentives—sense of companionship (PTA,
Rotary Clubs have much to do locally, also League of
Women Voters, NAACP, American Legion)
Material Incentives—Money and services (Farm
Bureau, AARP provide discounts for members)
Purposive Incentives—stated goals are appealing and
serve a purpose. Members are passionate about goals,
have a sense of civic duty, and the cost is low (NOW,
NARAL)
Purposive groups are called ideological interest groups
Purposive groups that serve non-members are
commonly called public interest lobbies. They engage
in “research” and lobby.
Public interest lobbies do best when government is
Social Movements
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Def’n: A widely-shared demand for change
in some aspect of the social or political
order (Civil Rights, Feminism, can also be
Conservative)
May be triggered by scandals, events
(Exxon Valdez)
The Environmental
Movement
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Sierra Club formed 1890s
1960s-1970s: beginning of modern
movement
Earth Day #1: 1970
Nixon created EPA
Smallest groups tend to be most liberal
and activist (Earth Liberation Front)
The Feminist Movement
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Began in Seneca Falls, 1848, other movements in 1890s,
1920s, 1960s.
3 Types:
Solidary incentive based (MC women—League of Women
voters): avoid partisanship, dividing members
Purposive incentives (NOW, NARAL): Takes strong
positions on divisive issues
Issue-based
Example: WEAL (Women’s Equity Action League), which
concentrates on filing gender-equity lawsuits)
Has spawned an Anti-Feminist movement
The Union Movement
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Union membership fell after its peak in 1945 (36%)…by 1984,
<19% Now: 15%. Why?
Economic paradigm shift
Disapproval of unions
Unions want union shop: employees must join the union that
represent them when hired
Unions will persist because they can rely on incentives like the
union shop and workers receive benefits from unions
Greater recruitment of white collar workers in recent years
(esp. government employees)
1947 Taft-Hartley Act allows states to pass “right to work laws”
(outlaw union membership as a condition of employment)
Low wages in other countries has led to outsourcing—unions
who demand too much pay the ultimate price—their workers’
jobs
Farmers’ Movement
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Family farm has given way to massive
agribusiness
3% of Americans are farmers
Several broad-based agricultural groups
Peanut Growers’ Association, Dairy
Farmers, etc.
Department of Agriculture is divided along
commodity lines—how convenient for
lobbyists!
Business Interests
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70% of all interest groups represent business
Generally unified in promoting greater profits;
fragmented on specific policy choices
2 umbrella organizations:
National Association of Manufacturers
Chamber of Commerce
Trade and product associations fight regulations
that would reduce profits, fight for preferential
tax treatment, and seek subsidies and
government contracts
Foreign corporations/governments also lobby
Interest Group Procurement
of Funding
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Foundation grants
Federal grants (liberal get-out-the-vote programs are
infamous for this)
DIRECT MAIL
Best example of direct mail: Common Cause
2% of letters need to respond to direct mail
To encourage responses, mailers will put “teasers” on
envelopes, arouse emotions by portraying the enemy,
endorsements, personalize letters
The Bias Problem of Interest Groups
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Interest groups represent upper-class bias
Well-offs are more likely to join
Interest groups supporting business and
professions are better represented than
groups supporting minorities, consumers,
or the disadvantaged
Out of 7,000 groups, 50% are
corporations
Farmers enjoy plenty of influence, can at
least block bills they don’t like
Interest Group Activities
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Provide Information—arm legislators with their
version of “Facts”
Provide political cues—warn Congressmen about
implications
Rate legislators
Entice Public support, commission public opinion
polls
Lately, emphasis on grassroots support
Money and PACs also distributed, but this is
probably one of the least-effective ways
(historically this was not the case though)
Cause trouble (Greenpeace, KKK)—difficult for
government to measure response
Public Support: Rise of “New
politics”
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Insider strategy used to be most common:
Lobbyist-to-legislator
Outsider strategy (grassroots pressure)
becoming increasingly common
Key targets: undecided legislator or
bureaucrat
Some groups attack likely allies to
embarrass them
Regulating Interest Groups
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Complex reporting requirements
Tax code and campaign finance laws
actually achieve most of the regulation
Serious lobbying causes a group to lose its
tax-exempt status
Political Action Committees
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1973 Campaign finance law had 2 effects 1) limited
individual contributions and 2) practically begged
corporations, big labor to set up PACs
Not much evidence that money buys much in politics
(can accept funding from whoever you choose, and in
effect, still vote your conscience
Half of all PACs sponsored by corporations
Ideological PACs have increased at a higher rate than
business or labor PACs, and have raised more money
than both…1/3 liberal, 2/3 Conservative
Except for NRA, top 20 PACs were non-ideological
Democrats receive more PAC money, but no
systematic evidence that “vote buying” has occurred
Republicans rely more on small contributions from
more members
“The Revolving Door”
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1978 Ethics in Government Act (p. 247)
regulates possible conflicts of interest
between senior members of the Executive
Branch.
Otherwise, one could go from government
to business and be very influential with old
government “buddies”
This activity may cause public interest to
suffer
Goals of Interest Groups
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Try to influence public opinion
Work to affect the outcome of elections
Lobby those who make public policy
Frequently they use propaganda—a
technique of persuasion aimed at
influencing individual or group behaviors
Propaganda Techniques
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Plain folks
Bandwagon
Name-calling/Mud-slinging
Glittering Generalities (broad stmts.)
Transfer
Testimonial/Endorsement
Card-stacking (1 side of an issue only)
Chapter 11 Learning Objectives
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After reading and reviewing the material in this chapter, the student should be able
to do each of the following:
1.
Explain why the characteristics of United States society and government
encourage a multiplicity of interest groups.
2.
Indicate the historical conditions under which interest groups are likely to
form and specify the kinds of organizations Americans are most likely to join.
3.
Describe relations between leaders and rank-and-file members of groups,
including why members’ priorities may not determine the leaders’ actions.
4.
Describe several methods that interest groups use to formulate and carry out
their political objectives, especially the lobbying techniques used to gain public
support. Explain why courts have become an important forum for public interest
groups.
5.
List the laws regulating conflict of interest and describe the problems
involved with revolving door government employment. Describe the balance
between the First Amendment’s freedom of expression and the need to prevent
corruption in the political system.