CHAPTER 9 INTEREST GROUPS: ORGANIZATIN FOR INFLUENCE

An interest groupalso called a faction, pressure group, special interest, or

organized interestcan be defined as any organization that actively seeks to influence
public policy
Like parties, groups are a linkage mechanism
Political parties address a broad range of issues so as to appeal to diverse blocs of voters
Groups concentrate on policies directly affecting their interest
The Interest-Group System

Americans are more likely than citizens of other nations to join organized groups

Because of federalism and the separation of powers, groups have multiple points of
entry through which to influence
policy

While the vast majority of

organized interest represent
private interests, some represent
governments

Some individuals or organizations

have the skills, money, contacts, or
time to participate in groups
politics, others do not.

Economic Groups
No interests are more fully or
effectively organized than
those that have economic
activity as their primary
purpose
Almost all such organizations
engage in political activity as a means of promoting and protecting their
economic interests
An indicator of this is the fact that Washington lobbyists who represent
economic groups outnumber those of all other groups by more than two to one
Most numerous are business groups
Business firms are also represented through associations
Some of these organizations of organizations seek to advance the broad
interests of business
Economic groups also include those associated with organized labor

Labor groups seek to promote policies that benefit workers in general

and union members in particular

Today, only about 1/8 workers is a union member

The number decreased as the economy changed, while the number of

professionals, technicians, and service workers has increased

Professionals have shown little interest in union organization, perhaps

because they identify with management or consider themselves
economically secure

Service workers and technicians can also be difficult for unions to

organize because they work closely with managers

The most heavily unionized employees are those who work for local
government

State and federal employees are also heavily unionized

Farm groups represent another large economic lobby
Most professions also have lobbying associations

Citizens Groups
Group members in this category are joined together not by a material incentive
but a purposive incentive, the satisfaction of contributing to what they regard
as a worthy goal or purpose
Nearly every conceivable issue or problem has its citizens group
Those groups that are dedicated to the promotion of a political ideology have a
broad agenda that derives from a philosophical or moral position
Most citizens groups, however, have an issue-specified policy agenda
Single-issue groups have risen sharply in umber in the past half century

National Rifle Association

Right-to-life/pro-choice

Environmental groups
Citizens groups are difficult to classify precisely because they differ so widely
in their focus and goals
The Organizational Edge: Economic Groups versus Citizens Groups
Although the number of citizens groups has mushroomed in recent decades,
they are substantially outnumbered by economic groups

less influence on
government
Unequal Access to Resources

Political lobbying does not come cheap, it typically must have a

headquarters, an expert staff, and communication facilities

Economic groups

Some economic groups rely on dues rather than profits to support

their lobbying, but they have something of economic value to offer in
exchange

private (individual) good

Private good can be held back

Citizens groups

The incentives they offer prospective members are not exclusive

Most noneconomic groups offer collective (public) goods as an

incentive

Collective goods are goods that belong to all; they cannot be granted
or withheld on an individual basis

The share characteristic of collective goods creates what is called the

free-rider problem: individuals can obtain the good even if they do
not contribute to the groups effort

The free-rider problem has been lessened by communication

technologies that enable citizens groups to easily contact
prospective members
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Size

Although it might be thought that the interests of groups with large

memberships would typically prevail over the interests of smaller groups
the reverse is more often true

Small groups are ordinary more

united on policy issues and often
have more resources

Business groups work together to

influence government on issues
of join interest

Business associations testify to

the advantage of small size

Nevertheless, there is strength in

numbers
Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence Through Official Contacts

Groups seek governments support through lobbying, a term that refers broadly to
efforts by groups to influence public policy through contact with public officials

Interest groups rely on two main lobbying strategies, which have been called inside
lobbying and outside lobbying

Inside lobbying is based on group efforts to develop and maintain close (inside)
contacts with policymakers

Acquiring Access to Officials

Through inside lobbying, groups seek to gain direct access to officials in order
to influence their decisions
Lobbyists concentrate on contacting policymakers to supply them with
information that supports the groups position on pending policy
This tendency reflects both the difficultly of persuading opponents to change
long-held views and the advantage of working through trusted officials
Union lobbyists work mainly with pro-labor officeholders, just as corporate
lobbyists work mainly with policymakers who support business interests
Many lobbyists worked previously in government, and some top officials were
once lobbyists
There economic groups have the money to retain high-priced lobbyists, while
many other interests do not
Lobbying Congress

The targets of inside lobbying are officials of all three government

brancheslegislative, executive ,and judicial

With support in Congress, a group can obtain the legislative help it needs
to achieve its policy goals

Lobbyists effectiveness depends in part on their reputation for fair play

Lobbying the Executive Branch

As the range of federal policy has expanded, lobbying of the executive

branch has grown in importance

Group influence is particularly strong in the regulatory agencies that

oversee the nations business sectors
Lobbying the Courts

Judicial rulings in areas such as education and civil rights have made
interest groups recognize that they may be able to achieve their policy
goals through the courts

Interest groups have several judicial lobbying options =, including efforts

to influence the selection of federal judges

As interest groups have increasingly restored to legal action, they have

often found themselves facing one another in court

Webs of Influence: Groups in the Policy Process

Iron Triangles

An iron triangle consists of a small and informal but relatively stable set
of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists who seek to develop policies
beneficial to a particular interest

The three corners of one such triangle are the Department of

Agriculture (bureaucrats), the agriculture committees of Congress
(legislators), and farm groups such as the Association Milk Producers and
the Association of Wheat Growers (lobbyists)

They determine many of the policies affecting farmers

Groups embedded in iron triangles have an inside track to

well-positioned legislator and bureaucrats

The groups provide lobbying support for agency programs and campaign
contribution to members
Issue Networks

Iron triangle represent the pattern of influence in only certain policy

areas and are less common now than in the past

A more frequent pattern of influence today is the issue networkan

informal grouping of officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists who come
to together temporarily around a policy problem

Issue network are a result of the increasing complexity of policy problems

Participants must have a precise knowledge of the issue at hand in order

to address it effectively

An issue network is built around specialized interests and knowledge

In sum, issue networks differ substantially from iron triangles

In an iron triangle, a common interest brings the participants together in

a long lasting and mutually beneficial relationship

In an issue network, an immediate issue brings together the participants

in a temporary network that is based on their ability to knowledgeable
address the issue and where they play out their separate interest before
disbanding once the issue is settled
Outside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Public Pressure

Groups are also engaged in outside lobbying, which involves bringing constituency
pressure to bear on policymakers

Constituency Advocacy: Grassroots Lobbying

One form of outside pressure is grassroots lobbyingthat is, pressure
designed to convince government officials that a groups policy position has
popular support
Grassroots lobbying seeks to get members of the public to take action

Electoral Action: Votes and Money

An outside strategy can also influence election activity
Political Action Committees (PACs)

A groups contributions to candidates are funneled through its political

action committee (PAC)

A group cannot give organizational funds directly to candidates, but

through its PAC, a group can solicit voluntary contributions from
members or employees and then donate this money to candidates

A PAC can back as many candidates as it wants but is legally limited in the
amount it can contribute to a single candidate

There are more than 4000 PACs and PAC contributions account for
roughly a third of total contributions to congressional campaign

Their role is less significant in presidential campaigns, which are bigger in

scale and depend largely on individual contributions

Most of these are corporate PACs

The others are tied to trade associations

The next-largest set of PACs consists of those linked to citizens groups

PACs contribute roughly eight times as much money to incumbents as to

their challengers

PACs recognize that incumbents are likely to win and thus to remain in
positions of power
Super PACs

Citizen United vs. FEC allowed corporations and unions can spend an

unlimited amount of their funds on elections, as long as the spending is

not coordinated directly with that of candidates and parties

The rulings spawned super PACs

These campaign groups are not allowed to give money directly to

candidates or parties,
but they are otherwise
more or less to spend as
much as they want

Super PACs have been

the subject of hot debate

Regular PACs have

been criticized as
giving groups too
much influence
over lawmakers,
and criticisms have
been muted by the
fact that these PACs
raise their money
through small contributions and are strictly limited in how much
they can give to a single candidate

Super PACs can accept contributions of any size and can focus their
spending entirely on the election or defeat of a single candidate

They are also not required by law to disclose in a timely way the
sources of their funds

A criticism of super PACs is that they cannot by held accountable in

any significant way for what they do

When candidates engage in deceptive campaigning, the voters at

least have the option for voting against them

They can make outrageous claims without paying a price

The Group System: Indispensable but Biased

Groups are a means of getting government to pay attention to peoples need and
interests

Yet the issues of representation through groups is also a question of whether the
various interests in society are fairly represented, and here the pluralist argument
is less compelling

The Contribution of Groups of Self-Government: Pluralism

Some pluralists even question the usefulness of terms such as the public
interest
If people disagree on societys goals and priorities, as they always do, how can
anyone claim that their goal or priority represents the public interest?
Pluralists say that society is best seen as a collection of separate interest and is
best served by a process that serves a wide array of these interests
Interest groups expand the range of issues that come to lawmakers attention

Flaws in Pluralism: Interest-Group Liberalism and Economic Bias

There is no concept of the public interest in a system that gives special interest
the ability to determine the policies affecting them
Nor can it be assumed that what a lobbying group receives is what the majority
would also want
Lowi used the term interest-group liberalism to describe the tendency of
officials to support the policy demand of the interest group or groups that have

a special stake in a policy

Another flaw in the pluralist argument resides in its claim that the group
system is representative
Although pluralists acknowledge that well-funded interest have more clout,
they say that the group process is relatively open and few interests are entirely
left out
Organization is an unequally distributed resource