I. Role of Interest Groups
a. Americans have a predilection to join interest groups.
i. Guaranteed rights in the First Amendment
1. right to assemble peacefully
2. right to petition the government for redress
3. right to speak freely
ii. There are numerous points of access to government officials within the federal system we have in the US
1. two houses of Congress—if one passes, the other may be lobbied to block passage
2. President may be lobbied (usually through access to his staff/aids) to veto or sign a specific bill
3. Executive agencies/bureaus/departments may be lobbied to influence the ways laws are implemented (every national law is enforced through some channel in the bureaucracy)
4. Court lobbying—amicus curiae briefs or filing of lawsuits
iii. Over 100,000 associations in the US
1. Approx. 2/3 of Americans belong to at least one interest group or association
a. Not all associations are interest groups in the strict political sense
b. Many, if not most, are strictly organized to provide a forum for common interests and ideas—e.g., religious organizations, certain clubs (Lions, Rotary), a student organization perhaps with national headquarters and local chapters, etc.
2. Pluralist interpretation of politics
a. Numerous groups => forced compromise for greater good (e.g., tobacco farmers, tobacco processors, tobacco marketers, anti-smoking groups, etc. must all work together and reach a compromise on tobacco legislation)
b. “Hyperpluralism”—condition in which there are so many groups no effective compromise may be won and no effective policy changes may be made (results in stalemate)
c. Powerful interest groups often do not represent the interests of the people at large
II. Benefits of Interest Groups
a. “Collective Good”—piggy backing
i. irrational for people to join most groups
1. demands too much time, money
2. not enough direct benefits
ii. few people join groups for which the concern is the greater common good
1. e.g, lobbyists for greater police, fire protection
2. e.g., lobbyists for greater levels of national defense spending or national air quality standards
3. e.g., lobbying for college loans, and farm subsidies
iii. The public at large will benefit from the activities of these small groups
1. no one can be denied fire or police protection
2. no one can be forced to breathe dirty air even if there are clean air standards
3. no one can be denied the protection of the military
4. no one can be denied a college loan because s/he did not participate in the creation of loan laws and regulations
b. People join groups if there is a high potential that an individual can make a difference
i. E.g., Operation Rescue
ii. E.g., NRA
c. Incentives to Joining an Interest Group
i. Solidarity incentives—reason or motive having to do with the desire to associate with others and to share with others a particular interest or hobby—e.g., the National Audubon Society
ii. Material Incentives—reason or motive having to do with economic benefits or opportunities—e.g., the AARP (medical insurance, travel and insurance discounts, organized lobbying for improved pension plans, prescription drug benefits, etc.) the largest interest group in the country, with over 33 million members; other material incentives are more indirect, through strictly lobbying efforts, etc.
iii. Purposive incentives—reasons or motives having to do with ethical beliefs or ideological principles—e.g., Operation Rescue, Christian Coalition, Greenpeace
iv. Social Movements—represent the demands of a large segment of society for political, economic, or social change (typically combine any or all of the above kinds of incentives to attract members and usually end up forming organized interest groups)—e.g., the Civil Rights Movement => creation of the NAACP; the Women’s Movement => creation of the NOW
III. Types of Interest Groups
a. Economic Interest Groups—groups formed to promote and protect economic interests of businesses, agricultural producers and suppliers, labour, public employees, and professionals
i. Business Interest Groups
1. National Association of Manufacturers
2. U.S. Chamber of Commerce
3. Business Roundtable
ii. Agricultural Interest Groups
1. Because they’re geographically dispersed, farmers can wield enormous political influence (we have farm subsidies, artificially high prices because of this)
2. American Farm Bureau Federation and National Farmers Union
iii. Labour Interest Groups—membership has declined sharply due to fewer labor-intensive jobs and more service-oriented jobs. Push has been to create new labor organizations designed for service-oriented professionals (teachers, doctors, lawyers, public employees, etc.)
1. AFL-CIO
2. Teamsters
3. Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America
4. United Mine Workers
iv. Public Employee Interest Groups—many do not have the right to strike; unions like these are expanding as labor unions shrink
1. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
2. American Federation of Teachers
3. National Education Association
4. Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization
v. Professional Interest Groups
1. American Bar Association
2. American Medical Association
3. Screen Actors Guild
b. Environmental Groups
i. National Wildlife Federation
ii. Environmental Defense Fund
iii. Greenpeace Society
iv. Earth First!
c. Public Interest Groups
i. “Nader Organizations”—typically concerned with consumer interests; became prominent after 1965 Nader book Unsafe at Any Speed addressing the GM cover-up of information pertaining to the safety of the Corvair.
ii. Other Public Interest Groups—
1. Conservative public-interest groups pitted against Nader Organizations
2. Common Cause—working for numerous reforms (e.g., the 26th Amendment, improved voter registration, withdrawal of forces from S. Vietnam, campaign finance)
3. ACLU
d. Special Interest Groups
i. Narrowly focused
ii. Straightforward, simple goals
iii. Passionate members who are able to easily motivate their voting blocs
iv. E.g., NRA, National Abortion Rights League, Right-to-Work Committee (anti-union); Hudson Valley PAC (pro-Israel); Right to Life (pro-life); AARP (senior citizens’ issues)
e. Foreign Governments
i. Major US Trading partners (e.g., Japan, China, EU, S. Korea, Canada)
ii. Smaller nations when it is in their interest (e.g., Caribbean nations)
iii. Usually intense lobbying, done with little public knowledge
iv. Often former reps. or senators work as lobbyists for a foreign govt.
IV. Interest Group Strategies
a. Direct techniques—lobbyists often called the “third house of the legislature” because of the importance of their role in getting legislation passed through Congress
i. Accost members of Congress in the lobby
ii. Private meetings arranged between lobbyists and public officials
iii. Furnishing of information unavailable anywhere else
iv. Testifying before Congressional committees or executive branch agency committees
v. Drafting legislation
vi. Social gatherings
vii. Furnishing of political information—telling one rep. how another will vote, etc.
viii. Supplying or endorsing presidential nominees to bench or executive posts
b. Indirect techniques
i. Ratings of Congressmen—League of Women Voters, Christian Coalition, Americans for Democratic Action, etc.
ii. Campaign Assistance—endorsements and funds
V. Political Action Committees
a. Set up by and representing a corporation, labor union, or special interest group.
b. Raise and give donate money to campaigns on behalf of the organization or groups they represent
c. Usually give money to the candidates whom they believe will best serve their interests, often regardless of party label (e.g., an incumbent rep. may have the election sewn up, and though the PAC does not agree with everything the rep. does, it still gives money to his campaign in hopes of influencing his later decisions); typically money goes to incumbents, even if they have little or no opposition; rarely do challengers receive loads of $
d. Legitimated by having at least 50 donors, giving to at least 5 candidates in a federal election; each corporation or union or other organization is limited to one PAC.
e. Money typically obtained from corporate execs. or labor union members or special interest group members
f. Allowed to contribute up to $5000 per candidate per election (primary, and general considered two separate elections)
g. More than 4,500 PACs by 1998, spending approx. $470 million
h. Approx. 32% of campaign funds spent by House candidates were raised by PACs
i. Contributions from PACs to specific candidates are limited by law, but spending for issue advocacy (general, broad appeal for any number of candidates or a specific candidate)
j. Type of PACs
i. Labor-Corporate PACs—formed out of labor union or corporation
ii. Membership/association PACs—formed out of associations of professionals (e.g., AMA)
iii. Non-Connected/independent PACs—formed out of individuals with specific issue or ideological concerns
iv. Personal PACs—Formed by candidates themselves (e.g., Gingrich’s GOPAC: formed to bring in money in support of Republican Revolution of 1994, move toward party building; to help train candidates to become good candidates)
VI. Indirect Techniques of Lobbying/Interest Group Strategy
a. Generate Public Pressure—“Climate Control”
i. Use of media to generate good feelings/favorable public opinion toward an interest group, industry or corporation
ii. Polling skewed to demonstrate public support for an issue
b. Use of Constituents as Lobbyists
i. “Shotgun” approach—writing campaigns, phone campaigns, generating massive amounts of mail and phone calls to Congress—usually only effective if sufficient numbers act on the interest group’s call
ii. “Rifle” approach—encouraging respected constituents to petition the government officials to get something done; public officials more likely to listen to the constituent than to a paid lobbyist.
iii. Building Awareness—forming alliances between separate interest groups with similar interests to get something done; may have similar goals but have very divergent reasons for sponsoring certain legislation, etc.
VII. Regulation of Lobbyists
a. Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, Title III (Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act)
i. Required lobbyists to register their clients and the purposes of their efforts
ii. Quarterly report on lobbying activities required
iii. Construed by supreme Court to apply only to lobbyists who were directly affecting federal legislation
b. 1995 Reforms in Lobbying Regulations
i. lobbyists defined broadly as anyone who spends at least 20 percent of his/her time lobbying members of Congress, their staffs, or exec. branch officials
ii. lobbyists must register with House and Senate within 45 days of first contact
iii. semiannual reports on lobbying efforts, specific issues/bill numbers, estimated cost of the campaign, and list of government branches contacted
iv. reps. of US-owned subsidiaries of foreign-owned firms and lawyers representing foreign governments must register
v. Grassroots lobbying efforts and tax-exempt organizations’ lobbying efforts are exempt from these regulations
vi. Gifts to Congressmen either banned altogether or severely limited
VIII. Interest Groups and Representative Democracy
a. Most lobbyist efforts are for middle- and upper-middle-class
b. Well-educated
c. Active in the political process
d. “Elite Within an Elite”—leaders of interest groups generally of a higher social class than that of its members
e. Smaller Interest Groups are often most effective because they are perceived as having a genuine interest in the issue involved.