Texas Interest Groups

 

Constitutional Guarantees of free speech, free assembly, free press, right to petition government for redress of grievances.

 

Freedom and right to vote guaranteed—essential to democracy

            --overwhelming zeal and overwhelming apathy both threaten democratic government

            --small, organized groups can run over the unorganized majority; often have more of an impact on legislation and policy than the will of the majority (e.g., the gay rights movement or the pro-abortion movement or the efforts to remove religion from the public square)

 

What Interest Groups Are

 

Cooperative group efforts—interest groups are not the actions of individuals

 

Private entities seeking to influence government

            --narrower interests than political parties (are they then the “factions” that Madison warned about in Federalist #10?)

            --endorsement of candidates, but not nomination of them

            --employment of lobbyists—putting pressure on legislators

            --pressure on legislators come from voter strength and campaign contributions of interest groups (how much $$, time, and volunteer work did the interest group give)

 

What Interest Groups Do

 

Seek to influence government at all levels at all branches.

            --encourage self-interested pursuit of public policy initiatives.

            --private meetings with public officials—no opportunity for opposing side to state its case during these intimate meetings

            --$$ makes public officials more vulnerable to interest pressures

            --more citizen participation? – Do interest groups allow better access to the venues of government for the common citizen, or do they squeeze out the common citizen from any role in his own government?

            --communication of political policies with the citizenry; education of the citizenry and public officials

            --mobilization of the voters—stress on one issue may be what is necessary to get voters to the polls on election day

 

Direct Means of Influencing Government

 

Lobbying the Legislative and Executive Branches

            --Direct contact between representatives of interest groups and legislative or executive officials to influence specific policy outcomes

            --Executive branch is free to select means of execution of the state’s laws—may do so under the influence of interest groups

                        --Rules and regulations about how law should apply in specific situations

                        --lobbyists especially work with the executive branch during non-legislative session years

 

Filing Suits in Court

            --Lawsuits as a means of furthering the goals of special interest

                        --have no funds to be spent elsewhere, therefore go to the courts

                        --freer of public opinion and passions

                        --seeking better interpretation of law than that offered by the bureaucracy

                        --seeking to delay implementation of a law/rule/policy

                        --challenging constitutionality of the law or application of the law/means of enforcement of the law

 

Advising and Serving the State

            --State law that appointive regulative boards be composed of a majority from the profession, business or industry that is being regulated by the agency

                        --board members are only part-time state officials and fulltime professionals =>

                        --simultaneous service as state regulatory member and interest group member (co-optation of the bureaucracy)

 

Organizing Public Demonstrations

            --Press coverage of political “theater”

                        --must have large #s and control over the march or protest in order to be effective; legislators will ignore small groups and/or trouble-makers

 

Indirect Means of Influencing Government

 

Electioneering:

            --Endorsements and Political Action Committees to donate $$ to campaigns

 

Educating the Public:

            --Using PR to build quality reputation among the citizenry

            --Interest groups must control the definition of the issues—educating the public officials before educating the public—opponents will try to make the issues negative once they become public record (group-against-group struggles—whose group has the better definition?  See how both sides emphasize the positive of their position and the negative of the other side’s position)

 

Socializing:

            Informal social gatherings; access to public officials prerequisite to influencing policy

            --must get in the door in time

            --makes direct lobbying easier

            --even successful groups sometimes lose (often => court litigation)

 

Why People Join Interest Groups

 

Cannot succeed individually

            --groups pool talents and time and resources of like-minded people

            --ability to work with more officials more effectively

            --improving one’s own career/social goals’ achievability

Tangible benefits for joining

            e.g., insurance benefits, newsletters, journals, discounts, networking, etc.

 

It is irrational to join an interest group if participation costs outweigh the personal benefits to be gained (see Mancur Olsen’s study of reasons why people join interest groups).  The more likely it is that participation in an interest group will make a difference, the more likely it is that people will join that group.  (e.g., the benefits of joining Operation Rescue—satisfaction of working to protect the unborn child, moral strength, peace of mind, voter guides, etc.—may outweigh the costs of participating because the group’s focus is narrow enough to matter only to a small fraction of the population.  On the other hand, a group that was advocating for the welfare of poor people has such a broad interest that individual participation is not likely to be seen as mattering a great deal, and thus will not attract as many members unless other tangible benefits are offered.  It is commonly believed that the government will take care of the poor regardless of what an individual or interest group pursues, whereas it is not as commonly believed that the government will respond to the pro-life cause without that cause being promoted by a well-organized interest group).

 

Types of Interest Groups

 

Economic Interest Groups

            --support for low taxes, local government control, more lenient organization/unionization laws, etc., etc., etc.

 

Non-Economic Interest Groups:

            --support for environmentalism, pro-life, pro-choice, religion in the public square, political reform, etc., etc., etc.

            --benefits to all of society

 

Mixed Interest Groups

            --combine economic and non-economic interests

            --advocacy for anti-discrimination in the workplace, etc., etc., etc.

            --social goals combine with clear economic effects

 

Factors that Affect Interest Group Power

 

Culture of Non-Participation

            One-party system => minimal political participation; elitist rule; strong special interests

 

Party Competition

            People naturally need ideological outlets

            Weak parties => stronger interest groups

                        --Interest groups as a whole are stronger in the US than in other parts of the world, because the parties here are not as ideologically oriented.  This is also part of the reason religion remains as strong in the US as it does—parties do not co-opt the goals of the religious group or organization, leaving each group to develop its own means of acting and influencing the government.  Class struggles are not as common over here, either, because of the weakness of the parties. Neither party identifies particularly well with the lower classes; both represent the middle- or upper-middle classes more than other groups.

            Stronger parties => weaker interest groups

                        --Compare the US with Europe, special interests overseas are minimal, or they are absorbed into a particular political party. e.g., the Green Party’s platform and plan for governing overseas revolves around environmental concerns

 

Part-Time Legislature

            Part-time lawmaking allows little time for real policy development apart from lobbyists’ influence.  Lobbyists are the sources of information for most lawmakers.

 

Decentralization of the Executive Branch Power

            Plural executive branch, each body elected independently or appointed by the governor with limited removal powers.

            Public interests often shunted aside due to state law requiring majorities on the boards/commissions from the professions, industries, and businesses that they regulate.

 

Law: Few real regulations on lobbying

 

The Media:

            Media not neutral (usually liberal-biased)

                        --attempt to open the government to the public, expose corruption or conflicts of interest. (not always a good thing for the government—sometimes government may function better if the doors are kept closed)

            Major media outlets have bureaus in Austin; local papers and television and radio stations receive feeds from these major outlets. Important to remember that media outlets are also for-profit businesses.

 

Constituent Influences:

            80% of the time, members of the state legislature are at home in their districts (due to short sessions, and weekend recesses during sessions)

            Legislators free to act when there is no clear consensus among their constituents.

            Constituent membership in interest groups reduces the work of genuine citizenship, provides information to the citizens to alert them to important issues being considered in Austin.

 

Interest Groups As Checks on Other Interest Groups

            Smaller/narrower interests may sneak in under the radar—have only to persuade key members of committees (i.e., the chairs) and leadership to get their interests inserted into law (most other members who are not on the committee considering a bill will vote for the bill on the floor if it is voted out of committee favorably).

            --Expect conflict on matters of major policy concern

                        --more participants in the political debate => increased conflict, less policy output (and theoretically, the better common good)

 

Campaign Contributions:

            Contributions in exchange for access to public officials

                        --more $$ creates more of an obligation for public officials to listen to lobbyists’ interests/concerns

            Donating $$ during the five weeks between election day and the start of the legislative session as a means of “paying the price of admission” to government access.  Notice that these contributions are AFTER the election….the media and the public both believe this is deliberate purchasing of special favors from the legislators. Lobbyists and legislators do not see it that way.

 

Conclusions About Balance in the Political System

 

Legislators often represent special interests and enterprises in their legislative capacity. They are professionals first and legislators second. (Again, take note of the infrequent sessions and extremely low legislative pay)

            Compromise can come out of conflict

“Please don’t tell my mother I’m a lobbyist; she thinks I’m a piano player in a bordello.” “Dear Senator, Meet Me in the Lobby…The Second Oldest Profession.”

 

The Regulation of Lobbying

 

Registering as a lobbyist: lobbyist who work gratis are not required to register; other lobbyists who work for specified amounts of $$ or who contribute certain amounts of $$ to influence public policy do have to register and file reports with the Texas Ethics Commission. ($1000/quarter salary and/or $500/quarter expenditure) (general overhead expenses of lobbying are exempt, as are funds paid to host events to which all members of the legislature are invited, and all costs for preparing to lobby)

 

Lobby Reports: Who the lobbyist represents; information about clients/employers; policy areas of concern; compensation category; identity of assistants who are in direct contact with public officials.  Monthly reports required of those who will spend more than $1000 annually.  Annual reports required of those who spend less than $1000 annually.

 

Lobbyists are required to report their expenditures and compensations only in broad categories (e.g., from $1000-$99,999 or $100,000-$999,999); exact amounts of $$ spent are not required to be reported.

 

Lobbyists do not have to report the bill numbers for which they lobbied or the rule-making hearings before which they testified.  Their activities are simply selected from a preset list, with a check-box beside each one. (e.g., utilities industry, real estate, labor, etc.)

 

Lobbyists must report name, date, place, and purpose for dinners/ transportation/ drinks/lodging offered to public officials if in excess of $50 per day.  Expenditures for broadcast or print advertising, mass mailings, and other communications must also be detailed if they are to support or oppose legislation or administrative actions.

 

Campaign and late train contributions do not qualify as lobbying by state law, but do impact lobbying.  Contributions cannot be made 30 days prior to or during the legislative sessions in order to prevent corruption or appearance of corruption.  Campaign contributions reported to Texas Ethics Commission at various intervals (usually quarterly).

 

Legislators receive lists of registered lobbyists by the first of February in legislative years (about one month after the session begins).  Public access to lobbying registration and activity reports through the Texas Ethics Commission (www.ethics.state.tx.us)

 

Conflict of interest legislation in 2001 requires lobbyists to report to the Ethics Commission and their clients when they represent clients that may have incompatible legislative goals.  Unclear still as to whether the statute applies to lobbyists in the same firm who represent different clients with conflicting interests.

 

When lobbying the legislature, lobbyists must: build rapport during the interval between sessions, work to get to know the powerful members of the legislature, other members, their staffs, learn the details of the interests they represent, know the bios and basic facts about the members (who is from where, who can be swayed/who can’t be swayed, etc.), know the arguments of their opponents; learn what proposals may have a favorable chance of passing; line up sponsors for those proposals, etc. 

 

Administrators (bureaucrats) and interest group representatives seek each other out—learn from one another—how better to serve their clientele, how better to inform their clientele of administrative changes, etc.

 

Administrative agencies issue guidelines to direct how bureaucrats will apply the laws in certain situations; also issue rules/regulations prescribing standards of conduct to be followed by the citizens or groups of citizens who will be affected by the law.  Agencies open their proceedings to the public—required that they give notice of intent to make a rule and allow a time for written public comment on the rule proposed. After that window is closed, they analyze the comments and establish a final rule with force of law.