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							GOVT
Chapter 6

Interest Groups
Learning Objectives

Explain what an interest group is, how interest groups form, and how interest
groups function in American politics.

Indicate how interest groups differ from political parties.


Identify the various types of interest groups.

Discuss how the activities of interest groups help to shape government
policymaking.

Describe how interest groups are regulated by government.
How Interest Groups Form


How Interest Groups Function in
American Politics
How Interest Groups Form
• An interest group is an organization of people
  sharing common objectives who actively attempt
  to influence government policymakers through
  direct and indirect methods.
• Interest groups may form in response to change
  – a political or economic change, a shift in
  population or technology, or a change in social
  values.
Interest Groups: Financing
• An interest group
  must have patrons –
  people or
  organizations willing
  to finance the group.
• Groups usually
  collect fees or
  donations from
  members, but few
  can survive without
  large grants and
  donations.
Interest Groups
• Surveys show that at least 85% of Americans
  belong to at least one group.
• The existence of persons who benefit but do not
  contribute is called the free rider problem.
 ▫ If an interest group is successful in lobbying for
   laws that will improve air quality, everyone will
   benefit whether they paid for the lobbying effort or
   not.
How Interest Groups Function in American
Government
• Interest groups serve several purposes in American
  politics:
  ▫ Help to bridge the gap between citizens and
    government.
  ▫ Help raise public awareness and inspire action.
  ▫ Often provide public officials with specialized and
    detailed information that might be difficult to obtain
    otherwise.
  ▫ Serve as another check on public officials to make
    sure that they are carrying out their duties responsibly.
Interest Groups in American Government

• According to the pluralist theory, politics is a
  contest among various interest groups.
• Pluralists maintain that the influence of interest
  groups on government is not undemocratic
  because individual interests are indirectly
  represented in the policymaking process
  through these groups.
Interest Groups v. Political Parties
Interest Groups                      Political Parties
• Are often policy specialists.      • Policy generalists. They are
  They have only a handful of          broad-based organizations
  key policies to push.                that must attract the support of
                                       many opposing groups and
• Are usually more tightly             consider a large number of
  organized than political parties     issues.
  and financed through
  contributions or dues-paying       • Are more loosely organized
  memberships.                         than interest groups.
• Try to influence the outcome of    • Main sphere of influence is the
  elections but do not compete         electoral system; parties run
  for public office.                   candidates for political office.
Business Interest Groups


Labor Interest Groups


Agricultural Interest Groups


Consumer Interest Groups


Senior Citizen Interest Groups


Environmental Interest Groups


Professional Interest Groups


Single-Issue Interest Groups


Government Interest Groups
Business Interest Groups
• Two umbrella organizations that include large and small
  corporations and businesses are the U.S. Chamber of
  Commerce and the National Association of
  Manufacturers.
• Hundreds of trade organizations are less visible, but
  are also important in seeking policies that assist their
  members.
• Trade organizations usually support policies that benefit
  specific industries.
• Business interest groups have been viewed as staunch
  supporters of the Republican Party because Republicans
  are more likely to promote a “hands-off” government
  policy toward business.
Labor Interest Groups
• Interest groups representing labor have been some
  of the most influential groups in our country’s
  history.
• The largest and most powerful labor interest group
  today is the AFL-CIO (the American Federation of
  Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations), a
  confederation of fifty-six national and international
  labor unions representing 11 million members.
• Unions not affiliated with the AFL-CIO also
  represent millions of members.
Labor Interest Groups
• Although unions were highly influential in the 1930’s through the
  1950’s, their strength and political power have waned in the last
  several decades.
• Today, members of organized labor make up only 12.4% of the
  labor force – all of the people over the age of sixteen who are
  working.
Agricultural Interest Groups
• Three broad-based agricultural groups represent
  millions of American farmers.
  ▫ The American Farm Bureau Federation (Farm Bureau)
  ▫ The National Grange
  ▫ The National Farmers Union
• The Farm Bureau is the largest, representing more
  than 5.5 million families. Founded in 1919, it
  achieved one of its greatest early successes when it
  helped to obtain government guarantees of “fair”
  prices during the Great Depression of the 1930’s.
Consumer Interest Groups

• Groups organized for the protection of consumer
  rights were very active in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
• Consumer groups deal with such problems as
  poor housing, discrimination against minorities
  and women, discrimination in the granting of
  credit, and business inaction on consumer
  complaints.
Senior Citizen Interest Groups
• While the population of the nation as
  a whole has tripled since 1900, the
  number of elderly persons has
  increased eightfold.
• Persons over the age of sixty-five
  now account for 13% of the
  population, and many of these people
  have united to call attention to their
  special needs and concerns.
• These interest groups have been
  very outspoken and persuasive.
Environmental Interest Groups
• Environmental interest groups
  are becoming some of the
  most powerful in Washington,
  D.C.
• Environmental groups have
  organized to support pollution
  controls, wilderness protection,
  and clean-air legislation.
• They have opposed strip-
  mining, nuclear power plants,
  logging, chemical waste
  dumps, and many other
  potential hazards.
Environmental Interest Groups

• Environmental groups are greatly concerned
  about global warming and have supported
  recent attempts to control pollutants that may
  contribute to the problem.
 ▫ The issue of carbon taxes on imports has united
   environmentalists with U.S. industries that worry
   about foreign competition.
Professional Interest Groups
• Most professions that require advanced education or
  specialized training have organizations to protect and
  promote their interests.
• These groups are concerned mainly with the standards
  of their professions, but also work to influence
  government policy. Some also function as labor unions.
• Four major professional groups are:
  ▫ The American Medical Association
  ▫ The American Bar Association
  ▫ The National Education Association
  ▫ The American Federation of Teachers
Single-Issue Interest Groups
• Numerous interest groups focus on a single
  issue.
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) lobbies
  for stiffer penalties for drunk-driving convictions.
• The abortion debate has created various single-
  issue groups such as the Right to Life
  Organization and NARAL Pro-Choice America.
• Other examples are the NRA and the American
  Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Government Interest Groups

• Efforts by state and local governments to lobby
  the federal government have escalated in recent
  years.
• The federal government has sometimes lobbied
  in individual states, too.
• For example, during the 2004 elections, the U.S.
  Attorney General’s office lobbied against
  medical marijuana use in states that were
  considering ballot measures on the issue.
Direct Techniques


Indirect Techniques
Direct Techniques
• Lobbying and providing
  election support are two
  important direct
  techniques used by
  interest groups to
  influence government
  policy.
Direct Techniques: Lobbying
• Lobbying refers to all of the attempts by
  organizations or individuals to influence legislation
  or the administrative decisions of government. It is
  one of the most widely used and effective ways to
  influence legislative activity.
• A lobbyist is an individual who handles a particular
  interest group’s lobbying efforts.
• Lobbying can be directed at the legislative branch,
  at administrative agencies, and even at the courts.
Direct Techniques: Providing Election
Support
• Interest groups often become directly involved in the
  election process. They provide campaign support for
  legislators who favor their policies and urge their
  members to vote for candidates who support the
  views of the group.
• They can also threaten candidates with the
  withdrawal of votes.
• Since the 1970s, federal laws governing campaign
  financing have allowed corporations, labor unions,
  and special interest groups to raise funds and make
  campaign contributions through political action
  committees (PACs).
Indirect Techniques
• Interest groups also try to influence public policy through third
  parties or the general public.
• These indirect techniques can be particularly effective
  because public officials are often more impressed by contacts
  from voters than from lobbyists.
• Indirect techniques include:
  ▫ Shaping public opinion
  ▫ Issuing ads
  ▫ Mobilizing constituents
  ▫ Going to court
  ▫ Demonstrating
Indirect Techniques: Shaping Public Opinion
• To cultivate public opinion, efforts may include
  television publicity, newspaper and magazine
  advertisements, online campaigns, mass mailings,
  and the use of public relations techniques.
• Some interest groups use rating systems, rating
  legislators according to the percentage of times they
  vote favorably on select issues.
• One of the most powerful indirect techniques used
  by interest groups is the “issue ad” – a TV or radio
  ad taking a position on a particular issue.
Indirect Techniques: Mobilizing Constituents

• Interest groups sometimes urge members and
  other constituents to contact government
  officials to show their support for or opposition to
  a certain policy.
• The NRA has successfully used this tactic to
  fight strict federal gun control legislation by
  delivering half a million letters to Congress
  within a few weeks.
Indirect Techniques: Going to Court
• Civil rights groups paved the way for interest group
  litigation in the 1950s and 1960s with major victories
  concerning equal housing, school desegregation, etc.
• Interest groups can also influence the outcome of
  litigation without being a party to a lawsuit.
• Frequently, an interest group files an amicus curiae
  (“friend of the court”) brief in an appellate court.
• Often, interest groups have statistics and research that
  support their position on a certain issue, and this
  research can have influence on the justices deciding the
  case.
Indirect Techniques: Demonstration
• Some interest groups stage protests to make a
  statement in a dramatic way. The Boston Tea
  Party of 1773 is testimony to how long this tactic
  has been around.
• Over the years, many groups have organized
  protest marches and rallies to support or oppose
  issues.
• Not all demonstration techniques are peaceful.
Why Do Interest Groups Get Bad Press?

• Despite their importance to democratic
  government, interest groups are often criticized
  by both the public and the press.
• Congress has tried to impose stricter regulations
  on lobbyists. The most important legislation
  regulating lobbyists was passed in 1946 and
  was revised in 1995 and again in 2007.
• The problem with stricter regulation is that it
  could abridge First Amendment rights.
The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995
• This act reformed the 1946 act:
 ▫ Defined a lobbyist as anyone who either spends
   at least 20% of his or her time lobbying members
   of Congress, their staffs, or executive-branch
   officials, or is paid more than $5000 in a six-month
   period for such work.
 ▫ Lobbyists must report their clients, the issues on
   which they lobbied, and the agency or chamber of
   Congress they contacted.
Lobbying Scandals in the 2000s
• In 2005, a number of lobbying scandals in Washington,
  D.C. came to light. A major figure in the scandals was
  Jack Abramoff, an influential lobbyist who had ties to
  many Republicans (and a few Democrats) in Congress
  and to various officials in the Bush administration.
• Eventually, Abramoff pleaded guilty to charges of fraud,
  tax evasion, and conspiracy to bribe public officials.
  Abramoff received a prison sentence in 2006.
• The following year, Congressman Robert Ney (R., Ohio)
  and former Bush administration official Steven Griles
  also received prison sentences for their part in the
  scandal.
Lobbying Reform Efforts in 2007
• Following the 2006 midterm elections, the new Democratic
  majority in the Senate and the House undertook a lobbying
  reform effort. The goal was to force lobbyists to disclose their
  expenditures on House and Senate election campaigns
  above and beyond straight campaign contributions.
• Bundled campaign contributions, in which a lobbyist arranges
  for contributions from a variety of sources, would have to be
  reported.
• Expenditures on the sometimes lavish parties to benefit
  candidates would have to be reported as well. The new rules
  covered PACs as well as registered lobbyists.
• President Bush signed the resulting Honest Leadership and
  Open Government Act in September 2007.
Lobbyists and the Obama Administration
• During his campaign for the presidency, Barack
  Obama pledged that “lobbyists won’t find a job in my
  White House.”
• That pledge turned out to be unenforceable. Out of
  267 senior administration officials appointed by May
  2009, 30 had served as lobbyists within the past five
  years.
• Appointees signed a pledge not to work on issues
  for which they lobbied in the previous two years, but
  given the positions that many of these appointees
  filled, such a pledge was probably unworkable as
  well.
Lobbyists and the Obama Administration

• Other restrictions imposed included a rule that all
  communications with lobbyists over economic
  stimulus projects had to be in writing.
• When Obama spoke at a congressional fund-raiser
  in June 2009, lobbyists were banned from attending.
• Many old hands in Washington considered Obama’s
  policies toward lobbyists absurd and predicted that
  they would not last.
Politics on the Web
www.ipl.org/div/aon
www.nra.org
www.aarp.org
www.nea.org
www.nrdc.org
www.4ltrpress.cengage.com/govt