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Interest Groups

Interest Groups. Chapter 9 (old text). Role of Interest Groups: LO 1. Interest Group An organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals. Interest groups pursue their goals in many arenas.

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Interest Groups

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  1. Interest Groups Chapter 9 (old text)

  2. Role of Interest Groups: LO 1 • Interest Group • An organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals. • Interest groups pursue their goals in many arenas.

  3. The Role of Interest Groups cont’d. (LO1) • Interest groups are distinct from politcial parties. • Political parties fight election battles; interest groups do not field candidates for office but may choose sides. • Interest groups are policy SPECIALIST • Political parties are policy GENERALISTS

  4. Theories of Interest Group Politics (LO 2) • Pluralist Theory • Competition among groups trying to get their preferred policies. • Elite Theory • Upper-class elite holds most of the power and run government • Hyperpluralist Theory • Groups are so strong that government is weakened

  5. Theories of Interest Group Politics (LO 2) • Pluralism • Groups provide a link between the people and the government. • Groups compete and no one group will become too dominant • Groups play by “rules of the game.” • Groups weak in one resource may use another. • Lobbying is open to all groups.

  6. Theories of Interest Group Politics (LO 2) • Elitism • Groups are unequal in power. • Awesome power is held by the largest corporations. • Power of a few is fortified by interlocking directorates. • Other groups win minor policy battles, but corporate elites win the big decisions.

  7. Theories of Interest Group Politics (LO 2) • Hyperpluralism • Groups have become too powerful as government tries to appease every conceivable interest. • Interest group liberalism is aggravated by numerous iron triangles. • Trying to please every group results in contradictory and confusing policy.

  8. What Makes an Interest Group Successful (LO3) • Surprising Ineffectiveness of Large Groups • Potential group – People who might be group members because they share some common interest. • Actual group – Potential group members who actually join group. • Collective good – Something of value that cannot be withheld from a potential group member. • Free-rider problem – Problem of people not joining because they can benefit from the group’s activities without joining. • Selective benefits – Goods that a group can restrict to those who actually join.

  9. How Groups Try to Shape Policy (LO 4) • Lobbying • Communication to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his or her decision. • Lobbyists are (1) a source of information; (2) helping to get legislation passed; (3) helping to formulate campaign startegy; and (4) a source of ideas and innovations.

  10. How Groups Try to Shape Policy (LO 4) • Electioneering • Direct group involvement in the electoral process by helping to fund campaigns, getting members to work for candidates, and forming political action committees (PACs) • PACs are political funding behicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms

  11. Litigation • Amicus curiae briefs – Written arguments submitted to the courts in support of one side of a case. • Class action lawsuits – Enable a group of people in a similar situation to combine their common grievances into a single suit. How Groups Try to Shape Policy (LO 4)

  12. How Groups Try to Shape Policy (LO 4) • Going Public • Groups try to • 1. cultivate a good public image • 2. build a reservoir of goodwill with the public • 3. use marketing strategies to influence public opinion of the group and its issue • 4. advertise to motivate and inform the public about an issue. • **With enough money they can control the message and issues candidates have to address (Defend or sit back and watch) • i.e. 2004 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads

  13. Types of Interest Groups (LO 5) Economic Interests Environmental Interests Equality Interests Consumer and Other Public Interest Lobbies

  14. Types of Interest Groups (LO 5) • Economic Interests • Labor – Union organizations press for policies to ensure better working conditions and higher wages. • Business – Interests generally unified when it comes to promoting greater profits but are often fragmented when policy choices have to be made. http://businessroundtable.org/

  15. Types of Interest Groups (LO 5) • Environmental Interests • Environmental groups promote policies to control pollution and to combat global warming, wilderness protection, and species preservation. • They oppose supersonic aircraft, nuclear power plants, drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and strip mining (Fracking) • http://lcv.pub30.convio.net/

  16. Types of Interest Groups (LO 5) • Equality Interests • Two sets of interest groups, representing minorities and women, have made equal rights their main policy goal. • Equality groups press for equality at the polls, in housing, on the job, in education, and in all other facets of American life. • http://www.lwv.org/

  17. Types of Interest Groups (LO 5) • Consumer and Other Public Interest Lobbies • Public interest Lobbies – Groups that see a collective good, and the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit the membership or activists of the organization. • Consumer groups – In 1973, Congress responded to consumer advocacy by creating the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which it authorized to regulate all consumer products and to ban products that were dangerous.

  18. Understanding Interest Groups: LO 6 • Interest Groups and Democracy • James Madison wanted a wide-open system in which groups compete. (Federalist #10) • Pluralists – Public interest prevails from this competition. • Elite theorists – Proliferation of business PACs is evidence of interest group corruption • Hyperpluralists – Influence of groups lead to policy gridlock.

  19. Understanding Interest Groups: LO 6 • Interest Groups and the Scope of Government • Interest groups seek to maintain policies and programs that benefit them. • Interest groups pressure government to do more things. • As the government does more, more groups form to get more

  20. The Role of Interest Groups: Summary Interest groups consist of groups that participate in the political process in order to promote the policy goals which members share. They usually focus their efforts on one specific issue area, unlike political parties, which have to address all issues on the public agenda.

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