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Interest Groups

Explore the three general types of interest groups: economic interests, consumer interests, and public interests. Learn about their goals, strategies, and impact.

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Interest Groups

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  1. Interest Groups Types How Interest Groups Work

  2. Types of Interest Groups • Interest groups may be divided broadly into three general types: • (1) economic interests • (2) consumer • (3) public interests • (4) equality & justice

  3. Economic Interests • Concerned primarily with profits, prices, and wages • Government can significantly effect them through regulations, subsidies, contracts, trade policy and tax advantages

  4. Economic Interests • (1) Labor Unions • (2) Agriculture groups • (3) Business groups • (4) Professional groups

  5. Economic Interests: Labor Unions • Focus on better working conditions & higher wages • To ensure their solidarity, unions have established the union shop( requires new employees to join the union representing them)

  6. Economic Interests: Labor Unions • Employers, on the other hand, have supported right-to-work laws • Argue that union membership should be optional

  7. Labor Unions • Some, but by no means all, states have adopted right-to-work laws, but many union members work today in a union shop

  8. Labor Unions • In 1970 about 25% of the work force belonged to a union shop, but membership has been declining over the past 30 years

  9. Labor Unions • By 2000, unions were losing support among the general population, and many strikes were proving to be unsuccessful

  10. Labor Unions • However, national labor unions remain today as powerful lobby groups in Washington

  11. Economic Interests: Agriculture Groups • Once more powerful than they are today • Now employs only a small fraction of the American public

  12. Economic Interests: Agriculture Groups • For many years, government policies that deal with acreage controls, price supports, and import quotas have been important to farmers

  13. Economic Interests: Agriculture Groups • There are several broad-based agricultural groups: • National Farmers’ Organization • American Farm Bureau Federation

  14. Agriculture Groups • Equally as important are the specialized agriculture groups • Different crops have different groups: • National Potato Council • National Peanut Farmer

  15. Economic Interests: Business Groups • Large corporations, such as General Motors and GE, exercise considerable political influence, as do hundreds of smaller corporations

  16. Economic Interests: Business Groups • Since the late 1800s government has regulated business practices • Those regulations continue to be a major concern of business interest groups

  17. Economic Interests: Business Groups • A less visible type represents trade associations • Diverse as the products & services they provide

  18. Economic Interests: Business Groups • Examples include: • Life insurance groups • Tire manufacturers • Restaurants • Real estate dealers

  19. Economic Interests: Business Groups • The broadest trade association is the Chamber of Commerce • Federation of several thousand local chambers of commerce representing tens of thousands of business firms

  20. Economic Interests: Professional Groups • Some of the most powerful interest groups • Represent various occupations • Some are well-known ones are the AMA, American Bar Association, NEA

  21. Economic Interests: Professional Groups • These groups are interested in the many government policies that affect their professions • For example—lawyers are licensed by states, which set up certain standards of admission into the bar

  22. Economic Interests: Professional Groups • ABA is interested in influencing those standards • AMA has been very involved in government proposals for nationally sponsored healthcare reforms, especially as they affect doctors

  23. Consumer & Public Interest Groups • Today over 2,000 groups champion causes “in the public interest”

  24. Consumer & Public Interest Groups • Differ from many other interest groups in that they: • Seek a collective good • Benefits for everyone--not just the members of the interest groups themselves

  25. Public Interest Groups • Began during the 1960s under the leadership of consumer advocated Ralph Nader

  26. Public Interest Groups • Nader first gained national attention with his book, Unsafe at Any Speed • Attacked General Motors’ Corvair as a dangerous & mechanically deficient automobile

  27. Public Interest Groups • Public Interest Groups (PIRGs) actively promote: • Environmental issues • Safe energy • Consumer protection • Good government

  28. Public Interest Groups • PIRGs have national membership of more than 400,000, making them one of the largest individual membership organizations in the country

  29. Public Interest Groups • Another well known public interest group is Common Cause • Founded in 1970 to promote electoral reform and a political process more open to the public

  30. Environmental Interests • A special type of public interest group focuses on environmental interests

  31. Environmental Interests • A few, like the Sierra Club and AudubonSociety, were founded in the late 19th century • Most were created after 1970

  32. Environmental Interests • Environmental groups promote: • Pollution control • Wilderness protection • Population control

  33. Environmental Interests • They have opposed: • Strip-mining • Oil pipelines • Offshore oil drilling • Nuclear power plants

  34. Environmental Interests • Their concerns often directly conflict with those of corporations whose activities they wish to control

  35. Environmental Interests • Energy producers argue that environmentalists oppose energy projects necessary to keep modern society operating

  36. Equality & Justice Interests • Interest groups have championed equal rights & justice, particularly for women & minorities

  37. Equality & Justice Interests • Oldest & largest is the NAACP • NAACP—lobbied & pressed court cases to defend equal rights in voting, employment, and housing

  38. Equality & Justice Interests • Most prominent women’s rights organization is the NOW • Pushed for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the 1970s

  39. Equality & Justice Interests • Although the amendment did not pass, NOW still lobbies for an end to sexual discrimination • Other organizations that support equal rights are the National Urban League, Women’s Political Caucus

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