Interest Groups and Social Movements

1. Interest Groups and Social Movements • Forms of political participation • Express demands to decision makers • Strategies reflect resources and opportunities • Interest groups = organizations citizens form to influence policy-makers • Social movements = engage in unconventional, confrontational forms of political activism

2. Interest Groups • Vast majority (pre-1970) represent business interests (firms, trade associations, peak organizations) • Iron triangles= interest groups, congressional subcommittees, federal agencies pursuing policies advantageous to them (e.g., defense contracting) • Growth in number since 1970s; outgrowth of civil rights, environmental, consumer, and feminist social movements (of 1960s) • “protest to politics”

3. David and Goliath • Business mobilized in reaction • Business groups largest, most organized, best-funded • More resources (money, staff, connections) • ½ of all lobbying groups; 85% of all total lobbying expenditures • Broad range of issues • Sophisticated, multifaceted lobbying • Campaign contributions, analysis; media, public opinion • More extensive, intensive • Use social connections, mobilization of bias • Business advantage checked when interests conflict or when opposed by public opinion

4. Changing Quality of Membership • Forming organizations requires time, leadership, resources; skills and resources not evenly distributed among groups • Higher status groups more common • Incentives to join, bear cost of organization • Material benefits (stuff) • Purposive incentives (common values, goals) • Interest group surge (since 1970s) due to recruitment on purposive incentives • Change in quality and class character of memberships • Mass membership organizations face increasing competition from professional advocacy groups with middle and upper class supporters

5. E-Media, Interest Groups, and Political Participation • Internetincreased reach while reducing costs • Makes bureaucracy less necessary • Transformative effect on politics; facilitates collective action • Political entrepreneurs can mobilize virtual community • Quickens pace of politics (recruitment, mobilization, and group formation) • Interest group universe less stable • More direct communication between members, independent of leaders and formal organizations

6. Comparative Perspective • Rich democracies (Table 5.2) • Pluralist interest group systems (e.g., U.S.): divided, decentralized government; open policy making; weak political parties • Less encompassing; larger in number; more competitive; less centralized; weaker • Corporatist interest group systems (e.g., Austria, Germany, Sweden): licensing by state; compulsory membership; inclusion in policy making • More encompassing; fewer in number; less competitive; more centralized; stronger (sanctioning power) • Pluralist groups = press demands single-mindedly; adversarial, uncompromising • Corporatist = moderate group demands; larger/broader memberships encourage most general interest; inclusion encourages compromise for greater good

7. Social Movements • Not as hierarchical, formally organized • More ideological, contentious • More active and demanding level of participation • Arise in response to changes in political environment, new opportunities • Empower followers and develop sense of moral legitimacy • Organizations develop and disseminate alternative culture • identities, resources, and activities • “free spaces” where oppositional culture can grow • Flourish when expand conflict, mobilize former bystanders • Older social movements based around work, occupation • New social movements organized around identities, moral values, quality-of-life

8. Labor Movement • Congress passes National Labor Relations Act(1935) = right of workers to form unions; union membership surges • Social security, unemployment compensation, minimum-wage laws • Labor becomes powerful political force (allied with Democratic Party) • Greater working class influence in politics • Union contracts include wages, grievances, promotions, hiring, and layoffs • Membership peaks (1945), 35% of workforce unionized • Management tries to roll back gains following WWII; massive strikes • Republican Congress passes Taft-Hartley Act (1946), constrains unions and strikes • (1955) AFL-CIO merge, collective bargaining routinized, includes pensions, health insurance; increasingly centralized • Workers enjoy more security, higher standard of living, greater political influence • Business pushes back (1970s and 1980s) demands labor concessions • Union membership declines: changes in labor law make it harder to organize; employers increasingly antagonistic; drop in manufacturing jobs • Labor movement depleted, disarmed • Increasing numbers would like to belong to union • Strong support for Democratic party

9. Women’s Movement • First wave (1848) abolitionist movement (parallels between oppression of slaves and women) • (1890s) National American Woman Suffrage Association organized diverse women’s groups into movement, pressured Congress to pass 19thAmendment (1920) • Second wave (1960s) (tied to struggle for black equality) • National Organization of Women (NOW) (1966) civil rights organization lobbied for equal rights • Achievements on pay and employment discrimination • Fell short on Equal Rights Amendment • Consciousness-raising groups challenged patriarchy • Included liberal feminists, socialist feminists • Third wave (1990s) • Identity-based, women’s empowerment

10. Religious Right • New Deal  Modern conservatism • Antagonized supporters of small government, free markets • Ethnic working-class voters threatened southern control of Democratic Party • New Deal coalition pushed Republican Party, business supporters to minority status • Emergence of Religious Right (evangelical, fundamentalist Christians) • Response to social issues (sex education, gay rights, abortion rights) and government policies • Moral decay, failure to maintain Christian values • Supporters from across class spectrum • Shifting political opportunities • Political entrepreneurs provide direction, resources • More powerful social movement of our time • Allied with Republican Party; critical to resurgence

11. Environmental Movement • First wave (Progressive era, early 1900s) = conservationists and preservationists • Sierra Club formed to manage public domain in public interest; pushed for expansion of scope of government to include environment responsibility • Second wave (post-WWII) = ecology movement • Clean air, pure water, safe food • New Left (1960s) = eco-sabotage, teach-ins; proactive, radical; critiqued consumerism, corporate power; authenticity, fundamental change • 1970s = environmentalism vs. economic growth; environmentalists as elitists; Republicans opposed to government regulation • Today, diverse movement (ecology = opposed to global warming; deep ecology = environmental justice (racial and class inequality)) • Fundamentalist and pragmatic wing; radical transformative change and working within system

12. Conclusion • Political participationopen, not free; facilitated by class-related factors (time, money, education, civic skills, self-confidence, and contacts with social networks) • Uneven distribution of resources  uneven levels of political participation  inequalities in political outcomes • Policymakers respond to demands expressed; issues considered and what is done reflects interests of those who have resources to make views heard • Inequalities in political participation/political outcomes not inevitable • Citizens can develop political voices, change policies through elections, political parties, interest groups, and social movements