Interest Groups

The Character of Interest Groups An interest group is a group of people that organizes to be heard by and influence government programs and policies. They are sometimes referred to as lobbies. Interest groups represent the interest of their members, encourage political participation, enhance democracy, educate and mobilize voters, lobby, and monitor governmental activity. However, not all interests are represented equally; their politics can sometimes work to the advantage and disadvantage of others.

Common Types of Interest Groups Business and Agricultural Groups – U.S. Chamber of Commerce Labor Groups – AFL - CIO Professional Associations – American Medical Association Public Interest Groups – Sierra Club Ideological Groups – American Conservative Union and People for the American Way Public Sector Groups – American Federation of Teachers and Professors

Unique Interest Groups in the U.S. and how much they spend on lobbying U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers - $20,000 Cigar Rights of America - $320,000 The Balloon Council - $60,000 Sports Fan Coalition - $60,000 The American Onion Association - $14,000 Manned Space Flight Education Association - $30,000 Free Speech Coalition of America - $5,000,000 NORML – Marijuana Reform Advocacy - $3,000,000 NAMBLA – North American Man Boy Love Association - $0

Organizational Components of Interest Groups Leadership: The decision making structure that may consist of informal entrepreneurs initially, and then develop professional leadership. Money: The financial structure to fund the groups’ activities. These groups rely on member dues, sale of services, and contributions. Agency or Office: Groups must be able to establish an agency that carries out the group’s tasks. Members: Groups must attract and keep members. Interest groups must persuade individuals to invest the money, time, and energy to participate in the group.

Types of Benefits of Interest Groups Why Join? Groups make “selective benefits” only available to members, including: Information benefits: Special newsletters, periodicals, training programs, conferences, and other information are provided to group members to join. Material benefits: Special goods, services, or money are provided to group members to entice others to join. Solidarity benefits: These are selective benefits of group membership that emphasize friendship, networking and consciousness raising. Purposive benefits: These are selective membership benefits that emphasize the purpose or pursuit and accomplishment of important group goals.

Member Characteristics People with higher incomes, higher education levels, and management or professional occupations are more likely to be group members than those in lower socioeconomic levels. This is because the have the time, money, and education needed to play a role in a group. Therefore, interest group politics has an upper class bias. In general, for the bottom socioeconomic rungs to obtain representation, they must organize on a massive scale.

The Proliferation of Interest Groups Over the past decades there has been an increase in the number of groups seeking to influence public policy and the opportunity to influence that process. The Expansion of Government: Government expansion has stimulated increased group activity and organization. The New Politics Movement and Public Interest Groups: The emergence of a new set of American political forces called New Politics has stimulated recent lobbying activity. The New Politics movement is a political movement that began in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of professionals and intellectuals for whom the civil rights and antiwar movements were formative experiences. The New Politics movement built or strengthened public interest groups. Examples of successful New Politics movements: The Civil Rights movement and the Antiwar movement of 1960s and 1970s.

The Importance of Interest Groups in Shaping Public Policy Priorities U.S. government policies reflect the desires of the wealthy and interest groups more than the average citizen, according to researchers at Princeton University and Northwestern University. The analysis on 1,779 policy issues from 1981 to 2002 and compared changes to the preferences of median- income Americans, the top-earning 10 percent, and organized interest groups and industries. The research supports the theories of Economic Elite Domination, which says policy outcomes are influenced by those with wealth who often own businesses, and Biased Pluralism, which says policy outcomes "tend to tilt towards the wishes of corporations and business and professional associations."

The Iron Triangle The Iron Triangle is defined as the stable, cooperative relationship that often develops among a congressional committee, an administrative agency, and one or more supportive interest groups (e.g. the defense industry). Other policy domains such as welfare and the environment are not controlled by iron triangles but by rival issue networks (loose networks of elected leaders, public officials, activists, and interest groups drawn together by specific policy issue).

Iron Triangle Diagram

Mobilizing Public Opinion 1.Institutional Advertising. This form is designed to create a positive public image of an organization in order reach Congress. For example, major oil companies and large corporations advertise how much they are doing for the nation. 2.Protest and Demonstrations. Many groups resort to going public because they lack the resources, the contacts, or the experience to use other political strategies. They may use boycotts, sit-ins, mass rallies, and marches to go public and create a more favorable climate of opinion (e.g., Martin Luther King, Jr.). 3.Grassroots Mobilizations. Another way to go public with a campaign is for a group to mobilize its membership to contact government officials in support of the group’s position. Among the most effective grassroots groups in American politics is the religious right. Grassroots lobbying has become more prevalent in Washington over the last couple of decades, because the adoption of congressional rules limiting gifts to members has made traditional lobbying more difficult.