Interest Groups in Politics: When the work of the Philadelphia Convention was done, Benjamin Franklin was asked, “What was accomplished?” He said, “You have a Republic….If you can keep it.”

I. Political Action Committees: Political Action Committee; an organization created by a interest group with the purpose of raising money and donating it to political candidates. Due to the 1974 revision of the Federal election campaign contribution laws interest groups are prohibited from making direct contributions to candidates.

PACs are not just for interest groups, many members of Congress start political action committees.

It has been ideological PACs that have increased in numbers since the 1980s. Since the 1992 election cycle, most of the ideological PACs have been conservative.

Since 1998, the PACs that contribute the most to congressional candidates have been controlled by Realtor Associations.

It cost over $1 million to run for a seat in the House of Representatives. It cost $3-4 million to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate. The proportion of all House campaign funding that is contributed by PACs is approximately 33%. This is less than 1% of donations given to House candidates. So to say that PAC money buys votes in Congress is sketchy at best.

The following is specifically forbidden by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978: Bribery; PACs giving campaign contributions to a candidate in return for a favorable vote on a piece of legislation. Members of Congress and the President refusal to disclose income made from stocks and bonds. Outside employment by a government official if such employment might create a conflict of interest.

Sometimes money affects legislative behavior not so much by buying votes as by ensuring access. Political Action Committees first and foremost want their phone calls returned, and they want access to the lawmaker’s ear.

II. The Revolving Door: Every year, hundreds of people leave important jobs in the federal government to take more lucrative positions in private industry. Some go to work as lobbyists, others as consultants, and some as key executives (Dick Chaney at Halliburton). Revolving door; a departing government official joining a firm with which he/she had been doing business, through the awarding of government contracts.

The Problem; If a federal official uses his/her government position to do something for a corporation in exchange for a cushy job after leaving government, or if a person who has left government uses his/her personal contacts in Washington to get favors for private parties, then the public interest may suffer.

Example; If the Food and Drug Administration is not vigilant, people in the agency who help decide whether a new drug should be placed on the market may have their judgment affected by approving a drug for a pharmaceutical company that has offered them a lucrative position.

The End.