Interest Groups
Background Groups have a significant impact on policy Single-issue politics Interest groups Organized membership Pursuit of policy goals from shared interest of members
Economic groups Make profits, provide jobs, improve pay, or protect occupation Property is “most common and durable source of factions” Types: Business More than ½ Size factor Small groups are more united and oftentimes have more resources Access to financial resources
Type I: Labor groups Active since 1930s AFL-CIO 9 million members Only 1 in 8 workers unionized today
Type II: Agricultural groups Farm organizations American Farm Bureau Federation Do not always agree on policy issues Specialty associations too
Type III: Professional groups AMA ABA AAUP
Private v. Public Goods Private goods are for an individual and can be withheld Public goods are benefits to all Leads to the free-rider problem Irrational to contribute
Citizens’ groups Organized interests formed to promote a cause that does not provide significant individual economic benefits
Types of Citizen Groups Public-Interest Groups Less tangible benefits and more widely shared LWV Single-Issue Groups Risen sharply in 30 years Environmental groups (Sierra Club) Ideological Groups Broad agenda from philosophical or moral position NOW NAACP
Governments Governments Lobby Each Other
Economic v. Citizens Economic A: Economic activity provides organization with resources needed A: Encouraged to join for economic benefits D: May not support political efforts Citizen A: Support political D: Must raise funds D: Free-rider problem
Lobbying Make contact with officials Huge industry—K Street 20,000 in DC Spend more than $1B annually Must register
Inside Lobbying Group efforts to develop and maintain close relationships with policymakers Access does NOT equal influence But… Used to use money…now we use information Congress Fair play Provide info, rely on allies, push steadily but not too aggressively Executive Agencies Formulation and implementation Capture Theory Courts Judge selection Law suits
Iron Triangle Small and informal but relatively stable set of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists who seek to develop policies beneficial to a particular interest Group inside has an inside track Relationships are iron clad
How Iron Triangle Benefits All… Government agency Administers program (IG) Constituent services (C) Interest groups Lobby support (GA) Election support (C) Congressional subgroup Budget/program support (GA) Favorable legislation (IG)
Issue Networks Informal grouping of officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists who come together temporarily around a policy problem Includes opposing interests
Outside Lobbying Bring constituency pressure to bear on policymakers Grassroots lobbying AARP Votes Reward friends, punish enemies Send money PAC Ceiling is $10k per candidate Voluntary contributions from members of employees Eight times more money to incumbents than challengers Why?
Pluralism Organized interests are a source of good governance But is there a “collective interest”? Minorities can rule if interest group has most clout Interest-group liberalism Lowi Support demands of interest group with special stake in policy Weakens majority rule Inefficient use of resources Unequal distibution
Thursday What do we learn from Tierney? Lots of info here… What do we learn from the Schwarzenegger video?