Chapter 7 INTEREST GROUPS AND CORPORATIONS

Lobbying For China  The President makes a decision each year about the most favored nation (MFN) status of a particular nation, which Congress can override by a two-thirds vote.  Certain nations must seek most favored status to avoid extremely high tariffs and other restrictions on their products.  While Presidential determination about China’s trade status prevailed for the past 16 years, the debate in Congress has intensified.

 President Clinton succeeded in the face of the political coalition that developed in 1997 to oppose granting MFN to China.  The determination of trade policy toward China is similar to how many federal government policies are determined.  The opening vignette in the text illustrates the importance of interest groups and corporations in shaping what government does in the United States.

Interest Groups in a Democratic Society  Roles of interest groups  Interest groups are private organizations that try to shape public policy.  Interest groups try to influence the behavior of political decision makers.

The Evils of Factions  The American public has traditionally viewed special- interest groups as narrowly self-interested.  James Madison warned of the dangers and divisiveness of factions (his term for interest groups) in The Federalist, No. 10.  The theme of the evils of factions has recurred throughout American history.

Interest Group Democracy: The Pluralist Argument  Many political scientists believe that interest groups serve as important instruments to attain democracy and serve the public interest.  Pluralists believe the interest group system is democratic because people are free to join or to organize groups that reflect their own interests.

Interest Group Formation  Escalation in the number of interest groups  Interest groups formation tied to the existence of certain structural factors  When there are many interests  When the political culture supports the pursuit of private interests  Diversity of interests in the United States

Rules of the political game in the United States encourage the formation of interest groups.  The First Amendment guarantees citizens basic rights that are essential to the ability of citizens to form organizations.  Government is organized in such a way that decision makers are relatively accessible to interest groups.  Because of federalism, checks and balances, and the separation of powers, there is no dominant center of decision making.

Interest Group Formation and the Growth in Government  As government takes on more responsibilities, it has a greater impact on facets of economic, social, and personal life.  People, groups, and organizations are increasingly affected by the actions of government.

Disturbance Theory of Interest Group Formation  The proliferation of interests does not seem to lead to the formation of groups unless these interests are threatened in some way.  The disturbance theory is illustrated by the success of the Christian Coalition which was created at a time when many evangelical Christians felt threatened by family breakdown, an increase in the number of abortions, and the sexual revolution.

Incentives  Some social scientists argue that people do not form groups when their common interests are threatened unless the group can give back some selective, material benefit to them.  A selective, material benefit is a tangible benefit that is available to members but not to nonmembers.

 If someone can get the benefit without joining the group (known as a free-rider), then there may be no purpose in joining.  The free-rider problem tends to occur when a group is interested in some collective good that benefits everyone and not just members.  There has been a proliferation of public interest and ideological groups, which suggests purposes or incentives other than material and selective incentives.

What Interests Are Represented  Interest groups may be classified by the type of interest they represent.  Public interests are interests that are connected in one way or another to the general welfare of the community.  Private interests are associated with benefits for some fraction of the community.

Private Interest Groups  Business  The Professions  Labor

Public Interest Groups  Public interest groups are sometimes called citizens’ groups.  They try to get government to do things that will benefit the general public rather than the direct material interests of their own members.  There has been substantial growth in the number and influence of public interest groups since the late 1960s.  Public-interest groups generally do not use material incentives.

What Interest Groups Do  Interest groups are composed of people with common goals or interests who try to convey the views of some sector of society and to influence government on their behalf.  There are two basic types of interest group activity: the inside game and the outside game.

The Inside Game  The inside game involves direct contact of the interest group representative and government officials.  The politics of insiders, of the old-boy network, of one-on-one persuasion in which a skilled lobbyist tries to persuade a decision maker to accept the point of view of the interest group  Lobbying Congress  Lobbying the executive branch  Lobbying the courts

The Outside Game  The outside game is an indirect form of influence that involves interest group efforts to mobilize public opinion, voters, and important contributors.  Evidence of increased importance compared to “inside” lobbying (though inside lobbying still tends to be more directly effective)  Mobilizing membership  Organizing the district  Shaping public opinion  Involvement in campaigns and elections

Possible Flaws in the Pluralist Heaven  Representational inequalities  Resource inequalities  Political action committees (PACs)  soft money  independent expenditures  Access inequality  Capture  Interest group liberalism  Iron triangles, or subgovernments  Issue networks

The Special Place of Corporations  Scholars have found that corporations dominate other interest groups in the policy process  number of interest organizations  number of lobbyists  level of resources  shaping public perceptions  traditionally held in high regard, and viewed as linked to healthy economy  mobility  nonetheless, corporate power waxes and wanes within its overall privileged position

Curing the Mischief of Factions  James Madison was thinking primarily about the tyranny of majority factions when he referred to the “mischief of factions.”  We now know that the politics of faction is usually the province of narrow and privileged interests rather than majorities.  This creates problems with respect to democracy.

 Tools used to solve some of the problems of factions  Disclosure  Regulation  Ethics in Government Act (1978)  Control  McCain Feingold bill (2002)

Interest Groups, Corporations, and Democracy  Many worry that these reforms do not get to the heart of the problem.  Some political scientists have suggested that we focus our efforts on strengthening institutions of majoritarian democracy such as political parties, the Presidency, and Congress.  Efforts to reform the interest group system may be frustrated by the inescapable fact that highly unequal resources eventually will find their way into our political life.