Interest Groups: Organizing for Influence Chapter 9

The Interest-Group System Economic groups Economic groups Business groups Business groups Labor groups Labor groups Farm groups Farm groups Professional groups Professional groups © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.2

Percentage Union Members, by Sector and Industry © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.3

The Interest-Group System Citizens’ groups Citizens’ groups Purposive incentives Purposive incentives Groups based on social groupings Groups based on social groupings Single-issue groups Single-issue groups Ideological groups Ideological groups Citizens’ groups difficult to classify Citizens’ groups difficult to classify © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.4

Advantages and Disadvantages Held by Economic and Citizens’ Groups © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.5

The Interest-Group System The organizational edge: economic groups versus citizens’ groups The organizational edge: economic groups versus citizens’ groups Private goods versus collective goods Private goods versus collective goods The free rider problem The free rider problem The size factor: business groups smaller and more efficient The size factor: business groups smaller and more efficient © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.6

Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Official Contacts Acquiring access to officials Acquiring access to officials “Revolving door” “Revolving door” Supply officials with information—policy support Supply officials with information—policy support Money is key element—amount contributed is staggering Money is key element—amount contributed is staggering © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.7

Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Official Contacts Acquiring access to officials Acquiring access to officials Lobbying Congress Lobbying Congress Lobbying the executive Lobbying the executive Lobbying the courts Lobbying the courts © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.8

The Top Fifteen Spending Lobbying Groups, 2009 © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.9

Total Spending on Lobbying of Federal Government © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.10

Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Official Contacts Webs of influence: groups in the policy process Webs of influence: groups in the policy process Iron triangles Iron triangles Bureaucrats, lobbyists, legislators Bureaucrats, lobbyists, legislators Small, informal, stable Small, informal, stable Issue networks Issue networks Officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists Officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists Temporary Temporary More frequent than iron triangles More frequent than iron triangles © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.11

How an Iron Triangle Benefits Its Participants © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.12

Outside Lobbying: Seeking Influence Through Public Pressure Constituency advocacy: grassroots lobbying Constituency advocacy: grassroots lobbying Specialty of the AARP Specialty of the AARP Members of the public try to get lawmakers’ attention Members of the public try to get lawmakers’ attention © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.13

Outside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Public Pressure Electoral action: votes and PAC money Electoral action: votes and PAC money PACs: funneling a group’s election contributions PACs: funneling a group’s election contributions PAC contributions limited to $10,000 per candidate for each election PAC contributions limited to $10,000 per candidate for each election Most PACs associated with business Most PACs associated with business Give much more heavily to incumbents Give much more heavily to incumbents © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.14

Tactics Used in Inside and Outside Lobbying Strategies © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.15

Percentage of PACs by Category © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.16

The Group System: Indispensable but Biased The contribution of groups to self-government: pluralism The contribution of groups to self-government: pluralism Serving the “public interest”? Serving the “public interest”? Flaws in pluralism Flaws in pluralism Interest-group liberalism Interest-group liberalism Not equally representative Not equally representative © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.17

The Group System: Indispensable but Biased A Madisonian dilemma A Madisonian dilemma A free society must allow pursuit of self-interest A free society must allow pursuit of self-interest Checks and balances work to protect rights, but also exaggerate influence of minorities Checks and balances work to protect rights, but also exaggerate influence of minorities Groups can wield too much influence over individual policies or agencies Groups can wield too much influence over individual policies or agencies © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.18