Interest Groups

Reasons For Joining Irrationality of joining a group A. Single person will probably not make much of a difference B. Person will probably receive benefits from the group anyway, e.g., an elderly person joining AARP will benefit from the groups lobbying efforts whether they join or not  ”free rider” problem-  need for groups to offer incentives for people to join Types of Incentives: A. Material benefits, e.g., newsletters, t-shirts, mugs, magazine B. Purposive benefits, i.e., satisfaction that person has done good thing in joining C. Solidary benefits, i.e., social benefits of belonging to group

Types of Interest Groups 1.Traditional: Goal to promote economic interests of its members Types: agricultural (Amer. Farm Bureau), labor (AFL-CIO), business (Chamber of Commerce), professional (NEA)) 2.Nontraditional: goal to promote status of its members and to influence gov’t actions (NAACP / NOW) 3. Single issue: goal to promote action on one overriding issue (MADD, NRA, PETA)--  groups are polarizing 4. Public Interest: goal to bring about good policy for society as a whole (Common Cause-campaign finance reform, League of Women Voters- encourages people to be informed and vote)

Types (Cont’d) Ideological: goal to convince gov’t to implement policies that are consistent with their philosophies (ACLU, Christian Coalition, People for the American Way, “think tanks” such as Heritage Foundation or Brookings Institute) Governmental, e.g., National Association of Governors

Growth of Interest Groups Interest Groups – groups w/ common interest seeking to influence gov’t Madison’s Dilemma: wanting both liberty/order: allowing people to form groups and express views could destroy orderly society (Political Factions were inevitable---need to control effects. Geographically large republic is more likely to cure “mischief of factions.”) Pluralism: growth of interest groups prevents concentration of excessive power in hands of a few, and thus enhances democracy---rebuttal that groups do not have equal resources and equal access

Reasons For Growth Tocqueville’s description of American propensity for joining groups Diversity of population  countless social, racial,economic and geographic differences Diffusion of Power in gov’t. Political power share by many –more places in which groups can argue case leads to more groups Weakness of political parties: when parties are unable to get things done, interest groups have filled the power vaccum (Super Pac’s today) When interest groups form, there will be another group to counter it (Planned Parenthood v. National Right to Life)

Factors Influencing Interest Group Strength Size More members=more money, more votes (ie. AARP) More members means greater diversity among members, less focus Spread, ie., degree to which membership is concentrated or dispersed Cohesiveness: degree to which members are committed to “the cause”, e.g., members who join solely for getting a good deal on life insurance would be less committed then members who joined b/c they deeply believe in “the cause.” Leadership Resources, e.g., money, expertise, reputation, connections

Tactics of Interest Groups Use of Mass Media (GOING PUBLIC) Boycotting, e.g., NOW’s boycott of states that failed to ratify ERA, civil rights groups boycotting S. Carolina for flying Confederate flag at state capital LITIGATION Use of “amicus curiae briefs”, e.g., disabled groups filing on behalf of PGA golfer Casey Martin, NAACP filing on behalf of minorities Campaign Contributions (ELECTIONEERING) Endorsement of Candidates Targeting of “unfriendly candidates” (NCPAC in ‘80, moveon.org in ‘04) Issuing of report cards to rate candidates Initiative, referendum, and recall at state and local levels LOBBYING Mass Mailings- new techniques of targeting specific segments of pop.