1. Participation and Interest Groups
Chapter Six
Participation and Interest Groups
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.

2. Interest Groups
This presentation will take you through the ideas of iron triangles and agency capture as they relate to interest groups.
These ideas are discussed in the textbook, so use this presentation for reference.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

3. Interest Groups
Interest groups are formed so they participate in the political process.
Sometimes, their participation may be TOO involved for some people’s liking.
The two ideas in this presentation illustrate relationships in which the groups may work too closely with government.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

4. This is a generic picture of an iron triangle:
Iron Triangles
This is a generic picture of an iron triangle:
Interest Group
Legislative
Committee
State
Agency
Issue
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

5. Iron Triangles (Cont’d)
The iron triangle is centered around a particular issue.
The three groups all depend upon each other in some way, making it difficult to break up the iron triangle.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

6. This part of the presentation will focus on:
Iron Triangle
This part of the presentation will focus on:
Issue
Interest
Group
Legislative
Committee
State
Agency
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

7. Interest groups form in order to promote a particular issue.
As you learned in the book, there are many ways to do this.
One that is unique to an iron triangle involves providing money to particular candidates.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

8. Interest Groups (Cont’d)
Other ways that interest groups link to the legislative committees:
Provide information– facts, figures about what a bill should (or should not) do
Help research and draft the bill itself
Testify at meetings on the bill
The interest group lobbies each of the committee members too.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

9. Interest Groups (Cont’d)
Interest groups link to the state agencies in a few ways:
Work with agencies to draft legislation
Work with agencies to draft rules and regulations
Work on agency advisory boards
Provide outside consulting to the agency
Sometimes, the agency employees go to work for an interest group, or visa versa
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

10. Interest Groups (Cont’d)
Interest groups can do all of this because they are located where the government is located: in Austin.
They follow the policies and they know the people.
They have more “access” than the average citizen.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

11. This part of the presentation will focus on:
Iron Triangle
This part of the presentation will focus on:
Issue
Interest
Group
Legislative
Committee
State
Agency
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

12. Legislative Committees
Most of the work of the legislature is done in committees.
These committees are divided into basic policy areas: agriculture, finance, etc.
These committees can be rather small– 15 or so members.
The chair of the committee is the most important person on the committee
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13. Legislative Committees (Cont’d)
Committees link to state agencies since they write the laws the agencies must carry out.
Agency members can testify on bills and even help draft the bills.
Agencies are especially interested in preserving or expanding their budgets.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

14. Legislative Committees (Cont’d)
Committees link to interest groups in several ways:
Elections
Financing elections– most important
Other electioneering activities
Information
Interest groups can testify at hearings
Groups can provide ideas for possible bills
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

15. Legislative Committees (Cont’d)
Legislative committee members are elected officials who represent the public and the public’s interests.
They can only work on issues they know about.
So groups and people with access to these policymakers have a greater ability to define the issues that are important and that need to be worked on.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

16. This part of the presentation will focus on:
Iron Triangle
This part of the presentation will focus on:
Interest
Group
Legislative
Committee
State
Agency
Issue
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

17. These are the people hired by the government to carry out the laws.
State Agencies
These are the people hired by the government to carry out the laws.
Each agency carries its own set of laws.
To carry out the laws, the agency writes rules and regulations for people to follow.
Each agency is normally led by a set of board members or commissioners.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

18. State Agencies (Cont’d)
Board members are often appointed people who have helped get somebody (usually the governor) elected.
These board members may or may not possess expertise in the areas they work in.
Many board members are appointed for long terms, making it difficult to change the direction of an agency.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

19. State Agencies (Cont’d)
The employees are the ones who carry out the rules and regulations, but they often don’t write them.
The employees may have come from the industry or from the agency, into the industry to work.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

20. State Agencies (Cont’d)
Agencies link to legislative committees in several ways:
Agencies need money and lobby the committees regarding their budgets.
Agencies provide information on how the current or future laws would work.
Agencies are what the public sees, so they carry some of the public’s perceptions about the laws to the legislature.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

21. State Agencies (Cont’d)
Agencies link to interest groups in several ways:
Agencies write the rules and regulations that members of the interest groups follow.
Agencies rely on interest groups for information about how the rules and regulations are working.
Agencies may need employees with specialized knowledge and training– who better than people who work in the industries and businesses under the agency’s rules?
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

22. Agency Capture
Agency Capture is a smaller, more direct relationship between an agency and one or more interest groups.
The legislature is normally not involved since the agency has considerable power by itself.
This is easier to accomplish if the agency leaders are elected, not appointed.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

23. Agency Capture (Cont’d)
When the board members or commissioners are elected, they need campaign contributions.
Interest groups are often the biggest contributors to get certain people elected.
The groups then have somewhat greater access to the elected officials.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

24. Agency Capture (Cont’d)
As a hypothetical example, consider the Texas Railroad Commission.
Three Commissioners, each elected.
Petrochemical companies provide generous campaign contributions to get the “right” candidates elected.
The commissioners then work to protect the interests of the industry, NOT the general public.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

25. Agency Capture (Cont’d)
Agency capture is a more intimate relationship than an iron triangle, but less common.
But since the legislature meets so infrequently, the iron triangles can’t generate quite the strength that can be generated with an agency capture.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

26. Are these relationships problems? Your answer depends on your views:
What policies are you interested in?
Are you involved in any of the groups?
Are you involved in any of the agencies?
Less likely to see problems if people are working on something they are interested in.
Presentation by Eric Miller. © 2005 Houghton Mifflin, all rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.