1. Interest Groups: Organizing for Influence
Chapter 9

2. The Interest-Group System
Interest group: any organization that seeks to influence public policy
Differs from a political party in that parties address a broad range of issues
Federalism and separation of powers fuels interest groups
Tocqueville: “a nation of joiners”

3. “A Nation of Joiners”
271

4. The Interest-Group System
Economic groups
Business groups
Labor groups
Farm groups
Professional groups
Material incentives

5. The Interest-Group System
Citizens’ groups
Purposive incentives
Groups based on social groupings
Single-issue groups
Ideological groups
Citizens’ groups difficult to classify

6. Ideological Interest Groups’ Contributions in the 2012 Elections
275

7. The Interest-Group System
The organizational edge: economic groups versus citizens’ groups
Unequal access to resources
Private goods versus collective goods
The free rider problem
The advantages and disadvantages of size
The size factor: business groups smaller and more efficient
AARP and strength in numbers

8. 277 table 9-1

9. Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Official Contacts
Acquiring access to officials
“Revolving door”
Supply officials with information—policy support
Lobbyists must understand both the issues and the process
Money is key element—amount contributed is staggering

10. Top-Spending Lobbying Groups
282 fig 9-1

11. Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Official Contacts
Acquiring access to officials
Lobbying Congress
Lobbying the executive branch
Lobbying the courts

12. State-Level Lobbyists
284 WAIT FOR FINAL ART; THERE MAY BE A PROBLEM WITH THE MAP LEGEND

13. Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Official Contacts
Webs of influence: groups in the policy process
Iron triangles
Bureaucrats, lobbyists, legislators
Small, informal, stable
Issue networks
Officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists
Temporary
More frequent than iron triangles

14. 286 fig 9-2

15. Outside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Public Pressure
Constituency advocacy: grassroots lobbying
Specialty of the AARP
Members of the public try to get lawmakers’ attention

16. 288 table 9-2

17. Outside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Public Pressure
Electoral action: votes and money
PACs (political action committees)
Funneling a group’s election contributions
PAC contributions limited to $10,000 per candidate for each election cycle
Most PACs associated with business
Give much more heavily to incumbents

18. Percentage of PACs by Category
290 fig 9-3

19. Outside Lobbying: Seeking Influence through Public Pressure
Electoral action: votes and money
Super PACs or independent-expenditure-only-committees (IEOCs)
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
Not allowed to contribute/coordinate directly to the party or candidate
Unrestricted fundraising and spending
Disclosure of donors not required

20. The Group System: Indispensable but Biased in Favor of Economic Groups
The contribution of groups to self-government: pluralism
Serving the “public interest”?
Flaws in pluralism
Interest-group liberalism
Not equally representative

21. The Group System: Indispensable but Biased in Favor of Economic Groups
A Madisonian dilemma
A free society must allow pursuit of self-interest.
Checks and balances work to protect rights, but also exaggerate the influence of minorities.
Groups can wield too much influence over individual policies or agencies.