1. Chapter 9 Interest Groups

2. Section 1: The Nature of Interest Groups
Joining with others who share your opinions is both practical and democratic. Organization can provide the route to power and organized efforts to further group interests.
Interest groups try to influence what government does in a specific area of interest to them.
Pg.243- Last paragraph

3. Parties and Interest Groups
Parties and interest groups differ in three significant ways.
Parties nominate candidates for public office, interest groups do not.
Parties are chiefly interested in winning elections and thereby controlling the government. Interest groups are concerned with controlling or influencing policies of government.
Political parties are concerned with the whole range of public affairs. Interest groups are only concerned with issues that directly affect their interests.

4. Interest Groups’ Valuable Functions
Stimulate awareness and interest of public affairs.
Represent their members on a basis of attitude, rather than on a basis of geography.
Provide useful, specialized information to the government.
Vehicles for political participation.
Provide checks and balances. Monitor politicians to make sure their tasks are performed in a responsible manner.
Regularly compete with one another in a public arena.

5. Jigsaw Activity
Groups
Summarize
Discuss
Share with your peers.

6. Criticisms of Interest Groups
Questionable practices- Bribery, threats, revenge.
Pg Last Paragraph

7. Section 2: Types of Interest Groups
Interest groups come in many shapes and sizes.
Largest number of interest groups are founded on a basis of economic interest, especially in areas of agriculture, business, or labor.
Other Interests- Gun control, prohibition.

8. Economic Interest Groups
Business Groups
Business has long looked to government to promote and protect its interests.
Pg Brewers association.
Hundreds of business groups operate in Washington D.C. and state capitals.
Disagreements- Pg. 248, last paragraph

9. Labor Groups
Labor Union- An organization of workers who share the same type of job or who work in the same industry.
Press for government policies that will benefit their workers.
15 million Americans (12% of all workers) today belong to the labor unions.
Pg Chart

10. Issue- Oriented Groups
Many groups exist to promote a cause or idea.
Voting, gun control, equality, wildlife conservation, veteran affairs, religion.
Some groups are devoted to opposing certain issues.
Abortion, rights of homosexuals.
Lists- Pg. 251
The Sierra Club

11. Organizations for Specific Groups
Hundreds of interest groups seek to promote the welfare of certain segments of the population.
List- pg. 252
The NAACP

12. Section 3: Interest Groups at Work
Direct Approach- Immediate, face-to- face contact with policymakers.
Indirect Approach- More subtle tactics.
Example- Having constituents contact members of Congress with letters, phone calls, and s for or against a particular bill.

13. The Direct Approach
Lobbying- Activities by which group pressures are brought to bear on legislators, the legislative process, and all aspects of the public policy making process.
Lobbyists- People who try to persuade public officials to do those things that interest groups want them to do.
Lobbying occurs wherever public policy is made.

14. Lobbyists Most lobbyists are professionals.
Large labor unions and companies have full-time.
Many work for law firms in the Washington D.C. area.

15. In-Depth Look at Lobbying
Statistics
CBS News-
Thoughts?

16. Lobbying Congress
Lobbyists testify before Congressional committees and submit prepared statements that set out their organization’s views on proposed legislation.
Example- pg. 255
Chart- pg. 256

17. Lobbying the Executive Branch
Meeting with the President and Cabinet officers is very difficult.
Lobbyists focus their attention on senior aides in the White House.
The most successful lobbyists rely on their networks of contacts as they deal with federal agencies.
Primary Source- pg. 256

18. Lobbying the Courts
Brown v. Board of Education- Brown was taken to the Supreme Court by an interest group…. The NAACP.
Interest groups may also file an amicus curiae.
Amicus Curiae- “Friend of the Court” a document that consists of written arguments presented to a court in one side of a dispute.
Pg Last paragraph.

19. The Indirect Approach
Goal- Same as the direct approach… To shape public policy.

20. Grass-roots Lobbying
Grass- roots pressures- Pressure from an interest group or members or from people at large.
Letters, s, phone calls, demonstrations, protests.
AARP- pg. 257
The internet has been especially useful in lobbying. (Social Media, Rating Websites)

21. Shaping Public Opinion
Many interest groups spend much of their time and energy on attempts to mold public opinion.
TV, newspapers, magazines are filled with advertisements.
AARP
Ratings

22. NRA

23. Propaganda
Propaganda does not use objective logic. It begins with a conclusion and brings evidence to support that conclusion and completely disregards contradictory information to that claim.
Name calling- “Communist”, “fascist”, “greedy”
Attempt to discredit a policy or person with one-sided information.

24. Propaganda