CHAPTER 7 Interest Groups and Political Parties 1.

CHAPTER 7

Interest Groups and Political Parties

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Introduction2

Group activity is particularly logical in a democracy, where majorities and pluralities rule.

Politics is an arena for group conflict. Political parties in America perform

many vital functions.

Interest Groups in American Politics

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Interest groups are associations of people who hold common views and work to influence what government does.

These groups share the objective of looking out for their members’ political interests, but differ in what those interests are.

Interest groups are so dominant in America that many see the American system as a pluralist democracy designed to manage the interplay of group interests.

Interest groups are both praised for contributing to democracy and condemned as a threat to the public good.

Characteristics of Interest Groups

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Size Interest groups vary dramatically in size. Generally, the bigger the group, the more

effective and powerful it is. Membership

Groups may have formal or informal membership procedures.

Generally, the stronger the bond between member and group, the more effective the group will be.

Organization Generally, the stronger a group’s internal

organization is, the more success it will have in promoting its interests.

Groups differ in whether they are democratic or autocratic.

Characteristics of Interest Groups (continued)

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Ties to Politics Interest groups may be essentially

nonpolitical (a bowling league), solely political (a political action committee), or have a mixture of political and nonpolitical activities (Roman Catholic church, National Rifle Association).

Agreement with Societal Consensus Reactionary groups are far to the right. Radical groups are far to the left. Groups that stay within the American

mainstream tend to be more effective.

What Interest Groups Do

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Influencing Opinion The major channel used by interest groups to create public

support is the mass media. Recently, interest groups have begun using direct mail to

get support. Involvement in the Electoral Process: PACs

Political action committees (PACs) channel money from interest group members to sympathetic political candidates.

Most PACs are multi-candidate committees and formally independent of the candidates they support.

The Federal Election Act of 1974 put limits on the amount of money individuals and groups can contribute to campaigns, making group contributions the more attractive option. This led to the proliferation of PACs.

The Proliferation of PACS, 1974-2010

The number of political action committees has soared since the post-Watergate campaign reforms made them the preferred vehicle for channeling money from interest group members to political candidates.

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What Interest Groups Do (continued)

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PACs have become a controversial issue in American politics.

Involvement in the Legislative Process: Lobbying Lobbying is the attempt to influence legislation in

Congress. Lobbyists provide information, advice, and

testimony to congress. Lobbyists are highly paid, respected, and influential.

Involvement in the Administrative and Regulatory process When group interests appear to be threatened,

groups meet with agency officials and ask legislators sympathetic to the “true intent” of the legislation to intercede with erring bureaucrats.

What Interest Groups Do (continued)

The close ties between interest groups, administrators, and legislators is referred to as the “iron triangle.”

The close ties between interest groups, administrators, and legislators is referred to as the “iron triangle.”

Involvement in the Judicial Process Interest groups can do the following:

Affect the selection of judgesFile class action suitsEncourage individuals to take legal actionFile amicus curiae briefs

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Major Interest Groups10

Economic Groups Business advances its interests through

groups that represent commerce, corporations, and various professions.

Labor is primarily represented through unions.

The AFL-CIO is an umbrella organization of unions.

Labor union influence on the Democratic Party is diminishing.

Non-union workers lack organization and influence.

The farm lobby is no longer as influential as it once was, but it still can’t be ignored.

Major Interest Groups (continued)

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Social Groups Gender based – Women comprise one of the

largest potential interest groups in the United States. NOW is a group that presses for economic and

political equality for women The women’s movement is closely tied to politics.

Race based –Tthe most prominent biologically based interest group in the United States is the African American population. African Americans have pursued their interests

politically, working predominantly through the Democratic Party.

The NAACP is the most visible, official African American interest group.

African Americans have increased their number of registered voters and elective office holders.

Types of Major Interest Groups

The table includes only a few of the thousands of groups that exist. In addition, note that a group may be of more than one type. This occurs when economic groups, for example, make statements about social and ideological questions.

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Female, African American, and Latino National and State Legislators and Executives, 1975-2009

The increasing numbers of women, African Americans, and Latinos elected to public offices, such as the U.S. Senate and House and state

legislatures and to state executive offices in the last 30 years, demonstrates how the political process has opened up to members of

these groups.

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Major Interest Groups (continued)

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Religious groups Religious groups, especially the Christian Right, have become

active in political issues, especially in regard to the recent abortion controversy.

Most religious groups do not employ registered lobbyists. Ideological groups

Groups that pursue a broad, explicitly political, agenda almost exclusively

Single-Issue groups Single-issue groups, such as those comprising the right-to-life

movement, have narrow agendas and limited political goals. Single-issue groups are often controversial, and some see them as

a threat to democracy because they usually refuse to compromise. Public interest groups

These groups represent broad notions of the public interest. Examples include Ralph Nader (consumerism) and Common Cause.

Perspectives on Interest Groups

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Interest groups as the foundation of democracy Interest groups promote democracy

through competition and representation.Cross-cutting cleavages stabilize group

competition.Cross-cutting cleavage is the overlapping of

interest group memberships that protects against polarization.

Interest group elitismThe structures of interest groups may be

undemocratic.Big, powerful groups dominate small, weak

ones.

Perspectives on Interest Groups (continued)

Interest Groups Versus the Public Interest Interest groups are criticized most when

seen as using politics to achieve selfish goals.

Many people favor more regulation of interest group activities.

Interest group gridlock Too many interest groups, refusing to

compromise, can result in interest group gridlock

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The Idea of a Political Party

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What Is a Political Party? A political party attempts to influence

public policy by placing its own members into government positions.

Interest groups and parties are different in that interest groups do not run their own candidates for office.

They are similar in that they both have members who share common political views or objectives, and may engage in collective political activities.

What Do Parties Do?18

Parties perform important political socialization functions: Providing a means for psychological

identification with the world of politics Helping to structure people’s perceptions of

politics Educating and mobilizing people about

politics Parties perform important electoral

functions: Bringing individuals with diverse political

needs together around a commonly supported candidate

Simplifying the set of alternatives between which voters must choose

What Do Parties Do? (continued)

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Complementing the legal process for choosing public officials.

Recruiting and training political leaders.

Parties perform important governmental functions: Giving coherence to public policy Helping make government more

responsive They are also a major source of

political stability.

Party Identification by Income

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Basic Characteristics of the American Party System

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It’s a two-party system. Plurality/majority elections encourage a two-

party system, as exemplified by the U.S. Alternatively, proportional representation—

the awarding of legislative seats in proportion to the percentage of votes a party receives—encourages the growth of more than two parties. This system is more common in other countries, like France and Italy.

Voter opinions tend to form clusters near the ideological center. This often fosters two similar parties that vie for the same voters.

Third parties do have a role. They have forced major parties to address

new issues, and they have influenced election results.

American Political Parties Since 1789

The chart indicates the years during which parties either ran presidential candidates or held national conventions. The life span for many political parties can only be approximated because parties existed at the state or local level before they ran candidates in the presidential elections and continued to exist at local levels after they ceased running presidential candidates. For example, in the year 2008, at least a dozen parties ran a candidate for president in one or more states; but only six candidates were on the ballot in over half of the states: John McCain (Republican), Barack Obama (Democrat), Bob Barr (Libertarian), Cynthia McKinny (Green), Chuck Baldwin (Constitution), and Ralph Nader, who ran as an Independent.

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A Complex Party Structure

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Parties and the Levels of Government: National, State, and Local Party structures parallels the federal system. However, the relationship between party

levels is not strictly hierarchical. Parties and Their Components: Formal,

Electoral, and Governmental Formal party organization: the people who work

for the partyAt the national level, the party convention

chooses the presidential candidate, writes the platform, and designates the national committee.

A Complex Party Structure (continued)

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Formerly, state and local political machines used patronage and the spoils system to augment their power.

State and local party structures are similar to that of the national parties.

A party psychologically and socially includes the people in the electorate who support it. Party identification is a psychological attachment to

a party by a citizen. A party’s coalition consists of the groups of people

who support it. The party in government consists of the people

from that party who hold public office. Parties in the legislature organize committees and

leaders. The executive party and judicial party are informal

and less visible.

Party Identification of the American Electorate 1960-2010

The Democratic Party held a substantial edge in the party identification from the 1960s into the 1970s; however, Republican resurgence, beginning in the 1980s, eroded that edge.

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How the American Party System Developed

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Introduction Although not mentioned in the

Constitution, parties do have explicit legal status.

Four specific realignments throughout history have created five different party systems.

The First American Party System (1789-1824) Federalists and Antifederalists Major issues of this period:

Should government be centralized and elite? (Federalist) Or decentralized and open? (Antifederalist)


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Government role in the economyIndustrialization vs. agriculture

Major parties:Federalists, dominant until about 1800 Antifederalists (Democratic

Republicans), ascended after 1800 The Second American Party System

(1824-1860) Democrats and Whigs Major issues of this period:

National bank and states’ rights


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Major parties:Whigs had a vision of a nation

modernized by government-backed commerce.

Democrats had a vision of an agrarian democracy.

By the late 1820s, issues of national bank and states’ rights split the Democratic Republican Party, forming the Whig Party and the Democratic Party.

Slavery (and soon the Civil War, as well) undid Whig Party and Democratic Party alignments, instead dividing both parties into northern and southern branches.


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The Third American Party System (1860-1896) Democrats and the new Republicans Major issues of this period:

SlaveryGovernment as a promoter of commerce

After the Civil War, the Republican Party established itself as the party of business.

Competition between the parties characterized this party system and divided congressional and presidential control.


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The Fourth American Party System (1896-1932) Republican Ascendancy Major issues of this period:

Capitalist system allowed free reign The 1893 depression sparked the free

silver movement, led by William Jennings Bryan, and pitted the Democratic rural, poor, and workers against the Republican urban, industrial, and elite.

Except for the Wilson years, Republicans were dominant until 1929.


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The Fifth American Party System (1932-1968) Democratic Ascendancy Major issues of this period:

Social welfareGovernment involvement in the economy

FDR’s reaction to the Great Depression issued in an era of government responsibility—both for restoring and maintaining economic prosperity, and ensuring the people’s basic well being.

The Democratic Party remained dominant from 1932-1968.

The State of the American Party System: Decline or Resurgence?32

Parties in Decline In the 1970s and 1980s, both national

and state party organizations appeared to lose their viability.

At the same time, fewer people identified with a specific party, and the existing coalitions were coming apart.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, party discipline and coordination in government seemed to deteriorate.

The Causes of Party Decline

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More jobs fell under the heading of “civil service” and patronage became more difficult, making it harder for politicians to marshal support.

The rise of the mass media eliminated the need for parties to act as intermediaries between candidates and the public.

PACs and public financing of campaigns weakened the parties’ role as fundraisers.

Personal campaign organizations have bypassed traditional party machinery.

Single-issue interest groups upset the parties’ function of coalition-building.

The rise of the public welfare system reduced citizens’ personal obligation to the party for help in the past. (Formerly, faithful party members might receive food, money, or shelter from neighborhood party organizations.)

Declining party socialization has reduced people’s tendency to identify with their parents’ political parties.

The Consequences of Party Decline

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The following occur if parties decline too much: Citizens aren’t socialized into politics. Electoral alternatives become confusing,

creating incoherent policy proposals. Interests are not integrated, resulting in

fragmentation and paralysis. Campaigns and elections become

fragmented and personalized. Power is not coordinated, resulting in few

common bonds of philosophy or loyalty. Government is not responsible, so

accountability breaks down.

Parties in Resurgence35

A number of new studies found evidence of the parties in resurgence.

Formal party organization National party organizations use computerized

systems for polling, conducting direct mail campaigns, and raising money—especially “soft money.”

The rejuvenation of party organization started with the Republicans, while the Democrats are trying to catch up.

The Party in the Electorate Party identification is slowly rising again. A reformation of new party coalitions may be

occurring. The Party in Government

Congressional campaign committees are growing stronger.

However, party discipline has not improved.

Parties in Resurgence (continued)

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Reasons for Party Resurgence Parties have adapted to the changing political

environment. Parties can still supply candidates with needed

resources. Consequences of Party Resurgence

Rejuvenated national party organizations may strengthen state and local organizations.

Strong party organizations may help revive the party in the electorate and the party in the government.

In a resurgent party system, technology will replace party workers.

The Future of the American Party System

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The Prospects for Realignment Some argue that Republican dominance at the

presidential level may be solidifying and expanding their dominance to other levels.

Others argue Republican dominance of the presidency may end as major conservative issues fade.

The Future of Resurgence Recent changes in the party system may mark a

broad and permanent change based on centralization, the importance of the media, and the demand for campaign money.

Parties have shown the ability to sufficiently adapt to changing circumstances.

CHAPTER 7 Interest Groups and Political Parties 1.

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Transcript of CHAPTER 7 Interest Groups and Political Parties 1.