Chapter 9Interest Groups

Emma Cheplak

Karissa Gensler

Tyler Burkart

Section 1: The Nature of Interest Groups

The Role of Interest Groups

•Interest groups are sometimes called “pressure groups” and often “special interests” or “organized

interests.

•They give themselves a variety of labels: leagues, clubs, federations, unions, committees,

associations, etc. .

•Every interest group seeks to influence the making and content of public policy.

•Because interest groups exist to shape public policy, they operate wherever those policies are made or can be influence and also function at

every level of government.

•Public policy includes all of the goals that a government pursues in the many areas of human affairs in which it is involved-everything from seat belts, speed limits, and zoning to flood control, old-

age pensions, and the use of military force in international affairs.

Political Parties and Interest Groups

The two types of political organizations necessarily overlap in a number of ways. However, they differ from one another in three striking respects:

1. In the making of nominations2. In their primary focus3. In the scope of their interests

•Parties nominate candidates for public office, interest groups do not. If an interest group were to nominate candidates, it would, in effect, become a

political party.

•Interest group do try to affect the outcomes of primaries and other nominating contests. However,

interest group do not themselves pick candidates who then run under their labels.

•It is widely known that a particular interest group supports a candidate, but that candidate seeks votes

as a Republican or a Democrat.

•Political parties are chiefly interested in winning elections and controlling government while interest group are concerned with controlling or influencing the policies of government.

•Unlike parties, interest groups do not face the problems involved in trying to appeal to the largest possible number of people.

•Political parties are mostly interested in the who, and interest groups are mostly concerned with the what, of government.

•Political parties focus mostly on the candidate

•Interest groups focus mostly on an issue

•Political parties are necessarily concerned with the whole range of public affairs, with everything of concern to voters.

•Interest groups almost always concentrate only on those issues that most directly affect the interests of their members

•Interest group are private organizations

•Political parties are not accountable to the public

•Their members, not the voters, pass judgment on their performance

Interest Groups: Good or Bad?

Two Early Views•In 1787, James Madison warned the new nation against the dancers of what he called “factions.”

“a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.”

-The Federalist

•Madison thought the factions were inevitable in human society, and he was opposed to any attempt to abolish them.

“A society can only eliminate factions by eliminating freedom.”•Madison states that it is necessary to moderate the potential extremism of factions with a balance of powers

•The separations of power in that system would mean that factions would tend to counteract and balance each

others’ power.

•50 years later, Alexis de Tocqueville was impressed by the vast number of organizations he found in the U.S.

•In Democracy in America he wrote that: “In no country in the world has the principle of

association been more successfully used, or more unsparingly applied to a multitude of different

objects, than in America.”

Valuable Functions of Interest Groups

Interest groups help to stimulate interest in public affairs. They raise awareness of public affairs

mostly by developing and promoting those policies they favor and by opposing those policies

they see as threats to their interest.

•Interest groups also represent their members on the basis of shared attitudes rather than on the basis of

geography-by what their members think as opposed to where they happen to live. Public officials are elected from districts drawn on maps. Many of the issues that concern and unite people today have less to do with where they live than with how they make a living.

•Organized interests often provide useful, specialized, and detailed information to government. This data is

important to the making of public policy, and government officials cannot obtain them from any other source. Interest groups also frequently get information from public agencies and pass it along to their members.

•Interest groups are vehicles for political participation. They are a means through which like-minded citizens can

pool their resources and channel their energies into collective political action.

•Interest groups add another element to the checks-and-balances feature of the political process. Many

keep close tabs on the work of various public agencies/officials which help to make sure that they

perform their tasks in responsible and effective ways.

•Interest groups regularly compete with one another in the public arena. That competition places a very real

limit on the lengths to which some groups might otherwise go as they seek to advance their own interests.

Criticisms

Some interest groups have an influence far out of proportion to their size, or, for that matter, to their importance or contribution to the public good. Thus, the contest over “who gets what, when, and how” is not always a fair fight. The

more highly organized and better financed groups often have a decided advantage in that struggle.

•It is sometimes hard to tell just who or how many people a group really represents. Many groups have

titles that suggest that they have thousands-even millions-of dedicated members. Some organizations that call themselves such things as “The American

Citizens Committee for…” or “people Against…” are in fact only “fronts” for a very few people with very few

interests.

•Many groups do not in fact represent the views of all of the people for whom they claim to speak. An

organization is dominated by an active minority who conduct the group’s affairs and make its policy decisions

quite often.

•Some groups use tactics that, if they were to become widespread, would undermine the whole political system. These practices include bribery and other heavy-handed uses of money, overt threats of revenge, etc. . They are not altogether common, but the danger is always there.

Groups Based on Economic Interests

Most interest groups are based on the manner in which people make their living (economic interests).

The most active and most effective groups are those representing business, labor, agriculture, and certain

professions.

Business Groups

Merchants, creditors, and property owners were the people most responsible for calling the

Constitutional Convention in 1787. The U.S. Brewers’ Association (oldest organized

interest group at work today), was born in 1862 when Congress first levied a tax on beer. Their

purpose was to assure the brewing trade that its interests would be “vigorously prosecuted before

the legislative and executive departments.”

•Two best known business organizations are the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Chamber of

Commerce of the U.S.

•NAM now represents some 14,000 firms. It generally speaks for “big business” in public affairs

•Chamber of Commerce has some 3,000 local chambers and now counts more than 200,000 business and

professional firms

•The Business Roundtable has taken a large role in promoting and defending in the business community. Composed of the chief executive officers of 150 of the nation’s largest, most prestigious and most influential

corporations.

Labor Groups A labor union is an organization of workers who share the same type of job or who work in the same

industry. Labor unions press for government policies that will benefit their members.

Some 16 million Americans, less than 13. 5 percent of the nation’s labor forces belong to labor unions

today As recently as 1975, union membership accounted

for fully a fourth of the labor force.

•The largest organized labor, in both size and political power, is the AFL-CIO (the American Federation of Labor-

Congress of Industrial Organizations).

•AFL-CIO has about 13 million members and is organized on a national, State, and local basis.

•The largest and most powerful independent union include groups such as the Fraternal Order of Police, the

National Treasury Employees Union, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

Other Interest Groups

Most interest groups are based on economic concern. Some promote causes and others are devoted to opposing causes.

Examples of groups who promote: American Civil Liberties Union fights to protect civil and political rights. The Friends of the Earth are pledged to conserve our earth and environment.

Examples of groups who oppose causes: The National Right-to-Life committee opposes abortion. Where Planned Parenthood is opposed to the messages of Right-to-Life.

Some interest groups promote welfare of certain segments of the population.

Examples VFW and the American Legion promote our

country’s veterans. AARP represents our nations senior citizens. NAACP an the National Urban League are

concerned with public policies effecting African Americans

Religious Organizations often influence public policy also

Examples National Council of Churches, Christian Voice,

National Catholic Welfare council, and The American Jewish Congress.

Public-Interest Groups

Interest groups seek public policies of special benefit to their members.

They work against policies that threaten their members interests.

Public Interest Groups- seek to institute certain public policies of benefit to all or most people in this country, whether or not they belong to or support the organization

Examples: Common Cause, and League of Women Voters

Section 2 : Types of Interest Groups

Nobody knows how many interest groups exist in the United States.

They come in all shapes and sizes. They may have millions of members or simply a handful.

The largest number of interest groups have been founded on the basis of economic interest.

An American Tradition

Section 3: Interest Groups at Work

Public opinion is the most significant long-term force in American politics.

Interest groups reach out to the public to accomplish one or all of three major goals

1. To supply the public with information an organization thinks the people should have.

2. To build a positive image for a group.3. To promote a particular public policy.

Influencing Public Opinion

Propaganda

Propaganda: technique of persuasion aimed at influencing individual or group behaviors.

Used by interest groups to create the public attitudes they desire

Some view it as a form of lying

To be successful it needs to be presented in simple, interesting, and credible terms.

Influencing Parties and Elections

Interest groups try to influence political parties in many ways.

1. Some groups keep close tie with one of the major parties.

2. Most want support of both parties.3. Many groups urge members to become active in

party affairs and try to win posts in party organizations.

Campaigns cost a lot of money and turn to interest groups for financial support.

Much of their financial help goes through political action committees (PACs).

PACs raise and distribute money to candidates who will further their goals.

Single Interest Groups: PACs that concentrate their efforts on one issue

Ex. Abortion, gun control, health care, etc.

Lobbying Lobbying: activities by which group pressures

are brought to bear on legislator and the legislative process.

some like to be called “legislative counsel” or “public “representative”.

Lobbyists know how to bring grass roots to bear. Grass Roots: of or from the people, average

voters Lobbyists make campaign contributions, provide

information, write speeches and draft legislation.

Each state has it’s own laws regulating lobbying activities.

The lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 eliminates the “principal purpose” standard. It requires all individual lobbyist to register.

They provide basic information such as name, address, and principal place of business.