Types of Interest Groups and “Political Action” Committees

Homework:Read Wilson, Chapter 9 (235-249) and take notes

Read Woll, Chapter 5, “Interest Groups and the American Political System” (241-245)

Types of Interest Gruops Two basic categories

• Institutional – representing groups (businesses, other IGs)

• Membership – a group of individuals; ideological

Many different types• Single – issue • Government• Public Interest – how do we define these?• Business• Occupational – Labor or Professional• Ideological – Environment, Constitution, etc.

Types of Interest Groups American Civil Liberties Union AFL/CIO AARP - American Association for Retired Persons Amnesty International USA The Christian Coalition Common Cause American Federation of Teachers National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action NAACP National Organization for Women National Republican Congressional Committee National Rifle Association National Right to Life Committee People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Planned Parenthood Federation of America U.S. Chamber of Commerce

PAC-ground Origin of PACs

• A popular term for a political committee organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates.

• Arise in 1944, when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) formed the first one to raise money for the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

• Although commonly called PACs, federal election law refers to these accounts as "separate segregated funds" because money contributed to a PAC is kept in a bank account separate from the general corporate or union treasury.

Begin to proliferate after 1970s laws which made it easier for PACs to operate and influence• Under federal law, PACs are not limited in their ability to spend

money independently of a candidate campaign. This may include expenditures on activities in support of (or against) a candidate, as long as they are not coordinated with the candidate.

527s A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of American tax-

exempt organization named after "Section 527" of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates to federal, state or local public office.

There are no upper limits on contributions to 527s and no restrictions on who may contribute. There are no spending limits imposed on these organizations; however, they must register with the IRS, publicly disclose their donors and file periodic reports of contributions and expenditures.

Because they may not advocate for specific candidates or coordinate with the candidate’s campaign, many 527s are run by interest groups and used to raise money to spend on issue advocacy and voter mobilization outside of the restrictions on PACs.

Super PACs Super PACs are a new kind of political action committee

created in July 2010 following the outcome of a federal court case known as SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission.

Technically known as independent expenditure-only committees, Super PACs may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, then spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates.

Super PACs must, however, report their donors to the Federal Election Commission on a monthly or quarterly basis -- the Super PAC's choice -- as a traditional PAC would. Unlike traditional PACs, Super PACs are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates.

PACs, Super PACs and 527s Among the types of groups raising campaign money:

PAC (political action committee): Created to funnel campaign contributions directly to candidates.

Super PAC: Can raise and spend unlimited amounts on politics, but must operate independently of candidates and cannot contribute to individual candidates. Donors must be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission.

  527 group: Can run political ads with unlimited individual

and corporate contributions but must disclose donors to the IRS. • Some call them “yesterday’s Super-PACs” that could either register

as PACs and give directly to candidates or focus on specific issues.  With the advent of Super-PACs, the heyday of 527s may be over.