Reminders!!



No class next Tuesday...please
conceal your disappointment!
No tutorials next week – TA’s will
hold office hours instead!
if you have questions for your TA,
make sure to contact them by
Friday, March 14th!!!
Political Parties
Interest Aggregation
Interest Representation
March 6th
Political Parties vs.
Interest Groups



interest groups strive to influence
political outcomes
political parties strive to become
the governing party
both represent political interests
political parties also aggregate
interests
 in doing so, political parties act to
filter of interests

Type of Political Parties

basis of organization


electoral-professional parties vs.
mass parties
basis of electoral competition
pragmatic parties (brokerage
parties)
 ideological-programmatic parties
 interest parties

Ideological/Programmatic
Parties

organized around social cleavages
class
 religion
 ethnicity
 region


traditional conceptions of ideology

left vs. right
The Ideological Spectrum
The Left -Socialist
More Gov’t
The Right -Conservative
Less Gov’t
•government regulation of
the economy
•greater reliance on the
market
•policies to help
disadvantaged groups
•fewer government
regulations
•policies to redistribute
income
•no special treatment for
special interest groups
•lower taxes
General Trends -Political Parties

the rise of pragmatism
The Ideological Spectrum
The Rise of Pragmatism
The Left -Socialist
Tony Blair (Britain)
New Labour
Bill Clinton (US)
New Democrats
The Right -Conservative
George W. Bush (US)
Compassionate
Conservatism
General Trends -Political Parties


single member plurality systems
encourage pragmatic parties; PR
promotes ideological/interest parties
the rise of pragmatism


parties increasingly competing to occupy
the centre of the political spectrum
reasons?



success of pragmatic parties has been
self-reinforcing
the fall of communism
affluence of western industrialized
societies
Political Parties &
Democracy

mass parties vs. electoralprofessional parties

mass parties encourage greater
participation in politics by the
public
 majoritarian

democrats
electoral-professional parties
 elite
democrats
Political Parties &
Democracy

ideological/interest parties vs. pragmatic
parties

ideological/interest parties

gives clear electoral choices
• help make elections meaningful
• encourages greater mass participation


majoritarian democrats
pragmatic parties


depend on party elites (to broker deals
among various interests)
elections
• differences between parties are limited
• electoral choice is really about best
management team

elite democrats
Political Parties &
Democracy

liberal democrats

crucial point is that individuals
remain free to form political parties
(and contest elections) free from
state interference
Interest Groups
Interest Representation
Interest Groups

organizations whose members act together to
influence gov’t policy on specific issues,
without contesting elections (different from
parties!)


how do they influence -- lobbying
play an important role in representing citizen
demands to gov’t
Determinants of Interest Group
Influence:






size (membership) and cohesion
information, expertise
leadership, level of organization
financial resources
high-status (celebrity) membership
values, goals, tactics, issue -- compatible with
broader public opinion?

ability to sway public opinion
Determinants of Influence - Institutionalization
•
•
•
•
institutionalization -- degree to which a group has
become an acknowledged actor in/part of the
political process
levels of institutionalization
• institutional/associational/anomic
danger for group -- co-optation
• to become institutionalized, interest groups
must adopt norms and behaviours inside the
broader governing consensus
• must be more concerned with preserving
priveleged position in the long-term than
winning on certain issues
danger for government – capture
• government relies on group to the point that it
loses it ability to act autonomously in that issue
area
What Interest Groups Do
-- Lobbying

tactics

quiet consultations



mobilizing public opinion



lobbying elected officials
lobbying bureaucratic officials
media campaigns
public demonstrations
the paradox of interest group influence

the most powerful interest groups are
often the most quiet!
Interest Groups and
Democracy

liberal democracy

pluralism
 as
long as individuals are free to
form interest groups, interest group
competition represents interests in
society
 groups do not have to be equal;
groups have to have equal
opportunity to compete
Interest Groups and
Democracy

majoritarian democratic critique of
interest group pluralism

interest group politics is grossly uneven


the paradox of interest group influence


well-financed, privileged interests hold the
advantage
the strongest interest groups (e.g.
economic interests) do not have to lobby
in order to have influence
interest group influence displaces the
influence of the general public

special interest groups
Interest Groups and
Democracy

elite democracy

interest group competition and
lobbying (even if grossly uneven) is
fine so long as...
 political
elites retain the power to
make overall decisions in the
general welfare
• the summation of all interest group
demands does not equal the general
welfare
Reminders!!



No class next Tuesday...please
conceal your disappointment!
No tutorials next week – TA’s will
hold office hours instead!
if you have questions for your TA,
make sure to contact them by
Friday, March 14th!!!