John J. Pitney, Jr., Claremont McKenna College, (undergraduate) The Politics of Interest Groups (Spring 2008) Politics of Interest Groups
CMC Government 106, Spring 2008
Monday and Wednesday 2:45-4:00 Classroom Roberts North 105
J. Pitney Office: Pitzer 215 Telephone: 909/607-4224
Office Hours: MW 11-noon, 4:15-5:15.
If these times are inconvenient, please make an appointment.
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Homepage: http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/govt/jpitney/
Syllabus: http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/govt/jpitney/gov106-spr08.html
General
This courses examines the role of interest groups in American politics, with special
attention to their influence on public policy. It asks these questions:
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What are interest groups, and how do they form?
Are there real differences between economic and "public" interest groups?
How do interest groups try to influence elections?
What strategies and tactics do they use in the "outside" game of public relations
and the "inside game" of lobbying?
Is there a general public interest apart from group interests? If so, do interest
groups advance or undercut it?
Classes
Classes will include lecture and discussion. Finish the readings before class because our
discussions will involve those readings. We shall also talk about breaking news, so you
must read a good news source such as the The Politico, New York Times, the Los Angeles
Times or
ABC "The Note."
Blog
Our class blog is at http://gov106.blogspot.com. I shall post videos, graphs, news stories,
and other material there. We shall use some of this material in class, and you may review
the rest at your convenience. You will all receive invitations to post to the blog. (Please
let me know if you do not get such an invitation.) I strongly encourage you to use the
blog in these ways:
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To post questions or comments about the readings before we discuss them in
class;
To follow up on class discussions with additional comments or questions.
To post relevant news items or videos.
Grades
The following will make up your course grade:
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Three 4-page papers: 20% each. In lieu of the second two papers, you may write
a 10-page research paper on a topic of your choice, subject to my approval. It will
be worth 40% of your grade.
One sit-down final: 30%
Class participation (including blog): 10%
Details
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The papers will develop your skills in research, writing, and political analysis.
When grading, I do take the quality of writing into account, applying the
standards of Strunk and White. If you object to this approach, do not take this
course – or anything else that I teach.
The final examination will test your factual knowledge and comprehension of the
readings. Graduating seniors will turn in a take-home exam, due on the last day
of class.
Class participation will hone your ability to think on your feet. This grade hinges
on class discussions. I will call on students at random, and if you often miss
sessions or fail to prepare, your grade will suffer.
As a courtesy to your fellow students, please arrive promptly and refrain from
eating in class.
Check due dates for papers, as well as the date of the final exam. Arrange your
schedule accordingly. Do not plan on seeking extensions or make-up work.
Plagiarism or any other academic dishonesty will mean referral to the Academic
Standards Committee. See:
http://registrar.claremontmckenna.edu/acpolicy/plagiarism.asp
Required Books
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Allan J. Cigler and Burdett Loomis, editors, Interest Group Politics, 7th ed.
(Washington: CQ Press, 2007).
Anthony J. Nownes, Total Lobbying: What Lobbyists Want (And How They Try to
Get It) (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
Jonathan Rauch, Government's End: Why Washington Stopped Working (New
York: Public Affairs Press, 1999).
Alan Rosenthal, The Third House: Lobbyists and Lobbying in the States, 2d ed.
(Washington: CQ Press, 2001).
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Mark J. Rozell, Clyde Wilcox, and David Madland, Interest Groups in American
Campaigns: The New Face of Electioneering (Washington: CQ Press, 2006).
Schedule (subject to change, with advance notice).
In addition to the readings below, I may also supply you with various handouts and
Internet links.
Jan 23: Introduction
"From the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property, the
possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately results; and from the
influence of these on the sentiments and views of the respective proprietors, ensues a
division of the society into different interests and parties. The latent causes of faction are
thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different
degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society. A zeal for
different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points, as
well of speculation as of practice; an attachment to different leaders ambitiously
contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other descriptions whose
fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into
parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to
vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good." -- James
Madison, Federalist 10.
Is everyone part of a special interest? What is the proper role of organized interests in a
democracy?
Jan 28, 30: "Hyperpluralism"
"The more government takes the place of associations, the more will individuals lose the
idea of forming associations and need the government to come to their help" -- Alexis
deTocqueville
How has the world of interest groups grown more complex and specialized?
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Cigler & Loomis, ch. 1 (introduction), 6 (interest communities), 12 (branding)
Rauch, ch. 1-3
Feb 4, 6: Economic Groups
Barack Obama: "Because while I was working on those streets watching those folks see
their jobs shift overseas, you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart."
Hillary Clinton: "Bad for America, and I was fighting against those ideas when you were
practicing law and representing your contributor, Rezko, in his slum landlord business in
inner city Chicago."
-- Democratic primary debate, January 21, 2008
How did corporations, trade associations, and unions become players? When do they
seek public and private goods?
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Rauch, ch. 4
Cigler and Loomis, 3 (tribes), 16 (emerging issues).
Zachary Courser, "Wal-Mart and the Politics of American Retail" (Washington:
Competitive Enterprise Institute, 2005), at http://www.cei.org/pdf/4992.pdf
David Moberg, "Has Change to Win Led to Wins?" In These Times, October 24,
2007, at http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3379/has_the_change_led_to_wins/
P.B. Gray, "Inside the Chamber," CFO, June 1, 2006, at
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/6969936/c_6994915?f=insidecfo
FIRST ESSAY ASSIGNED FEB 6, DUE FEB 20
READ STRUNK AND WHITE FIRST.
Feb 11, 13: Public Interest Groups and Nonprofits
"National organizations commonly employ a multi-structure approach comprised of
501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and federal PAC. The key to success is demonstrating that the
501(c)(3)’s resources were not used to subsidize the partisan electioneering work of an
affiliated 501(c)(4) or any of its affiliates, including an SSF or 527. The accounts of the
two separate entities should be kept apart to facilitate each organization paying its own
share of all salaries, equipment costs, and rent." NP Action
How do nonprofits differ from economic interest groups? Is there a bright line between
the two?
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Cigler and Loomis, ch. 2 (NRA), 4 (the disadvantaged), 5 (environmental groups),
10 (nonprofits).
Meredith Wadman, "Autism Speaks: The United States Pays Up," Nature 448 (9
August 2007): 628-629, at
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v448/n7154/full/448628a.html
James G. McGann, "Scholars, Dollars, and Policy Advice" (Washington: Think
Tanks and Civil Societies Program Of the Foreign Policy Research Institute,
2004), at
http://www.fpri.org/research/thinktanks/200408.mcgann.scholarsdollars.doc
Feb 18, 20: Electoral Politics I
"If that pitch sounds like a mixture of protection racket (nice little multinational you have
there; too bad if anything should happen to it) and an offer to play ball, that's exactly how
it was intended to sound." -- Gregg Easterbrook on Rep. Tony Coelho's approach to
PACs
Why do interest groups involve themselves in political campaigns?
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Rozell, ch. 1-3.
Feb 25, 27: Electoral Politics II
"How about putting limits on malpractice awards?"
"Well, you tell me."
"Well, if you're for them, I got money from the doctors and the insurance companies. If
you're against them, I got money from the trial lawyers. Let's put you down
as 'against.'"
"Terry, tell me something. With all this money coming in from both sides, how could
anything possibly ever get done?"
"It doesn't. That's the genius of the system." -- Kevin McCarthy and Eddie Murphy in
The Distinguished Gentleman
What strategies and tactics do interest groups employ in the campaign arena?
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Rozell, ch. 4
Cigler and Loomis, ch. 7 (mobilization), 9 (527 groups)
Stephen R. Weissman and Kara D. Ryan, "Soft Money in the 2006 Election and
the Outlook for 2008: The Changing Nonprofits Landscape" (Washington:
Campaign Finance Institute, 2007), at
http://www.cfinst.org/books_reports/pdf/NP_SoftMoney_0608.pdf
SECOND ESSAY ASSIGNED FEBRUARY 27, DUE MAR 12
Mar 3, 5: Grassroots, Grasstops, Astroturf, and the Media
"One of the underhanded tactics increasingly being used by telecom companies is
`Astroturf lobbying' -- creating front groups that try to mimic true grassroots, but that are
all about corporate money, not citizen power." -- Common Cause
"Proponents of regulation argue that something needs to be done to regulate so-called
“Astroturf” lobbying. We do not necessarily agree that such communications need to be
regulated, and we have yet to see an adequate definition of `Astroturf lobbying' that does
not infringe on what everyone agrees is entirely legitimate and fully protected activity." - ACLU and other organizations
How do interest groups try to influence public opinion? How do they mobilize their
constituencies? And what do those constituencies do?
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Jack Maskell, "Grassroots Lobbying: Constitutionality of Disclosure
Requirements" (Washington: Congressional Research Service, 2007), at
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33794_20070112.pdf
Ruckus Media Manual at http://www.ruckus.org/article.php?list=type&type=18
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Erika Falk, Erin Grizard, and Gordon McDonald, "Legislative Issue Advertising
in the 108th Congress: Pluralism or Peril?" Harvard International Journal of
Press/Politics 11 (2006), at http://hij.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/11/4/148
Online politics:
o Influencing decisionmakers: http://www.epolitics.com/2006/07/03/onlinetactics-influencing-decision-makers/
o Viral campaigns: http://www.epolitics.com/2006/07/03/online-tacticsviral-campaigns/
o Blogs: http://www.epolitics.com/2006/07/03/blogs-and-blogger-relations/
Mar 10, 12: Lobbying I
"Congressmen don't know things; they're not experts in technology. In the mid-1990s, we
were meeting with a Congressman about high-definition TV standards and we were
talking about pixels and so on, and he said, 'Fellas, look, I'm trying to stay with you here,
but one of the first times I ever took a ride on an airplane was when I came to
Washington to take my seat and I remember looking out the window and I thought part of
the wing was falling off when we landed, because the flaps came up.' " -- Joseph Tasker,
senior vice president for government affairs of the Information Technology Association
of America
How do lobbyists approach lawmakers? How has lobbying evolved?
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Nownes, ch. 1-4
Mar 17, 19: Spring Break
Mar 24, 26: Lobbying II
"Jack Abramoff liked to slip into dialogue from The Godfather as he led his lobbying
colleagues in planning their next conquest on Capitol Hill. In a favorite bit, he would
mimic an ice-cold Michael Corleone facing down a crooked politician's demand for a cut
of Mafia gambling profits: `Senator, you can have my answer now if you like. My offer is
this: nothing.'" -- Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi, Washington Post, December 29,
2005.
What formal and informal rules govern direct lobbying? How do politicians and
lobbyists get around them?
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Cigler and Loomis ch. 11, 17, 18
Eliza Newlin Carney, "Charitable Chicanery," National Journal, June 23, 2006, at
http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/press-2093.html
Jack Maskell, "Lobbying Law and Ethics Rules Changes in the 110th Congress,"
Congressional Research Service, September 7, 2007, at
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34166_20070907.pdf
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Elizabeth Williamson, "Getting Around Rules on Lobbying," Washington Post,
October 14, 2007, at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/10/13/AR2007101301275.html
THIRD ESSAY ASSIGNED MARCH 26, DUE APRIL 9
Mar 31, Apr 2: Lobbying III
"You can bet there have been lobbyists working Washington since the days when Daniel
Webster pocketed retainers from the Second Bank of the United States and Stephen
Douglas sponsored the Kansas-Nebraska Act--which led proximately to the Civil War--as
part of his project to anchor the transcontinental railroad in Chicago. When government
makes decisions that affect private individuals and firms and industries, the
representatives of those individuals and firms and industries are going to exercise their
constitutional right to try to get the decisions to come out their way." -- Michael Barone
How do lobbies approach the legislative and judicial branches? How do these activities
differ from legislative lobbying?
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Nownes, ch. 6-7
Cigler and Loomis, ch. 15.
Paul M. Collins, Jr. and Lisa A. Solowiej, "Interest Group Participation,
Competition, and Conflict in the U.S. Supreme Court," Law & Social Inquiry
32 (Fall 2007), at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.17474469.2007.00084.x
Apr 7, 9: Foreign Policy and National Security
Jerry:
So you're saying UNICEF is a scam?
Kramer: It's the perfect cover for a money laundering operation . No one can keep track
of all those kids with the little orange boxes of change.
Who influences foreign and military policy? What is the role of foreign governments and
interests? What economic and ethnic groups have a stake in foreign affairs?
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Cigler and Loomis, ch. 13 (ethnic groups), 14 (Japan)
Ken Silverstein, " Their Men in Washington," Harper's, June 2007, at
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/07/0081591
Michael Crowley, "Can Lobbyists Stop the War?" New York Times Magazine,
September 9, 2007, at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/magazine/09antiwart.html
April 14, 16: State and Local I
"Not surprisingly, then, politicians routinely submit legislative bills that would take
money from various persons or groups, and then withdraw them once (constitutionally
protected) payments are made. These bills go by different names. In California they are
called `juice bills,' referring to their ability to squeeze those who would lose from
taxation unless they pay up. -- Fred McChesney
Is interest group politics different at the state level? Is California a unique arena?
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Rosenthal, ch. 1-6.
April 21, 23: State and Local II
"Bob Wright announced that Autism Speaks will mount a multi-state campaign to require
insurance coverage for autism treatments. Already pushing the idea in Pennsylvania, the
Wrights selected Florida, Michigan and California as `battleground states' where they
need to compel commercial insurers to cover medically necessary therapies and
services." -- Palm Beach Daily News
Who gains and who loses at the state and local level?
• Rosenthal, ch. 7-10
• Nownes, ch. 5
April 28, 30: Demosclerosis
"Social Security is a government program with a constituency made up of the old, the
near-old, and those who hope or fear to grow old. After 215 years of trying, we have
finally discovered a special interest that includes 100 percent of the population. Now we
can vote ourselves rich." -- P.J. O'Rourke
How have reformers tried to check interest groups?
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Rauch, ch. 5-8.
Cigler and Loomis, 19 (representation).
May 5, 7: Reform
"There is $2.6 trillion spent in Washington, with the authority to regulate everything in
your life. Guess what? People will spend unheard-of amounts of money to influence that.
The underlying problems are big government and big money." -- Newt Gingrich
Short of radically reducing government, are there any effective reforms? Or are we even
asking the right question?
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Rauch, ch. 9-10.
Rozell, ch. 5
FINAL EXAM: WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, AT 2 PM