Chapter 7: Interest Groups
American Democracy Now, 4/e
The Value of Interest Groups
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An interest group is an organization that seeks to
achieve goals by influencing government decision
making.
Estimates indicate that about 80 percent of all Americans
belong to some kind of voluntary group or association,
although not every group is an interest group.
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The Value of Interest Groups
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In Bowling Alone Robert Putnam found a marked
decrease in the number of people who belong to interest
groups and other types of clubs and organizations.
These organizations, Putnam argues, are essential
sources of social capital, the relationships that improve
our lives by giving us social connections with which to
solve common problems.
Critics of Putnam have noted that people are engaged
in other types of groups and clubs and enjoy various
forms of group recreation.
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Interest Groups and Civic Participation
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Interest groups provide a way for people to band
together to influence government as a collective force.
Interest groups involve individuals more actively in the
political process by encouraging them to vote and to
communicate their views to their elected officials.
Interest groups assist in the engagement of communities
by providing a forum through which people can come
together and form associations.
Interest groups offer an alternative means of
participation to individuals who are disenchanted with the
two-party system.
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Pluralist Theory versus Elite Theory
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Pluralist theory emphasizes how important it is
for a democracy to have large numbers of
diverse interest groups representing a wide
variety of views.
According to elite theory, a ruling class
composed of wealthy, educated individuals
wields most of the power in government and
also within the top universities, corporations, the
military, and media outlets.
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Key Functions of Interest Groups
1.
2.
3.
Interest groups educate the public about policy
issues.
Interest groups provide average citizens with
an avenue of access to activism.
Interest groups mobilize citizens and stimulate
them to participate in civic and political affairs.
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Key Functions of Interest Groups
4.
5.
6.
7.
Interest groups perform electoral functions.
Interest groups provide information and
expertise to policy makers.
Interest can protect the common good.
Interest groups are an integral part of the
government’s system of checks and balances.
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The Downside of Interest Groups
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Interest groups do contribute to the appearance of (and
sometimes the reality of) corruption in the political
system.
Interest groups and their political action committees
(PACs) make money a vital force in American politics.
These concerns have been exacerbated by the U.S.
Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v FEC (2010).
Interest groups strengthen incumbency advantage.
Elites are more likely to establish and to dominate
interest groups than are non-elites.
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Interest Groups
Where Do You Stand?
Do you think the issue of powerful special-interest
groups having too much influence on politics is a crisis,
a major problem, a minor problem, or not a problem?
a. Crisis
b. Major problem
c. Minor problem
d. Not a problem
Source: “Gallup’s Pulse of Democracy,”
www.gallup.com/poll/27286/Government.aspx.
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Who Joins Interest Groups, and Why?
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People are not all equally likely to join or form
interest groups, and this reality has serious
consequences for the ability of interest groups to
represent everyone’s views.
Income and education tend to be the best
predictors of interest group membership.
However, enormous diversity exists in the types
of people who choose to join or form interest
groups.
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Patterns of Membership: Participation
Based on Occupation
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Doctors and lawyers often join professional
associations such as the AMA and ABA.
Workers such as teachers and tradespeople are
likely to belong to labor unions.
Executives in business and industry are likely to
be members of industry-specific and general
business organizations that advocate on behalf
of their members.
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Patterns of Membership:
Participation and Social Class
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In general, people who identify themselves as
working class are less likely to have been
socialized to participate in interest groups, with
the important exception of labor unions, which
historically have been most likely to organize
working-class occupations.
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Patterns of Membership:
Participation and Education
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Educational attainment has a strong influence
on whether a person will join an interest group.
Individuals with higher education levels are more
likely to be informed about issues and more
willing to invest the time and energy in joining an
interest group that represents their views.
They may also be more likely to understand how
important interest groups are in shaping public
policy.
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Patterns of Membership
in Online Groups
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Motivations for Joining Interest Groups:
Solidary Incentives
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Some people join interest groups because
they offer solidary incentives —the
feeling of belonging, companionship,
friendship, and the satisfaction derived
from socializing with others.
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Motivations for Joining Interest Groups:
Purposive Incentives
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People also join interest groups because of
purposive incentives, that is, because they
believe in the group’s cause from an ideological
or a moral standpoint.
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Motivations for Joining Interest Groups:
Economic Incentives
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Many people join interest groups because of
material or economic incentives; that is, they
want to support groups that work for policies that
will provide them with economic benefits.
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How Interest Groups Succeed
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Why are some interest groups better at getting
what they want than others?
Political scientists agree on various factors that
influence whether an interest group will succeed.
These factors include the interest group’s
organizational resources, and its organizational
environment.
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Organizational Resources:
How Membership Affects Success
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A large membership enhances an interest
group’s influence because policy makers are
more likely to take note of the group’s position.
The cohesion of a group also matters to
participants and to policy makers.
Another significant aspect of an interest group’s
membership is its intensity.
The demographics of a group’s membership
also may increase its success.
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Organizational Resources: How Financial
Resources Affect Success
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Money fuels the hiring of experienced and
effective staff and lobbyists, as well as the
undertaking of initiatives that will increase the
group’s membership.
Money also funds the raising of more money.
Sometimes interest groups form a political action
committee (PAC) to contribute money to the
campaigns of favored candidates, particularly
incumbents who are likely to be reelected.
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Organizational Environment:
Leadership
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Strong, charismatic leaders can raise public
awareness of the group and its activities, by
enhancing its reputation, and by making the
organization attractive to new members and
contributors.
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Organizational Environment:
Opposition
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When an interest group is “the only game in
town” on a particular issue, policy makers are
more likely to rely on that group’s views.
But if groups with opposing views are also
attempting to influence policy, getting policy
makers to act strongly in any one group’s favor
is more difficult.
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Types of Interest Groups
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Political scientists generally categorize interest
groups by what kinds of issues concern them
and who benefits from the groups’ activities
Three main categories:
1.
2.
3.
Economic Interest Groups
Public and Ideological Interest Groups
Foreign Interest Groups
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Economic Interest Groups
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Corporate & Business Interests
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These groups typically seek policies that benefit a
particular company or industry.
Labor Interests
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About 11 percent of all U.S. workers belong to unions.
Public employees are among the most unionized
workforces, with 35 percent of all governmental
employees belonging to a labor union.
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Economic Interest Groups
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Agricultural Interests
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Probably have the most disproportionate amount of
influence given the small number of farmers and farm
workers in the country relative to the general
population.
Trade & Professional Interests

Nearly every professional occupation has a trade or
professional group that focuses on its interests.
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Public and Ideological Interest Groups
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Public interest groups typically are concerned with a
broad range of issues that affect the populace at large.
Results of the efforts of a particular public interest
group’s advocacy are collective goods.
The nature of collective goods creates a free rider
problem.
According to rational choice theory it is not rational for
people to participate in a collective action designed to
achieve a collective good when they can secure that
good without participating.
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Public and Ideological Interest Groups
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Consumer Interests
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Ralph Nader has founded numerous organizations to
promote the rights of consumers.
Environmental Interests
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Many environmental interest groups came about as a
result of a broader environmental movement in the
1970s.
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Public and Ideological Interest Groups
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Religious Interests
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Religious interests are among the most influential
interest groups in U.S. politics.
Conservative Christian organizations have substantial
influence in the political process.
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Foreign Interest Groups
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Foreign governments
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Often will benefit from the efforts of an interest group
made up of U.S. citizens of the foreign nation’s
heritage, e.g. AIPAC.
China, has spent millions of dollars trying to influence
trade and other U.S. policies to its advantage.
International corporations

Although only U.S. citizens and legal immigrants can
contribute to federal PACs, American employees of
foreign companies do form and contribute to PACs.
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Interest Groups
Where Do You Stand?
Would you like to see organized religion have more
influence over politics in the United States, less
influence, or the same amount of influence it has now?
a. More influence
b. Less influence
c. Same amount of influence
Source: “Religion,” www.gallup.com/poll/1690/Religion.aspx.
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Interest Group Strategies
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Interest groups use two kinds of strategies to
advance their causes.
Direct strategies involve actual contact between
representatives of the interest group and policy
makers.
Indirect strategies use intermediaries to
advocate for a cause or generally to attempt to
persuade the public, including policy makers, to
embrace the group’s position.
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Direct Strategies: Lobbying,
Issue Networks, and Iron Triangles
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Interest groups hire professionals to lobby, or to
communicate directly with, policy makers on the interest
groups’ behalf.
Interest groups hire as lobbyists former government
officials, including cabinet officials, members of
Congress, and congressional staffers.
Frequently, this practice creates an issue network, the
fluid web of connections among those concerned about
a policy and those who create and administer the policy.
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Direct Strategies: Lobbying, Issue Networks,
and Iron Triangles
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An interest group’s efficacy often depends on its
having close relationships with the policy makers
involved in decisions related to the group’s
causes.
An iron triangle refers to the interaction of
mutual interests among members of Congress,
executive agencies, and organized interests
during policy making.
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Direct Strategies:
Litigation by Interest Groups
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Sometimes interest groups challenge a policy in
the courts.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
(2010)
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Direct Strategies: Providing Information
and Expert Testimony
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Interest groups are one of the chief sources of
information for policy.
Interest groups have the resources to investigate
the impact of policies.
They have access to data, technological knowhow, and a bevy of experts with extensive
knowledge of the issues.
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Indirect Strategies: Public Outreach
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Interest groups work hard—and use a variety of
strategies—to make the public, government officials,
their own members, and potential members aware of
issues of concern and to educate people about their
positions on the issues.
Sometimes interest groups and corporations engage in
climate control, the practice of using public outreach to
build favorable public opinion of the organization or
company.
Other groups, especially those without a great deal of
access to policy makers, may engage in protests and
civil disobedience to be heard.
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Interest Groups, Politics, and Money:
The Influence of Political Action Committees
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Funding campaigns establishes the interest group as a
formal supporter of one or more candidates.
Campaign contributions are a door opener for an
interest. Access to policy makers is crucial.
Labor groups tend to support Democrats, whereas many
business and corporate PACs favor Republicans.
At the top, traditional PACs tend to contribute more
heavily to Democrats than to Republicans.
PACs, particularly those formed by economic interest
groups, overwhelmingly favor incumbents.
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