AP Civics
Chapter 9 Notes
Interest Groups: Organizing for Influence
I.
Introduction
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II.
A political interest group is a set of individuals organized to promote shared political concerns
Political parties are distinguished from interest groups by the breadth of the focus. Parties build coalitions
by addressing a wide range of issues, while interest groups focus on a narrow set of issues of immediate
concern to their membership
Pluralist theory of American politics holds that society’s interests are most effectively represented
through the efforts of groups
-Society is “nothing other than the complex of groups that compose it” (Bentley 1908)
Interests benefit from organized group activity
The rise of single-issue politics with the decline of political parties has served to increase the power of
interest groups
Party Politics
Building of coalitions and the balancing of needs of
specific interests with the broader needs of society
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Group Politics (single-issue politics)
Organized around every conceivable policy issue,
with each group pressing its demands and influence
to the utmost, at whatever cost to the broader society
The Interest Group System
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“Principle of association” was nowhere more evident than in America (Alexis de Tocqueville)
Few nations have as many separate economic, ethnic, religious, social, and geographical interests as the
United States
Because of federalism and separation of powers, numerous political institutions at all levels of government
are available for groups to lobby
The success of any interest group is directly related to its ability to organize effectively
A. Economic Groups
1. No interest are more fully or effectively organized than those that have economic activity as their
primary purpose
2. Economic Groups
a. organized primarily for economic reasons, but engage in political activity in order to seek
favorable policies from government
b. corporations, labor unions, farm groups, professional organizations
3. An organizational edge
a. reason for abundance of economic groups is their access to financial resources
(1) corporations use money from goods and services produced and sold
b. economic groups offer members a powerful incentive for membership – private
(individual) goods
(1) benefits that a group can grant directly to the individual member
c. economic groups also are highly organized because they serve the economic needs of
potential members
4. Types of Economic Groups
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Business Groups
More than one-half of
all groups formally
registered to lobby
congress
Concentrate on
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Labor Groups
Promote policies that
benefit workers in
general and union
members in particular
AFL – CIO dominant
Agricultural Groups
• Consist of general and
specialty farm
associations
• American Farm
Bureau Organization
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Professional Groups
• Most professionals
have lobbying
associations
• Most powerful –
American Medical
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business interests
Size factor advantage
– small groups are
more cohesive – likely
to recognize
significance of their
individual
contributions to
collective effort
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labor group
Today nations largest
unions represent
service and public
employees rather than
skilled and unskilled
laborers
is largest
Associations (AMA)
B. Citizens’ Groups (non economic)
1. Drawn together by emphasizing purposive incentives
a. opportunities to promote a cause in which the members believe
2. Unlike the private or individual goods provided by many economic groups, most non economic
groups offer collective goods (public goods) as an incentive for membership
a. benefits that must be shared – cannot be allotted on an individual basis
3. The Free-Rider problem (with collective goods)
a. individual can receive the good even when they do not contribute to the groups effort
(1) incentive to join the group and promote its cause is reduced
(2) to lure membership they try and create individual benefits such as organizational
newsletters and social activities
(3) web-sites and email have helped these groups
b. economic groups have an organizational advantage over citizens’ groups
4. Types of Citizens’ Groups
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Public Interest Groups
Attempt to act in the broad
interests of society as a whole
Seek benefits less tangible and
more broadly shared
League of Women Voters
Common Cause – political
reform
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Single-issue Groups
Organized to influence policy in
one area
Pro Choice v. Pro Life
Number of groups has increased
Sierra Club – preservation of
scenic areas
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Ideological Groups
Concerned with a broad range of
policies from a general
philosophical or moral stance
Christian Moral Government
Fund – restore “Christian
values”
Americans for Democratic
Action (ADA- Liberalism)
C. A Special Category of Interest Groups: Governments
1. A growing number of interest groups represent governments, both foreign and subnational
a. foreign countries supplement political efforts made through their embassies with the
services of paid lobbying agents in Washington
b. states and cities within the United States also lobby heavily
(1) intergovernmental lobby includes: Council of State Governments, National
Governors Conference, National Association of Counties, and National League of
Cities
(2) they represent the broad interests of cities and states while still allowing
individual member cities and states to lobby for their particular interests
(3) organizations also represent concerns of bureaucratic specialists at subnational
level – highway engineers, county welfare directors etc.
III.
Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence Through Official Contacts
• Interest groups promote public policies, encourage the participation of their members, support candidates
for public office, and work to influence policy makers
• Modern government provides a supportive environment for interest groups
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-modern government is involved in so many issues that hardly any interest in society could
fail to benefit significantly from having influence over federal policies or programs
-modern government is oriented towards action
• Lobbying – efforts of groups to influence public policy through contact with public officials
• Inside Lobbying – based on group efforts to develop and maintain close (inside) contacts with policy
makers
A. Acquiring Access to Officials
1. Inside lobbying focuses on gaining access to public officials, providing them with vital
information, and expressing group concerns in order to promote the group’s perspective
a. success improves with effective lobbyists
b. lobbyist include wealthy Washington lawyers and former members of congress
2. Inside lobbying directed at policy makers who are inclined to support the group rather than those
who have opposed it in the past
3. Money is an essential ingredient of inside lobbying due to the high level of funding required to
mount an effective lobbying effort in Washington
4. The medium of exchange for most inside lobbying is information
a. lobbyists supply officials with information and indications of group strength that will
persuade them to adopt the interest group’s perspective
5. Lobbying Congress
a. benefits of a close relationship with members of Congress are substantial
b. groups can obtain legislative help
c. trusted lobbyists also help Congress by identifying bills that deserve their attention and
support
d. lobbyists effectiveness depends on fair play – they are expected to play it straight
e. congressional action requires compromise among interests
f. arm twisting is not excepted
g. safe lobbying strategy
(1) provide information, rely on longtime allies among Congress, and push steadily
but not too aggressively for legislative goals
6. Lobbying Executive Agencies
a. by working with government agencies, groups can influence policy decisions at the
implementation and initiation stages
b. link between groups and bureaucracy most evident with regulatory agencies that oversee
the nations business sectors
(1) FCC example of agency capture
(a) regulatory agencies pass through a series of phases that constitute a “life
cycle”
(b) early – regulate industry on public’s behalf
(c) as agency matures: protects status quo or falls captive to the very industry
it is supposed to regulate
(d) capture theory describes only some agencies – and then only some of the
time
7. Lobbying the Courts
a. influence the selection of federal judges
b. amicus curiae (“friends of the court”) briefs
(1) written document in which a group brings its position on a particular case to the
courts attention
c. groups also file lawsuits
B. Webs of Influence: Groups in the Policy Process
1. Iron triangles and issue networks describe tow patterns of group influence through which most
public policy is decided
2. Iron Triangles
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a. consists of a small and informal but relatively stable set of bureaucrats, legislators, and
lobbyists who seek to develop policies beneficial to a particular interest
b. example
Department
of Veteran
Affairs
(Bureaucrats)
American
Legion
Veterans of
Foreign Wars
(Lobbyists)
Veteran
Affairs
committees in
Congress
(Legislators)
3. Issue Networks
a. more common today than iron triangles
b. informal grouping of officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists (the “network”) who are
brought together by their shared interest and expertise in a particular area (the “issue”)
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IV.
Iron Triangle
One’s position is everything
More stable
More clearly defined
Dominated by like minded groups
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Issue Networks
Result of the increasing complexity and
interconnectiveness of policy problems
Policy expertise
Less stable
Less clearly defined
Involves opposing groups
Outside Lobbying: Seeking Influence Through Public Pressure
• Outside lobbying is designed to promote group goals through public pressures
A. Constituency Advocacy: Grassroots Lobbying
1. Pressure designed to convince government officials that a group’s policy position has strong
public support
a. to mobilize constituents
(1) advertising and public relations campaigns
(2) write/call representatives
b. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
B. Electoral Action: Votes and PAC Money
1. As part of an outside strategy, organized groups work to elect their supporters and keep their
opponents out of office
2. Principal way in which interest groups try to gain influence through elections is by contributing
money to candidates campaign
3. PAC spending
a. vehicle for group contributions is the Political Action Committee (PAC)
(1) through its PAC, a group can raise money for election campaigns by soliciting
voluntary contributions from members or employees but cannot give
organizational funds to candidates
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(2) limits: 1998
$10,000 per candidate
$5,000 primary $5,000 general
b. Approx. 4000 PACs – account for one-third of contributions to congressional campaigns
c. Number and percentage of PACs in 5 categories – pg. 283
4. The Incumbent advantage
a. contribution records show that PAC funding practices tend to favor incumbents, reducing
traditional partisan divisions that previously characterized campaign finance
b. support incumbents who sit on congressional committees responsible for legislation
directly affecting their interests
5. Should PACs be abolished?
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PAC supporters
A campaign finance system based on pooled
contributions is superior to one dominated by a few
wealthy contributors
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Critics of PACs
Gives interest groups excessive influence over
elected officials
The Group System: Indispensable But Biased
• The pluralist argument that organized groups provide adequate representation of society’s many diverse
interests has both strengths and weaknesses
A. The Contribution of Groups to Self-government: Pluralism
1. Group activity is basic to democratic government
a. means of representation and political expression especially representing organized
minorities and raising issues neglected by the party system
2. Organized groups are an additional means of determining popular sentiment as they provide policy
makers with a better picture of the policy concerns of various interests in society
3. Collective good arises out of the give-and take of society’s many and diverse interests
B. Flaws in the Pluralism: Interest Group Liberalism and Economic Bias
1. Interest-group Liberalism (Theodore Lowi)
a. describes the tendency of officials to support the policy demands of the interest group or
groups that have a special stake in policy
(1) it is the group, as much as the government, that decides public policy
b. adverse effects
(1) weakening of majoritarian institutions
(2) inefficient use of society’s resources
2. Economic Bias
a. one of the problems with pluralism is its claim that the group system is reasonably
representative
(1) organization is a political resource that is distributed unequally in society
(2) certain interests are more powerful than others; primarily economic in nature,
particularly business firms
b. group activity is slanted toward the upper middle class
c. group system is therefore colored by a class-bias and tends to favor business interests, a
fact de-emphasized by pluralism
C. A Madisonian Dilemma
1. Worried that government would fall under the control of a dominant interest, he also realized that
a free society is obliged to permit the advocacy of self-interest
2. Madison’s constitutional system of checks and balances was designed to prevent special interests
from gaining unwarranted control over public policy; today, however, this system makes it easier
for small sets of officials and special interests to monopolize a particular policy area
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