Integrated Guide to the Text’s Resources (Instructor’s Resource Manual)
Chapter 11 - Interest Groups
Table of Contents
I. Chapter Overview
A. Learning Objectives
B. Chapter Summary
II. Student Assignments – Pre-Lecture
III. Lecture Resources
A. Lecture Slides
B. Additional Lecture Suggestions
IV. Student Assignments – Post-Lecture
A. Class Discussion Questions
B. Class Activities
C. Research Assignments
V. Quantitative Assessment
VI. Resources for Further Study
A. Books
B. Articles
C. Media
D. Web Resources
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1
I. Chapter Overview
A.
Learning Objectives
¾11.1 Describe the role of interest groups in American politics
¾11.2 Compare and contrast the theories of pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism
¾11.3 Analyze the factors that make some interest groups more successful than others in the
political arena
¾11.4 Assess the four basic strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy
¾11.5 Identify the various types of interest groups and their policy concerns
¾11.6 Evaluate how well Madison’s ideas for controlling the influence of interest groups have
worked in practice
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B.
Chapter Summary
Although voter turnout has declined substantially in the U.S. since the 1960s, the number
of interest groups in the United States has been increasing rapidly over the past half century. In
1959, there were about 6,000 groups; by 2009, the Encyclopedia of Associations listed about
25,000 groups. This chapter examines this growth and the activities of interest groups, why
individuals join groups, and what groups get for their efforts.
The Role of Interest Groups
An interest group is an organization of people with similar policy goals that tries to
influence the political process to try to achieve those goals. In so doing, interest groups try to
influence every branch and every level of government. This multiplicity of policy arenas helps
distinguish interest groups from political parties. Interest groups may also support candidates for
office, but American interest groups do not run their own slate of candidates. Interest groups are
often policy specialists, whereas parties are policy generalists. Thus, interest groups do not face
the constraint imposed by trying to appeal to everyone (unlike political parties).
Theories of Interest Group Politics
Understanding the debate over whether honest lobbying creates problems requires an
examination of three important theories: (1) pluralist theory argues that interest group activity
brings representation to all as groups compete and counterbalance one another; (2) elite theory
argues that a few groups (mostly the wealthy) have most of the power; (3) hyperpluralist theory
asserts that too many groups are getting too much of what they want, resulting in a government
policy that is often contradictory and lacking in direction.
According to pluralist theory, groups win some and lose some, but no group wins or loses
all the time. Pluralists do not deny that some groups are stronger than others or that competing
interests do not always get an equal hearing, but they argue that lobbying is open to all and
should not be regarded as a problem. No one group is likely to become too dominant, and all
legitimate groups are able to affect public policy.
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2
Elite theorists maintain that real power is held by relatively few people, key groups, and
institutions. Government is run by a few big interests looking out for themselves. Interest groups
are extremely unequal in power; thus the preponderance of power held by elites means that
pluralist theory does not accurately describe the reality of American politics.
This chapter also explores hyperpluralism and interest group liberalism. Theodore Lowi
coined the phrase interest group liberalism to refer to the government’s excessive deference to
groups. Interest group liberalism holds that virtually all pressure group demands are legitimate
and that the job of the government is to advance them all. In an effort to appease every interest,
government agencies proliferate, conflicting regulations expand, programs multiply, and the
budget skyrockets.
Interest group liberalism is promoted by the network of subgovernments (also known as
iron triangles). These subgovernments are composed of key interest groups interested in a
particular policy, the government agency in charge of administering the policy, and the members
of congressional committees and subcommittees handling the policy. Relations between groups
and the government become too cozy. Hard choices about national policy rarely get made as the
government tries to favor all groups, leading to policy paralysis. Hyperpluralist theorists often
point to the government’s contradictory tobacco-related policies as an example of interest group
liberalism.
What Makes an Interest Group Successful?
Many factors affect the success of an interest group, including the size of the group, the
intensity, and its financial resources. Small groups actually have organizational advantages over
large groups. A potential group is composed of all people who might be group members
because they share some common interest. An actual group is composed of those in the
potential group who choose to join. Groups vary enormously in the degree to which they enroll
their potential membership.
A collective good is something of value (such as clean air or a higher minimum wage)
that cannot be withheld from a potential group member. Members of the potential group share in
benefits that members of the actual group work to secure. The free-rider problem occurs when
potential members decide not to join but to sit back and let other people do the work (from which
they will nevertheless benefit). According to Olson’s law of large groups, the bigger the group,
the more serious the free-rider problem.
The primary way for large potential groups to overcome Olson’s law is to provide
attractive benefits for only those who join the organization. Selective benefits are goods that a
group can restrict to those who pay their yearly dues, such as information publications, travel
discounts, and group insurance rates.
One way a large potential group may be mobilized is through an issue about which
people feel intensely, such as abortion. Both small and large groups enjoy a psychological
advantage when intensity is involved. Politicians are more likely to listen when a group shows
that it cares deeply about an issue, and many votes may be won or lost on a single issue. One of
the biggest indictments of the interest group system is that it is biased toward the wealthy.
How Groups Try to Shape Policy
The three traditional strategies of interest groups are lobbying, electioneering, and
litigation. In addition, groups have recently developed a variety of sophisticated techniques to
appeal to the public for widespread support.
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Lobbyists are political persuaders who are the representatives of organized groups. They
normally work in Washington, handling groups’ legislative business. Although lobbyists
primarily try to influence members of Congress, they can also be of help to them. For example,
lobbyists are an important source of specialized information.
Political scientists are not in agreement about the effectiveness of lobbying. Much
evidence suggests that lobbyists’ power over policy is often exaggerated, but plenty of evidence
to the contrary suggests that lobbying can sometimes persuade legislators to support a certain
policy. It is difficult to evaluate the specific effects of lobbying because it is hard to isolate its
effects from other influences. Like campaigning, lobbying is directed primarily toward activating
and reinforcing one’s supporters.
Getting the right people into office or keeping them there is another key strategy of
interest groups. Many groups therefore get involved in electioneering—aiding candidates
financially and getting their members to support them. Political Action Committees (PACs)
have provided a means for groups to participate in electioneering more than ever before. PACs
tend to contribute the most to incumbents, and to the party that holds the majority in Congress.
Some PACs are particularly influential—in 2004, one quarter of all PAC money came from
about one percent of the largest PACs.
Today, litigation is often used if an interest group fails in Congress or gets only a vague
piece of legislation. Environmental legislation, such as the Clean Air Act, typically includes
written provisions allowing ordinary citizens to sue for enforcement. Possibly the most famous
interest group victories in court were by civil rights groups in the 1950s. These groups won
major victories in court cases concerning school desegregation, equal housing, and labor market
equality. Consumer groups have also used suits against businesses and federal agencies as a
means of enforcing consumer regulations.
One tactic that lawyers employ to make the views of interest groups heard by the
judiciary is the filing of amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs. A more direct judicial
strategy employed by interest groups is the filing of class action lawsuits, which enable a group
of people in a similar situation to combine their common grievances into a single suit.
The practice of interest groups appealing to the public for support has a long tradition in
American politics. Public opinion ultimately makes its way to policymakers, so interest groups
carefully cultivate their public image.
Types of Interest Groups
Political scientists loosely categorize interest groups into four main policy areas: some
deal primarily with economic issues, others with issues of the environment, others with equality
issues, and still others with the interests of all consumers. Business groups are ultimately
concerned with wages, prices, and profits. In the American economy, government does not
directly determine these factors. More commonly, public policy in America has economic effects
through regulations, tax advantages, subsidies and contracts, and international trade policy.
Business, labor, and farmers all worry about government regulations. Every economic group
wants to get its share of direct aid and government contracts.
Environmental interests have exerted a great deal of influence on Congress and state
legislatures. These groups have promoted pollution-control policies, wilderness protection,
animal rights, and population control.
Equality interests are those groups representing minorities and women who make equal
rights their main policy goal. Equality at the polls, in housing, on the job, in education, and in all
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4
other facets of American life has long been the dominant goal of African-American groups, the
oldest of which is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The 19th Amendment (1920) guaranteed women the right to vote, but other guarantees of equal
protection for women remain absent from the Constitution. More recently, women’s rights
groups, such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), have lobbied for an end to sexual
discrimination.
Consumers and public interest lobbies (representing groups that champion causes or
ideas “in the public interest”) are organizations that seek a “collective good,” by which everyone
should be better off—regardless of whether they joined in the lobbying. Consumer groups have
won many legislative victories in recent years, including the creation in 1973 of the Consumer
Product Safety Commission (authorized to regulate all consumer products and to ban particularly
dangerous ones). Other public interest groups include groups that speak for those who cannot
speak for themselves, such as children, animals, and the mentally ill; good-government groups
such as Common Cause; religious groups; and environmental groups.
Understanding Interest Groups
The problem of interest groups in America today remains much the same as James
Madison defined it over 200 years ago. A free society must allow for the representation of all
groups, yet groups are usually more concerned with their own self-interest than with the needs of
society as a whole. For democracy to work well, it is important that self-interested groups not be
allowed to assume a dominant position.
Madison’s solution was to create an open system in which many groups would be able to
participate. Groups with opposing interests would counterbalance each other. Pluralist theorists
believe that a rough approximation of the public interest emerges from this competition. Elite
theorists point to the proliferation of business PACs as evidence of more interest group
corruption in American politics than ever. They particularly note that wealthier interests are
greatly advantaged by the PAC system. Hyperpluralist theorists feel that government attempts to
accommodate all major interest groups led to policy gridlock and the inability for government to
initiate major policies.
The power of special interest groups through PACs and other means has implications for
the scope of government. Most special interest groups strive to maintain established programs
that benefit them—and thus promote larger government. Conversely, one can make the argument
that the growth of the scope of government in recent decades accounts for a good portion of the
proliferation of interest groups. As the federal government has become involved in more areas,
more interest groups have risen to influence policy.
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II. Student Assignments – Pre-Lecture
A.
B.
Student Required Reading: Chapter 11 – Interest Groups
Administer Reading Comprehension Quiz (see Test Bank, Chapter 11)
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III. Lecture Resources
A.
Lecture Slides
Slide 1
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Slide 2
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Slide 3
Brief Contents of Chapter 11: Interest Groups
Chapter 11: Interest Groups
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Role of Interest Groups
Theories of Interest Group Politics
What Makes an Interest Group Successful
How Groups Try to Shape Policy
Types of Interest Groups
Understanding Interest Groups
Summary
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Slide 4
Chapter Outline and Learning
Objectives
• The Role of Interest Groups
• LO 11.1: Describe the role of interest
groups in American politics.
• Theories of Interest Group Politics
• LO 11.2: Compare and contrast the theories
of pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
Slide 5
Chapter Outline and Learning
Objectives
• What Makes an Interest Group
Successful
• LO 11.3: Analyze the factors that make
some interest groups more successful than
others in the political arena.
• How Groups Try to Shape Policy
• LO 11.4: Assess the four basic strategies
that interest groups use to try to shape
policy.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
Slide 6
Chapter Outline and Learning
Objectives
• Types of Interest Groups
• LO 11.5: Identify the various types of
interest groups and their policy concerns.
• Understanding Interest Groups
• LO 11.6: Evaluate how well Madison’s ideas
for controlling the influence of interest
groups have worked in practice.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
Ask your class to distinguish between the problems
of honest lobbying and dishonest lobbying.
Suggest that they read the beginning segment of
the chapter in preparation for this discussion.
Tell students that hyperpluralists argue that there
are too many special interests getting too much of
what they want. Ask students the following
questions. In your opinion, what is the effect of a
wide range of groups pursuing their interests? Are
these self-interests in reality unbridled (i.e.,
unrestrained)? Looking at the groups in the
cartoon, what do you think pluralist and elitist
theorists might say?
Ask students what groups they belong to. Are any
of these interest groups? Have students who
belong to an interest group describe what it is, why
they joined, and what benefits they receive from
group membership. Then assign students to
identify what groups represent their interests as
students. Does it matter whether they are members
of those groups or not? (Alternatively, you might
ask students to query their parents about their
group memberships.)
Have students investigate a federal candidate of
their choice by using FECA data on PAC
contributions available on the Internet. Who
contributed to “their” candidate? What is the
typical size of contributions? Do these data
provide any surprising findings? Students could
also be asked to investigate the candidate’s
challenger, and compare differences in the sources
and levels of funding.
As a library assignment, have your class look up
early news reports detailing Ralph Nader’s fight
with General Motors. Ask for an assessment of
how they think the public (and Congress) would
react to a similar situation today, contrasted with
the original reaction. If Nader’s Unsafe at Any
Speed is still available in your library, place it on
reserve so that interested students can examine it.
Tell students that some scholars believe that the
growth of interest groups has worked to divide
political influence, just as Madison hoped it would.
Ask students how have Madison’s ideas for
controlling interest groups fared in today’s political
environment.
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Slide 7
The Role of Interest Groups
LO 11.1: Describe the role of interest groups
in American politics.
• Interest Group
• An organization of people with shared
policy goals entering the policy process at
several points to try to achieve those goals.
• Interest groups pursue their goals in many
arenas.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 8
LO 11.1
The Role of Interest Groups
• Interest groups are distinct from
political parties.
• Political parties fight election battles;
interest groups do not field candidates for
office but may choose sides.
• Interest groups are policy specialists;
political parties are policy generalists.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 9
The Role of Interest Groups
Although turnout in elections has declined since
1960, participation in interest groups has
mushroomed.
The freedom to organize (the right “peaceably to
assemble, and to petition” guaranteed by the First
Amendment) is as fundamental to democratic
government as freedom of speech or of the press.
Distinguishing interest groups from political
parties.
An interest group is an organization of people
with similar policy goals that tries to influence the
political process to try to achieve those goals.
In so doing, interest groups try to influence every
branch and every level of government.
The Role of Interest Groups
Distinguish interest groups from political parties.
Interest groups may support candidates for office,
but American interest groups do not run their own
slate of candidates.
By contrast, interest groups in many countries with
multiparty systems often form their own political
parties to push for their demands.
Interest groups are often policy specialists, whereas
parties are policy generalists.
Unlike political parties, interest groups do not face
the constraint imposed by trying to appeal to
everyone.
It is very important to compare and contrast the
theories of pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism.
Theories of Interest Group Politics
LO 11.2: Compare and contrast the theories
of pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism.
• Pluralism
• Elitism
• Hyperpluralism
To Learning Objectives
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9
Slide 10
LO 11.2
Theories of Interest Group Politics
• Pluralist Theory
• Competition among groups trying to get
their preferred policies.
• Elite Theory
• Upper-class elite holds most of the power
and run government.
• Hyperpluralist Theory
• Groups are so strong that government is
weakened.
To Learning Objectives
Understanding the debate over whether honest
lobbying creates problems requires an examination
of three important theories.
Pluralist theory argues that interest group activity
brings representation to all; groups compete and
counterbalance one another.
Elite theory argues that a few groups (mostly the
wealthy) have most of the power.
Hyperpluralist theory asserts that too many
groups are getting too much of what they want,
resulting in a government policy that is often
contradictory and lacking in direction.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
Slide 11
LO 11.2
Theories of Interest Group Politics
• Pluralism
• Groups provide a link between the people
and the government.
• Groups compete and no one group will
become too dominant.
• Groups play by “rules the game.”
• Groups weak in one resource may use
another.
• Lobbying is open to all groups.
To Learning Objectives
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Pluralism
In pluralist theory, the extensive organization of
competing groups is seen as evidence that
influence is widely dispersed among them.
Groups win some and lose some, but no group wins
or loses all the time.
A group theory of politics contains several
essential arguments.
Groups provide a key link between people and
government whereby all legitimate interests in the
political system can get a hearing from
government.
Groups compete, and interests constantly make
claims on one another.
No one group is likely to become too dominant.
When one group grows too powerful, its opponents
are likely to intensify their organization and thus
restore balance to the system.
Groups usually play by the “rules of the game,”
with few groups lying, cheating, stealing, or
engaging in violence.
Groups weak in one resource can use another.
All legitimate groups are able to affect public
policy.
Pluralists do not deny that some groups are
stronger than others or that competing interests do
not always get an equal hearing, but they argue that
lobbying is open to all and should not be regarded
as a problem.
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Slide 12
LO 11.2
Theories of Interest Group Politics
• Elitism
• Groups are unequal in power.
• Awesome power is held by the largest
corporations.
• Power of a few is fortified by interlocking
directorates.
• Other groups win minor policy battles, but
corporate elites win the big decisions.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 13
LO 11.2
Elitism
Elite theorists maintain that real power is held by
relatively few people, key groups, and institutions.
Government is run by a few big interests looking
out for themselves.
Elitists point to interlocking and concentrated
power centers.
About one-third of top institutional positions are
occupied by people who hold more than one such
position.
The fact that there are numerous groups proves
nothing because groups are extremely unequal in
power. When confronted with the power of
multinational corporations, consumer interests are
easily pushed aside.
Honest lobbying is a problem because it benefits
the few at the expense of the many.
Table 11.1 Perceptions of the Dominance of Big
Interests
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 14
LO 11.2
Theories of Interest Group Politics
• Hyperpluralism
• Groups have become too powerful as
government tries to appease every
conceivable interest.
• Interest group liberalism is aggravated by
numerous iron triangles.
• Trying to please every group results in
contradictory and confusing policy.
To Learning Objectives
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Hyperpluralism
Hyperpluralists argue that the pluralist system is
out of control.
Theodore Lowi coined the phrase interest group
liberalism to refer to the government’s excessive
deference to groups.
Interest group liberalism holds that virtually all
pressure group demands are legitimate and that the
job of the government is to advance them all.
In an effort to appease every interest, government
agencies proliferate, conflicting regulations
expand, programs multiply, and the budget
skyrockets.
Interest group liberalism is promoted by the
network of subgovernments (also known as iron
triangles).
These subgovernments are composed of key
interest groups interested in a particular policy, the
government agency in charge of administering the
policy, and the members of congressional
committees and subcommittees handling the
policy.
Relations between groups and the government
become too cozy.
Hard choices about national policy rarely get made
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11
as the government tries to favor all groups, leading
to policy paralysis. Hyperpluralist theorists often
point to the government’s contradictory tobaccorelated policies as an example of interest group
liberalism.
(cont.)
Slide 15
Ironically, the recent interest group explosion is
seen by some as weakening the power of
subgovernments.
With so many more interest groups to satisfy and
with many of them competing against one another,
a cozy relationship between groups and the
government is more difficult to sustain
--It is very important to analyze the factors that make
some interest groups more successful than others in
the political arena.
What Makes an Interest Group
Successful
LO 11.3: Analyze the factors that make some
interest groups more successful than others
in the political arena.
• The Surprising Ineffectiveness of
Large Groups
• Intensity
• Financial Resources
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 16
LO 11.3
Table 11.1 The Power 25
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 17
LO 11.3
What Makes an Interest Group
Successful
• Surprising Ineffectiveness of Large
Groups
• Potential group – People who might be
group members because they share some
common interest.
• Actual group – Potential group members
who actually join group.
• Collective good – Something of value that
cannot be withheld from a potential group
member.
To Learning Objectives
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The Surprising Ineffectiveness of Large Groups
Many factors affect the success of an interest
group, including the size of the group, the intensity,
and its financial resources.
Small groups actually have organizational
advantages over large groups.
A potential group is composed of all people who
might be group members because they share some
common interest.
An actual group is composed of those in the
potential group who choose to join.
Groups vary enormously in the degree to which
they enroll their potential membership.
A collective good is something of value (such as
clean air or a higher minimum wage) that cannot be
withheld from a potential group member.
Members of the potential group share in benefits
that members of the actual group work to secure.
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12
Slide 18
LO 11.3
What Makes an Interest Group
Successful
• Surprising Ineffectiveness of Large
Groups (cont.)
• Free-rider problem – Problem of people
not joining because they can benefit from
the group’s activities without joining.
• Selective benefits – Goods that a group
can restrict to those who actually join.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 19
LO 11.3
To Learning Objectives
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The Surprising Ineffectiveness of Large Groups
Economist Mancur Olson points that all groups—
as opposed to individuals—are in the business of
providing collective goods.
The free rider problem occurs when potential
members decide not to join, but rather to sit back
and let other people do the work (from which they
will nevertheless benefit).
According to Olson’s law of large groups, the
bigger the group, the more serious the free-rider
problem.
It is easier to organize a small group with clear
economic goals than it is to organize a large group
with broader goals.
Small groups have an organizational advantage
over large ones because a given member’s share of
the collective good in a small group may be great
enough that he or she will try to secure it; but in the
largest groups, each member can only expect to get
a tiny share of the policy gains.
This advantage of small groups helps to explain
why public interest groups have a hard time
financially. In contrast, the lobbying costs and
benefits for business are concentrated. Large
corporations also enjoy an inherent size advantage.
(cont.)
Small potential groups like businesses have an
easier time organizing themselves for political
action than large potential groups, such as
consumers.
The primary way for large potential groups to
overcome Olson’s law is to provide selective
benefits.
These are goods that a group can restrict to those
who pay their yearly dues, such as information
publications, travel discounts, and group insurance
rates.
--Table 11.2 The Benefits of AARP Membership
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Slide 20
LO 11.3
What Makes an Interest Group
Successful
• Intensity
• A large potential group may be mobilized
through an issue that people feel intensely
about.
• Politicians are more likely to listen a group
that shows it cares deeply about an issue.
• Single-issue groups – Narrow interest,
dislike compromise, and members are new
to politics.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 21
LO 11.3
What Makes an Interest Group
Successful
• Financial Resources
• Not all groups have equal amounts of
money.
• Monetary donations translate into access
to the politicians, such as a phone call,
meeting, or support for policy.
• Wealthier groups have more resources and
access, but they do not always win on
policy.
Intensity
One way a large potential group may be mobilized
is through an issue that people feel intensely about,
such as abortion.
Both small and large groups enjoy a psychological
advantage when intensity is involved.
Politicians are more likely to listen when a group
shows that it cares deeply about an issue, and many
votes may be won or lost on a single issue.
A single-issue group—which has a narrow
interest, dislikes compromise, and single-mindedly
pursues its goal—characteristically deals with
issues that evoke strong emotions (such as nuclear
power plants, gun control, and abortion).
Perhaps the most emotional issue of all in recent
years has been that of abortion.
Regardless of which side candidates for political
office are on, they will be taking heat on the
abortion issue for years to come.
Financial Resources
Critics charge that PACs—as the source of so
much money in today’s expensive high-tech
campaigns—distort the governmental process in
favor of those that can raise the most money.
Conversely, the big interests do not always win,
even on some of the most important issues (such as
the Tax Reform Act of 1986).
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 22
The three traditional strategies of interest groups
are lobbying, electioneering, and litigation.
In addition, groups have recently developed a
variety of sophisticated techniques to appeal to the
public for widespread support.
How Groups Try to Shape Policy
LO 11.4: Assess the four basic strategies
that interest groups use to try to shape
policy.
•
•
•
•
Lobbying
Electioneering
Litigation
Going Public
To Learning Objectives
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14
Slide 23
LO 11.4
How Groups Try to Shape Policy
• Lobbying
• Communication to a governmental decision
maker with the hope of influencing his or
her decision.
• Lobbyists are (1) a source of information;
(2) helping to get legislation passed; (3)
helping to formulate campaign strategy;
and (4) a source of ideas and innovations.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 24
LO 11.4
To Learning Objectives
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Lobbying
Lobbyists are political persuaders who are the
representatives of organized groups.
They normally work in Washington, handling
groups’ legislative business.
Basically, there are two types of lobbyists: regular,
paid employees of a corporation, union, or
association, and lobbyists for hire on a temporary
basis.
Although lobbyists primarily try to influence
members of Congress, they can also be of help to
them.
Ornstein and Elder list four ways lobbyists can
help a member of Congress:
They are an important source of information.
Lobbyists can confine themselves to a single policy
area, and thus can provide specialized expertise.
They can help a member with political strategy.
In effect, they are free consultants.
They can help formulate campaign strategy and get
the group’s members behind a politician’s
reelection campaign.
They are a source of ideas and innovations.
Political scientists are not in agreement about the
effectiveness of lobbying.
Much evidence suggests that lobbyists’ power over
policy is often exaggerated.
(cont.)
Plenty of evidence to the contrary suggests that
lobbying can sometimes persuade legislators to
support a certain policy.
Examples include opposition to gun control
legislation by the National Rifle Association and
intensive lobbying against the 1988 Catastrophic
Health Care Act conducted by the nation’s most
wealthy senior citizens.
It is difficult to evaluate the specific effects of
lobbying because it is hard to isolate its effects
from other influences.
Like campaigning, lobbying is directed primarily
toward activating and reinforcing one’s supporters.
--Figure 11.3 The Big Spenders on Lobbying, 19982007
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15
Slide 25
LO 11.4
LO 11.4 Image: For years, the National Rifle
Association has successfully lobbied against gun
control measures, arguing that the Second
Amendment to the Constitution guarantees all
citizens the right to bear arms.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 26
LO 11.4
How Groups Try to Shape Policy
• Electioneering
• Direct group involvement in the electoral
process by helping to fund campaigns,
getting members to work for candidates,
and forming political action committees
(PACs).
• PACs are political funding vehicles created
by the 1974 campaign finance reforms.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 27
LO 11.4
How Groups Try to Shape Policy
• Litigation
• Amicus curiae briefs – Written arguments
submitted to the courts in support of one
side of a case.
• Class action lawsuits – Enable a group of
people in a similar situation to combine
their common grievances into a single suit.
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Electioneering
Getting the right people into office or keeping them
there is a key strategy of interest groups.
Many groups therefore get involved in
electioneering—aiding candidates financially and
getting their members to support them.
Political Action Committees (PACs) have
provided a means for groups to participate in
electioneering more than ever before.
In recent years, nearly half of the candidates
running for reelection to the House of
Representatives have received the majority of their
campaign funds from PACs.
Most funds from PACs go to incumbents ($207
million to House incumbents during the 2003–2004
election cycle, compared to $15 million to
challengers), because incumbents are the most
likely to provide a return to the PACs’ investment.
PACs tend to contribute more to the party that
holds the majority in Congress, because the
majority party is most influential in law-making.
Some PACs are particularly influential—in 2004,
one quarter of all PAC money came from about
one percent of the largest PACs.
Litigation
Today, litigation is often used if an interest group
fails in Congress or gets only a vague piece of
legislation.
Environmental legislation, such as the Clean Air
Act, typically includes written provisions allowing
ordinary citizens to sue for enforcement.
The constant threat of a lawsuit increases the
likelihood that businesses will consider the
environmental impact of what they do.
Possibly the most famous interest group victories
in court were by civil rights groups in the 1950s.
These groups won major victories in court cases
concerning school desegregation, equal housing,
and labor market equality.
Consumer groups have used suits against
businesses and federal agencies as a means of
enforcing consumer regulations.
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16
Tactics and strategies.
One tactic that lawyers employ to make the views
of interest groups heard by the judiciary is the
filing of amicus curiae (“friend of the court”)
briefs, which consist of written arguments
submitted to the courts in support of one side of a
case.
A more direct judicial strategy employed by
interest groups is the filing of class action
lawsuits, which enables a group of similarly
situated plaintiffs to combine similar grievances
into a single suit.
Slide 28
LO 11.4
How Groups Try to Shape Policy
• Going Public
• Groups try to (1) cultivate a good public
image; (2) build a reservoir of goodwill with
the public; (3) use marketing strategies to
influence public opinion of the group and
its issues; and (4) advertise to motivate
and inform the public about an issue.
Going Public
Many interest groups find it important to shape a
good image, employing public relations techniques
to present themselves in the most favorable
manner.
The practice of interest groups appealing to the
public for support has a long tradition in American
politics.
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Slide 29
LO 11.4
LO 11.4 Image: Interest groups spent over $100
million appealing to public opinion during the
debate over health care in 1994.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 30
Political scientists loosely categorize interest
groups into four main policy areas: some deal
primarily with economic issues, others with issues
of the environment, others with equality issues, and
still others with the interests of all consumers.
Types of Interest Groups
LO 11.5: Identify the various types of
interest groups and their policy concerns.
•
•
•
•
Economic Interests
Environmental Interests
Equality Interests
Consumer and Other Public Interest
Lobbies
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17
Slide 31
LO 11.5
Types of Interest Groups
• Economic Interests
• Labor – Union organizations press for
policies to ensure better working conditions
and higher wages.
• Business – Interests generally unified
when it comes to promoting greater profits
but are often fragmented when policy
choices have to be made.
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Slide 32
LO 11.5
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Economic Interests
All economic interests are ultimately concerned
with wages, prices, and profits.
In the American economy, government does not
directly determine these factors.
More commonly, public policy in America has
economic effects though regulations, tax
advantages, subsidies and contracts, and
international trade policy.
Business, labor, and farmers all worry about
government regulations.
Every economic group wants to get its share of
direct aid and government contracts.
Business executives, factory workers, and farmers
seek to influence government because regulations,
taxes, subsidies, and international economic policy
affect their economic livelihoods.
Labor.
Labor has more affiliated members than any other
interest group except the American Association for
Retired Persons (AARP).
The AFL-CIO is itself a union of unions.
Unions have fought hard to establish the union
shop, which requires new employees to join the
union representing them.
(cont.)
Business groups have supported right-to-work
laws, which outlaw union membership as a
condition of employment.
In 1947, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act,
permitting states to adopt right-to-work laws.
The American labor movement reached its peak in
1956 when 33 percent of the non-agricultural work
force belonged to a union; the percentage has
declined since then to about 16 percent.
Business.
Seventy percent of all interest group organizations
having a Washington presence represent business,
and business PACs have increased more
dramatically than any other category of PACs.
Most large firms now have offices in Washington
that monitor legislative activity.
Business interests are generally unified when it
comes to promoting greater profits, but are often
fragmented when policy choices have to be made.
(cont.)
--LO 11.5 Image: For unions, few issues are as
important as job security for their members.
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18
Slide 33
LO 11.5
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Slide 34
LO 11.5
Types of Interest Groups
• Environmental Interests
• Environmental groups promote policies to
control pollution and to combat global
warming, wilderness protection, and
species preservation.
• They oppose supersonic aircraft, nuclear
power plants, drilling in Alaska’s Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, and strip mining.
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Slide 35
LO 11.5
Two umbrella organizations—the National
Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the
Chamber of Commerce—include most
corporations and business and speak for them when
general business interests are at stake.
The hundreds of trade and product associations
fight regulations that would reduce their profits.
They seek preferential tax treatment as well as
government subsidies and contracts.
It is not only American trade associations that are
concerned with policies such as tariffs and
preferential tax treatment; foreign corporations and
governments are also concerned.
--LO 11.5 Image: Labor Union Membership as a
Percentage of State Workforces
Environmental Interests
Environmentalists have exerted a great deal of
influence on Congress and state legislatures.
A few environmentalist groups—like the Sierra
Club and the Audubon Society—have been around
since the nineteenth century, but many others trace
their origins to the first Earth Day in 1970, when
ecology-minded people marched to symbolize their
support for environmental protection.
Group politics intensifies when two public interests
clash, such as environmental protection and an
ensured supply of energy.
Environmentalists insist that, in the long run,
energy supplies can be ensured without harming
the environment or risking radiation exposure from
nuclear plants.
Energy producers argue that environmentalists
oppose nearly all new energy projects.
They argue that some limited risks have to be taken
to fulfill energy demands.
LO 11.5 Image: Environmental lobbies have been
successful in preventing the building of any new
nuclear power plants for the last 30 years.
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19
Slide 36
LO 11.5
Types of Interest Groups
• Equality Interests
• Two sets of interest groups, representing
minorities and women, have made equal
rights their main policy goal.
• Equality groups press for equality at the
polls, in housing, on the job, in education,
and in all other facets of American life.
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Slide 37
LO 11.5
Types of Interest Groups
• Consumer and Other Public Interest
Lobbies
• Public interest lobbies – Groups that
seek a collective good, and the
achievement of which will not selectively
and materially benefit the membership or
activists of the organization.
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Equality Interests
Interest groups representing women and minorities
have made equal rights their main policy goal.
Equality at the polls, in housing, on the job, in
education, and in all other facets of American life
has long been the dominant goal of AfricanAmerican groups, the oldest of which is the
National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP). Although they have
won many victories in principle, equality in
practice has been much slower in coming.
Today, civil rights groups continue to push for
more effective affirmative action programs to
ensure that minority groups are given educational
and employment opportunities. In recent years, the
NAACP’s main vehicle has been the Fair Share
program, which negotiates agreements with
national and regional businesses to increase
minority hiring and the use of minority contractors.
The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) guaranteed
women the right to vote, but other guarantees of
equal protection for women remained absent from
the Constitution.
More recently, women’s rights groups such as the
National Organization for Women (NOW) have
lobbied for an end to sexual discrimination.
Their primary goal has been the passage of the
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
(cont.)
The ERA was approved by Congress in 1972 but
fell three states short of the 38 necessary for
ratification.
Interest groups such as Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle
Forum battled NOW and other women’s groups
over ratification of the ERA.
NOW remains committed to enacting the
protection the ERA would have constitutionally
guaranteed by advocating the enactment of many
individual statutes.
--Consumer and Other Public Interest Lobbies
Public interest lobbies (representing groups that
champion causes or ideas “in the public interest”)
are organizations that seek a “collective good,” by
which everyone should be better off—regardless of
whether they joined in the lobbying.
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20
Slide 38
LO 11.5
Types of Interest Groups
• Consumer and Other Public Interest
Lobbies (cont.)
• Consumer groups – In 1973, Congress
responded to consumer advocacy by
creating the Consumer Product Safety
Commission, which it authorized to
regulate all consumer products and to ban
products that were dangerous.
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Slide 39
Consumer and Other Public Interest Lobbies
Consumer groups
The consumer movement was spurred by Ralph
Nader, who was propelled to national prominence
by his book, Unsafe at Any Speed, which attacked
the safety of General Motors’ Corvair. Nader
successfully sued General Motors for invasion of
privacy after GM hired a private detective to dig
into his background and follow him around.
He used the proceeds from the damage settlement
to launch the first major consumer group in
Washington, D.C. b. Consumer groups have won
many legislative victories in recent years, including
the creation in 1973 of the Consumer Product
Safety Commission (authorized to regulate all
consumer products and to ban particularly
dangerous ones).
Other public interest groups include groups that
speak for those who cannot speak for themselves,
such as children, animals, and the mentally ill;
good government groups such as Common Cause;
religious groups; and environmental groups.
It is important to evaluate how well Madison’s
ideas for controlling the influence of interest
groups have worked in practice.
Understanding Interest Groups
LO 11.6: Evaluate how well Madison’s ideas
for controlling the influence of interest
groups have worked in practice.
• Interest Groups and Democracy
• Interest Groups and the Scope of
Government
To Learning Objectives
Slide 40
LO 11.6
Understanding Interest Groups
• Interest Groups and Democracy
• James Madison wanted a wide-open
system in which groups compete.
• Pluralists – Public interest prevails from
this competition.
• Elite theorists – Proliferation of business
PACs is evidence of interest group
corruption.
• Hyperpluralists – Influence of groups lead
to policy gridlock.
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Interest Groups and Democracy
The problem of interest groups in America today
remains much the same as James Madison defined
it over 200 years ago.
A free society must allow for the representation of
all groups, yet groups are usually more concerned
with their own self-interest than with the needs of
society as a whole.
For democracy to work well, it is important that
self-interested groups not be allowed to assume a
dominant position.
Madison’s solution was to create an open system in
which many groups would be able to participate.
Groups with opposing interests would
counterbalance each other.
Pluralist theorists believe that a rough
approximation of the public interest emerges from
this competition.
Elite theorists point to the proliferation of business
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21
PACs as evidence of more interest group
corruption in American politics than ever.
They particularly note that wealthier interests are
greatly advantaged by the PAC system.
Hyperpluralist theorists maintain that whenever a
major interest group objects strongly to proposed
legislation, policymakers will bend over backwards
to try to accommodate it.
(cont.)
Slide 41
LO 11.6
Understanding Interest Groups
• Interest Groups and the Scope of
Government
• Interest groups seek to maintain policies
and programs that benefit them.
• Interest groups pressure government to do
more things.
• As the government does more, more
groups form to get more.
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Slide 42
They argue that this behavior has made it
increasingly difficult to accomplish major policy
change and has thus led to policy gridlock.
--Interest Groups and the Scope of Government
The power of special interest groups through PACs
and other means has implications for the scope of
government.
Most special interest groups strive to maintain
established programs that benefit them—and thus
promote government with a broader scope.
Both President Carter and President Reagan
remarked at the end of their time in office that their
attempts to cut waste in federal spending had been
frustrated by interest groups.
Conversely, one can make the argument that the
growth of the scope of government in recent
decades accounts for a good portion of the
proliferation of interest groups. As the federal
government has become involved in more areas,
more interest groups have risen to influence policy.
LO 11.1: Describe the role of interest groups in
American politics.
LO 11.1
Summary
• The Role of Interest Groups
• Interest groups consist of groups that
participate in the political process in order to
promote the policy goals which members
share.
• They usually focus their efforts on one specific
issue area, unlike political parties, which have
to address all issues on the public agenda.
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22
Slide 43
LO 11.1
Interest groups are often policy
.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Interest groups are often policy
.
A. specialists (LO 11.1)
specialists
generalists
regulators
implementors
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Slide 44
LO 11.1
Interest groups are often policy
.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Interest groups are often policy
.
A. specialists (LO 11.1)
specialists
generalists
regulators
implementors
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 45
LO 11.2: Compare and contrast the theories of
pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism.
LO 11.2
Summary
• Theories of Interest Group Politics
• The theory of pluralism asserts that the
policymaking process is very open to the
participation of all interest groups, with no
single group usually dominating.
• Pluralists tend to believe that as a result the
public interest generally prevails.
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Slide 46
LO 11.2: Compare and contrast the theories of
pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism.
LO 11.2
Summary
• Theories of Interest Group Politics
(cont.)
• Elitism contends that an upper-class elite holds
the power and makes policy, regardless of the
formal governmental organization.
• Hyperpluralism – So many groups are so
strong, that government is weakened and its
ability to make effective policy is crippled.
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23
Slide 47
Which of the following is NOT an element LO 11.2
of the pluralist group theory of politics?
Which of the following is NOT an element of the
pluralist group theory of politics?
D. Groups become too dominant. (LO 11.2)
A. Groups provide a crucial link
between people and government.
B. Groups usually follow the rules of
the game.
C. Groups compete with each other.
D. Groups become too dominant.
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Slide 48
LO 11.2
Which of the following is NOT an element
of the pluralist group theory of politics?
Which of the following is NOT an element of the
pluralist group theory of politics?
D. Groups become too dominant. (LO 11.2)
A. Groups provide a crucial link
between people and government.
B. Groups usually follow the rules of
the game.
C. Groups compete with each other.
D. Groups become too dominant.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 49
LO 11.3: Analyze the factors that make some
interest groups more successful than others in the
political arena.
LO 11.3
Summary
• What Makes an Interest Group
Successful
• Groups that have large numbers of potential
members are usually less effective than groups
that have a smaller potential membership,
because it is easier to mobilize members of a
smaller group, who have more incentive to
participate.
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Slide 50
LO 11.3: Analyze the factors that make some
interest groups more successful than others in the
political arena.
LO 11.3
Summary
• What Makes an Interest Group
Successful (cont.)
• Both large and small groups can benefit from
the intensity of their members’ beliefs.
• Money always helps lubricate the wheels of
power, though it is hardly a surefire guarantee
of success.
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24
Slide 51
The more
a group has,
the more successful it tends to be.
A.
B.
C.
D.
LO 11.3
The more
the more successful it tends to be.
D. all of the above (LO 11.3)
a group has,
The more
the more successful it tends to be.
D. all of the above (LO 11.3)
a group has,
intensity
financial resources
potential members
all of the above
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Slide 52
The more
a group has,
the more successful it tends to be.
A.
B.
C.
D.
LO 11.3
intensity
financial resources
potential members
all of the above
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Slide 53
LO 11.4: Assess the four basic strategies that
interest groups use to try to shape policy.
LO 11.4
Summary
• How Groups Try to Shape Policy
• Lobbying is one group strategy and lobbyists
are most effective with those legislators
already sympathetic to their side.
• Electioneering becomes critical because it
helps put supportive people in office.
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Slide 54
LO 11.4: Assess the four basic strategies that
interest groups use to try to shape policy.
LO 11.4
Summary
• How Groups Try to Shape Policy (cont.)
• Groups operate in the judicial as well as the
legislative process, using litigation in the courts
when lobbying fails or is not enough.
• Many groups project a good image, employing
public relations techniques to present
themselves in the most favorable light.
To Learning Objectives
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25
Slide 55
Which of the following is NOT a tactic
interest groups use?
LO 11.4
Which of the following is NOT a tactic interest
groups use?
C. Fielding candidates for office in general
elections. (LO 11.4)
A. Lobbying to influence policy.
B. Forming political action committees
to influence elections.
C. Fielding candidates for office in
general elections.
D. Litigating to influence policy
through the courts.
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Slide 56
Which of the following is NOT a tactic
interest groups use?
LO 11.4
Which of the following is NOT a tactic interest
groups use?
C. Fielding candidates for office in general
elections. (LO 11.4)
A. Lobbying to influence policy.
B. Forming political action committees
to influence elections.
C. Fielding candidates for office in
general elections.
D. Litigating to influence policy
through the courts.
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 57
LO 11.5: Identify the various types of interest
groups and their policy concerns.
LO 11.5
Summary
• Types of Interest Groups
• Economic interest groups involve business and
labor, with business focusing on governmental
regulations and subsidies and labor focusing
on policies to ensure good working conditions
and wages.
• Environmental interests are global warming,
pollution, wilderness protection, and
endangered species.
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Slide 58
LO 11.5: Identify the various types of interest
groups and their policy concerns.
LO 11.5
Summary
• Types of Interest Groups (cont.)
• Equality interest groups promote the fair
treatment of groups that have been
discriminated against in the past, such as
African Americans and women.
• Public interest lobbies pursue policy objectives
that they believe will benefit all citizens, such
as consumer protection laws.
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26
Slide 59
LO 11.5
Which of the following type of interest
group tends to push for a collective good?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which of the following type of interest group tends
to push for a collective good?
D. All of the above (LO 11.5)
Consumer groups
Environmental groups
Equality groups
All of the above
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Slide 60
LO 11.5
Which of the following type of interest
group tends to push for a collective good?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which of the following type of interest group tends
to push for a collective good?
D. All of the above (LO 11.5)
Consumer groups
Environmental groups
Equality groups
All of the above
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Slide 61
LO 11.6: Evaluate how well Madison’s ideas for
controlling the influence of interest groups have
worked in practice.
LO 11.6
Summary
• Understanding Interest Groups
• The issue of controlling interest groups
remains as crucial to democracy today as it
was in James Madison’s time.
• Some scholars (Pluralist Theory) believe that
the growth of interest groups has worked to
divide political influence, just as Madison
hoped it would.
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Slide 62
LO 11.6: Evaluate how well Madison’s ideas for
controlling the influence of interest groups have
worked in practice.
LO 11.6
Summary
• Understanding Interest Groups (cont.)
• Critics of the Pluralist Theory (Elite Theory and
Hyperpluralist Theory) focus on the political
action committee (PAC) system as the new
way in which special interests corrupt
American democracy, or on the problem of too
many groups having too much power to block
policy change.
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27
Slide 63
LO 11.6
Which theory of interest group politics
best correlates with Madison’s ideas for
controlling interest groups?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which theory of interest group politics best
correlates with Madison’s ideas for controlling
interest groups?
C. Pluralist Theory (LO 11.6)
Hyperpluralist Theory
Elite Theory
Pluralist Theory
Class Theory
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Slide 64
LO 11.6
Which theory of interest group politics
best correlates with Madison’s ideas for
controlling interest groups?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which theory of interest group politics best
correlates with Madison’s ideas for controlling
interest groups?
C. Pluralist Theory (LO 11.6)
Hyperpluralist Theory
Elite Theory
Pluralist Theory
Class Theory
To Learning Objectives
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Slide 65
Text Credits
•
•
•
Quote from Americans Against Food Taxes ad used with
permission.
“The Power 25” from Fortune, May 28, 2001, Time Inc. All rights
reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws
of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or
retransmission of the Material without express written permission is
prohibited.
Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2010, Table 650,
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0650.pdf.
Federal Election Commission.
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Slide 66
Photo Credits
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
304: Getty
305T: AP Photo
305TC: Jeffrey Markowitz/Corbis
305TB: Getty Images
305B: AP Photo
309: Jim Bourgman. Reprinted with special permission of King Feature Syndicate
317: AP Photo
318: Tribune Media Services. All Rights reserved. Reprinted with permission
320: Jeffrey Markowitz/Corbis
322: Getty Images
324: Getty Images
325: AP Photo
326 Carlo Aligen/Getty Images
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28
B.
Additional Lecture Suggestions
¾11.1 Describe the role of interest groups in American politics
•
•
•
Interest groups are voluntary groups of people who share a common goal or belief and hope
to influence the government. Some groups focus on a single goal while others have a broad
range of objectives.
Interest groups have five main functions: 1. to give voice to the public, 2. to give members a
sense of political power through participation, 3. to inform and educate the public concerning
their issues, 4. to bring focus to issues that are often ignored, and 5. to assess the
effectiveness of government programs.
Identify factors that distinguish interest groups from political parties.
¾11.2 Compare and contrast the theories of pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism
•
•
•
•
•
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•
Point out how, in promoting their own interests, interest groups also promote the public
interest.
Describe how critics of pluralism view interest groups in American politics.
List four criticisms of pluralism leveled by political scientists and scholars.
Describe one example where political resources are distributed unequally.
Summarize the pluralist theory of interest groups and the major criticisms of pluralist theory.
List the circumstances necessary for the pluralistic theory of special interests.
Explain why the development of special interests are more likely to fit an elitist model of
power.
¾11.3 Analyze the factors that make some interest groups more successful than others in
the political arena
•
•
•
•
•
•
Explain how interest groups come into being and attract members.
Describe the disturbance theory model and the free rider problem.
List five different examples of selective benefits.
Distinguish the difference between a social benefit and a purposive benefit.
Given the right timing, right circumstances, and the right issue, one person can make a
difference when it comes to legislation. Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) turned into
a national movement when one mother with a story to tell stepped forward to say, “Enough is
enough.” One person, or a few people, can make a difference. They make a difference by
finding more people who are committed to the same concerns and by getting more people
involved and capturing the attention of the media and the general public. As noted
anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt for a moment that a small group of
thoughtful citizens working together and committed to a common goal can change the world.
It is the only thing that ever has.”
Economist Mancur Olson developed an explanation for three barriers to the mobilization of
interest groups. People have a tendency to sit back and let others do the work for them.
Interest groups also cost money, so people without wealth are often discouraged from
Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
29
•
•
•
forming or joining a group. Finally, people are often cynical and feel that their voice cannot
possibly make a difference.
To attract members, interest groups must show that there are great benefits to getting
involved and that the group is pursuing an attainable goal. Groups such as the NRA provide
material, solidarity, and purposive benefits to members. Other groups can demand
membership. Individuals or organizations known as patrons will often donate money to
establish and sustain interest groups.
It takes a large amount of money to organize an effective interest group. Money is needed to
recruit members, hire staff, rent offices, pay overhead, and raise additional funds. Money is
also the key element in hiring the best lobbyists, attorneys, and workers.
What makes an interest group successful?: There is no one thing that makes one political
interest group more successful than another. Here is a list of factors, each of which, all things
being equal, makes a group more successful than others. If a group has several success traits,
the probability that it will be more successful goes up (again, all other things being equal).
• Access—This means “who do you know?” If the goal of an interest group is to affect
policy-making, then access to the policy-maker is critical. Hence, those groups with
access tend to be more successful.
• Information—As stated in this chapter, the number one commodity for interest groups
is reliable information. In fact, groups that have demonstrated they have such data can
more easily gain access.
• Leadership Skills and Prestige—Some groups (the American Medical Association,
for example) have greater prestige than others. Physicians are among the most
respected professionals in America. Likewise, some groups have charismatic leaders
(Martin Luther King, Jr., for example). These traits tend to make a group more
successful.
• Numerical Strength—Generally, it is accurate to say there is power in numbers.
Policy-makers would be more inclined to listen to groups with large memberships.
There is, however, a law of diminishing returns at work here. If a group is very large,
it most likely will be sacrificing another important trait for success: unity.
• Group Unity—Without unity of purpose, groups expend a great deal of energy on
internal disputes with little left over for external use. Groups with fewer people tend
to have greater unity.
• Money—While money is important and those groups with it tend to be more
successful, it is not as important as the media would lead people to believe.
• Narrow Goals—Groups that focus on narrow goals can focus their resources in a
more efficient manner. The text calls them special interest groups. Groups like
Common Cause that tackle numerous goals of a broad nature from campaign finance
to reforming Congress often find they are not as efficient.
• Defensive—Groups that seek to sustain the status quo tend to be more successful than
groups seeking change or reform. Part of the explanation is the bias built into
American political institutions, such as Congress, that make it easier to block the
passage of a law than to pass a law.
• Nature of the Issue—Groups are interested in different issues. Some issues are
general, while others are technical in nature. When issues are technical, voters are less
inclined to notice or care. Hence, groups dealing with highly technical issues tend to
be more successful.
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30
¾11.4 Assess the four basic strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy
•
•
•
•
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•
•
Most legislators are willing to meet informally with groups of students. Contact the
administrative assistant for your congressional representative and ask for an appointment for
students to meet, as a group, with the legislator to discuss interest group regulation and
campaign financing. This would make an enjoyable and informative field trip if the home
office is close enough to campus for students to meet there. If students are unable to travel to
the congressional office as a group, issue an invitation for the legislator to meet with students
in your classroom or in a campus conference room. Students should be given individual
assignments to prepare questions for the meeting. Emphasize the need to prepare questions
that genuinely seek information and the need to avoid obstructionist questions.
Point out that lobbyists have great impact on the technical aspects of legislation because
lobbyists know exactly what they want.
Personal contact is extremely important. Interest groups will have their supporters contact
individuals to help raise support. Mailings are also an important tool to raise support.
Potential supporters can view the information in the privacy of their own homes. Groups will
also distribute pamphlets and stage boycotts, rallies, or protests. The Internet has increased
potential contact with the public.
Interest groups are active at all levels of government. They will endorse candidates and
prompt members and the public to vote a specific way.
Describe how groups may influence the policy process.
List the four general strategies used by interest groups to shape public policy.
Describe the major strategies by which interest groups seek to influence the judicial branch.
Find an example of a lawsuit initiated on behalf of a special interest.
¾11.5 Identify the various types of interest groups and their policy concerns
•
•
•
•
•
•
There are many types of interest groups: economic, ideological, public interest, and labor
unions. Economic groups and labor unions work for the benefit of their members. Public
interest groups work for the interests of the public. Ideological groups tend to be single-issue
groups trying to advance either liberal or conservative ideas.
The American Federation of Labor was created in 1886 in an attempt to gain economic
advancement, better working conditions, and higher wages. These unions were only for
skilled workers. They also sought to shorten the work day and create maximum hours of
work for women and children.
As labor unions gained power, opposing business groups began to emerge. Organizations
began to compete to protect their interests.
Trace the history of a social interest group that worked to establish civil rights for its
membership.
List and describe the various kinds of interest groups.
Explain the power of economic interest groups in Washington in light of Madison’s theory
on factions.
¾11.6 Evaluate how well Madison’s ideas for controlling the influence of interest groups
have worked in practice
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31
•
•
•
•
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•
Explain how the role of interest groups has been viewed by Madison and what the pluralist
thinks of the twentieth century.
Madison used the term “factions”. Name and define four new terms used today to describe
groups that make up pluralism.
Define the term “faction” as Madison would define it.
Discuss the undemocratic nature of interest groups.
Inside lobbying appeals directly to government officials. Lobbyists must gain access to
lawmakers. They need to appear trustworthy and honest. Groups will also testify at
congressional hearings. Inside lobbying also raises fears of corruption. The Lobbying
Disclosure Act of 1995 attempts to prevent such occurrences.
In Federalist No. 10 James Madison addressed this topic of special interests in describing
what he called factions. Madison argued that the design of our republic would not eliminate
factions but would limit the influence they might have. Madison could not have foreseen
what would happen with interest groups over time. First is the tremendous expansion of
society that contributed to the explosion of groups. Second is the prevalence of logrolling.
Logrolling among interests is facilitated by a third development, the rise of professional
politicians who, in seeking reelection, broker the group deals in return for the electoral
support that interest groups provide. To analyze this, we first must understand exactly what
Madison was arguing in Federalist No. 10.
Factions: Madison begins this essay stating, “Among the numerous advantages promised by
a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency
to break and control the violence of faction.” In the first portion of the essay, Madison
discusses the desirability and possibility of removing the causes of faction. He rejects that
possibility, stating that factions are sown in the nature of man. Madison concludes, “The
inference to which we are brought is that the causes of faction cannot be removed and that
relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects.”
• Controlling Factions: How, then, does a government control the effects of faction? If
a faction is composed of a numerical minority, then in a democracy (Madison uses
the word “republic”) it is controlled since it will be outvoted by the majority. The real
problem is majority faction. Part of the cure comes in Madison’s second usage of the
word “republic”. Earlier in the essay Madison used the word “republic” as
synonymous with “majority rule.” Now, he defines it as a representative democracy.
It helps cure the mischief of faction because it allows for a large republic.
• Advantages of a Republic: A republic provides two advantages over a pure (direct)
democracy. First, the people themselves do not make decisions. Instead they decide
who will make the decisions in elections. Second, a republic can cover a larger area.
One effect of this difference is to “refine and enlarge” the public’s views by “passing
them through a chosen body of citizens whose wisdom by best discern” the true
interests of the citizens. Here Madison is first concerned with a problem experienced
with pure democracies: folly. By folly he means that strict majority rule democracies
often make bad decisions. As stated in another Federalist, citizens may intend good,
but they don’t always make decisions in their best interests.
A second major argument made in Federalist No. 10 is that a large republic is better than a
small republic. Here is the argument from Publius’ perspective. It is probably the most
Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
32
important component of the framers’ design behind the Constitution. Some would say it is
Madison’s major contribution to American political thought, calling it pluralism.
• The Large Republic Argument: Having argued that a republic is better than a pure
(direct) democracy, Madison now argues that a large republic is better than a small
republic. It is at this point in his argument that Madison is credited with endorsing
pluralism. Why is a large republic better than a small republic? Madison asserts that
no matter how large or how many people there are in a country, the number in the
legislature is not going to vary that much. This is important because it means that in a
large republic you are not going to have that many more legislators than if you had a
small republic. The importance of this point is that in a large republic there will be a
much greater number of people (and, hence, a large geographical area, usually)
represented by a legislator. This will result in a higher caliber of individual getting
elected to the legislature. Remember, Madison had already argued that a republic is
better than a pure democracy because in a republic the legislator will be wiser and
thus can refine the public’s wishes. So, in a republic anything that is in agreement
with the spirit of democracy that increases the chances of a wiser person being elected
is a positive factor. The large republic will do this. How? In a large republic, the areas
electing legislators will be more populous and probably geographically larger. Hence,
to get elected, politicians will have to be familiar to the voters. This familiarity, in
Madison’s time, would come from having achieved something. Madison asserts that
politicians will not be able to get elected to the national legislature merely by
knowing more people. There will be too many people to have to know. Instead, they
will only be successful at being elected if they are known for their accomplishments.
• Prevalence of Logrolling: The authors, quoting the research of others, write, “Rather
than check and balance each other, interest groups often cooperate . . .” The first thing
to note about this quote is that it refers to checks and balances in a manner that is
inaccurate. When the framers discussed this concept they did so by referring to what
would go on in the three branches of the national government. They did not see how
that could keep interest groups—on the outside of government—from forming
alliances. If, however, the point is that the deals made by interest groups are then
carried out in the government, what would Madison say about that? He would say,
“Well done!” Making deals is exactly what he had in mind in designing the large
republic. If the voters don’t like the deals they can elect new officials. Of course, the
voters can also hope the president will veto bad deals, or the Supreme Court may be
able to find them unconstitutional. In the end, since it is a democracy albeit a
representative democracy, the voters have the final say.
• Rise of Professional Politicians: This point ties in with the debate in recent years over
term limits. The authors, in quoting the study, argue that politicians are controlled by
interest groups, which then ensure that they will get elected. The problem with this
argument is the one mentioned above. Voters can always refuse to reelect politicians
that seem to be more concerned with brokering the interests of major groups instead
of making decisions that are good for the most constituents. Of course, there is no
proof that brokering interests is always bad. Again, that is what Madison wanted the
Congress to do: broker the multiplicity of interests in the large republic.
• What Was Madison’s Failure?: Did Madison not foresee modern developments, or
did he underestimate several modern developments? Madison did not foresee the
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33
•
technological advancements that would change entirely how campaigns for national
office were conducted. How could he? He did not foresee that mass media—
particularly television—would reduce the large republic to a technologically small
republic. Politicians, with the aid of television, could enter into the public’s living
rooms. There the politician would introduce himself (with the assistance of
consultants, who would tell him everything from what to say to how to dress and
comb his/her hair), his family, and perhaps even his dog. Having overcome one of the
large republic arguments, with the assistance of television, the burden became greater
on the voter. This is because voters do not get to know the politician on a personal
basis, but rather for something they had achieved. Voters, then, might start judging
candidates for office by how they look or what their family looks like. Madison didn’t
foresee this.
Alexis de Tocqueville: And then there is Alexis de Tocqueville. The young French
aristocrat visited the United States in the 1830s to study its prison system. Upon
returning to France, his book Democracy in America explained the workings of
American democracy in detail to an inquisitive Europe. He discussed the workings of
democracy in America and its potential in a world undergoing radical change. He,
unlike Madison, praised democracy for raising the level of the average person but
noted that emphasis on equality more than liberty presented a potential for danger. He
marveled at the mere fact that people were coming together and associating, which
reflected a strong democratic culture.
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34
IV. Student Assignments – Post-Lecture
A.
Class Discussion Questions
¾11.1 Describe the role of interest groups in American politics
•
Compare the political parties’ impact on the government in general with that of interest
groups. Which has a greater impact and why?
¾11.2 Compare and contrast the theories of pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism
•
Discuss the differences between issue networks and iron triangles. Use a sample policy area
such as military procurement or agriculture subsidies to illustrate how each model works, and
have the class analyze which is a more useful model for analyzing policy.
¾11.3 Analyze the factors that make some interest groups more successful than others in
the political arena
•
•
•
Would you join a group if you didn’t see any direct benefits to membership? Why or why
not?
What can be done to combat the “free-rider” problem?
What are the benefits to membership in an interest group?
¾11.4 Assess the four basic strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy
•
•
•
Identify and discuss the contributions interest groups make to campaigns other than financial
donations.
What is a lobbyist? How do lobbyists shape the political decision-making process?
What is an amicus curiae, and why would a special interest group prepare one? Why does
PAC money go so overwhelmingly to incumbents?
¾11.5 Identify the various types of interest groups and their policy concerns
•
Considering all of the ideological interest groups that can be identified today, which do you
believe have been most influential in making or delaying new energy policy? Environmental
policy? Health care policy? Why? How?
¾11.6 Evaluate how well Madison’s ideas for controlling the influence of interest groups
have worked in practice
•
•
Which type of interest group holds the most power and influence over government decisions?
Why?
Compare Madison’s view of factions with the pluralist’s view on interest groups.
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35
B.
Class Activities
¾11.1 Describe the role of interest groups in American politics
•
Give the class an identity as a specific interest group. Have the class set up all aspects of
operation, motivation, and the tactics it will employ to fulfill the goals associated with the
assigned group.
¾11.2 Compare and contrast the theories of pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism
•
Divide the class into three to seven different “interest groups,” choosing an identity for each
group that would, in all probability, be in opposition to each of the other groups. The goal is
to form a coalition of the majority that will succeed in passing legislation acceptable to the
majority. No further information or instruction should be given. What happens?
¾11.3 Analyze the factors that make some interest groups more successful than others in
the political arena
•
•
Have students form groups and each group should pick an interest group that they perceive to
be unsuccessful. Have them discuss strategies to make the group more successful and then
discuss why.
Ask students what groups they belong to. Are any of these interest groups? Have students
who belong to an interest group describe what it is, why they joined, and what benefits they
receive from group membership. Then assign students to identify what groups represent their
interests as students. Does it matter whether they are members of those groups or not?
(Alternatively, you might ask students to query their parents about their group memberships.)
¾11.4 Assess the four basic strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy
•
Have the class divide into several sections. Two-thirds of the groups should be lobbyists (pro
and con of a given issue), and the one-third will be lobbied. This works best if you present
them with issues first, for example, one set of groups would be assigned the issue of Social
Security reform, another set of groups, gun control legislation, a third set of groups would get
campaign finance. Each is then assigned a perspective. To take only the one example (gun
control): group one would be a congressional committee taking up the issue, group two
would be pro gun control, and group three is anti-gun control. It is most interesting if you
give a scenario in which the answer is not cut and dry. For example: After Columbine High
School, Congress is beginning to deliberate about measures to keep guns out of the hands of
minors. The specific legislation that the group will address is asking all gun sellers to ensure
that no minors have access to weapons of any kind. This will entail a law requiring gun
sellers to ID all purchasers and double check dates of birth with a federal databank. The NRA
and other groups are adamantly opposed. Gun control advocates are for the measure.
Congress has a lot of undecided members. After the simulation, have students write a paper
about the results.
Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
36
¾11.5 Identify the various types of interest groups and their policy concerns
•
•
•
Name three interest groups that are likely to support and be supported by the Republican
Party and three interest groups that are likely to support and be supported by the Democratic
Party. What are some of the key differences between these two sets of groups? Why do they
so often tend to lean heavily toward one of the major political parties?
Identify three interest groups you believe would most benefit you after college graduation
and upon beginning your first occupational job. Why have you selected these groups? What
are their positions on key issues?
Find two examples of each of the different types of interest group and write a brief summary
of some of the issues featured on their Web sites. Does the tone of these Web sites reflect the
type of interest group that created them? How?
¾11.6 Evaluate how well Madison’s ideas for controlling the influence of interest groups
have worked in practice
•
•
James Madison points to this dilemma: we are saddled with a politics of faction that
significantly undermines political equality and the coherent national policy, yet the right of
the people to form organizations is one of our most cherished and fundamental rights
(political liberty). Divide the class into panels for the purpose of debating the following
question: Can we alleviate some of the most pressing “mischiefs of faction” without
diminishing our freedom?
Write a brief essay identifying the ways that interest groups may enhance democracy.
Compare your answers with the arguments that pluralists raise in favor of pluralist
democracy.
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37
C.
Research Assignments
¾11.1 Describe the role of interest groups in American politics
•
Use the Internet to research the formation of interest groups throughout history. Create a
short timeline. What is the oldest interest group you can find?
¾11.2 Compare and contrast the theories of pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism
•
To provoke discussion on the influence of interest groups, bring in, or have students research
before class—using http://www.opensecrets.org—the top contributing lobbying
organizations in Washington, D.C. What types of groups appear in this list, and why? What
does this list tell us about interest group politics and democracy? Alternatively, you could
also have them do the web exploration on industry and compare its lists of top donors with
top lobbying groups—is it merely money that buys a group power, or are other factors
involved?
¾11.3 Analyze the factors that make some interest groups more successful than others in
the political arena
•
•
•
Research and find the Fortune 500 list of the 25 most powerful interest groups. Why do you
think these groups are considered the most influential?
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1997/12/08/234927/index.htm
The largest and most powerful interest group in America today is the AARP. Have students
visit the AARP Web site (www.aarp.org). Using what they learn from the Web site, the text,
and class lectures/discussions, have them write a paper explaining why the AARP is
successful in both membership and lobbying. Note AARP’s recent decline in membership
because of its support of the healthcare reform bill— not supported by AARP’s members or
target audience. Why would AARP support such an unpopular plan?
Assign students to do a report on MADD (or another group) as an example of a single-issue
interest group.
¾11.4 Assess the four basic strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy
•
Ask students to research campaign contributions to their U.S. House of Representatives’
member through the Web sites: http://www.fec.gov, http://www.vote-smart.org, or through
their individual state campaign finance Web sites. Have students identify the top three
interest group contributors to their U.S. House of Representatives’ member’s campaign and
indicate whether or not this interest is a major one in the district.
¾11.5 Identify the various types of interest groups and their policy concerns
•
There are literally thousands of interest groups advocating specific policies, candidates and
issues. Go to the Internet and search for interest groups. Identify three that interest you. Visit
each respective site for the three. Write down their mission and other key pieces of
Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
38
•
•
information. Compare all three sites. Determine if they are a PAC or a 527 committee.
Determine how they receive their funding and what they do with their funds.
Have students visit their local Chamber of Commerce to ascertain the salient business and
political issues of local concern.
Assign students to visit the Web sites of a number of interest groups. What are they doing?
What are their key issues and tactics? Who are their members? How many members do they
have? How does this information correlate with what we have learned in this chapter?
¾11.6 Evaluate how well Madison’s ideas for controlling the influence of interest groups
have worked in practice
•
Assign students to prepare a report on Madison’s views of interest groups in The Federalist,
No. 10.
× Return to Chapter 11: Table of Contents
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39
V. Quantitative Assessment
Administer Chapter Exam (see Test Bank, Chapter 11)
× Return to Chapter 11: Table of Contents
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40
VI. Resources for Further Study
A.
Books
1. Ainsworth, S. (2002). Analyzing interest groups: Group influence on people and politics.
Boston: W. W. Norton & Company.
2. Alexander, R. (2005). The classics of interest group behavior. Belmont: Wadsworth.
3. Armstrong, J. (2006). Crashing the gate: Netroots, grassroots, and the rise of peoplepowered politics. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Pub. Co.
4. Baumgartner, F. R., & Leech, B. L. (1998). Basic interests: The importance of groups in
politics and in political science. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
5. Berry, J. M., & Wilcox, C. (2008).The interest group society. (5th ed.). New York: Pearson
Longman.
6. Berry, J. M. (1999). The new liberalism: The rising power of citizen groups. Washington,
DC: Brookings Institution Press.
7. Biersack, R, Herrnson, P., & Wilcox, C. (1999). After the revolution: PACs, lobbies, and the
republican congress. Boston: Addison Wesley.
8. Birnbaum, J. H. (2000). The money men: The real story of fund-raising’s influence on
political power in America. New York: Crown.
9. Broder, D. S. (2000). Democracy derailed: Initiative campaigns and the power of money.
New York: Harcourt Brace.
10. Cigler, A. J., & Loomis, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Interest group politics (7th ed.). Washington,
DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.
11. Collins, P. (2008). Friends of the Supreme Court: Interest groups and judicial decision
making. New York: Oxford University Press.
12. CQ Press Editors. (2007). Public interest group profile, 2006–7. Washington, DC:
Congressional Quarterly Press.
13. Dekieffer, D. E. (2007). The citizen’s guide to lobbying congress. Chicago: Chicago Review
Press.
14. Di Gioacchino, D. (2004). The role of organized interest groups in policy making. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan.
15. Franz, M. (2008). Choice and changes. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
41
16. Gerber, E. R. (1999). The populist paradox: Interest group influence and the promise of
direct legislation. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
17. Gray, V., & Lowery, D. (2001). The population ecology of interest representation: Lobbying
communities in the American states. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
18. Graziano, L. (2001). Lobbying, pluralism and democracy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
19. Green, J. C. (2008). The faith factor: How religion influences American elections. Westport:
Praeger Publishers.
20. Grossman, G. M. (2001). Special interest politics. Cambridge: MIT Press.
21. Herrnson, P. S., Shaiko, R. G., & Wilcox, C. (Eds.). (2004). The interest group connection:
Electioneering, lobbying and policymaking in Washington. Washington, DC:
Congressional Quarterly Press.
22. Keck, M., & Sikkink, K. (1998). Activists beyond borders: Advocacy networks in
international politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
23. King, D. C., & Walker, J. L., Jr. (1991). Mobilizing interest groups in America: The origins
and maintenance of groups. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
24. Kollman, K. (1998). Outside lobbying: Public opinion and interest group strategies.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
25. Magleby, D. B., & Monson, J. Q. (2004). The last Hurrah?: Soft money and issue advocacy
in the 2002 congressional elections. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
26. Mearsheimer, J., & Walt, S. (2008). The Israel lobby and U.S. foreign policy. New York:
Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
27. Moe, T. (1988). The organization of interests: Incentives and the internal dynamics of
interest groups. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
28. Nownes, A. J. (2001). Pressure and power: Organized interests in American Politics.
Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
29. Nowes, A. J. (2006). Total lobbying: What lobbyists want (and how they try to get it). New
York: Cambridge University Press.
30. Olson, M. (1965). The logic of collective action: Public goods and the theory of groups.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
42
31. Petracca, M. P., (Ed.). (1992). The politics of interests: Interest groups transformed. Boulder:
Westview Press.
32. Rosenthal, A. (2001). The third house: Lobbyists and lobbying in the States. Washington,
DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.
33. Ross, W. G. (1993). A muted fury: Populists, progressives, and labor unions confront the
courts, 1890–1937. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
34. Rothenberg, R. (1984). The neoliberals: Creating the new American politics. New York:
Simon & Schuster.
35. Rozell, M. J., Wilcox, C., & Madland, D. (2005). Interest groups in American campaigns:
The new face of electioneering. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.
36. Salisbury, R. H. (1992). Interests and institutions. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
37. Steinfels, P. (1979). The neoconservatives: The men who are changing America’s politics.
New York: Simon & Schuster.
38. Strolovitch, D. Z. (2007). Affirmative advocacy: Race, class, and gender in interest group
politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
39. Walker, J. L., Jr. (1991). Mobilizing interest groups in America: Patrons, professions, and
social movements. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
40. West, D. M. (2000). Checkbook democracy: How money corrupts political campaigns.
Boston: Northeastern University Press.
41. West, D. M., & Loomis, B. A. (1998). The sound of money: How political interests get what
they want. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
42. Wright, J. R. (2002). Interest groups and congress: Lobbying, contributions and influence.
New York: Pearson Longman.
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B.
Articles
1. Andres, G. J. (1985, Spring). Business involvement in campaign finance: Factors influencing
the decision to form a corporate PAC. PS, 18(2), 213–220.
2. Andrews, K. T. (2008, November). Affirmative advocacy: Race, class, and gender in interest
group politics. Contemporary Sociology, 37(6), 593–594.
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3. Browne, W. P. (1990, May). Organized interests and their issue niches: A search for
pluralism in a policy domain. Journal of Politics, 52(2), 477–509.
4. Buell, E. H. (1993, May). Creative campaigning: PACs and the presidential selection
process. Journal of Politics, 55(2), 515–517.
5. Calderia, G., & Wright, J. R. (1988, December). Organized interests and agenda setting in the
U.S. Supreme Court. American Political Science Review, 82(4), 1109–1127.
6. Epstein, L., & Rowland, C. K. (1991, March) Debunking the myth of interest group
invincibility in the courts. American Political Science Review, 85(1), 205–217.
7. Gottlieb, S. E. (1988). Why study PACs? Law & Society Review.
8. Grenzke, J. M. (1989, February). PACs and the congressional supermarket: The currency is
complex. American Journal of Political Science, 33(1), 1–24.
9. Hall, R. I., & Wayman, F. W. (1990, September). Buying time: Managed interests and the
mobilization of bias in congressional committees. American Political Science Review,
84(3), 797–820.
10. Humphries, C. (1991, June).Corporations, PACs and the strategic link between contributions
and lobbying activities. Western Political Quarterly, 44(2), 353–372.
11. Maclean, L. (2008, July 7). The decline of America’s religious right. Savage.
12. Mahoney, C., & Baumgartner, F. (2008, November). Converging perspectives on interest
group research in Europe and America. West European Politics, 31(6), 1253–1273.
13. Myers, R. J., (Ed.). (1986, January).Religion and the state: The struggle for legitimacy and
power. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 483(1)
14. Opheim, C. (1991, June). Explaining the differences in state lobbying regulation. Western
Political Quarterly, 44(2), 405–421.
15. Salisbury, R. (1984, March). Interest representation: The dominance of institutions.
American Political Science Review, 78(1), 64–76.
16. Silverstein, K. (2007, July). Their men in Washington. Harper’s Magazine.
× Return to Chapter 11: Table of Contents
C.
Media
1. Friends of God: The Evangelical Movement in America. (2007). Films for the Humanities
and Sciences. This film examines the evangelical movement and its influence on politics.
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44
2. Legally Blond 2: Red, White, and Blond. (2003). Comedy about recent Harvard Law graduate
becoming involved in animal rights advocacy.
3. Organizing America: The History of Trade Unions. (1994). Insight Media. This film
examines the formation of collective action among workers in America as a force of social
change.
4. Religious Fundamentalism. (1996). Films for the Humanities and Sciences. This film
examines the rise of religious fundamentalism as organized interests and analyzes its impact
on American political life.
5. The Religious Right. (1992). Films for the Humanities and Sciences. This program analyzes
the impact of the conservative religious right on contemporary Republican policies.
6. The Unelected: The Lobbies and the Media. (1996). Hedrick Smith Productions, PBS Video.
Part of the “Power Game” series from PBS. This video examines the influence of power
lobbies and the media on Capitol Hill politics.
× Return to Chapter 11: Table of Contents
D.
Web Resources
1. AFL-CIO is the largest trade union organization in America. Its Web site offers policy
statements, news, workplace issues, and labor strategies. http://www.aflcio.org/
2. American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is an interest and advocacy group
devoted to the interests of those over fifty. http://www.aarp.org/
3. American Bar Association. http://www.abanet.org/
4. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) offers information on the entire Bill of Rights
including racial profiling, women’s rights, privacy issues, prisons, drugs, etc. Includes links
to other sites dealing with the same issues. http://www.aclu.org/
5. American Medical Association. http://www.ama-assn.org/
6. Center for Responsive Politics (Lists campaign contributions by sector, individual, etc. to
candidates for federal office.) “Open Secrets.” http://www.opensecrets.org/
7. Common Cause, founded by Ralph Nader, was one of the first public interest groups. It
promotes responsible government. http://www.commoncause.org/
8. Homepage of Ethanol Across America: http://www.ethanolacrossamerica.net/
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45
9. Federal Election Commission. (Responsible for regulation of campaign financing for
federal office.) http://www.fec.gov/
10. Labor Net. Access to labor unions and information on labor issues. http://www.labornet.org/
11. Lobbyists Info. (Professional site for Washington, D.C. lobbyists.)
http://www.lobbyists.info/
12. Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF). Web site offers
information on Census 2000, scholarships, job opportunities, legal programs, regional offices
information, and more. http://www.maldef.org/
13. Native American Rights Fund (NARF). Web site offers profiles of issues, an archive,
resources, a tribal directory, and treaty information, as well as a lot of other information.
http://www.narf.org/
14. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Web site
offers information about the organization, membership, and issues of interest to proponents
of civil rights. It also has sections on the Supreme Court, Census 2000, and the Education
Summit and includes links to other Web sites. http://www.naacp.org/
15. National Association of Manufacturers. http://www.nam.org/
16. National Organization for Women (NOW). Web site offers information on the
organization and its issues/activities including women in the military, economic equity, and
reproductive rights. It offers an e-mail action list and the ability to join NOW online. There is
also a page with links to related sites. http://www.now.org/
17. The National Rifle Association (NRA) offers information on gun ownership, gun laws, and
coverage of legislation on associated issues. http://www.nra.org/
18. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). http://www.peta.org/
19. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) is a public interest group that promotes issues
such as the environment and anti-tobacco. http://www.pirg.org/
20. Project Vote Smart. Information on interest group campaign contributions to and ratings for
all members of Congress. http://www.votesmart.org/
21. The Right Links. A portal to conservative groups and organizations.
http://www.conservativeusa.org/ritelink.htm
22. Rightgirl. Conservative women’s issues and organizations. http://www.rightgirl.com/
23. Sierra Club. http://www.sierraclub.org/
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46
24. Student Environmental Action Coalition. A grassroots coalition of student environmental
groups. http://www.seac.org/
25. Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. http://ww5.komen.org/
26. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a business-oriented interest group whose Web site
offers articles of interest, policy information, and membership info.
http://www.uschamber.org/
27. Richard Kimber’s Worldwide Index of Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Other
Social Movements. http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/parties.htm
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