Interest Groups

Chapter 9

Interest Groups• A lot of differences among Americans has led

the proliferation of interest groups

• Long history of them,

• Huge variety of issues including abolition, prohibition, gun rights, farm issues, religious associations, environmental groups, political reform, balanced budget, businesses, unions, even older Americans…

• Remember – PACs and interest groups are interchangeable

Definition• An interest group is defined as: any

organization that seeks to influence public policy through LOBBYING

• Two types – institutional and membership

• Institutional - deals with individuals or organizations representing other organizations such as: business firms and unions

• Membership – deals with social, business, veteran, charitable, religious issues

• Americans join groups more than Europeans and this may be due to a sense of civic duty

Why join an interest group?• Feel a part of the political process, pleasure,

companionship (NAACP, League of Women Voters, PTO, American Legion)

• Material incentives - money, things, services (farm organizations, AARP)

• Common goals – passion about an issue, common ideology, public interest, protection (ACLU, NRA)

Social movement and funding• Interest groups have long been involved in a

variety of social movements such as: abolition, the environment, feminism, and unions

• Funding for interest groups comes from 3 sources:

1. Foundation grants

2. Federal grants and contracts – not for lobbying but for projects

3. Direct mail – but expensive

What else do they do?• Well, interest groups can be biased…

• People of wealth more likely to join them – and influence them…

• Business/professional groups have more $ than those representing minorities or consumers

• How about the info they provide?

• Interest groups are there to provide information to members as well as legislators

• They target (or lobby) those undecided legislators or other government officials

Money and PACs• Money is the least effective way of influencing

politicians

• Still, incumbents get the most PAC money

• Labor PACs give to Democrats

• Business PACs tend to split their money

• PAC money may influence politics in different ways like access to a candidate or committee action – also may become more influential on certain issues (called “client politics”)

The “Revolving Door”

• Here’s an interesting phenomenon?? Many people leave public office, get hired by a PAC and then return to Washington to lobby. It can happen over and over again (Donald Rumsfeld for example). This can lead to a conflict of interest and an unfair manipulation of government agencies (FDA)

Last slide• PACs have certain protections including the

First Amendment

• Some regulations define “lobbying” and control the money flow

• Tax codes modified to stop some “non-profits” from lobbying or risk losing their status

• And, finally, new campaign finance laws limit the amount of $$ a person can give to a PAC