Interest Groups

1
Interest Groups

• Types
• How Interest Groups Work

2
Types of Interest Groups

• Interest groups may be divided broadly into three
  general types
• (1) economic interests
• (2) consumer
• (3) public interests
• (4) equality justice

3
Economic Interests

• Concerned primarily with profits, prices, and
  wages
• Government can significantly effect them through
  regulations, subsidies, contracts, trade policy
  and tax advantages

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Economic Interests

• (1) Labor Unions
• (2) Agriculture groups
• (3) Business groups
• (4) Professional groups

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Economic Interests Labor Unions

• Focus on better working conditions higher wages
• To ensure their solidarity, unions have
  established the union shop( requires new
  employees to join the union representing them)

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Economic Interests Labor Unions

• Employers, on the other hand, have supported
  right-to-work laws
• Argue that union membership should be optional

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Labor Unions

• Some, but by no means all, states have adopted
  right-to-work laws, but many union members work
  today in a union shop

8
Labor Unions

• In 1970 about 25 of the work force belonged to a
  union shop, but membership has been declining
  over the past 30 years

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Labor Unions

• By 2000, unions were losing support among the
  general population, and many strikes were proving
  to be unsuccessful

10
Labor Unions

• However, national labor unions remain today as
  powerful lobby groups in Washington

11
Economic Interests Agriculture Groups

• Once more powerful than they are today
• Now employs only a small fraction of the American
  public

12
Economic Interests Agriculture Groups

• For many years, government policies that deal
  with acreage controls, price supports, and import
  quotas have been important to farmers

13
Economic Interests Agriculture Groups

• There are several broad-based agricultural
  groups
• National Farmers Organization
• American Farm Bureau Federation

14
Agriculture Groups

• Equally as important are the specialized
  agriculture groups
• Different crops have different groups
• National Potato Council
• National Peanut Farmer

15
Economic Interests Business Groups

• Large corporations, such as General Motors and
  GE, exercise considerable political influence, as
  do hundreds of smaller corporations

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Economic Interests Business Groups

• Since the late 1800s government has regulated
  business practices
• Those regulations continue to be a major concern
  of business interest groups

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Economic Interests Business Groups

• A less visible type represents trade associations
• Diverse as the products services they provide

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Economic Interests Business Groups

• Examples include
• Life insurance groups
• Tire manufacturers
• Restaurants
• Real estate dealers

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Economic Interests Business Groups

• The broadest trade association is the Chamber of
  Commerce
• Federation of several thousand local chambers of
  commerce representing tens of thousands of
  business firms

20
Economic Interests Professional Groups

• Some of the most powerful interest groups
• Represent various occupations
• Some are well-known ones are the AMA, American
  Bar Association, NEA

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Economic Interests Professional Groups

• These groups are interested in the many
  government policies that affect their professions
• For examplelawyers are licensed by states, which
  set up certain standards of admission into the bar

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Economic Interests Professional Groups

• ABA is interested in influencing those standards
• AMA has been very involved in government
  proposals for nationally sponsored healthcare
  reforms, especially as they affect doctors

23
Consumer Public Interest Groups

• Today over 2,000 groups champion causes in the
  public interest

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Consumer Public Interest Groups

• Differ from many other interest groups in that
  they
• Seek a collective good
• Benefits for everyone--not just the members of
  the interest groups themselves

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Public Interest Groups

• Began during the 1960s under the leadership of
  consumer advocated Ralph Nader

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Public Interest Groups

• Nader first gained national attention with his
  book, Unsafe at Any Speed
• Attacked General Motors Corvair as a dangerous
  mechanically deficient automobile

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Public Interest Groups

• Public Interest Groups (PIRGs) actively promote
• Environmental issues
• Safe energy
• Consumer protection
• Good government

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Public Interest Groups

• PIRGs have national membership of more than
  400,000, making them one of the largest
  individual membership organizations in the country

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Public Interest Groups

• Another well known public interest group is
  Common Cause
• Founded in 1970 to promote electoral reform and a
  political process more open to the public

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Environmental Interests

• A special type of public interest group focuses
  on environmental interests

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Environmental Interests

• A few, like the Sierra Club and Audubon Society,
  were founded in the late 19th century
• Most were created after 1970

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Environmental Interests

• Environmental groups promote
• Pollution control
• Wilderness protection
• Population control

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Environmental Interests

• They have opposed
• Strip-mining
• Oil pipelines
• Offshore oil drilling
• Nuclear power plants

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Environmental Interests

• Their concerns often directly conflict with those
  of corporations whose activities they wish to
  control

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Environmental Interests

• Energy producers argue that environmentalists
  oppose energy projects necessary to keep modern
  society operating

36
Equality Justice Interests

• Interest groups have championed equal rights
  justice, particularly for women minorities

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Equality Justice Interests

• Oldest largest is the NAACP
• NAACPlobbied pressed court cases to defend
  equal rights in voting, employment, and housing

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Equality Justice Interests

• Most prominent womens rights organization is the
  NOW
• Pushed for ratification of the Equal Rights
  Amendment (ERA) in the 1970s

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Equality Justice Interests

• Although the amendment did not pass, NOW still
  lobbies for an end to sexual discrimination
• Other organizations that support equal rights are
  the National Urban League, Womens Political
  Caucus