Interest Groups

1
Interest Groups

• History and Interest Group Formation

2
Interest Groups

• Any organization that seeks to influence public
  policy
• Found in many societies
• Unusually large number found in U.S.

3
Proliferation

• 1. Social cleavages
• 2. U.S. constitutional system
• 3. Decline of political parties

4
Social Cleavages

• Number of social divisions
• Income, occupational, religious, racial,
  cultural lines

5
U.S. Constitutional System

• Stimulates political activity, including interest
  group activity
• Because of federalism separation of powers,
  there exists many different important centers in
  which impt decisions are made

6
U.S. Constitutional System

• Many different interest groups can exercise
  different power
• In Britain, interest groups are fewer in number
  larger in scale to match centralized govt
  structure

7
Decline of Political Parties

• Has made interest groups more needed powerful
• In European countries (with strong parties)
  interest groupssuch as labor unions
  professional societiestend to work through the
  parties

8
Kinds of Interest Groups

• Institutional
• Membership

9
(1) Institutional Interest Groups

• Organizations representing other groups
• Typical institutional interests are business,
  government, foundations, universities

10
(2) Membership Interest Groups

• Supported by the activities contributions of
  individual citizens
• Examples include AARP, NAACP, Christian
  Coalition, Sierra Club

11
Birth of Interest Groups

• Since the 1960s the number of interest groups has
  increased rapidly
• There have been other historical eras of interest
  group proliferation

12
Historical Eras of Interest Group Growth

• 1770s (pro-independence groups)
• 1830s 1840s (religious antislavery groups)
• 1860s (trade unions, the Grange)
• 1880s 1890s (business orgs)

13
Historical Eras of Interest Group Growth

• 1900s 1910s (a vast array of orgs)
• 1960s (environmental, consumer, and political
  reform orgs)

14
Interest Groups

• Do not arise spontaneously or automatically
• At least four factors help explain the rise of
  interest groups

15
Rise of Interest Groups

• (1) Broad economic developments
• (2) Government policy
• (3) Religious moralistic movements
• (4) Expansion of government activities

16
(1) Broad Economic Developments

• Rise of mass production industry encouraged the
  rise of mass-membership labor unions

17
(2) Government Policy

• Public programs create constituencies with an
  incentive to organize to maintain their benefits
• Veterans benefits create veterans groups
• Licensing of professionals by state gov gives
  societies of doctors lawyers a strong reason to
  exist

18
(2) Government Policy

• Sometimes the gov supports the formation of orgs
  (American Farm Bureau) by providing benefits to
  its members
• Sometimes gov policies are designed to make
  private interest group formation easier (passage
  of laws in 1930s to aid labor)

19
(3) Religious Moralistic Movements

• Produce people, frequently young people, who are
  willing to form orgs, often at large personal
  cost

20
(3) Religious Moralistic Movements

• Religious revivals of the 1830s 1840s fed the
  antislavery crusade
• Civil Rts. antiwar movements of 1960s likewise
  produced an org. explosion

21
(4) Expansion of Gov Activities

• The more activities gov undertakes, the more
  interest groups form as a response to those
  activities
• Public interest lobbies have increased since
  1970, when gov became active in civil rts, social
  welfare, and consumer rts.