Lobbying Behavior

1
Lobbying Behavior

• Session 27

2
Lobbying Friends and Foes in Washington

• The Choice
• Pressure Group Transaction
• Service Bureau Pluralist
• Why Lobbying Allies Makes Sense
• Committee bias
• Friendly agencies
• Sponsors are necessary
• Stages influence strategy
• Committee friends
• Floor friends and foes

3

• Who Lobbies?
• Business
• Trade associations
• Professional associations
• Unions
• Governmental groups
• Non-profit sector
• Large institutions that dont fit in the other
  categories universities, stock exchanges,
  nonprofit hospitals

4

• Lobbying Activities
• Size of staff 75 have more than two
• Frequency of lobbying effort and interaction with
  officials 60 interact daily with officials
• Who is Lobbied?
• Friends
• Enemies
• Undecideds (thats the ticket)
• Similar behavior across issues and interests

5

• Institutional Allies
• Supportive institutions
• Adversarial agencies
• Lobbying by Proxy
• Organized interests in Washington rely heavily on
  allies within government as they work to make a
  difference in policy decisions but cooperative
  and conflictual lobbying strategies are used in
  tandem on the majority of issues

6
Interest Groups and Congress

• Example Enron, Arthur Anderson, WorldCom,
  Global Crossing, Xerox and their fate
• This example is not easily explained by the
  Pluralist or Transactions Perspective

7
What Explains Influence?

• Stages of the legislative process each stage
  offers special opportunities and special
  challenges for interest organizations

• The tools available for influence how to
  interest groups choose among the tools that are
  available to them?

8
Stages of Legislation

• Beyond Floor Votes . . .
• Introducing Legislation
• Finding an advocate
• Drafting the legislation

9
Stages of Legislation

• In Committee
• Committees establish the content of legislation
• Finding a champion in committee
• Time and effort may be more important than votes

10

• In Committee (continued)
• Influence at the committee stage is more
  efficient
• Influence is exercised indirectly though
  communication with fellow members
• Interest groups are more likely to likely to
  lobby a member if
• they are friends rather than foes or undecided
  members
• if they have a strong presence in the members
  district

11
Stages of Legislation

• Floor Votes and Voting Decisions
• Floor deliberations and the Rules Committee
• The Voting Decision
• Constituency
• The supply price of policy what an interest
  group must pay in the form of campaign
  contributions to obtain their desired response
  from a legislator
• The price is cheaper when the policy is
  acceptable to constituents
• If the implications are unclear or ambiguous or
  constituents preferences are divided the supply
  price will be less

12

• Voting Decisions (continued)
• Party
• Members own preferences
• The presidents position on the issue
• Other members and legislative staff
• The state delegation
• Conference Committee
• Avoiding or Obtaining a Signature or a Veto