Outside Lobbying

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• Session 19
• Outside Lobbying

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Inside and Outside Lobbying

• inside lobbying is defined as communication or
  interaction directed at policymakers or their
  staffs.
• Inside lobbying involves contacting members of
  Congress directly, testifying before congress,
  etc.

• outside lobbying is defined as attempts by
  interest group leaders to mobilize citizens
  outside of the policymaking community to contact
  or pressure public officials inside the
  policymaking community.
• So it includes talking to the press, mobilizing
  group members, organizing letter-writing
  campaigns, hiring public relations firms, etc.

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Inside Strategies

• contacting members of Congress or their staffs
  personally (96 of organizations)
• testifying in Congress
• presenting research to government
• contacting agency personnel
• testifying at agency hearings
• serving on public advisory boards
• participating in litigation over policy (22)

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Outside Strategies

• talking to the press (76 of organizations)
• organizing letter writing campaigns
• presenting research to the press
• holding press conferences
• publicizing voting records of candidates
• endorsing candidates
• protesting
• advertising policy positions/issue advocacy
• contributing personnel to campaigns (6)

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The Questions

• Grassroots activity is rarely spontaneous.
  Citizens are mobilized by interest groups.
• Does the activity confuse elected representatives
  with fabricated messages or does it communicate
  public sentiment accurately?
• When will an organization use this strategy
  rather than an inside strategy?

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The Players

• Interest Groups
• What type of group?
• What are the groups resources?
• What is the organizational structure?
• The issue?
• Public opinion?

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• Policymakers
• Re-election goals
• Adversarial or cooperative relationship with the
  group
• Constituents
• Diversity
• Popularity of the issue

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Variation, Possibilities, and Examples

• Letter writing
• Advertising
• Targeted efforts
• Broad scale efforts
• Business strategy versus labor strategy
• Standard tactics of professional associations

9
Four Patterns

• Labor unions and public interest groups use
  outside lobbying more than their business and
  professional counterparts
• Groups with individuals as members use outside
  lobbying more than groups with organizations as
  members do
• Groups with local chapters use outside lobbying
  more than groups without some version of a
  federal structure
• Groups with more resources tend to use outside
  lobbying more, but this varies across tactics

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The cynical assumption outside lobbying is
slick, artificial, and misleading and it corrupts
the democratic process

• But this requires three things to be true
• Policymakers are easily fooled
• The group can have an influence in the election
  even in the absence of genuine popular support
• There is some true level of public opinion one
  way or the other
• An example from labor unions

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Outside Lobbying and the Three Perspectives

• Pluralists outside lobbying is associated with
  salience
• Transactions policymakers will hear from those
  organizations that are wealthy enough to conduct
  an outside lobbying campaign
• Neopluralists the costs of generating outside
  activity is inversely related to salience