Interest Groups

1
Interest Groups
2
Interest Group Theory

• Elitist
• Pluralist
• Hyper-Pluralist

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What is an Interest Group?

• There are many aliases an interest group has.
  (Pressure Groups, Lobby Groups, Special Interest
  Groups, Advocacy Groups)
• There are a number of definitions for interest
  groups in your book
• Functions- To influence public policy
• They are not- Political Partiesthey do not run
  candidates. They try to influence political
  parties.

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One Goal

• TO INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICY
• Only one way they influence Public Policy
• Provide Information
• More on this later

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Lobbying

• A strategy by which organized interests seek to
  influence passage of legislation by exerting
  direct pressure on members of the legislature

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Types of Interest Groups

• Public Interest Groups
• Seek a collective good, the achievement of which
  will not selectively and materially benefit the
  membership or activists of the organization

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Economic Interest

• Economic Interest Groups (Lots of Money)
• A group whose primary purpose is to promote the
  financial interests of its members

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How are Interest Groups Effective?

• Size
• Intensity
• Money

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Mobilizing Public Opinion

• Grassroots Mobilization (Lobbying)
• A campaign in which a group mobilizes its
  membership to contact governmental officials in
  support of the groups position
• What groups do you think would specialize in
  Grassroots Mobilization

10
Protests and Demonstrations

• Many Groups will go public with parades or
  protests because they lack the resources, the
  contacts, or the experience to use other
  political stategies
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference
• Is the most significant and successful case of a
  protest or demonstration
• Groups are still protesting and demonstrating
  today

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How will they Lobby

• Campaign Contributions
• PACs
• Advertising
• Super PACs
• Wining and Dining
• Jack Abramoff

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Lobbying the Courts

• Sponsor a Court Case
• NAACP and Brown v. Board of Education
• Amicus Curiae
• Friend of the Court Briefs
• Non Litigant Documents submitted to the court to
  influence their opinion
• THOSE ARE THE ONLY WAYS TO LOBBY THE COURTS
• Wining and Dining judges is illegal.YOU WILL GO
  TO JAIL!!!!

13
Interest Group

• Number One Goal
• Influence Politics/ public policy
• How do they influence Politics
• Inform government officials and the public
• How do they inform the government officials and
  the public?
• Through everything we just talked aboutThe main
  ways
• Contribute Money, Talk Directly to Government
  Officials, Litigation (sponsor a court case or
  Amicus briefs) Mobilize the Public, Contribute to
  the Electoral Process

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Pros and Cons

• Pros
• Participation and Access
• Linkage Institution
• Expertise
• More so than Congressmen and Bureaucrats.
• Interest Groups write legislation

• Cons
• Bias
• Elitist Theory
• Revolving Door
• revolving door that shuffles former federal
  employees into jobs as lobbyists, consultants and
  strategists just as the door pulls former hired
  guns into government careers.

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Lobbying Congress

• Lobbying in the government occurs the most in
  Congress
• Why?
• Most Common Ways to Lobby in Congress
• Donate Money to Candidates (money)
• Litigation
• Endorse a Candidate (people)
• Talk Directly to a Government Official (money)
• Alert State Legislators of a bills effects on
  their districts (People)
• Testify at a Legislative Hearing
• Mount a grassroots movement (People)