Interest Groups Chapter 9 SECTION 1 The Nature

Interest Groups

Chapter 9 SECTION 1 The Nature of Interest Groups SECTION 2 Types of Interest Groups SECTION 3 Interest Groups at Work

NYS Prop #1 Constitutional Convention Interest Groups involved 2017 • State of ballot measure campaigns • As of November 3, 2017, supporters of holding a state constitutional convention organized six political action committees. The committees had raised a combined total of $871, 623, as of the latest disclosure reports from October 2017. Bill Samuels, a Democratic fundraiser, was the top contributor to supporters, donating $435, 052. [2] Groups that endorsed Proposal 1 included the NY State Bar Association, the NY City Bar Association, League of Women Voters of NY State, Citizens Union, and Forward March NY. [3][4][5] Opponents of holding a convention organized as New Yorkers Against Corruption. [6] The opposition PACs had raised $3. 23 million, with unions and labor organizations making the five largest contributions. [2] Organizations opposed to Proposal 1 included the NY State AFL-CIO, United Federation of Teachers, Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts, Right to Life, and the NY State Rifle and Pistol Association. [6] • https: //ballotpedia. org/New_York_Proposal_1, _Constitutional_Convention_Question_(2017)

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The Role of Interest Groups You will understand that………… • Interest groups are private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy. • Public policy includes all of the goals a government sets and the various courses of action it pursues as it attempts to realize these goals. • Interest groups exist to shape public policy.

Working Definition • An interest group, also called an advocacy group, lobbying group, pressure group, or special interest, exists to set or shape public policy. • They may support or endorse a candidate, BUT they do not recruit candidates or try to win elections. • If a candidate shares the goals of the interest group, the group will likely support the candidate.

Political Parties and Interest Groups Political parties and interest groups differ in three striking respects: (1) in the making of nominations (2) in their primary focus (3) in the scope of their interests

Political Parties and Interest Groups Nominations • Political parties are responsible for the nominating process, while interest groups hope to influence those nominations. Primary Focus • Political parties are interested in winning elections and controlling government, while interest groups are interested in influencing the policies created by government. Scope of Interest • Political parties concern themselves with the whole range of public affairs, while interest groups tend to focus on issues that their members are concerned about.

Valuable Functions of Interest Groups • Interest groups raise awareness of public affairs, or issues that concern the people at large. • Interest groups represent people who share attitudes rather than those who share geography. • Interest groups provide specialized information to government agencies and legislators. • Interest groups are vehicles for political participation. • Interest groups keep tabs on various public agencies and officials. • Interest groups compete.

Criticisms • Some groups have an influence far out of proportion to their size or importance. • It can be difficult to tell who or how many people are served by a group. • Groups do not always represent the views of the people they claim to speak for. • In rare cases, groups use tactics such as bribery, threats, and so on.

Section 1 Review 1. What is the role of interest groups? – – (a) Raising the interest rate (b) Organizing party conventions (c) Influencing public policy (d) All of the above 2. Which of the following is not a criticism of interest groups? – – (a) They keep tabs on public agencies. (b) They may not represent the views of all of their members. (c) Some use underhanded tactics. (d) Some have undue influence.

SECTION 2 Types of Interest Groups • How has the American tradition of joining organizations resulted in a wide range of interest groups? • What are the four categories of groups based on economic interests? • What are the reasons other interest groups have formed? • What is the purpose of public-interest groups?

Reasons for Interest Groups • Most interest groups have been founded on the basis of an economic interest, especially business, labor, agricultural, and professional interests. • Some are grounded in geographic area. • Some are based on a cause or idea, such as environmental protection. • Some promote the welfare of certain groups of people, such as retired citizens. • Some are run by religious organizations.

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Membership in Labor Unions

Public-Interest Groups • A public-interest group is an interest group that seeks to institute certain public policies that will benefit all or most of the people in the country, whether or not they belong to that organization.

Section 2 Review 1. What kind of an interest group is the National Bar Association? – – (a) Religious (b) Professional (c) Agricultural (d) Labor Union 2. The Wilderness Society is what type of interest group? – – (a) Agricultural (b) Cause-related (c) Professional (d) Public-interest

SECTION 3 Interest Groups at Work • What are interest groups’ three major goals in influencing public opinion? • How do interest groups use propaganda to persuade people to their point of view? • How do interest groups try to influence political parties and elections? • How does lobbying bring group pressures to bear on the process of making public policy?

Influencing Public Opinion Interest groups reach out to the public for these reasons: 1. To supply information in support of the group’s interests 2. To build a positive image for the group 3. To promote a particular public policy

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free riders Free Riders reap the benefits of the group without paying the dues and belonging to the group. .

Education The League of Women Voters makes information available on ballot measures and the positions candidates take, and it organizes debates and issue forums. Because they have developed an expertise in a particular policy area, interest groups are often called on to testify before Congress irrespective of the position they might have on the legislation. Education is sometimes formal, as with the American Bar Association's Continuing Legal Education program, which provides attorneys with ongoing training.

Propaganda • Propaganda is a technique of persuasion aimed at influencing individual or group behaviors. • Its goal is to create a particular belief which may be true or false. • Propaganda disregards information that does not support its conclusion. It is not objective. It presents only one side of an issue. • Propaganda often relies on name-calling and inflammatory labels.

political action committee A political action committee (PAC) is the political arm of an interest group.

Influencing Parties and Elections • Political Action Committees (PACs) raise and distribute money to candidates who will further their goals. • PACs CANNOT use dues or registration or membership fees for political action. • PACs MUST raise separate monies for their political action and all monies must be maintained in separate accounts from the regular business of the group/organization.

Using Electoral Politics Interest groups seek to influence the outcome of elections: – Through political action committees (PACs), groups contribute money to candidates. – By mobilizing their members, groups can deliver volunteers and votes to campaigns.

Lobbying • Lobbying is any activity by which a group pressures legislators and influences the legislative process. • Lobbying carries beyond the legislature. • It is brought into government agencies, the executive branch, and even the courts. • Nearly all important organized interest groups maintain lobbyists in Washington, D. C.

Interest Group and Lobbying lobbying Trying to influence decision makers. Interest groups use lobbying as a tactic to pursue the interests of their members, but individuals, too, can lobby. Lobbying can be done directly or indirectly, and can be aimed at any branch or level of government. lobbyist One who tries to influence decision makers. The term originates from the physical layout of capitol buildings, where legislators deliberate in a chamber, and nonlegislators must gather outside the chamber, in the lobby. Thus, those trying to influence lawmakers came to be known as lobbyists.

Interest groups sometimes pursue a legal strategy to achieve their policy aims. Either as parties to legal suits or by submitting amicus curiae briefs, interest groups seek to affect court decisions.

Politics & Popular Culture Celebrities increasingly play important roles in garnering media attention and mobilizing public support for political causes. Examples of celebrity politics on the left and the right include: – Charlton Heston’s leadership of the NRA – Bono’s championing of debt relief in Africa Actor Michael J. Fox played an important role in shaping the debate over stem cell research in the 2006 Senate races in Missouri and Maryland.

Testifying before Congress

Lobbyists at Work Lobbyists use several techniques: • They send articles, reports, and other information to officeholders. • They testify before legislative committees. • They help write legislation/laws. • They bring “grass-roots” pressures to bear through email, letters, or phone calls from constituents. • They rate candidates and publicize the ratings. • They make campaign contributions.

Lobbying One of the criticisms of lobbyists is that they have too direct a role, based on their relationships with government officials, in how laws are written and implemented. The term iron triangle (also known as a cozy triangle) describes the ties between congressional committees, administrative agencies whose funding is set by the committees, and the lobbyists who work closely with both.

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Grass-roots campaigns grass roots The term grass roots implies that a group or organization originates from or maintains close connections with significant numbers of ordinary citizens or citizen leaders. A grass roots campaign, for instance, seeks to mobilize ordinary citizens to take part in an election campaign or a cause involving an important issue.

Grass-roots campaigns astroturf campaign The term "grassroots movement" implies a broad based, deeply rooted sentiment and action among the populace. An astroturf campaign, by comparison, is artificial - i. e. , it may look like the real thing, but it is orchestrated and directed by a few wellplaced interest groups.

FEET on the Ground Function Interest groups may also directly help candidates who support their positions by providing them with campaign workers and using their own members to get people to vote; they may publicly endorse candidates for office as well as give money to the candidates' campaign funds.

Some interest groups organize because they have a direct economic interest in government policies. Examples of such business and agricultural groups include: – National Association of Manufacturers – American Farm Bureau Federation

Economic interest groups Certainly the largest category, economic interest groups include organizations that represent big business, such as the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), as well as big labor — the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, for example. Large corporations and individual unions also have offices in the capital.

Organized labor organizations are important interest groups in Washington politics. Examples include: – AFL-CIO – Teamsters – International Lady Garment Workers Union

Trade associations represent entire industries. The members of the American Public Power Association (APPA), for example, are municipally owned electric utilities, rural electric cooperatives, and state power authorities. Professionals also form interest groups. The American Medical Association (AMA) opposed legislation to create health maintenance organizations (HMOs) for years.

Professional associations like the – American Medical Association – American Bar Association also try to influence the government.

public interest Policy or action aimed at providing benefits to a broad public, rather than to a specific group of people. Often associated with collective action.

watchdog group A watchdog group is any part of government or an interest group whose job, formally or informally, is to review and publicize what other parts of government and groups are doing, raising a public alarm when something is amiss.

Ideological interest groups view all issues — federal spending, taxes, foreign affairs, court appointments, and so forth — through the lens of their political ideology, typically liberal or conservative. Their support for legislation or policy depends exclusively on whether they find it ideologically sound.

Civil rights interest groups The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the National Organization for Women (NOW), and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force represent groups that historically have faced legal discrimination and, in many respects, continue to lack equal opportunity. Their concerns involve more than civil rights, however, and encompass social welfare, immigration policy, affirmative action, a variety of gender issues, and political action.

Religious interest groups The separation of church and state does not preclude religious interest groups from lobbying; indeed, it is safe to say that all religious groups are involved in politics to some degree. The Christian Coalition, which draws most of its support from conservative Protestants, has an agenda that includes support for school prayer, opposition to homosexual rights, and a constitutional amendment banning abortion. It became an important factor in American politics, particularly in the Republican Party, in the early 1990 s.

Single-issue interest groups Some interest groups are formed to advocate for or against a single issue. Although other interest groups may have a position for or against gun control, it is the only issue in the political arena for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the National Coalition to Ban Handguns (NCBH). The same is true of abortion, which pits the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) against the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). These examples are not meant to suggest that single-issue interest groups always generate their opposite. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), which campaigns for stiffer sentences for driving while intoxicated and mandatory penalties for the first offense, clearly does not. Although most interest groups focus on domestic issues, some are concerned with foreign policy. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), for example, focuses on the Middle East and the relationship between the United States and Israel.

A factor explaining the rise of interest groups is the growth in recent years of conservative interest groups like: – the Christian Coalition – the National Taxpayers Union – the National Federation of Independent Business

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Section 3 Review 1. What is propaganda? – – (a) A bill that has been vetoed (b) A one-sided argument (c) An objective description (d) A scientific paper 2. How do lobbyists influence legislators? – – (a) Campaign contributions (b) “Grass roots” campaigns (c) Publicized ratings (d) All of the above

Clicker Questions In grassroots lobbying, interest groups: a) deal directly with just junior members of Congress. b) file suits in state and local courts. c) deal directly with lower-level bureaucrats. d) attempt to involve the general citizen and voter. d

Clicker Questions The theory that competition among organized interests will produce a balance with all the interests regulating one another is: a) Elite Theory b) Pluralism c) Socialism d) Machiavellian Theory s

Clicker Questions Interest groups were heavily involved in the recent Michigan Affirmative Action cases. Some groups sponsored the lawsuit, others filed amicus curiae briefs for both sides. All of these groups would be using which interest group tactic? a) Tort reform b) Judicial review c) Litigation d) Going public c

Clicker Questions Lobbyists are often likely to be: a) Former union members b) Former government employees c) Former members of Congress d) B and C d

Crash Course Interest Groups: Crash Course Government and Politics #42 https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=b. Ov. BA 7 o. IIgc 8 min Interest Group Formation: Crash Course Government and Politics #43 • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=BGo 9 Asfwric • 9 min • •

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