Politics & International Relations
Interest Groups
Interest groups are organizations that seek to influence public policy and government decisions on behalf of their members. They often focus on specific issues or industries and use various tactics such as lobbying, public relations, and campaign contributions to advance their interests. Interest groups play a significant role in shaping political agendas and policies.
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11 Key excerpts on "Interest Groups"
eBook - PDF- Glen Krutz, Sylvie Waskiewicz(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Openstax(Publisher)
Some interests are organizations, like businesses, corporations, or governments, which register to lobby, typically to obtain some benefit from the legislature. Other Interest Groups consist of dues-paying members who join a group, usually voluntarily. Some organizations band together, often joining trade associations that represent their industry or field. Interest Groups represent either the public interest or private interests. Private interests often lobby government for particularized benefits, which are narrowly distributed. These benefits usually accrue to wealthier members of society. Public interests, on the other hand, try to represent a broad segment of society or even all persons. 10.2 Collective Action and Interest Group Formation Interest Groups often have to contend with disincentives to participate, particularly when individuals realize their participation is not critical to a group’s success. People often free ride when they can obtain benefits without contributing to the costs of obtaining these benefits. To overcome these challenges, group leaders may offer incentives to members or potential members to help them mobilize. Groups that are small, wealthy, and/ or better organized are sometimes better able to overcome collective action problems. Sometimes external political, social, or economic disturbances result in interest group mobilization. 10.3 Interest Groups as Political Participation Interest Groups afford people the opportunity to become more civically engaged. Socioeconomic status is an important predictor of who will likely join groups. The number and types of groups actively lobbying to get what they want from government have been increasing rapidly. Many business and public Interest Groups have arisen, and many new interests have developed due to technological advances, increased specialization of industry, and fragmentation of interests.
eBook - PDF- Gene M. Grossman, Elhanan Helpman(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Princeton University Press(Publisher)
Introduction Interest Groups play a prominent political role in all democratic soci-eties. Their activities are many and varied. They lobby politicians. They educate the public about issues and candidates. They participate in demonstrations. They contribute to campaigns. And they encourage par-ticipation in elections, especially by their members and others sympa-thetic to their cause. By these means and more, the groups seek to influence the political process in ways that further the interests of their members. Sometimes their actions also serve the general public. Other times, they do not. By all indications, the participation of Interest Groups in the policy process has been growing by leaps and bounds in the United States and elsewhere. The number of organizations that engage representatives in Washington, Brussels, and other capital cities has exploded in recent years. So too has the number of registered lobbyists. Spending on lob-bying has grown precipitously in the United States, as has the total amount of campaign contributions by Political Action Committees (PACs). Political advertising appears to be on the rise. And the media report ever more frequently on the alleged influence of special inter-est groups and on the need for campaign reform. It seems critical that economists and political scientists come to understand better the role that Interest Groups play in the policy-making process. This has been 2 INTRODUCTION the main focus of our research for several years, as it has been for many others. This book collects eight of our previously published papers. We are reprinting these papers to provide a companion to our recently pub-lished treatise, Special Interest Politics (MIT Press, 2001). Whereas Special Interest Politics considers the various mechanisms by which Interest Groups influence policy decisions, this collection mostly contains applications of the theory to an important policy area.
No longer available |Learn more- John Geer, Richard Herrera, Wendy Schiller, Jeffrey Segal(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
The intensity with which each side holds its position discourages cross-group dialogue and makes it harder for elected officials to achieve a reasonable and widely acceptable resolution of the issue. Because an interest group seeks a favorable government response on a narrowly defined issue important to that group, the group can also create imbalances that verge on inequalities. Foreign Policy and International Groups Some Interest Groups address cross-border concerns. Foreign policy groups form to gener- ate support for favorable U.S. policies toward one or several foreign countries. International aid groups encourage citizens to provide voluntary assistance to people in need all over the world. International groups concerned with human rights work to call attention to viola- tions in the hopes of ending oppression. Groups That Influence Foreign Policy. One of the best-known organizations that seek to influence foreign policy is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). This group aims to ensure a strongly pro-Israel American foreign policy and uses public advocacy, member mobilization, and campaign contributions to influence members of Con- gress to support its goals. AIPAC first formed in the early 1950s, and it claims credit for get- ting the first aid package to Israel—$65 million to help relocate Holocaust refugees—passed by Congress in 1951. 18 Today, AIPAC has more than one hundred thousand active members and is widely considered to be one of the most influential groups of its kind in Washington. Groups That Advocate International Aid and Support for Human Rights. Religious organizations often encourage members to provide international assistance. For example, Catholic Relief Services sponsors the Global Solidarity Network, which allows college students to communicate with people living in small villages or towns in developing countries.
eBook - PDF- J David Kennamer(Author)
- 1994(Publication Date)
- Praeger(Publisher)
Public opinion (and the mass media impact on its formation) must be analyzed for its own potential political power. Interest group politics can be defined as "the wide variety of orga- nizations that seek joint ends through political action... with collective goals that are politically relevant" (Schlozman & Tierney, 1986, p. 10). One useful way to analyze the representation of interests in politics is to divide them into two broad categories: economic, private interests versus noneconomic, citizen or public interests (Schlozman & Tierney, 1986; Danielian, 1989). Although the organized interest group community in Washington, D.C., has grown substantially during the past 20 years, groups tend to be skewed toward the predominant representation of economic inter- ests (Schlozman & Tierney, 1986). 3 This business group bias has been noted by other researchers (e.g., Olson, 1965; Key, 1958; Lindblom, 1968), but no one sums it up better than Schattschneider: "The flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper class accent" (1960, p. 35). Both economic and noneconomic groups consider media relations as central to lobbying. Although there is an unfortunate paucity of research in this area, Schlozman and Tierney (1986) found that 86 percent of those groups represented in Washington, D.C., indicated that they used talking with the media as a technique of influence. When asked which of 27 various influence techniques were used more than in the past, talking with the media ranked first: 68 percent of all groups used this technique more than in the past. However, when the distinction be- tween economic and noneconomic interests is used, other significant differences emerge. Seventy-two percent of corporations and only 46 percent of citizen action groups employ public relations experts on staff.
eBook - PDFUnderstanding Democratic Politics
An Introduction
- Roland Axtmann(Author)
- 2003(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
16 Interest Groups Wyn Grant Interest Groups are sometimes called pressure groups and at other times lobbies. In a classic definition, Mackenzie defines the subject of study as ‘the field of organized groups pos-sessing both formal structure and real com-mon interests, in so far as they influence the decisions of public bodies’ (Mackenzie, 1975: 397). The term ‘pressure groups’ has never been popular with those who organize themselves to influence government, and the term ‘lobby’ even less so. ‘Interest group’ has sometimes had a narrower connotation, that of the sectional interest seeking to defend its position. It has been customary to divide groups into two categories: ‘sectional’ groups and ‘promotional’ or ‘cause’ groups. The first type of group appeals to a defined category of members such as workers in a particular industry or profession. Examples include the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU) and the British Medical Association (BMA). The second type of group appeals in principle to the whole population who are invited to support a particular cause. Examples include Amnesty International, Greenpeace and the Royal Society for the Pro-tection of Birds (RSPB). Some groups, how-ever, prefer to recruit a more restricted membership, emphasizing quality rather than quantity. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS In recent years there has been an increasing use of the term ‘non-governmental organiza-tion’. The term non-governmental organiza-tion (NGO) has been particularly developed within the context of the United Nations (UN), although it has gained a much wider application. Regulation 1996/31 defines NGOs as ‘any international organization which is not established by a governmental entity or international agreement’. The UN Charter itself made provision for formal par-ticipation of NGOs through the mechanism of consultative status granted through the UN Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC).
eBook - PDF- Edward Sidlow, Beth Henschen, Edward Sidlow(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Older American citizens are numerous, are politically active, and have a great deal at stake in debates over certain programs, such as Social Security and Medicare. As a result, groups representing them, such as AARP, can be a potent political force. Ideological Interest Groups Some Interest Groups are organized to promote not an economic interest or a collective identity but a shared political education or specialized training have organizations to protect and promote their interests. These groups are concerned mainly with the standards of their profes- sions, but they also work to influence government policy. Major professional groups include the American Medical Association (AMA), representing physicians; the American Bar Association, representing lawyers; and the American Association for Justice, representing trial lawyers. In addition, there are dozens of less well- known and less politically active professional groups, such as the National Association of Social Workers and the American Political Science Association. Competing interests sometimes divide professional Interest Groups from one another. For example, medi- cal groups contend that it is too easy for lawyers to sue physicians, insurance companies, and other businesses, and that generous settlements drive up the cost of health care and other goods. The AMA generally favors restrictions on such lawsuits. The American Association for Justice, naturally, opposes such changes. Public-Interest and Other Types of Groups Some Interest Groups have aims other than benefiting nar- row economic interests. These include so-called public- Interest Groups, which are formed with the broader goal of working for the “public good.” The American Civil Liberties Union and Common Cause are examples. Let there be no mistake, though, about the name public interest. There is no such thing as a clear public interest in a nation of 330 million diverse people.
eBook - PDFThe Vulnerability Thesis
Interest Group Influence and Institutional Design
- Lorelei Moosbrugger(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Yale University Press(Publisher)
1 1 INTEREST GROUP INFLUENCE AND INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN . . . the “problem” of contemporary interest group politics is one of repre-sentation. For particular interests, especially those that are well defined and adequately funded, the government is responsive on the issues of their greatest concern. But representation is not just a matter of responding to specific interests or citizens; the government also must respond to the collective needs of society, and here the success of individual interests may foreclose the possibility of overall responsiveness. —Loomis and Cigler, Interest Group Politics, 24 (emphasis added) Free societies cannot prevent Interest Groups from making demands on government, nor would they want to. Interest Groups are a natural product of political freedom and are as essential as voters to democracy. Interest Groups also perform important representative functions in demo-cratic polities. They provide voters a medium for civic engagement, they facilitate the articulation of intense societal preferences, and they provide policy makers with a breadth and depth of expertise invaluable to effective policy making. The question is, as Loomis and Cigler suggest, can political responsiveness to the specific preferences of organized groups foreclose government responsiveness to the collective needs of society? Our understanding of collective action dynamics suggests that it can. According to Olson, although it is rational for members of small groups to organize and pursue their policy goals, it is irrational for members of large groups to organize to oppose interest group initiatives. 1 Consequently, large groups fail to mobilize against small groups’ raids on the public purse, INTEREST GROUP INFLUENCE/INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN 2 even where majorities would clearly benefit from a collective response.
eBook - PDFA History of the U.S. Political System
Ideas, Interests, and Institutions [3 volumes]
- Richard A. Harris, Daniel J. Tichenor, Richard A. Harris, Daniel J. Tichenor(Authors)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- ABC-CLIO(Publisher)
This essay addresses three such areas: (1) the growth of the interest group community; (2) the changing policy-making process; and (3) the profession- alization of lobbying and influence. At each point, inter- actions between Interest Groups and government are regulated by existing institutional arrangements, like the distribution of authority among government officials or the laws regulating the activity of influence seekers, and organizational imperatives, such as the desire to obtain greater access than one’s competitors. As noted above, three main questions arise at the intersection of Interest Groups and American political development. First, while it is true that lobbying existed well before World War II, the roots of the cur- rent system lie in developments that occurred in the postwar era. While the interest group system of the 1950s and 1960s looks quite differently in the early 21st century, especially with respect to the number and variety of Interest Groups that are active, it is important to understand what is particularly different now about the universe of interests that stalk the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. How many new groups have formed? What sorts of interests do they represent? What other forms of political representation are avail- able for seeking influence that may compete with or complement the activities of Interest Groups? It is not only the composition of Interest Groups that has changed in recent decades but also the institutional context in which influence is exercised. Simply put, the 148 rules of influence have changed considerably and the number of avenues available to influence policy has expanded dramatically.
eBook - PDF- William M. Lunch(Author)
- 2023(Publication Date)
- University of California Press(Publisher)
200 The Nationalization of American Politics and the heady early years of the New Deal, one of the historic periods of political reform in this century. But there was a difference. In the sixties and seventies, the forces favoring political change institutionalized them- selves. The organizations resulting are known as public Interest Groups, although no one can really define what the "public interest" is. Traditional Interest Groups normally represent what is in pocket- books; the public Interest Groups represent what is in heads. That is, the public Interest Groups on both the left and the right are organized around ideas rather than economic needs or wants. These new groups do not yet dominate our politics, but they have enjoyed spectacular suc- cesses in a relatively brief period and have the potential to make further gains. Many of them are broadly involved in politics, attempting to influ- ence everything from foreign policy to subsidies to the arts, but there are also a significant number of new "single-issue" groups. In brief, traditional economic interests that were thought to be broadly representative of the population suffered a series of defeats dur- ing the tumultuous sixties and seventies. In response, traditional groups strengthened their Washington representation, hiring more lobbyists, ex- panding their efforts at persuasion, and organizing Political Action Com- mittees (PACs) when new laws allowed them to do so. Simultaneously, the proliferation of new programs and agencies in Washington led to the appearance of many new economic Interest Groups—most notably, agen- cies administering federal programs—and some existing groups revised their goals to put lobbying first and their traditional priorities second. Interest Groups IN THE OLD SYSTEM IN T H E O R Y AND PRACTICE Interest Groups in the old Washington were both powerful and, at least within their spheres of influence, expected to be so.
eBook - PDFThe Irony of Democracy
An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics
- Louis Schubert, Thomas Dye, Harmon Zeigler, , Louis Schubert, Thomas Dye, Harmon Zeigler, , Louis Schubert, Thomas Dye, Harmon Zeigler(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
C H A P T E R ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± 7 E LITES AND O RGANIZED I NTERESTS Organized Interest Groups, not “ the people, ” have the most direct day-to-day influ-ence over government. The “ public interest ” is a fiction, but organized interests are potent political realities in Washington, state capitals, and city halls. Interest group activity, including lobbying, is generally protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution —“ the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances. ” This is pluralism at work. In the United States there was always the idea of a diversity of interests. The original discussion of interest group politics is the focus of James Madison ’ s Feder-alist Number 10 , where the path to avoiding the “ tyranny of the majority ” is to encourage the existence of many factions, none of whom could bully the rest. The alternative view, that of Jean-Jacques Rousseau of France, spoke of society having a single “ general will, ” embodied by the government. Frequently, interest group politics is derided as a game of “ special interests ” versus the “ common interest. ” Ultimately, in the United States all interests are special; some just appear a bit more special than others. Interest Groups: PLURALIST OR ELITIST? Pluralists contend that Interest Groups perform several important functions for their members and for a democratic society. First, the organized group links the individual and the government. Political scientists Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba wrote, Voluntary associations are the prime means by which the function of mediating between the individual and the state is performed. Through them the individual is able to relate himself effectively and meaningfully to the political system. 1 Pluralists also argue that Interest Groups enhance individual well-being.
No longer available |Learn more- Bruce Miroff, Raymond Seidelman, Todd Swanstrom, Tom De Luca(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Analysis of the problem of collective action helps explain why producer groups dominated by a handful of corporations are more successful in organizing Interest Groups and obtaining favorable policies than consumer groups, which face the daunting challenge of mobilizing millions of dispersed consumers. In the 1960s and early 1970s, defying the collective action problem a distinct species of organized interest, the public interest group, flowered. A public interest group can be defined as any group seeking government action that will not principally benefit the members of the group. Special-Interest Groups seek benefits for their members; for example, a steel producers’ lobby seeks limits on imported steel to shut out foreign competition. A public interest group, on the other hand, seeks policies that, at least in the minds of its members, will benefit society as a whole. The League of Women Voters, which seeks a better-informed electorate, is a classic example of a public interest group. Environmental groups that advocate Copyright 201 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. The Rise of Public Interest Groups 245 for cleaner air, as well as religious groups such as the Christian Coalition, are public Interest Groups because everybody will presumably benefit, not just the members of the group. Public Interest Groups would appear to have a difficult time overcoming the collective action problem because their benefits are so widespread.
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