Interest Groups and Political Parties

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Chapter 7 Interest Groups and Political Parties
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• What is an Interest Group?
• an organized group of individuals
• who share common goals or objectives
• who attempt to influence policymakers in all
  three branches of government, and at all levels
• When a person contacts a representative about a
  proposed change in the law, that person is
  Lobbying, or attempting to influence, the
  government

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• What is a political party?
• a group of activists who organize to win
  elections, to operate the government and to
  determine public policy
• Differences Interest Groups sharpen the issues
• Political Parties blur the issues

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• Types of Interest Groups
• Economic Interest Groups groups formed to
  promote economic interests (These are among the
  major interest groups)
• Business Interest Groups business and trade
  organizations that attempt to influence
  government policy to their benefit
• Agricultural Interest Groups- advocate for farm
  interests
• they enjoy disproportionate influence
• Labor Interest Groups groups that represent the
  working class interests
• Public Employee Interest Groups interest groups
  that represent employees of governments,
  including the American Federation of State,
  County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and
  teachers
• Public-sector unions are the fastest growing
  labor organizations
• Interest Groups of Professionals interest
  groups that advocate for professional
  associations, like the American Bar Association
  and the American Medical Association

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• Types of Interest Groups (cont.)
• Environmental Interests groups that advocate
  for pro-environmental policies, including the
  Sierra Club, the National Audubon Society and the
  Nature Conservancy
• Public Interest Groups groups that advocate the
  interests of the collective, overall community
• It is hard to define because there are so many
  publics
• Common Cause largest, to reorder national
  priorities toward the public
• Special, or Single-Issue Interest Groups
  narrowly focused interest groups
• Examples include abortion interest groups and
  groups that advocate for individuals who share a
  racial, ethnic or age association
• AARP The strongest lobbying group in the United
  States
• Foreign Govts. and private foreign interests have
  lobbyists (EU)

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• Interest Group Strategies
• They try to cultivate long-term relationships
  with legislators and government officials.
• Direct Techniques
• Lobbying meeting officials and attempting to
  convince of your position on an issue Lobbying
  also entails
• testifying before congressional committees
• testifying before executive rulemaking agencies
• assisting in the drafting of legislation
• entertaining legislators
• providing information to legislators
• assisting in nominating individuals o government
  posts
• Ratings scoring legislators based on their
  votes in congress, then making interested
  constituents aware of those scores
• Campaign Assistance providing workers for
  political campaigns
• Political Action Committees a committee that
  raises money and gives donation on behalf of
  organizations to political candidates or
  political parties.

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• Indirect Techniques
• Generating Public Pressure trying to influence
  the government by using public opinion on an
  issue. The use of polling data
• Using Constituents as Lobbyists
• shotgun approach means having large numbers of
  constituents act in concert by writing, emailing,
  phoning or sending postcards to a legislator
• rifle approach involves having an influential
  constituent contact a legislator on a particular
  issue
• Building Alliances forming alliances with other
  diverse groups who share a policy goal

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• Attempts at Regulating Lobbyists
• Lobbyist Any person or organization that
  received money to be used principally to
  influence legislation before Congress (1946)
• Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946
• provided for public disclosure (register)
• failed because it did not have an enforcement
  mechanism
• United States v. Harriss (1954) confirmed the
  constitutionality of the Legislative
  Reorganization Act Influencing federal
  legislation directly
• Some regulations on lobbying that passed in
  1995-96 included
• defining lobbyist as anyone who spends 20
  percent of his/her time lobbying members of
  congress, congressional staffs, or executive
  branch officials
• requiring lobbyists to register with the
  Secretary of the House or clerk of the Senate
• requiring semiannual reports on the nature of
  lobbying activities

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• Functions of Political Parties in the United
  States
• A group that seeks to win elections, operate the
  government, and determine public policy
• Factions are subgroups within parties that try to
  obtain certain benefits for themselves
• Parties are permanent, factions are not. Parties
  do the following
• Recruiting candidates for public office
• Organizing and running elections
• Voter registration drives, work at polls,
  campaign workers
• Presenting alternative policies to the electorate
• Accepting responsibility for operating the
  government
• Acting as the organized opposition to the party
  in power
• The out party is supposed to articulate its own
  policies and oppose the winning party when
  appropriate
• The party functions are usually carried out by a
  small cadre of party activists which is
  different from Europes mass-membership party
  organizations

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• Why Do We Have a Two-Party System?
• Its been around since the early 1800s
• historical foundations of the system
• class politics
• sectional politics East/West then North/South
  then Northeast/South and West then National
  Politics
• But, there has always been some form of class
  politics
• self-perpetuation of parties
• Political socialization
• commonality of views among Americans
• Shared beliefs, values and principles of our
  governmental system
• the winner-take all electoral (plurality) system
• This makes it tough for minor parties
• state and federal laws favoring the two party
  system
• Major parties need fewer signatures to place
  candidates on ballots
• Not eligible for federal matching funds for
  elections, debates

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• Minor or Third Parties in the United States
• most successful minor parties have been splinter
  parties, parties that broke from a major party
• Examples on Page 175
• Bull Moose Progressives of 1912 (from the
  Republicans)
• the American Independent Party of 1968 (from the
  Democrats)
• often, minor parties platforms are adopted by
  major parties
• sometimes minor party candidates can have an
  impact on the outcome of an election

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• Hot Links to Selected Internet Resources
• http//www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_prod
  ucts_wp.pl?fidM2discipline_number20product_isb
  n_issn0534592651
• http//www.wadsworth.com/politicalscience
• http//www.ipl.org/ref/AON
• http//www.democrats.org/index.html
• http//www.rnc.org

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