Interest Groups

11/28/2011

Clearly Communicated Learning Objectives in Written Form

• Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:– discuss and critically analyze political events in the

United States government– students will be able to identify and explain the

role of informal institutions and their effect on policy.

Office Hours and Readings

• Pp 130-151• Office Hours– Tuesday 8-12– Wednesday 8-10:30

Resources of Interest Groups

• Money and Size

• Intensity

• Cohesion

• Access

TACTICS OF INTEREST GROUPSDirect Lobbying

Direct Lobbying

• Traditional Interest group tactic

• All about making contacts

• Exchanging Resources

Direct Lobbying

• An Exchange of Resources

• What Resources do interest groups have for legislators?

• What resources do legislators have for interest groups

The Revolving Door

• 1 year moratorium

• People move out of Congress and on to “K” Street

Why former Congressmen?

• Familiarity

• Ability to get access

Direct Lobbying is not Cheap

INDIRECT LOBBYINGTactics of Interest Groups

What is Outsider/Indirect Lobbying

• Pressure from outside the beltway

• Pressure without direct contact

Tactics of Indirect Lobbying

• Electoral Threats

• Using the media to shape opinion

• Reports and publications

Politicians dislike indirect tactics

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAILInterest groups and the electoral connection

Why Get involved?

• You want to keep people you trust in position

• You want to control the agenda

Getting the membership active

• Encouraging members to donate

• Hitlists

• Scorecards

How Much Can Members Give?

SPENDING MONEY

Money is a form of Political Speech

• Buckley v. Valeo

• At the federal level, fundraising is not capped

• Neither are expenditures

Political Action Committees

• The Money Giving Arm of an Interest Group

• Can Give $5,000 per candidate per election

Different PACs have different Goals

• Issue PACS

• Labor PACS

• Ideological PACS

• Leadership PACS

PACS Give to Safe Seats

• Money flows to safe seats

• Giving money to losers has no return on investment

• If I wanted to buy seats, I would give to underdogs and closer races

Pacs Give To Incumbents

• I care about the issues, not the label

• I want to keep my supporters in office

• Keep my enemies out

PACS Give to People Who Already Support them

• “Corporations Love Everyone”

• You want them to get reelected

• You want them to continue to support your ideas

PACS do not Give To Undecided Members

• Money could convince them to vote my way

• But what if it doesn’t

• Its safer to hang on to it

PACS do not give to their enemies

• My money is not going to change their votes

• They won’t take my money anyway

The Goal Of PAC Money

• Access

• A chance to meet with legislators

• Ensure my views are represented

UNCONVENTIONAL STRATEGIES

What are Unconventional Strategies

• Things outside of traditional lobbying

• Using events and media coverage to gather support

• Can border on legality

Why Groups Use Unconventional Strategies

• Lack the Traditional Resources of powerful interest groups

• Convential strategies may not work

• The group is committed to the message

Problems of Unconvential Strategies

Wrong Coverage No Coverage

Unconventional Strategies Can Backfire

9 out of 10 times Grassroots is a euphemism for poor or unorganized

Astroturf Movements

• “fake grassroots”

• Sponsored by a few donors, a union, or a corporation

• Ross Perot was one of the first

PROBLEMS OF INTEREST GROUPS

The System is Biased

• It is not a fair system

• All components of interest group power are not distributed evenly

Representational Inequality

Access Inequality

• Benefits Matter

• Some Groups will never form

• Some groups will form easily

Resource Inequalities

• Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission

• Communications can include the magic words

• Cannot be in conjunction with a candidate or party

Independent Expenditures in 2010

From The Right From The Left

“The Flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper class accent”.