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AM GOV 2015-2016
Chapter 8 – Interest Groups in America
Learning Objectives
1. Explain what interest groups are and the different types of interests that they advocate.
2. Understand how the “rights revolution” led to an expansion in Washington-based
advocacy groups.
3. Describe which interest groups are the largest and the best financed, and which are
underrepresented and why.
4. Specify the various incentives interest groups use to sustain membership and
commitment.
5. Understand the difference between a strategy and a tactic, and know the different types of
strategies employed by interest groups.
6. Explain the different ways that lobbyists influence the three branches of government.
7. Discuss the various regulations affecting lobbying activity and the financing of political
campaigns.
8. Identify tactics other than lobbying that are used by interest groups to exert influence.
This chapter examines how interest groups organize to influence the political system for the
benefit of their collective interests. The main points of this chapter are:
• An interest group is an organization that seeks to use the power of the government to protect
their concerns. Interest group causes vary from the economic, to the ideological, to causes
that will benefit the public at large.
• Trade associations, professional associations, and groups advocating business interests have a
large number of members and tend to be well-financed. Many interests at the bottom of the
economic spectrum have little or no interest group representation.
• Interest groups use material, solidary, and purposive incentives to get and keep members.
• The overall plan of an interest group is a strategy. Interest groups employ both inside and
outside strategies. The specific actions undertaken by an interest group are their tactics.
IM – 8 | 1
© 2015-2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
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• Lobbyists seek to influence the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government
through various means such as providing information, influencing appointments, and filing
amicus curiae briefs.
• Concern over the inappropriate influence of lobbyists on elected officials and in campaign
financing led to legislative changes relating to such things as gifts, meals, trips, and
campaign contributions.
• Other tactics used by interest groups include 527 groups, grassroots mobilization, coalition
formation, and protests.
Chapter Summary
An interest group is any formally organized association that seeks to influence public policy.
The causes promoted by interest groups vary and include those with economic and ideological
interests and public interest groups that advocate policies that they believe promote the good of
all Americans. As with all forms of participation, the well-educated and financially well-off are
more active in interest groups.
Interest groups have exploded over the last forty years. Reasons for such growth include the fact
that America is a nation of joiners, as well as other forces such as technological innovation, war,
and the expansion of government. The national focus of the “rights revolution” of the 1950s and
1960s led to the massive expansion of Washington-based advocacy groups. While these groups
helped to spearhead many major initiatives and reforms, their existence has meant that political
engagement has become more passive as citizens have their interests managed for them.
There are many different types of interest groups. Business and professional associations are the
two largest groups. Business interests are well-represented in Washington and over 50 percent of
Washington lobbyists represent business interests. Interest groups employ various material,
solidary, and purposive incentives in order to keep members active and committed. Contrary to
rational choice theory, interest group leaders rank monetary benefits to be the least important
incentives. Leaders of all kinds of groups rank purposive incentives highest, with idealist
incentives close behind.
The overall plan of an interest group is its strategy, while the specific actions members undertake
are their tactics. Groups adopt strategies based on the types of issues involved and the resources
that they can bring to bear. Useful resources for advancing one’s cause include money, numbers,
prestige, and leadership.
Successful lobbyists are specialists in a policy area and have a thorough knowledge of the
political process. The movement between government service and interest group employment is
known as the revolving door. In working with Congress, lobbyists tend to work with key allies
rather than to try to convert opponents; avoid conflicts on big issues and concentrate on making
sure the details are to their advantage; and understand that it is easier to defeat a measure than to
pass a new one. In lobbying the executive branch, lobbyists influence rule makers though public
comment and testimony.
IM – 8 | 2
© 2015-2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
Concerns about inappropriate lobbying of governmental officials led to the 2007 Honest
Leadership and Open Government Act, which includes a ban on accepting gifts, meals, or trips
from lobbyists.
Financing of campaigns takes place within a web of complicated legal restrictions, which include
limits on contributions from political action committees (PACs). However, these regulations
have by no means leveled the playing field for political access.
Other tactics used by interest groups include the creation of super PACs and 527 groups;
accessing the courts through litigation and amicus curiae briefs; grassroots mobilization;
coalition formation; and protests.
As a result of structural changes in our political system, interest group politics are run mostly by
professionals in Washington. Accordingly, interest groups tend to manage interests from above
rather than involving the citizens they represent. Because of the busy lifestyles of Americans,
organized groups have come to realize that they must offer citizens a variety of participatory
options from check writing to hybrid national activation/local action techniques such as Internet
“meet ups.”
Major Concepts
1. interest group
2. political movement
3. public interest groups
4. lobbying
5. advocacy groups
6. political entrepreneur
7. collective goods
8. strategy
9. tactics
10. revolving door
11. iron triangle
12. issue networks
13. political actions committees (PACs)
14. leadership PACs
15. 527 groups
16. political disadvantage theory
17. grassroots mobilization
18. mobilizing the grass tops
19. astroturf lobbying
IM – 8 | 3
© 2015-2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
Lecture Outline
This lecture outline closely follows the text in its organization. The instructor can use this outline
as a lecture aid.
Interest groups are formally organized associations that seek to influence public policy.
• Theorists praise the collective action of voluntary associations as a way to create social
capital and as evidence of democracy at work.
• James Madison warned against “factions,” arguing that government must dilute the groups’
drive for self-interest through representative government and a proliferation of interest
groups, ensuring the compromises necessary to accommodate the common interests of all.
• Interest groups seek to use the power of the government to protect their concerns.
• Interest group causes vary from economic, to ideological, to public interest groups that
advocate policies that they believe will be for the good of all Americans.
• Interest group participation, like other forms of participation, is dominated by those who are
well-educated and financially well-off.
Interest group activity in the Unites States has exploded over the last forty years.
• The growth in interest groups has been attributed to many factors, including the fact that
Americans tend to be “joiners” and to other forces such as technological innovation, war, and
the expansion of the role of government.
• By the 1800s voluntary associations were already established in the U.S. and included
auxiliary societies to combat “evils” like drunkenness; abolitionist societies; and women’s
groups fighting for the right to vote.
• The term lobbying originated when economic change and advances in transportation caused
railroad interests to lobby Washington to protect subsidies, and farmers’ groups like the
Grange fought the high railroad rates for hauling produce.
• In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, labor organizations, veterans, and groups
with stakes in New Deal federal policies were formed.
• The national focus of the “rights revolution” of the 1950s and 1960s made a presence in
Washington imperative, and the number of advocacy groups in Washington increased
dramatically.
IM – 8 | 4
© 2015-2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
• The impact of advocacy groups is mixed: they are instrumental in protecting individual rights
and increasing consumer protections, yet they have contributed to a more passive role for
citizens and an overall decline in civic voluntarism.
Interest groups have varying resources available to them to achieve their goals.
• In terms of membership, business associations comprise the largest sector of the interest
group community, with professional associations second. Education and other advocacy
groups are growing quickly. State and local governments also organize for representation.
• Interest group representation is skewed toward the upper class with little or no representation
for groups such as the homeless or those who can’t afford health insurance.
• Monetary incentives are incentives that can be measured in terms of money, like goods,
special services, and financial incentives.
• Social incentives are more social in nature and include friendship and networking
opportunities.
• Idealist incentives are the inner satisfaction that group members gain from knowing that they
are advocating for a cause for which they believe.
• According to some, the rational choice is to be a free rider and enjoy the benefits without
doing the work or paying dues. Contrary to rational choice theory, monetary benefits are
ranked as the least important incentive while idealist incentives rank the highest.
In order to be effective, interest groups must develop a plan and execute it with specific actions.
• An interest group’s overall plan is its strategy and the specific actions that members
undertake are tactics.
• Inside strategies emphasize direct personal encounters with public officials to help impact the
course of policy. Outside strategies are intended to show popular support for one’s cause and
to indirectly create public pressure on elected officials.
IM – 8 | 5
© 2015-2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
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• Resources that are useful in advancing a group’s cause include money, numbers, prestige,
and leadership.
• Leadership from a variety of sources can generate momentum around previously ignored
issues.
Interest groups employ many different tactics in order to advance their position.
• An effective lobbyist must specialize in a policy area and have thorough knowledge of the
political process.
• The movement between government and interest group employment is known as the
revolving door. Defenders of this practice claim that it keeps knowledgeable people involved
in the policy process. Critics believe it raises ethical concerns, especially when a
governmental employee leaves to join an interest group he or she once regulated.
• Lobbying of the executive branch increased with the increase in federal regulation.
• Interest groups influence rule makers through public comment, challenging rules in court,
influencing the appointment of agency officials, and getting their representatives appointed to
advisory boards and commissions that provide guidance to executive agencies.
• Critics warn that interest groups may “capture” executive branch agencies by exercising too
much influence over the rules it writes and implements. They also worry about the iron
triangle decision-making process in which interest groups, congressional committees, and
executive agencies cooperate to advance each other’s goals.
• Regulating lobbying has been a hot topic in Washington dating back to the nineteenth
century. Congress recently passed the 2007 Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
that included a ban on accepting gifts, meals, or trips from lobbyists. This has by no means
leveled the playing field for political access.
• The financing of political campaigns has become more complicated and contentious over
time. Political action committees (PACs) are organized financial arms of interest groups that
collect and distribute money to candidates for elected office.
IM – 8 | 6
© 2015-2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
• In Buckley v. Valeo (1976) the Supreme Court ruled that caps on individual and PAC
contributions were constitutional. The McCain-Feingold bill limits money spent by political
parties and on advertising, as well as the permissible amount of PAC contributions. In 2010,
the Supreme Court struck down part of the McCain-Feingold bill—limits on the ability of
corporations to spend money to influence political campaigns—as unconstitutional.
• The 2010 Citizens United and Speechnow.org decisions allow super PACs to raise and spend
unlimited amounts of money in federal elections, but the spending cannot be directly
coordinated with the campaigns.
• Super PAC spending had a large impact in the 2012 presidential race and included very large
donations from megadonors.
Interest groups have successfully used tactics other than lobbying to promote their interests.
• Tactics used by lobbyists in relation to the judicial system include influencing who gets
nominated to the courts, engaging in litigation, especially test cases, and filing amicus curiae
briefs.
• Interest groups organize citizens to exert direct pressure on public officials through
grassroots mobilization. They hire public relations firms to “mobilize the grass tops,” which
means mobilizing high-status community leaders to contact members in key districts to
promote the interest group’s position.
• Groups forge coalitions to expand their access to resources and information, increase their
visibility, and enlarge their scope of influence.
• Protesting is a common tactic among those with little direct access to the centers of power
and is generally used by groups who have few other means for making their voices heard.
Interest group politics are often run by professionals in Washington as a result of the structural
changes in our political system.
• Interest groups offer a variety of participatory options from check writing, to helping citizens
contact local representatives, to more hybrid techniques that combine local and national
action, like Internet “meet ups.”
Below are suggestions for lectures or lecture topics that will complement the text. In general,
these topics assume that students have read the chapter beforehand.
IM – 8 | 7
© 2015-2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
• Pluralists may argue that nearly all of society’s interests are adequately represented through
the activities of groups. However, the interest-group system over-represents business
interests and higher income groups. Is this a minor shortcoming in the pluralist framework, or
a basic flaw undermining the entire argument?
• Discuss the impact of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision by the
Supreme Court in 2010. Many warned that the decision would open the “floodgates” of
corporate money and undue business influence on the political process. Has this proven to be
the case, or is it too soon to tell? Does the decision impact only business interests, or will it
have an effect across the lobbying spectrum? Does the decision have the potential to help one
of the two major American political parties more than the other, or will both parties benefit in
similar ways?
• James Madison identified the conflict between the advocacy of self-interest in a free society
and the government’s duty to promote the public interest. What changes in the political
process will help temper the role of special interests without undermining the liberty of
the individual?
• The constitutional systems of separation of powers and checks and balances provide interest
groups with numerous opportunities to influence the decision-making process, albeit at the
expense of the common good. Ask students to identify aspects of the political process that
favor private over public interest. Have them consider whether or not institutional changes
are advisable to protect the greater public good.
Below are suggestions for class discussion topics. In general, these topics assume that students
have read the chapter beforehand.
• Hold a class debate on whether the revolving door phenomenon is a good or bad feature of
interest group politics in America. Does it keep those most knowledgeable about key issues
active in the policymaking process and does this promote good policy? Or does it offer too
many opportunities for policymakers to enrich themselves with interest group money once
they have left office? Are the current laws regulating revolving door politics adequate?
Should they be strengthened? If so, how?
• Let’s say you represent the National Association of Homebuilders. You discover that a
Congressman has introduced a bill to limit the tax deduction for interest payments on home
mortgages. This bill, if passed, will have a devastating effect on your members since it limits
the tax incentive for buying a home. Map out a series of tactics—both inside and outside—
for defeating this bill.
• Do protest marches and demonstrations have an impact on policy? Conduct some research
into the history of civil rights and anti war protests of the 1950s and 1960s. Is there any
evidence that the protests worked as an outside strategy to change public opinion in ways that
IM – 8 | 8
© 2015-2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
brought about real change? Is there evidence that they put pressure on key policymakers to
change course in the direction advocated by the protestors? Do demonstrations continue to
hold relevance for the policymaking process or have they outlived their usefulness as a tactic
to bring about change?
• How do the Citizens United and Speechnow.org decisions affect the ability of interest groups
to sway elections in the United States? Does the end of limits on donations and spending by
private groups threaten American democracy?
• It is routine for Americans to criticize special interests. However, nearly all citizens are a part
of one or more special interests. Have students evaluate their personal ties to special interests
and consider the group system in the context of their personal situation.
IM – 8 | 9
© 2015-2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
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DECORATIONS awarded to Norman Prince by the French Government
CROIX DE GUERRE (Red and green ribbon)
Star, won for being cited in L’Ordre du Jour of his Division for having been the only
one of twenty-five aviators to reach Douai in 1915.
First Palm, won for being cited in L’Ordre du Jour of the French Army for having
brought down an enemy avion.
Second Palm, for having brought down two enemy avions on the same day—at
the same time receiving the
Third Palm, cited in L’Ordre du Jour for having brought down a fourth enemy avion,
and for meritorious service in a raid on the Mauser ammunition works at
Oberndorf—at the same time receiving the
MÉDAILLE MILITAIRE (Yellow and green ribbon)
CROIX DE LA LÉGION D’HONNEUR (Red ribbon)
Rev. Dr. Endicott Peabody of the Groton School wrote: “I must tell
you how deeply Mrs. Peabody and I sympathize with you in
Norman’s death. He gave his life in a great cause. That will be a
comfort to you both, and he met his death with the courage that is
characteristic of his family. Even with these considerations, I realize
that your hearts must be heavy. It will please you to know that one of
Norman’s classmates at Groton, who had followed his career in
France with keen interest, has sent a contribution toward a memorial
that he desires established at the school.”
Speaking for the Harvard Class of 1909 of which Norman was a
member, its Secretary, Francis A. Harding, said: “On behalf of the
Harvard Class of 1909, I wish to express the very deep regret which
every Harvard man, and especially every classmate of Norman’s,
has felt after reading the announcement of his death in France. To
those of us who knew Norman intimately, the news of his death
comes as a distinct shock, and every member of our class feels
proud to have known and to have been affiliated with one who had
the courage to give in such a noble way everything he possessed to
the great cause in which he believed.”
From South Carolina Senator Tillman wrote: “Your son gave his
young life in defense of what all of us know is a sacred cause. He
was a twentieth century Lafayette, a modern knight errant whose
statue will yet grace the capital of France. Prince? Yes, a Prince
indeed—‘sans peur et sans reproche.’”
Many other thoughtful and tender messages came from others,
friends and strangers, at home and abroad, testifying their
commingled sorrow and admiration. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
telegraphed from Washington this tribute:
TO NORMAN PRINCE
From a Boston Boy, in France, American Ambulance Field Service,
October 20, 1916.
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