This document discusses the interest group system in the United States. It defines interest groups and differentiates them from political parties. It outlines the different types of interest groups including economic, professional, citizens, and ideological groups. It also describes the strategies interest groups use to lobby and influence public policy, including acquiring access to officials, supplying information, grassroots lobbying, political donations, and electoral activities. Finally, it notes that while interest groups make important contributions to democracy, the system is biased in favor of economic groups.

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Chapter 9

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The Interest-Group System
Interest group: any organization that seeks to influence
public policy
Differs from a political party in that parties address a broad
range of issues
Federalism and separation of powers fuels interest groups
Tocqueville: “a nation of joiners”

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The Interest-Group System
Economic groups
Business groups
Labor groups
Farm groups
Professional groups
Material incentives

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The Interest-Group System
Citizens’ groups
Purposive incentives
Groups based on social groupings
Single-issue groups
Ideological groups
Citizens’ groups difficult to classify

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The Interest-Group System
The organizational edge: economic groups versus
citizens’ groups
Unequal access to resources
 Private goods versus collective goods
 The free rider problem
The advantages and disadvantages of size
 The size factor: business groups smaller and more
efficient
 AARP and strength in numbers

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Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence
through Official Contacts
Acquiring access to officials
“Revolving door”
Supply officials with information—policy support
Lobbyists must understand both the issues and the process
Money is key element—amount contributed is staggering

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Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence
through Official Contacts
Acquiring access to officials
Lobbying Congress
Lobbying the executive branch
Lobbying the courts

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Inside Lobbying: Seeking Influence
through Official Contacts
Webs of influence: groups in the policy process
Iron triangles
 Bureaucrats, lobbyists, legislators
 Small, informal, stable
Issue networks
 Officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists
 Temporary
 More frequent than iron triangles

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Outside Lobbying: Seeking
Influence through Public Pressure
Constituency advocacy: grassroots lobbying
Specialty of the AARP
Members of the public try to get lawmakers’ attention

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Outside Lobbying: Seeking
Influence through Public Pressure
Electoral action: votes and money
PACs (political action committees)
 Funneling a group’s election contributions
 PAC contributions limited to $10,000 per candidate for
each election cycle
 Most PACs associated with business
 Give much more heavily to incumbents

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Outside Lobbying: Seeking
Influence through Public Pressure
Electoral action: votes and money
Super PACs or independent-expenditure-only-committees
(IEOCs)
 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
 Not allowed to contribute/coordinate directly to the party
or candidate
 Unrestricted fundraising and spending
 Disclosure of donors not required

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The Group System: Indispensable but
Biased in Favor of Economic Groups
The contribution of groups to self-government: pluralism
Serving the “public interest”?
Flaws in pluralism
Interest-group liberalism
Not equally representative

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The Group System: Indispensable but
Biased in Favor of Economic Groups
A Madisonian dilemma
A free society must allow pursuit of self-interest.
Checks and balances work to protect rights, but also
exaggerate the influence of minorities.
Groups can wield too much influence over individual
policies or agencies.