The document summarizes a chapter from an American politics textbook about interest groups. It defines interest groups as organizations that aim to influence policy through electioneering and lobbying. It discusses different types of interest groups and how they are organized. It also outlines strategies interest groups use to influence policymakers, such as direct lobbying, drafting legislation, and shaping public opinion. Additionally, it examines challenges interest groups face in overcoming collective action problems and getting members to participate.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
Safalta Digital marketing institute in Noida, provide complete applications that encompass a huge range of virtual advertising and marketing additives, which includes search engine optimization, virtual communication advertising, pay-per-click on marketing, content material advertising, internet analytics, and greater. These university courses are designed for students who possess a comprehensive understanding of virtual marketing strategies and attributes.Safalta Digital Marketing Institute in Noida is a first choice for young individuals or students who are looking to start their careers in the field of digital advertising. The institute gives specialized courses designed and certification.
for beginners, providing thorough training in areas such as SEO, digital communication marketing, and PPC training in Noida. After finishing the program, students receive the certifications recognised by top different universitie, setting a strong foundation for a successful career in digital marketing.
A review of the growth of the Israel Genealogy Research Association Database Collection for the last 12 months. Our collection is now passed the 3 million mark and still growing. See which archives have contributed the most. See the different types of records we have, and which years have had records added. You can also see what we have for the future.
Introduction to AI for Nonprofits with Tapp NetworkTechSoup
Dive into the world of AI! Experts Jon Hill and Tareq Monaur will guide you through AI's role in enhancing nonprofit websites and basic marketing strategies, making it easy to understand and apply.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty, In...Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty,
International FDP on Fundamentals of Research in Social Sciences
at Integral University, Lucknow, 06.06.2024
By Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
25. Outside Strategies
grassroots e-mail,
letter, or phone
campaigns
contributing to
election campaigns
getting media
coverage
of their cause
Inside Strategies
meeting with
lawmakers
drafting legislation
providing research
and testimony
taking the
government to court
How it works: in theory
26. Do we have a deal? And they’re off! Gathering forces.
Making introductions. Running ads. Funding trips.
Inside strategies
Outside strategies
How it works: in practice
27. Going right to the source. We still have a deal!
September 2, 2015
Deadline for Congress to
disapprove the deal
passes without action.
Continued
The debate over federal direct student loans pitted well-funded banks and other financial institutions against millions of college students and their parents. Did the banks’ ability to lobby members of Congress and bureaucrats translate into a policy victory?
These data show that in recent years interest groups have spent several billion dollars lobbying the federal government. Does this amount seem surprisingly large or surprisingly small, given what lobbyists do and given the total federal outlays of money?
These data show that in recent years interest groups have spent several billion dollars lobbying the federal government. Does this amount seem surprisingly large or surprisingly small, given what lobbyists do and given the total federal outlays of money?
Lobbying expenditures vary widely. Some influential groups (such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year, but many other influential groups (such as the NARAL and the Family Research Council) spend relatively little. How can groups have influence over government policy despite spending almost nothing on lobbying?
Many interest groups speak for large numbers of Americans, but some lobby for changes that would benefit only a few people or a single corporation. The Coalition for Luggage Security, for example, has only one member: a company that specializes in shipping travelers’ baggage, which would gain considerable business if the coalition’s lobbying efforts Succeeded.
Different organizational structures have trade-offs. Centralized organizations can be more efficient but don’t tend to learn what their members want. Confederations have a good understanding what their members want but are often beset by conflict as one local chapter’s goals conflict with the goals of another chapter.
Interest group (IG) staff typically have expertise of the policy area or else have experience in Congress, have connections, and the expertise on how government works. This need for connections has led to the revolving door, where people move back and forth between government and lobbying groups.
Interest groups use a variety of tactics to draw attention to their concerns, including events designed to generate media coverage. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), known for its bold media campaigns, stationed a life-size mechanical elephant outside the Ringling Bros. circus to protest the company’s treatment of its elephants. @peta
What real-world examples of free riding can you think of? If one person shows up to a pot luck meal and claims he or she had no food in the house to bring, it works. But if too many people do it, there’s not enough food to go around.
An example that students have often experienced is group work with a common grade. If everyone gets the same grade, then the grade is a public good but individual members have an incentive to slack off (free ride) and hope that a more motivated student picks up the slack and earns them all an A.
The origin of the term free ride comes from the days of streetcars. You were supposed to get on in the front and pay your fare. But mischievous (or poor) children would jump on the back of the streetcar and get a free ride. However, if everyone free rides, then no one does the work to convince lawmakers and the policy does not get passed.
Studies show that people join interest groups either out of a sense of internal obligation or duty, external coercion, or selective incentives.
AAA (formerly the Automobile Association of America) is a wellknown provider of emergency road service, yet few people are aware of its role as an interest group that lobbies for a wide range of policy changes and builds awareness of key transportation issues. #AAA
[For more on each type of strategy see the following slides.]
There are a host of inside strategies. Nearly all interest groups dedicate time to the first three: direct lobbying, drafting legislation and regulations, and offering expertise through research and in hearings and sworn testimony.
Litigation is less common as it is costly and time-consuming. Nonetheless, it can be an effective way of shaping policy.
The American Civil Liberties Union is an interest group that often uses litigation strategies in its efforts to change government policy. Here, members of the ACLU chapter in Washington State announce their filing of an abortion rights lawsuit against several local hospitals. #ACLU
Mass protests such as the 2014 People's Climate March in New York City are intended to attract media attention and demonstrate the depth of public support for a group’s goals.
An interest group’s ability to engage in electioneering depends on how it is organized—specifically, what section of the IRS code applies to the organization. The following table gives details on four common organizations: 501(c) organizations, 527 organizations, PACs, and so-called Super PACs. Therefore, many choose to contribute money to nonprofits organized as 501(c)(4) groups, which can lobby and engage in electioneering as long as their “primary activity” (at least half of their overall activity) is not political.
Although estimates of total campaign spending suggest that donors have tremendous influence over candidates, the reality is more complicated. Contributions don’t buy victories; a substantial amount of campaign cash goes to administrative costs or is distributed across many candidates, and some organizations spend surprisingly little on campaign contributions. How could you use this data to argue against claims that interest groups are all-powerful players in American elections?
Conventional wisdom says that business interest groups have too much power over policy outcomes in Washington. But what do the numbers say?
To address this question, a group of political scientists tracked a series of issues through years of lobbying, congressional debate, legislative action, and implementation by the bureaucracy. Their goal was to determine whether business groups were successful in getting what they want from Congress, particularly when their efforts were opposed by citizen groups or government officials. Here’s what they found:
Source: Marie Hojnacki, Kathleen Marchetti, Frank Baumgartner, Jeff rey M. Berry, David C. Kimball, and Beth L. Leech, “Assessing Business Advantage in Washington Lobbying,” Interest Groups and Advocacy 4 (2015): 206–24.
While many observers credit lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry for policies such as the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (and its ban on importing medicines), favorable public opinion, the efforts of the AARP, and bureaucrats’ independent judgments probably had greater influence on passing the Drug Benefit Act. @PHRMA @AARP
Interest groups are most successful when their issues do not run against citizen preferences. Bills that are not salient mean that legislators do not have to worry about electoral reprisal. Similarly, issues that do not have entrenched opponents are simple to resolve. Last, no matter what, it is easier to fight change in Washington, D.C., than enact it. The next chapter details how many places in Congress a bill can be killed, and how hard it is to enact a law.
If you have ever heard of the National Turkey Federation, it’s probably because of its participation in the annual presidential “pardoning” of a turkey before Thanksgiving. The federation’s relative anonymity has been beneficial: its effort to increase the amount of turkey served in federally funded school lunches was aided by most Americans’ lack of awareness of the proposal. @TurkeyGal
When scandals surrounding Jack Abramoff came to light in 2005, many Americans considered him a typical lobbyist. Abramoff’s actions were illegal, but the question remains: Are his tactics common in Washington, or was he a rare exception?
Conservative Super PACs, such as the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC), hold conventions that give candidates a venue to present themselves to conservative activists and donors. @CPAC
While Congress has considered various forms of gun control legislation in recent years, the NRA has been successful at blocking such measures at the federal level and even liberalizing state-level gun laws. Members of the NRA and other gun rights supporters are gathered here in the Texas state capital to rally against stricter limits on firearms. @NRA
President Barack Obama uses the headquarters of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce to propose making the corporate tax code simpler. By having Obama speak at their headquarters, the Chamber signals their strong support for the proposal, in effect lobbying every member of Congress without having to make a single visit to the Capital. @USChamber