2. A Nation of Interests
Interest Groups
A collection of people who
share some common interest or
attitude and seek to influence
government for specific ends.
Interest groups usually work
within the framework of
government and employ tactics
such as lobbying to achieve
their goals.
Movement
A large body of people
interested in a common issue,
idea, or concern that is of
continuing significance and who
are willing to take action.
Movements seek to change
attitudes or institutions, not just
politics.
3. The Politics of Influence
• The 2004 presidential election featured ads by
interest groups
• Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
• Video One
• Video Two
• MoveOn
• The Media Fund
• Known as “527s” due to their classification in
the IRS tax code
• Able to raise/spend unlimited amounts of
money as long as the expenditures were
independent of the candidates/parties
4. Interest Groups Past and Present:
The “Mischiefs of Faction”
• Faction: A term the founders used to refer to
political parties and special interests or interest
groups (Federalist Papers)
• Madison believed that factions were “united and actuated
by some common impulse of passion, or of interest,
adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent
and aggregate interests of the community.”
• He argued that “the causes of faction cannot be removed,
and…relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling
its effects.”
• Pluralism: A theory of government that holds that
open, multiple, and competing groups can check the
asserted power by any one group (Interest Groups)
5. Types of Interest Groups:
Economic Interest Groups
• Business
• Trade and other associations
• Labor
• Professional associations
7. Labor Force and Union Membership, 1930-2007
What has happened to their political influence?
8. Labor
• Open shop: A company with a labor
agreement under which union
membership cannot be required as a
condition of employment
• Closed shop: A company with a labor
agreement under which union
membership can be a condition of
employment
• Free rider: An individual who does
not join a group representing his or
her interests, yet receives the benefit
of the group’s influence
9. Types of Interest Groups:
Ideological or Single-Interest Groups
-Christian Coalition
-NRA
-NARAL
-Club for Growth
10. Types of Interest Groups:
Public Interest Groups
• Unsafe at Any Speed
• (1965) Led to seatbelt laws
• Founded Public Citizen; “Nader’s Raiders”
• Ran for president as Green Party candidate in
1996 and 2000, and as independent in 2004
and 2008
Ralph Nader
11. Types of Interest Groups: Foreign Policy and Public Sector Interest
Groups
Foreign Policy Interest Groups
• Council on Foreign Relations
• American-Israel Political Action
Committee
Public Sector Interest Groups
• National Governors Association
• National League of Cities
• National Educational Association
12. Interest Groups:
Cohesiveness
Types of members in an organization
Small number
of formal
members
People intensely involved with
the group
People who are members in name only
13. Interest Groups:
Techniques for Exerting Influence
Publicity, Mass Media,
Internet
Direct Contact with
Government
Litigation
Campaign Contributions
Forming a Political Party
Cooperative Lobbying
Mass Mailing
14. Who are the Lobbyists?
• Lobbyist: A person who is employed by and acts for an organized
interest group or corporation to try to influence policy decisions
and positions in the executive and legislative branches
• Revolving door: An employment cycle in which individuals who
work for government agencies that regulate interests eventually
end up working for interest groups or businesses with the same
policy concern (what problem does this create?)
15. Who are the Lobbyists?
The Iron Triangle
Interest groups
Members of Congress
Bureaucratic leaders and
experts
Issue network: Relationships among interest groups,
congressional committees and subcommittees, and the
government agencies that share a common concern
16. Money and Politics
PAC
The political arm of an interest group that is
legally entitled to raise funds on a voluntary
basis from members, stockholders, or
employees in order to contribute funds to
favored candidates or political parties
Soft Money
Money raised in unlimited amounts by
political parties for party-building purposes
Hard Money
Political contributions given to a party,
candidate, or interest group that are limited
in amount and fully disclosed
17. Money and Politics
• Bipartisan Campaign
Reform Act (2002)
• Largely banned party soft
money; restored long-
standing prohibition on
corporations and labor
unions for using general
treasury funds for electoral
purposes
• Narrowed the definition of
issue advocacy
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz)., second
left, and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-
Wisc) smile during a news
conference following the signing
of the BCRA
