In my last lecture, I told you that by the fifth century CE, the R.docx

In my last lecture, I told you that by the fifth century CE, the
Roman Empire as it had been
known for the past almost 1000 years fell apart. It had been in
decline for a couple centuries
before, and one of the tell-tale signs of this was the growing
divide in the Empire between the
East and the West. In this lecture, we’re going to talk about the
civilizations that emerged from
the two sides of the former Roman Empire, and we’re also going
to discuss another invading
group that came to form a pillar of medieval Europe. More
specifically, we’re going to discuss
the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Civilization of Western Europe,
and Islamic Civilization, all of
which became big players in the Western World between 500
and 900 CE. These three
civilizations are also important because they form they
foundation of modern civilization. It was
during this time period between 500 and 900 that the Western
World began to look a little bit
closer to how we see it today.
[SLIDE] We have a few questions to ask about this time period
and the three civilizations that
go with it. We’re going ask: 1 What were the primary goals of
the Byzantine Emperor Justinian
in the 6th century CE? 2. What was the Iconoclastic
Controversy? 3. Why was the spread of
Islam so successful? And 4. How did Charlemagne influence the
geography, politics, and culture
of the Franks in Gaul?
[SLIDE] By 450 CE, most of the western provinces of the
Roman Empire had fallen to
Barbarian invaders. The Romans held on to Italy for a while
longer, but in 476, the Italian

Peninsula also fell to Barbarians. Consequently, most historians
designate the year 476 as the end
of the Roman Empire in the West. Only the eastern part
remained of the Roman Empire. This
eastern part of the former Roman Empire is colored yellow on
the map on your screen. This
reduced form of the Roman Empire was called the Byzantine
Empire, or Byzantium.
Interestingly, the residence of the Byzantine Empire still
thought of themselves as Roman, as the
heirs of the former glorious empire. They also retained the same
imperial government with one
emperor. As we'll see in this lecture and in the coming lectures,
the Byzantine Empire would
continue to change over the centuries, but it would remain in
existence until the 1400s.
[SLIDE] One of the most important emperors of the Byzantine
Empire was Justinian. Justinian
defied convention in a couple of different ways. First, he was
the last emperor to speak Latin as
his native language. In addition, he married a former actress
named Theodora. [SLIDE] Here's
an image of Justinian and Theodora as depicted in a mosaic
from the time period. Today, we
tend to think of acting as a pretty respectable profession. But at
this time, acting, and particularly
actresses, were connected with prostitution and had less than
pristine reputations. Making
Justinian's choice for a wife even more controversial, Theodora
had a very strong personality,
and she wasn't afraid to voice her opinions on politics and
religion. She wasn't the stereotypical
subdued and silent empress.
[SLIDE] One of Justinian's primary goals as emperor was to
unify the Byzantine Empire and
demonstrate his authority as emperor. He did this by creating

the Corpus Juris Civilis in 534 CE.
Prior to Justinian, most emperors had allowed conquered people
to retain their own laws and
customs. While this encouraged less revolts and uprisings from
conquered people, in the long
run, it created a lot of confusion. Consequently, Justinian
ordered his lawyers to sort through all
the laws of his empire and determine which of them should be
enforced. What Justinian's
lawyers kept became came the Corpus Juris Civilis. And he
enforced this single law code
throughout his territories. Justinian's other major goal was to
take back the Western Roman
Empire from the Barbarian invaders. In 533, Justinian's army
succeeded in retaking parts of
North Africa and Southern Spain from the Vandals without
much effort. Encouraged by this easy
victory, Justinian set his sights on Italy in 537, which was
currently under the control of the
Ostrogoths. But retaking Italy did not prove as easy as Justinian
had anticipated. The main
obstacle he faced was that the Ostrogoths had been pretty nice
to the Romans living in Italy.
Consequently, many former Romans supported the Ostrogoths in
resisting Justinian. Justinian
eventually regained Italy. [SLIDE] This is what the Byzantine
Empire looked like under
Justinian once he finished his conquest. On the map, the
Byzantine Empire is colored pink.
Justinian's conquest of Italy, however, took over 20 years, and
it did not produce good results.
The first year of fighting devastated crops and livelihoods in
Italy, which upset residents. And it
was a huge financial drain for the Byzantine Empire, which
upset the Byzantines back home.
Justinian got Italy back, but no one was happy about it. Even

worse, the Byzantine emperors
after Justinian didn't have the money or the armies necessary to
maintain control of the territories
he reclaimed. By the early 600s, North Africa, Spain, and Italy
were lost again to Barbarian
invaders.
[SLIDE] The loss of Italy also meant the loss of the city of
Rome. In the place of Rome, the city
of Constantinople became the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
Constantinople had been founded
by, and was named after, Constantine in 324 CE. [SLIDE] On
the map on your screen, the city
of Constantinople is marked with a red box. The city was
strategically located where the Black
Sea meets the Sea of Marmara, which benefited the city
economically. [SLIDE] Consequently,
between 450 and 700 CE, Constantinople was the richest and
largest city in the world. Perhaps
the most brilliant jewel of Constantinople was the Hagia
Sophia. This was a church, and it still
stands today, although it was converted into a mosque when the
Ottoman Turks conquered the
city in the 1400s. [SLIDE] The Hagia Sophia was built by
Justinian. He hired a whole crew of
architects and over 10,000 workers to build it. [SLIDE] The
dome of the Hagia Sophia was a
significant accomplishment for architects, who had to figure out
how to keep such a large
structure from crashing down.
[SLIDE] Religion in the Byzantine Empire remained a central
aspect of daily life. The city of
Constantinople boasted so many churches and sacred relics, that
by 600 CE, the Byzantines had
begun to think of it as a holy city, protected by God and under
the special care of the Virgin
Mary. Due to the loss of the West to barbarian tribes, Christians

in the western and eastern parts
of the former Roman Empire began to develop different
religious ideas and customs. Eventually,
the Byzantines created their own church, the Orthodox Church.
This was a different church than
the Roman Catholic Church, which we'll talk more about in a
few minutes. The Orthodox
Church of the Byzantine Empire had a distinct hierarchy. At the
top was the chief bishop of
Constantinople, who was known as the patriarch. The patriarch
was appointed by the emperor
and he worked closely with the emperor in directing and
supervising the other bishops and
priests and monasteries of the Byzantine Empire.
[SLIDE] For much of the history of the Byzantine Empire, the
Orthodox Church represented a
unifying element for the Byzantines. But it wasn't always free
from internal conflict. One
conflict in particular threatened to tear the Orthodox Church
and its members apart. This was the
Iconoclastic Controversy of the 8th century. The word
"iconoclastic" comes from the word
"icon." An icon is a visual representation of a saint, religious
figure, or a divine figure that
people look at to pray and worship. It was, and still is today,
intended to be a religious tool.
[SLIDE] Here are two examples of icons from the modern era.
But in the 8th century, some
Byzantines saw all the Barbarian in the West and as we’ll talk
more about in a few minutes, there
were new Muslim invaders in the East. Well, some Byzantines
began to think that perhaps God
was angry with the Empire for its use of icons. They claimed
that the use of icons had gone too
far, that people were worshipping the icons themselves, instead
of what they represented, and

that this action was a form of idolatry, a very grave sin indeed.
On the one hand, defenders of the
icons claimed that the icons were important because they helped
people better relate to and
worship God. In other words, the paintings made the
unimaginable imaginable. On the other
hand, critics responded that uneducated Christians couldn't tell
the difference between using an
icon as a tool to worship and worshipping the icons itself. Well,
in 726, the Byzantine Emperor
Leo came down on the side of the critics and he ordered the
destruction of all icons throughout
the empire. The destruction of icons is known by the term
"iconoclasm." Remember, the
Byzantine emperor, like the former Roman emperors, continued
to play an important role in the
church. Upon Emperor Leo's orders, officials stormed into
churches, monasteries, and private
homes seizing icons and burning them in big bonfires. But we
have to remember that people had
been using icons for centuries to worship. So many people
resisted Emperor Leo's order to
destroy all the icons, often by rioting or hiding their icons. The
Iconoclastic Controversy
continued until the year 843 CE. [SLIDE] In 843, after years of
turmoil, Empress Theodora put
an end to iconoclasm in the empire and allowed people to freely
use icons again.
[SLIDE] I want to switch now to talk about another civilization
that emerged in the East in the
early Middle Ages. This was the Islamic Civilization. Islamic
civilization began in the Arabian
Peninsula in the 7th century CE before it spread outwards. To
understand how the religion of
Islam took hold in Arabia and created a new civilization, we
need to know a little more about the

history of the region. Much of the Arabian Peninsula is desert,
which made farming and the
development of cities difficult. But in the 500s, a group of Arab
tribes allied together and began
to establish urban centers along the western coast of the
peninsula, near the Red Sea, which is
where the land was fertile. If you look at the map on your
screen, the Red Sea is located to the
left of the Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs living there became
wealthier, and new trade routes
appeared, connecting people there to the outside world. [SLIDE]
Cities like Mecca and Medina
grew into prominent centers of trade. You'll find these two
cities located on the left side of the
Arabian Peninsula, near the Red Sea. [SLIDE] As you'll see on
the map on your screen, the
Arabian Peninsula is near the Byzantine Empire and the Persian
Empire. And in fact, Arabia
often served as a sort of buffer between these two empires. But
neither Christianity, nor
Zoroastrianism, the religion of Persia, ever took hold in Arabia.
[SLIDE] Instead, prior to the
early 600s CE, most Arabs were polytheistic, worshipping many
gods and goddesses. The city of
Mecca possessed a famous temple called The Ka'aba. And
throughout the year, many people
from around Arabia traveled to Mecca to worship at this temple.
Records from the 5th and the
6th centuries note that the Ka'aba housed shrines for 360
different gods and goddesses. And
amidst all of these shrines, at the center, was a sacred black
meteorite. In the 500s and the early
600s, the Byzantines and the Persians were the primary
superpowers of the East, and they
considered themselves to be the pinnacle of civilization. In
contrast, the Byzantines and the

Persians saw the Arabs as backwards and ignorant. And if you
surveyed Byzantines and Persians
about Arabs at this time, the Byzantines and the Persians would
have made three basic
assumptions. They would have said that the Arabs as a people
would never amount to anything;
that Arabia would be conquered by the Byzantine or Persian
empires; and that the Arabs would
eventually become Christian or Zoroastrian. Well, the complete
opposite occurred.
[SLIDE] Around 610 CE, Muhammad, a middle-aged merchant
from Mecca, began to have
religious visions. An angel appeared to him and ordered him to
"recite in the name of thy lord,
who created man. Recite in the name of thy lord, who taught
man what he knew not."
Muhammad, fearing that he was being attacked by an evil spirit,
fled down the mountain in
terror. The voice called after him, "Oh, Muhammad, you are the
messenger of God, and I am the
angel Gabriel." After a while, Muhammad began to accept these
visions, and the angel told
Muhammad to spread God's message. Central to this message
was the idea that Allah alone is
God. In other words, this was strict monotheism. According to
the religion that would become
known as Islam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad were
all prophets of Allah. So
followers of Muhammad accepted the historical truth and
legitimacy of Judaism and Christianity,
but Muslims believed then and now that the revelations of
Muhammad were the final stage of
God's plan. And they view Muhammad as God's final prophet.
Muhammad's religious visions,
which took place over a period of about 23 years, were recorded
in a text known as the Qu'ran.

Muslims regard the Qu'ran as the most important religious text.
And the Qu'ran lays out basic
principles or directions, which are known as the five pillars of
Islam. [SLIDE] The five pillars
are: acknowledge that there is only one God and Muhammad is
his prophet. State this belief in
prayer five times a day. Fast between sunrise and sunset during
Ramadan, which is the ninth
month of the Muslim calendar. Donate money and food to the
needy. And make a pilgrimage to
Mecca at least once in your life. By performing the five pillars
of Islam, Muslims demonstrate
what they believe is obedience to the will of God.
[SLIDE] When Muhammad began to teach others about Islam,
he started with his own family
and then spread outwards Soon, Muhammad attracted a
following. This, however, made the rich
and powerful merchants of Mecca angry. Remember, the city of
Mecca was home to the Ka'aba,
and this temple attracted people from all over who wanted to
worship at it. These visitors spent
money on food, lodging, and entertainment when they came to
Mecca, which went into the
pockets of the local merchants. The merchants of Mecca were
afraid that if Muhammad
succeeded in spreading his new religion, it would discourage
people from coming, and it would
hurt their businesses. So, in 622 CE, the merchants of Mecca
threatened Muhammad and his
followers, who were forced to flee for their lives Muhammad
and his followers fled to the city of
Medina. This flight is known as Muhammad's Hijra. Muhammad
and his followers stayed in
Medina for six years. During this time, he gained more
followers and more power, and soon he
created an Islamic community, at the center of which stood the

mosque. The mosque was the
place where his followers gathered to pray and hear Muhammad
speak about his visions and
God's law as he had received them. By 628, Muhammad had
gained so many followers that he
was able to re-enter Mecca at the head of an army of 10,000
men. According to tradition, when
Muhammad entered Mecca, he proceeded directly to the Ka'aba
and ordered it to be converted
into a sanctuary of the Islamic religion. [SLIDE] Today, the
Ka'aba shrine is still considered by
Muslims to be the most sacred spot on earth.
[SLIDE] By the year 631, almost all people in the Arabian
Peninsula had become Muslim and
Muhammad was more than just a religious leader. He became a
political leader, as well, and he
created instruction for all aspects of society. This wasn't
unusual. For most civilizations, at this
point, Church and State were deeply connected. We saw this
with the Romans- both pagan and
Christian. We saw this with the Byzantine emperors. And now
we see this with the Muslim
leaders. The Qu'ran came to include laws about all aspects of
Islamic society. And it was the
Qu'ran that became the bases of all law governing Muslim
communities. After Muhammad died
in 632 CE, Muslim leaders who succeeded him were known as
caliphs. "Caliph" literally
translates to "successor," and like Muhammad, the caliphs
served as both political and religious
leaders of the Islamic community. You can think of caliphs as
Muslim kings.
[SLDIE] During his life, Muhammad was focused on converting
the people of the Arabian
Peninsula to Islam. After his death though, the caliphs began to
look outwards to conquered

territory and convert conquered people to Islam. The swiftness
of the Muslim advance and the
decisiveness of their military victories was stunning. Muslim
armies invaded the Persian and
Byzantine Empire, but these two empires couldn't seem to get
their act together in response to
this invasion. In an effort to stop the Muslim armies, the
Byzantine and Persian emperors allied
together in 636 CE, and they agreed that they would meet up
and combine their troops in the city
of Yarmuk, near Syria and Jordan. Unfortunately, the Persian
troops never showed up, and the
Byzantines were forced to face the incoming Muslim armies by
themselves. By all accounts, this
was an all-out massacre of the Byzantines. 40,000 soldiers died
in the battle. And many
Byzantine soldiers tried to flee, but they fell to their deaths in a
nearby ravine. The Battle of
Yarmuk ended Byzantine rule in Syria, and Muslim armies
continued on to the rest of Palestine.
Most of the cities of Syria and Palestine surrendered without
struggle, especially since the
Muslim armies promised not to sack any city that did not resist.
Jerusalem finally fell in 637 CE.
That same year, the Muslims crushed the Persian army, it
captured the Persian capital. By 651
CE, Muslim forces completed their conquest of all of Persia.
Muslim armies took Egypt and
continued through North Africa. They reached the Atlantic
Ocean in 670 CE. By the year 711,
they had taken most of Spain and were threatening a Barbarian
people called the Franks, in what
is today, southern France. In 732, at the Battle of Tours, the
Frankish king, Charles Martel,
stopped the advance of Muslim armies. This created a western
border for the Islamic Empire.

Muslim armies also moved into the Byzantine Empire, and in
669, they reached the gates of
Constantinople. They failed to take Constantinople because of
its solid walls, and because the
Byzantines had recently discovered an incendiary substance
known as "Greek Fire." [SLIDE]
Greek Fire was a flammable liquid that was similar to the
napalm used in 20th century warfare.
All in all, within a century, the people of the Arabian
Peninsula- those people who the Byzantine
and Persian Empires had considered so inferior- they had
upended the entire organization and
way of life of the known world. [SLIDE] By the middle of the
8th century, the Western world
was completely different from the way it had been before. The
Persian Empire was gone. The
kingdom of the Franks in Northwestern Europe had a new
aggressive neighbor. And the
Byzantine Empire had been further reduced. The map on your
screen shows Islamic territory
marked in purple. For the next 400 years, this Islamic territory
would remain pretty much the
same.
[SLIDE] Let's turn now to look a little more closely at the rulers
of this Islamic territory. When
Muhammad died in 632 CE, he didn't specifically name anyone
to rule after him. Consequently,
Muhammad's death left a bit of a power vacuum in which people
fought with each other to be the
caliph, the ruler of Islamic civilization. After Muhammad came
a series of caliphs who ruled for
short periods of time, either because they died or were
assassinated. Finally, in 661 CE, the first
Muslim dynasty was established under a man named Mu'awiyah.
Remember, dynasties are
families of rulers who passed down control to members within

that family. Mu'awiyah
established the Umayyad Caliphate. A caliphate refers to the
dynasty ruling it, as well as the
territory they control and their government. So, if caliphs are
Muslim kings, then you can think
of caliphates as Muslim kingdoms with Muslim governments.
The Umayyad Dynasty continued
to expand Muslim territory, reaching all the way to India.
[SLIDE] In 750 CE, a man named
Abu al-Abbas succeeded in overthrowing the Umayyad Caliph.
Abu al- Abbas declared himself
the new caliph, and he created a new dynasty and a new
government called the Abbasid
Caliphate. In order to submit his claim to power and prevent
future rebellions, al-Abbas
slaughtered 82 members of the Umayyad family. The only
remaining Umayyad fled to Spain,
where he established his own kingdom. In contrast to previous
Muslim rulers, the Abbasid
Dynasty stopped trying to expand Muslim territory. As a result,
Muslim society reached new
cultural heights in the 9th and 10th centuries. Greek documents,
as well as Persian and Sanskrit
texts, were translated into Arabic during this period,
introducing new knowledge. Trade was
encouraged, which brought in exotic products and riches.
Islamic civilization reached its zenith
under the caliph named Harun al-Rashid, who was featured in
the exotic tales of the Arabian
Nights. The Arabian Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern
tales, and you probably actually
know some of the tales of this collection without even realizing
it. The Disney character, Aladdin
and his magical lamp, are featured in these stories. Although,
you might be interested to know
that there is no Jasmine. In Arabian Nights, Aladdin marries

Princess Badroulbadour, which is
probably why Disney re-named her Jasmine. The Abbasid
Dynasty ended in 1258, when the
Mongols destroyed Baghdad and killed the last Abbasid caliph.
[SLIDE] There were a few reasons for the incredible success of
Muslim armies in expanding the
Islamic Civilization. In terms of factors strengthening and
motivating the Arabs, we can know
that the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula were, of course, unified
under the Islamic religion, which
encouraged cooperation. In addition, some scholars have argued
that the Arabian Peninsula was
getting progressively drier during the 7th and 8th centuries.
This encouraged many Arabs to
move into surrounding territories in order to survive and make a
living. Finally, we should not
discount the power of the Arab armies. Led by the caliphs and a
series of brilliant generals,
Arabs put together a large and very zealous army. They were
not only large in number and
unified through a religious and economic goal, but they were
also skilled in combat. The Arab
cavalry excelled at speedy raids, surprise attacks, and elusive
retreats. In any case, in Persia and
Byzantine, they encountered very little opposition. Sources
from this time indicate that the
Muslim armies moved so quickly that most people in Persia and
Byzantium had no idea who
they were. On the other hand, as we’ve talked about, the
Byzantines and Persians had been
fighting for centuries. This constant fighting exhausted both
sides so that when the Muslim
armies invaded, both the Byzantines and Persians were already
economically and physically
exhausted. Finally, when Muslims conquered a region, they did
not force Jews and Christians

and Persian Zoroastrians to convert to Islam. And this was
because these religious groups were
monotheistic, and Muslim leaders believed that all of them were
worshipping the same God,
even if they didn't recognize Muhammad as a prophet. Muslims
gave conquered Christians,
Jews, and Zoroastrians a special protected status called a
dhimmi. The term "dhimmi" means an
inferior protected group. This status meant that Jews,
Christians, and Zoroastrians were allowed
to keep practicing their religion, as long as they didn't do it
loudly or offensively. In fact, at first,
Arabs actually discouraged Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians
from converting to Islam because
these non-Muslims had to pay a special tax, called the jizya, to
keep their protected status. This
tax provided another source of revenue for the caliphs. This sort
of religious tolerance
encouraged many Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians living in
conquered territory to acquiesce to
Muslim control. They may not have liked it, but it wasn't
intolerable.
[SLIDE] Let’s turn now to look at the third civilization- the
Latin Civilization formed by the
barbarians that had invaded and taken over Western Europe. By
750 CE, barbarian tribes that
moved into Western Europe and the former Western Roman
Empire had created their own
kingdoms. The four main barbarians groups were the Anglo-
Saxons, Visigoths, Lombards, and
Franks, and each of these groups took a different approach to
the Romans living in the territories
they conquered. [SLIDE] For example, two barbarian groups-
the Angles and the Saxons-
invaded England separately before merging together into one
group- the Anglo-Saxons. The

Anglo-Saxons pretty successfully squashed Roman civilization
in England, they wiped out
Christianity almost completely, and kept their polytheistic
religion for the first couple of
centuries. It wasn’t until the 600s, that the Anglo-Saxons were
converted to Roman Catholicism.
[SLIDE] The Franks invaded the region called Gaul. Gaul is
what today we know of as France
and Germany. France actually gets its name from the Franks
that conquered that area. In contrast
to the Anglo-Saxons, the Franks adopted aspects of the Roman
culture they conquered. One of
the first Frankish rulers was a guy named Clovis. Around the
year 500, Clovis converted from
his native, polytheistic religion to Roman Catholicism. And
when Clovis converted to Roman
Catholicism, most of his people did too. So by the early 500s
most of the Franks were Roman
Catholics. Now Clovis may have converted for legitimate
religious reasons. He may have
actually believed in the ideas of Roman Catholicism. But he
also used his conversion as a
political tool. Clovis wanted to expand the territory of his
kingdom, and he justified his
expansion by explaining that he was bringing Roman
Catholicism to the people of the regions he
conquered. Clovis and his family started the first dynasty of the
Franks called the Merovingian
dynasty. But this dynasty came to an end at the beginning of the
700's, when a guy named
Charles Martel took over. Charles created the second Frankish
dynasty called the Carolingians.
And Charles Martel-- who was nicknamed the hammer-- was
really important for Western
civilization because he defeated an invading army of Muslims at
the Battle of Tours in 732. If he

hadn't done this, the Muslim forces may have kept going and
taken over all of Western Europe.
[SLIDE] As I mentioned a few minutes ago, by 750 CE, all of
the Germanic groups of Western
Europe had converted to Roman Catholicism. Don’t forget that
we now have two forms of
Christianity at this point in time in Western Civilization. We’ve
talked about the Orthodox
Church in the Byzantine Empire. Remember, the Orthodox
Church was lead by the patriarch,
who was appointed by the emperor. In the West, the Roman
Catholic Church became the
dominant form of Christianity. In Roman Catholicism, the Pope
is the leader of the church. The
pope became the leader based on what is known as the Doctrine
of Petrine supremacy.
According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus gave Peter-- one of
his apostles-- the keys to the
kingdom of heaven. Peter thus became the first leader of the
Christian church, and he went on to
become the first bishop of Rome. Based on this tradition, the
bishops of Rome presented
themselves as the heirs of Peter and thus the heads of the
Roman Catholic Church. The bishops
of Rome began using the title papa, or father, and the term papa
evolved into the title pope. The
position of pope and the pope’s officials form an institution
known as the papacy. Until the
1300s, the popes lived in the city of Rome. And from there he
oversaw the rest of the Catholic
hierarchy- the archbishops, bishops, priests, and monks of
Western Europe. In the 6th and 7th
centuries, the rulers of the Franks and the other barbarian
groups relied heavily on the bishops
and archbishops to help them run their kingdoms. So, these
church officials often had religious,

as well as political roles. They help to make sure the laws are
being followed, they collected
taxes and raised armies for the kings. The reason why barbarian
rulers relied so heavily on the
bishops and archbishops was because they were more likely to
be able to read and write than any
other member of society. In addition, most people respected
priests and bishops so it made sense
to put them in charge of local communities.
[SLIDE] Although many people converted to Roman
Catholicism when their king did, other
people had to be persuaded. While the bishops and archbishops
served primarily as community
leaders, the individuals who played the biggest role in
converting the barbarians were the monks.
This represents a new development for monks. If you remember
back to my previous lectures,
the monastic movement began in the 200s and 300s, when
monks practiced asceticism in order to
gain a better relationship with God. Like St. Anthony, they
often went out into deserts and
forests and lived there for decades by themselves. Eventually,
monks and nuns began to live
together and they created rules and orders. Now, in the 6th and
7th centuries in Western Europe,
monks began to act as missionaries. They still had the same
basic goal. They would avoid all the
unnecessary pleasures of life to build a relationship with God,
but in this case, the avoiding of all
unnecessary pleasures meant putting themselves into danger by
going out and converting people
who could be quite hostile to strangers and anyone who
threatened their established way of life.
In essence, the monks went out knowing that they could be
martyred anytime, and they accepted
and even welcomed this risk as God's will.

[SLIDE] As we've discussed, the Roman Empire-- when it still
existed-- was humongous. And
Roman emperors managed to expand the empire all the way to
England, before the Anglo-
Saxons invaded and took it over. But the Roman emperors never
managed to conquer Ireland. It
had remained under the power of the Celts, who practiced
polytheism.
But eventually the Irish were converted by a famous missionary
monk named St. Patrick. Now
St. Patrick was actually from England. If you remember, I told
you that when the Anglo- Saxons
invaded in the 400s, they pretty much eradicated Christianity.
But stories emerged about a few
people who held on to their Christian beliefs. According to the
legend, Patrick was the son of a
Roman who held on to his Christian beliefs when the Anglo-
Saxons invaded. So Patrick was
raised Christian, but he was kidnapped as a young man by Irish
Raiders, and brought back to
Ireland to be a slave. Eventually, Patrick escaped from slavery
and returned to England where he
became a monk. As a monk, he went back to Ireland to convert
the Irish to Christianity. Do you
know the legend about snakes in Ireland? According to one
tradition, one of the ways Patrick
convinced the Irish to convert was by driving the snakes out of
Ireland. In the legend, Patrick hit
the ground with his staff and all the snakes slithered off the
island in fear. This story probably
isn't true. It is a fact that there are no native snakes in Ireland
because it’s an island and the
snakes never found a way over there over the course of
evolution. In reality, the story is more of
a metaphor for the Irish converting to Christianity. Patrick used
his staff-- which in Christianity

represents the shepherd who guides his sheep-- to drive out the
snake, which is a symbol for
Satan and evil. But Patrick was a real person. And he managed
to convert a lot of people to
Christianity.
[SLIDE] One important thing to note is that because Ireland is
an island and fairly isolated from
the European continent, the Irish developed their own Christian
practices and ideas. In Ireland,
monks tended to act as religious and community leaders instead
of bishops. Irish monks also
emphasized learning. They created beautiful books called
illuminated manuscripts to pass on
information and learning. Remember, there is no printing press
at this time. If you wanted a copy
of a book, you had to copy it by hand. And that's what these
monks were doing. And because
books were so rare and so expensive at this time, monasteries
were often the only places with
libraries. So if someone wanted an education, they often came
to monasteries. These were the
first schools in Ireland, and through much of Western Europe
monasteries were the only centers
of education available. Irish monks also emphasized missionary
work, and they played a large
role in converting the Anglo-Saxons in England to Roman
Catholicism in the 7th century.
[SLIDE] As I mentioned before, Charles Martel started the
second Frankish dynasty, called the
Carolingians. But the most famous and influential Carolingian
ruler was Charles the Great, also
known as Charlemagne. Charlemagne was a fierce warrior, as
well as a supporter of learning and
knowledge, and a skillful political leader. When Charlemagne
became King of the Franks he
decided to expand his kingdom. Over the course of his reign, he

engaged in no less than 54
military campaigns. In 773, he led his army into Italy, crushed
the Lombards, and added northern
and central Italy to his territory. [SLIDE] Eventually,
Charlemagne's territory covered all of
Western Europe, except for Southern Italy, Spain, and the
British Isles. The land shaded green on
the map on your screen represents Charlemagne's territory. So
Charlemagne was King of this
giant empire.
[SLIDE] But he wanted more. He wanted to be the Roman
emperor. Although barbarian tribes
had destroyed the Roman Empire in the previous centuries,
many Germanic kings had dreams of
bringing it back together. Under their control of course. From
Charlemagne's perspective,
presenting himself as the heir of the Romans would make him
look more powerful. And it would
justify his control over most of Europe. The problem was that
Charlemagne couldn't just
proclaim himself emperor. He needed a way to make it look
valid and based on something real.
Charlemagne was a smart man. And he realized that the Roman
Catholic pope could provide
valuable assistance in this regard. What better person to
proclaim him emperor than the pope?
The office of the pope had been around for centuries. And it
was connected to one of Jesus'
apostles. All Charlemagne had to do was convince the pope to
proclaim him emperor. And his
opportunity for this came in the year 799 CE. The pope in 799
was Leo the third. And Pope Leo
had made some people in the city of Rome angry when he
started meddling in local politics. In
retaliation for his meddling, when Pope Leo was riding his
horse to church, a group of local men

pulled him off his horse, beat him, and locked him in a
monastery. With some assistance, Pope
Leo managed to escape and fled to Charlemagne, the most
powerful ruler in Europe for justice.
Realizing where Leo was going, the local men who had attacked
the pope sent their own
representatives to Charlemagne to explain their actions. When
the representatives came before
Charlemagne, they accused the pope of adultery and perjury. So
Charlemagne had to give a
judgment on this conflict. To find out the truth, Charlemagne
sent a commission of men to Rome
to conduct an investigation of the accusations against the pope.
The report that the commission
sent back confirmed the major charges against Leo. With this in
mind, Charlemagne saw an
opportunity for himself. Travel to Rome, and at the trial for
Pope Leo, Charlemagne judged the
Pope Innocent of all accusations, and he charged the pope's
accusers with treason. Charlemagne
received his repayment two days later on Christmas day of the
year 800. After mass, in front of
St. Peters tomb in Rome, Pope Leo placed a crown on
Charlemagne's head and proclaimed him
emperor of the Romans. Charlemagne's coronation as Roman
emperor shows that even after 300
years, the persisting view of an enduring Roman Empire. Even
if a Roman Empire no longer
existed, the ideal remains. Even more importantly,
Charlemagne's coronations symbolized the
fusion of Roman, Christian, and German elements that
constituted the foundation of European
civilization. This was an incredibly important moment in the
history of Western civilization.
In addition to being a fierce warrior and a skilled politician,
Charlemagne was a supporter of

learning and knowledge. Charlemagne had a strong desire to
revive learning in his kingdom.
This stemmed from his own intellectual curiosity, as well as the
need to provide educated clergy
for the Church, and literate officials for the government. His
efforts led to a revival of learning
and culture called the Carolingian Renaissance. As part of the
Carolingian Renaissance,
Charlemagne encouraged the establishment of more schools.
Prior to this point, the only schools
available were in monasteries where the books were located.
Charlemagne developed palace
schools. These were exactly as they sounded. They were
classrooms set up in the royal castles
and palaces throughout the kingdom. Charlemagne brought in
leading scholars from all over
Europe to these palace schools- scholars like the famous Anglo-
Saxon monk, Alcuin. Of course,
only the most elite children of society attended the schools, but
these schools produced the
desired outcome. More educated clergy and literate officials. As
a result of Charlemagne's
cultivation of leaning and the arts, his royal court became a
lively center of intellectual exchange.
[SLIDE] Let's return to our original questions. Our first
question was what were the primary
goals of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th century CE?
And I explained that there were
two primary goals, expansion and unity. In terms of expansion,
the emperor Justinian attempted
to return the Empire to its former glory by reconquering
territories in the West. He succeeded in
retaking Italy and parts of North Africa and Spain, but these
regions were lost to Barbarian tribes
again at the beginning of the 600s. In terms of unity, Justinian
consolidated the laws of the

empire into one single law code called the Corpus Juris Civilis.
This meant that everyone in the
empire lived according to the same laws.
[SLIDE] Our second question was what was the Iconoclastic
Controversy? This was a conflict in
the Byzantine Empire about the use of icons that began in 726
when Emperor Leo attributed
foreign attacks to God's anger regarding idolatry. It lasted until
823, when they Empress
Theodora allowed the Byzantines to use icons again.
[SLIDE] Our third question was why was the spread of Islam so
successful? First, and perhaps
most importantly, the Arabs were unified under Islam. Also, the
increasingly dry climate of the
Arab peninsula encouraged them to move outwards. And the
Arab armies were able to quickly
and effectively. In addition to these Muslim circumstances, the
Persians and Byzantines had few
resources and little energy to fight off Muslim invasions due to
the fact that they had been
fighting each other for centuries. And finally, Christians, Jews,
and Zoroastrians were allowed to
continue to practice their religion as dhimmis, which
discouraged conquered people from
fighting back as hard against the Muslim invasions.
[SLIDE] Question number four asked how Charlemagne
influenced the geography, politics, and
culture of the Franks in Gaul. Charlemagne increased the size of
his empire to include most of
Western Europe, except England, Spain, and southern Italy. He
also took advantage of
accusations against the current pope to get himself crowned
Roman Emperor, which brought
together the Germanic, Roman, and Christian elements that form
the basis of Western European
culture. And finally, he encouraged learning and scholarship,

which started the Carolingian
Renaissance.
Government By the People
Twenty-sixth Edition, 2018 Elections and Updates Edition
Chapter 5
Interest Groups
Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All
Rights Reserved
1
5.1 The Reasons Interest Groups Endure and the “Mischiefs of
Faction” They Produce (Structure)
A Nation of Interests
Attracting Members
Social Movements
Mischiefs of Faction
Rights Reserved
2
A Nation of Interests
Interest groups
Demographic distinctions
Ideology/policy preferences
“Special interests”

Rights Reserved
Interest groups can coalesce around any shared concern or goal.
Some groups are based on demographic characteristics such as
race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, occupation, or sexual
orientation. Other groups form around shared policy goals, such
as opposition to gun control or abortion.
The term “special interest” is usually used to describe a group
whose goals are contrary to the public interest. But what is the
public interest? Groups with widely divergent policy goals all
claim that they are in accord with the public interest.
3
Attracting Members
People form groups because of common interests
Three types of incentives to join groups
Material
Solidary
Purposive
Rights Reserved
Material incentives provide tangible, sometimes monetary,
rewards. Solidary incentives give people a sense of belonging
for joining groups, while purposive incentives refer to the
benefits people get from joining groups whose goals align with
their political views and concerns.
4
Social Movements
Interest groups often begin as social movements
Examples include civil rights, environmental causes, Tea Party

Bill of Rights protects social movements
Rights Reserved
A social movement consists of many people interested in a
significant issue, idea, or concern who are willing to take action
to support or oppose it.
The Tea Party formed in 2009 in opposition to the financial
stimulus package and subsequently opposed health care reform.
The group opposed the increasing scope of government.
The Bill of Rights protects movements, popular or unpopular,
by upholding free assembly, free speech, and due process.
5
The Mischiefs of Faction
Factions are groups pursuing self-interest at the expense of the
national interest
Founders designed government to limit factions
Separation of powers
Checks and balances
Bicameralism
Federalism
Pluralism
Rights Reserved
When a group of people share a common interest, they can form
interest groups or even political parties to enact their goals into
public policy. The founders called these groups “factions,” and
they worried that majority factions might trample on the rights
of minorities.

As he explained in Federalist No. 10, James Madison thought
factions were inevitable. He felt that people were going to
pursue their self-interest at the expense of the interests of others
and of the community as a whole. Since factions can’t be
prevented, Madison sought to limit their effects.
The Constitution separates governmental power into three
branches, and each branch checks and balances the others.
Terms of elective offices are staggered, so factions have to be
around for a while if they hope to get their way.
Madison also counted on the existence of many factions
competing with one another to limit their effects. This
competition is called pluralism and it is the hallmark of the U.S.
governing system. How well has pluralism worked? There is
concern today that certain groups, such as corporations, unions,
and wealthy individuals, have inordinate influence, preventing
effective interest group competition.
6
5.2 Types of Interest Groups (Action)
Economic Interest Groups
Ideological or Single-Issue Interest Groups
Public Interest Groups
Foreign Policy Interest Groups
Public Sector Interest Groups
Other Interest Groups
Rights Reserved
Interest groups can be large or small, formal or informal. Some
interest groups claim to represent people who are not members.

For example, the American Automobile Association claims to
represent all motorists, even those who do not pay to join. In
this section we will examine how we categorize interest groups.
7
Economic Interest Groups (1 of 3)
Business
Large corporations
National Federation of Independent Businesses
Trade and Other Associations
Chamber of Commerce
National Association of Manufacturers
Rights Reserved
Because of the large number of economic interests, economic
interest groups are the most numerous. These groups seek public
policies that benefit themselves financially.
Large corporations are interest groups unto themselves. They
use political contributions to get favorable public policies.
Smaller businesses can band together to form interest groups,
such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
Businesses of a single type also join together in trade
associations, such as the National Association of Realtors. The
broadest trade organization is the Chamber of Commerce.
8
Labor
Unions represent 13 percent of U.S. workforce

Open shop versus closed shop
Free rider problem
Allied with Democratic Party
Opposed to free-trade deals
Rights Reserved
Laborers can form unions to represent their interests in areas
such as wages, benefits, and working conditions. Unions began
to form during the Industrial Revolution.
The U.S. has one of the lowest rates of unionization of
industrialized countries, with only about 11% of the workforce
unionized. The AFL-CIO represents about three-quarters of
unionized workers. The proportion of workers who belong to
unions has fallen as the nation has switched from a
manufacturing to a service economy.
Union membership is optional in states with so-called open-
shop laws. In states with closed-shop policies, membership is
compulsory as a condition of employment to avoid the free rider
problem, whereby workers gain the benefits secured by the
union (such as higher wages and better benefits) without paying
dues to the union.
Unions have strong communication channels with members, and
typically endorse Democratic candidates, but they have been
unable to stop Democratic presidents from signing free trade
agreements.
9
Figure 5.1 Union Membership in the United States Compared to
Other Countries
Source: Updated data available at

https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=UN_DEN.
Rights Reserved
How might aspects of American culture and ideology help
explain the relatively low unionization of the American
workforce? Do you know why rates of unionization are even
lower in France?
10
FIGURE 5.2 Percent of Work Force That Is Unionized
Source: Troy and Sheflin (1985), Appendix A, 1929-72; Hirsch
and Macpherson, 1973-2006; Barry T. Hirsch and David A.
Macpherson
(2016), Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and
Employment Among Private Sector Workers, 1973-2015.
Rights Reserved
How can you explain the steady upward growth of the labor
force without a comparable growth in the unionized labor force?
11
Professional Associations
American Medical Association
American Bar Association
Rights Reserved

Unions are associated with blue-collar workers, but white-collar
workers also have professional organizations, such as the
American Bar Association for lawyers and the American
Medical Association for doctors. Most professions are regulated
and licensed at the state level, so these associations often focus
their lobbying efforts on state governments. Professional
associations, like all economic interest groups, are large donors
to political campaigns.
12
Ideological and Single-Issue
Interest Groups
Members share common viewpoint
Single-issue groups
Unwilling to compromise
Pro-choice v. pro-life is an example
National Rifle Association (NRA)
One of the largest, most powerful interest groups
Rights Reserved
Some interest groups focus on a single policy issue, such as
abortion, gun control, or immigration. Members of single-issue
groups are often ideologically motivated and unwilling to
compromise on the public policies they are pursuing. With
regard to abortion, both pro- and anti-choice groups are
examples of single-issue groups.
13
Public Interest Groups
Claim to represent public interest

From social movements of the 1960s
Common Cause
Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs)
Ralph Nader
Environmental and consumer protection
Rights Reserved
Emerging from the social movements of the 1960s is a type of
group that claims to represent the public interest. Common
Cause is an example of a public interest group. They publish
reports on current issues and seek to make the political process
more open and inclusive.
Founded by consumer activist Ralph Nader in the 1970s, public
interest research groups, or PIRGS, as they are known, try to
represent consumer interests in public policy.
Why is it harder for consumers to band together to form interest
groups than, say, lawyers or ranchers?
14
Foreign Policy Interest Groups
Council on Foreign Relations
Israel-Arab relations subject of many groups
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
Red Cross
Save the Children
Rights Reserved

The interest groups we’ve looked at so far try to influence
domestic policies that affect their members or the public at
large.
Some interest groups concern themselves with U.S. foreign
policy. The Council on Foreign Relations is the most
prestigious of these groups, but there are many groups that
support or oppose free trade, or take stances on specific issues,
such as China’s relations with Tibet or the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Another type of interest group is the nongovernmental
organization, or NGO. NGOs are usually concerned about a
global issue such as human rights or the environment. They
work to raise public awareness and affect government policies.
Examples of major NGOs include Boys and Girls Clubs of
America, CARE, Red Cross, Save the Children, and the Humane
Society of the United States.
15
Public Sector and Other
Interest Groups
Governments are interest groups
National Governors Association
National League of Cities
Government employees
National Education Association (NEA)
Other interest groups
League of Women Voters
National Organization of Women
Rights Reserved
Governments constitute interest groups in and of themselves.
Cities lobby state and national governments, and states hire
Washington lobbyists. All levels of government and types of

official have a lobbying organization to represent their
interests. Examples of these organizations are the National
Governors Association and the National League of Cities.
Government employees also form a major interest group that is
subdivided by profession. Public educators, for example, are
members of the National Education Association, which
functions as a professional association, labor union, and public
sector interest group all in one. The NEA endorses political
candidates and is 3.2 million members strong.
Women’s organizations, such as the League of Women Voters
and the National Organization for Women, advocate for equal
rights.
16
5.3 Characteristics and Power of Interest Groups (Action)
Who Are the Lobbyists?
Techniques for Exerting Influence
Rights Reserved
17
Who Are the Lobbyists? (1 of 4)
Lobbyists
Employed by interest groups
Seek to influence policy decisions
Revolving door
Former public servants
Issue networks
Rights Reserved

Lobbyists are, not surprisingly, often former public servants.
Because they have connections, and know how the system works
from the inside, they are sought after by lobbying firms. Since
lobbying is a lucrative profession, some elected officials enter
public office intending to serve only until they have enough
experience to be snapped up by a lobbying firm. This career
path is so common, it is known as the revolving door.
Issue networks are relationships among interest groups,
congressional committees and subcommittees, and government
agencies that share a common policy concern. These
relationships may become so strong and mutually beneficial that
they almost form a separate branch of government.
18
Techniques for Exerting Influence
Publicity, mass, media, and the Internet
Mass mailing/emailing
Direct contact with government
“Notice and comments period”
Litigation
Civil rights
Amicus curiae briefs
Rights Reserved
Because of the separation of powers, the U.S. government
provides many access points for lobbyists. But many groups
focus their lobbying efforts on the public as much as on
government officials. They use the Internet, U.S. mail, signs,
newspapers, leaflets, and every other available means of
publicity to influence voters.

Businesses enjoy an advantage here because they have more
money to spend on advertising. Groups increasingly rely upon
the Internet, especially social media, to reach the public. The
Internet has made civic participation easier. Organizing
activities such as marches and rallies and petitions is facilitated
by the Internet, and so is making donations.
Groups have traditionally relied on mass mail campaigns to
reach individuals, and computers have made this means of
communication faster and cheaper. Many groups rely on e-mail
as well as U.S. mail, and have access to much more specific
lists of recipients than in the past.
Before new regulations go into effect, they are published in the
Federal Register, and the public is given a time to get in touch
with the government agency responsible for implementing the
regulation. Lobbyists use this opportunity to present written
responses, draft alternative regulations, and speak at hearings
on the proposed rules.
Sometimes groups will find elected official unsympathetic to
their policy goals, as happened during the civil rights
movement. In this situation, interest groups turn to the courts,
as did the NAACP, where they often have more success in
appealing for constitutional rights.
In addition to filing lawsuits, groups can file amicus curiae
briefs in cases in which they are not a party. The arguments in
these briefs are sometimes cited in judicial opinions. Interest
groups file these “friend of the court” briefs quite often; 136
were filed in the recent health care reform case.
19
Protests

Demonstrations
Black Lives Matter
Contributions to Campaigns
Political Action Committees (PACs)
Super PACs
Section 501(c) groups
Rights Reserved
Another technique used by groups is protest. Groups hold
demonstrations to show elected officials how much support their
cause has, and how passionate that support is.
A recent example is the Black Lives Matter group. This group is
concerned about the use of deadly force by police and more
broadly racial profiling by police.
Nonprofit groups are limited in what political activities they
can engage in legally, so they form separate political action
committees, or PACs, that contribute money to political
candidates. Super PACs are a new form of PAC that have no
legal limits on the amount of money they can spend on
supporting or opposing candidates.
In 2012 and 2016, Section 501(c) groups spent hundreds of
millions of dollars on the presidential campaigns. Because
donors to these groups are not disclosed they are attractive to
some donors.
20
Candidate support/opposition
Often non-partisan
Endorsements
Scorecards

New political parties
Cooperative lobbying
Like-minded groups work together
Rights Reserved
Many groups are officially nonpartisan and contribute to both
parties to be assured of a warmer reception for their lobbyists.
Over time, though, many groups find that their policy position
is better represented by one party, and they contribute to that
party accordingly.
Groups publicly endorse candidates and publish scorecards of
candidates’ voting records on the issues that concern them.
Occasionally groups will form a political party to represent
their interests, but the two-party system makes this method of
influence largely ineffective today. Instead, groups are more
likely to work through existing parties, as does the Tea Party,
which is not a political party, but a faction within the
Republican Party.
One exception is the Green Party, a political party formed by
environmentalists. The Green Party fields candidates in
national, state, and local elections but has been rightfully
accused of splitting the vote, taking votes away from one of the
major parties.
Like-minded groups sometimes form cooperative groups to
coordinate their efforts and increase their influence.
21
5.4 What Explains Interest Group Success? (Impact)

Size and Resources
Cohesiveness
Leadership
Helping Those They Represent
Funding Campaigns
Rights Reserved
22
Size and Resources
Size matters
Membership benefits
So does spread
Concentration versus dispersal
Resources matter, too
Money
Volunteers
Expertise
Reputation
Rights Reserved
The more members an organization has, the more influence it
has with politicians. To increase membership, groups often
provide incentives to join, such as discounts on goods and
services, free merchandise with the group’s logo, magazines
just for members, and member events. Governments overcome
the free rider problem through taxes, but private organizations
cannot usually be as coercive and must rely upon incentives.

Some groups are concentrated geographically, such as
automakers in Michigan and Cuban Americans in Florida. Other
groups, such as the American Medical Association, have
members in virtually every Congressional district in the
country. In general, dispersal enhances a group’s influence but
concentration certainly helps at the state and local level—and at
the national level if the concentration is in a key battleground
state.
The greater a group’s resources—such as money, volunteers,
expertise, and reputation—the broader its reach into centers of
power. A national group with active chapters in every state can
lobby more government officials at all levels than a smaller one.
23
Cohesiveness and Leadership
Types of members
Formal leaders
Actively involved members
Members in name only
Single-issue groups = stronger cohesion
Planned Parenthood
Leadership
Tricky when group is diverse
Rights Reserved
There are three types of members in most mass-membership
organizations. The first type comprises the full-time leadership
of the organization. These people rely on the second type of
member, people who are intensely involved with the
organization, organizing meetings and activities. The last type
of member is the most numerous—members who pay dues but

don’t otherwise participate in the organization’s activities.
As you might expect, single-issue groups have stronger
cohesion than groups with more general aims. For example,
Planned Parenthood has a strong and well-organized national
network, and its goals are well understood by its supporters.
For groups that are more diverse, such as a business
organization that has both large chain stores and small shops as
members, the leadership must tread carefully to balance the
interests of all its members and not alienate any segments. Even
within factions there can be factions.
24
Helping Those They Represent
How interest groups influence elected officials
Campaign contributions
Volunteers for campaign activity
Information
Political versus substantive
Rights Reserved
To members of Congress, the single most important thing
lobbyists provide is money for their next reelection campaign.
Interest groups can also offer volunteers for campaign activity.
In addition, elected officials value interest groups because
lobbyists provide two important types of information: 1)
political information, including such matters as who supports or
opposes legislation, including the executive
branch, and how strongly they feel about it, and 2) substantive
information, such as the impact of proposed laws, which may
not be available from any other source.

25
Funding Campaigns (1 of 4)
Political Action Committees (PACs)
Give money to politicians
Persuade politicians to act or vote in a certain way
Dominated by corporations and trade associations
Rights Reserved
PACs are the political arm of interest groups. They are allowed
to contribute funds to political parties and candidates for public
office. The goal of these political contributions is to put
candidates in office who support policies that the interest group
favors and then influence how they act and vote.
26
FIGURE 5.3 Total PAC Contributions to Candidates for U.S.
Congress, 1975-2014 (Millions of Dollars)
Source: Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital
Statistics on American Politics 2009–2010 (CQ Press), p. 92;
and Federal Election
Commission, “2011–2014 Election Cycle Data Summaries
through 12/31/14,”
http://www.fec.gov/press/summaries/2014/tables/pac/
PAC2_2014_24m.pdf.
Rights Reserved

These contributions are listed in millions of dollars. What is the
overall trend for PAC contributions during this time period?
27
Independent expenditures
Independent of party or candidate
Unlimited
Subject to disclosure requirements
Super PACs
Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
Rights Reserved
Groups or individuals can make unlimited independent
campaign expenditures—that is, expenditures that aren’t
contributed to a candidate or party. The Supreme Court declared
limits on independent expenditures to be unconstitutional in
1976. In addition to their PAC contributions, groups spend
millions on independent expenditures. Although this spending is
unlimited, it must be disclosed to the Federal Election
Commission.
A new kind of PAC, the Super PAC, came into existence in
2010 after the Supreme Court declared limits on campaign
spending by corporations to be a violation of free speech rights.
The case of Citizens United v. FEC opened up vast new
spending possibilities for corporations, unions, and other well-
funded interest groups.
Elected officials sometimes form their own PACs, called
leadership PACs, to spend money on favored candidates and
bolster their leadership aspirations.

28
National Rifle Association
Rights Reserved
Attendees at the 2015 National Rifle Association (NRA) Annual
Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. The event was attended by top
Republican contenders for the presidency.
The NRA is very active in making independent expenditures.
29
TABLE 5.2 Candidate and Allied Super PAC Spending in 2012
Presidential ElectionCandidate/Supporting Super PACCandidate
SpendingSuper PAC SpendingPaul/Endorse
Liberty$39,038,495$3,578,240Gingrich/Winning Our
Future$24,312,428$17,002,762Santorum/Red White & Blue
Fund$22,782,771$7,529,554Huntsman/Our Destiny
PAC$8,913,912$2,804,234Romney/Restore Our
Future$483,073,470$142,097,336Romney/American Crossroads-
-$104,746,670Obama/Priorities USA
Action$737,507,846$65,205,743
Rights Reserved
Super PACs can spend huge amounts of money.
30
How PACs invest their money
Incumbents

Committee chairs
Party leadership
Rights Reserved
In the 2014 election cycle, incumbent congressional candidates
raised more than 11 dollars from PACs for each one dollar
raised from PACs by challengers.
PACs target their contributions to officials in leadership
positions, such as committee chairs and party leaders, because
they wield the most influence in the legislature.
31
FIGURE 5.4 PAC Contributions to Congressional Candidates,
1996-2014 (Millions of Dollars)
Source: Federal Election Commission, “PAC Contributions to
Candidates,” http://www.fec.gov/press/press_archives.shtml and
http://www.fec.gov/press/summaries/2014/tables/pac/PAC2_201
4_24m.pdf and
http://www.fec.gov/press/summaries/2002/tables/
congressional/ConCand1_2002_24m.pdf
Rights Reserved
Over time, how has the distribution of PAC money changed?
Why do PACs contribute so disproportionately to incumbents?
32
Mobilizing employees and members
Persuading members how to vote

Other modes of electioneering
Soft money
Issue ads
Campaigning through other groups
Issue advocacy
Unions, corporations, ideological groups
Rights Reserved
Interest groups use various channels of communication, such as
the telephone, e-mail, and the U.S. mail, to persuade their
members to vote their way in upcoming elections.
Interest groups have also used so-called soft money
contributions to political parties as a way to bypass limits on
the amount of contributions they can make to specific
candidates. We will discuss soft money more in the next
chapter.
Recently, interest groups have started spending money directly
on advertising rather than contributing to candidates or parties.
This direct method of communication with voters allows them
to sidestep disclosure regulations. The Citizens United decision
effectively removed all limits on how much groups can spend on
issue ads that mention candidates, so they are going to be a
major feature of electioneering for the foreseeable future.
Interest groups have always looked for ways to get around
disclosure requirements. Reformers and the Supreme Court have
tried to link disclosure to use of certain phrases such as “vote
for” or “vote against,” but it has been easy for groups to avoid
words that trigger disclosure requirements and still get their
message across.
Campaign finance reform legislation and Court cases have

changed the playing field for interest groups in recent years. As
new rules were enacted, groups simply reorganized to find ways
to circumvent them. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, or
BCRA, in 2004 was the largest piece of reform legislation,
although it has been significantly weakened since.
33
5.5 Limiting the Mischiefs of Faction (Impact)
Influence of money in campaigns is debatable
What would Madison think?
Checking the power interest groups
Importance of disclosure
Rights Reserved
Although a candidate may receive a great amount of interest
group money, only
a fraction of that total comes from any single group. It is also
debatable how much
campaign contributions affect elections, and there is no
guarantee that money produces a payoff in legislation.
At the beginning of the chapter, we discussed James Madison
and his great fear of the “mischief of factions.” If Madison
were to return to see the state of factions and their mischief
today, he would doubtless be surprised by the involvement of
lobbyists and special interest groups in the political process.
Many people are alarmed by the policy influence of single-issue
groups and well-funded industry groups. Some express concern
that interests are not represented equally. It’s easier, for
example, for a single wealthy industry to lobby for lower water
pollution standards than for poor residents who live near a
polluted river to lobby for higher pollution standards.

When lawmakers try to appease multiple groups with opposing
policy views, it can lead to inefficient, incoherent, or delayed
policies. Also, the tendency for groups to back incumbents
gives them a tremendous advantage in elections.
There have been some weak legislative attempts to restrict
lobbying and reform campaign financing, but the Court has
eased regulations on interest group activity, especially in the
area of financial contributions. The Lobbying Disclosure Act of
1995 requires candidates to disclose who their donors are, but
Super PACs can get around this requirement easily.
34
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