1 / 64

Interest Groups

Learn how interest groups accomplish their goals through lobbying, electioneering, litigation, and appealing to the public for support. Explore the effectiveness of these strategies and discover where interest groups get their funding.

mgarza
Download Presentation

Interest Groups

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Interest Groups How Interest Groups Work

  2. Interest Groups • Generally employ 4 strategies for accomplishing their goals

  3. Interest Groups: Strategies • (1) lobbying • (2) electioneering • (3) litigation • (4) appealing to the public for support

  4. Lobbying • Attempt to influence government policies

  5. Lobbying • Term was originally used in the mid 17th century to refer to a large room near the English House ofCommons where people could plead their cases to members ofParliament

  6. Lobbying • In the early U.S. history, lobbyists traditionally buttonholed members of Congress in the lobbies just outside the chambers of the House or Senate

  7. Lobbying • In the 19th century lobbyists were seen as vote buyers who used money to corrupt legislators

  8. Lobbying • Today lobbying is regarded less negatively, but the old stereotypes still remain

  9. Lobbying • Today, lobbyists influence lawmakers and agency bureaucrats in many different ways than cornering them outside their work places

  10. Lobbying • Some of their activities include: • Contacting government officials by phone or letter

  11. Lobbying • Meeting and socializing at conventions • Taking officials to lunch • Testifying at committee hearings

  12. Lobbying • Members of Congress have learned to rely on lobbyists for information and advice on political strategy

  13. How effective is lobbying?

  14. Lobbying • Lobbying clearly works best onpeople already committed to the lobbyist’s point of view, so much of it directed at reinforcing & strengthening support

  15. Electioneering • In order to accomplish their goals, interest groups need to get & keep people in office who support their cause

  16. Electioneering • Another important part of the work that interest groups do

  17. Electioneering • Many groups aid congressional candidates sympathetic to their interests by providing money for their political campaigns

  18. Electioneering • Today PACs do most of the electioneering

  19. Electioneering • As campaign costs have risen, PACs have helped pay the bills • About ½ of the members of the House of Rep get the majority of their campaign funds from PACs

  20. Electioneering • PACs overwhelmingly support incumbents • Although. . they sometimes play it safe by contributing to the campaigns of challengers as well

  21. Electioneering • Incumbents, however, have voting records to check & also are likely to be reelected • Most candidates, including incumbents, readily accept PAC money

  22. Litigation • If interest groups cannot get what they want from Congress, they may sue businesses or federal government for action

  23. Litigation • Environmental groups have used this tactic successfully to force businesses to follow government regulations

  24. Litigation • Even the threat of lawsuits may force businesses to change their ways

  25. Litigation • Lawsuits were used successfully during the 1950s civil rights groups

  26. Litigation • Civil rights bills were stalled in Congress

  27. Litigation • So. . .interest groups, such as the NAACP, turned to the courts to gain a forum for: • (1) desegregation • (2) equal housing • (3) labor market equality

  28. Litigation • Influence groups may influence decisions by filling amicus curiae (“friends of the court”) brief

  29. Litigation • Consist of written arguments submitted to the courts in support of one side of a case or the other

  30. Litigation • In particularly controversial cases, many briefs may be filed on both sides of the issue

  31. Litigation • For example: In the case of Regents of theUniversity of California v. Bakke • Case challenged affirmative action programs as reverse discrimination

  32. Litigation • Over a 100 different groups filed amicus briefings

  33. Litigation • Groups may also file class action lawsuits • Enable a group of similar plaintiffs to combine their grievances into a single suit

  34. Litigation • A famous example is: Brown v. the Board of Educationof Topeka in 1954

  35. Litigation • Case not only represented Linda Brown in Topeka, Kansas, but several other children with similar situations around the country

  36. Appealing to the Public • Interest groups may best influence policy making by carefully cultivating their public image

  37. Appealing to the Public • Labor groups may want Americans to see them as hardworking men & women . . • The backbone of the country

  38. Appealing to the Public • Farmers may favor an image that represents old-fashioned values of working close to the earth in order to feed everyone else

  39. Appealing to the Public • Groups that suffer adverse publicity often advertise to defend their products

  40. Where Do Interest Groups Get Their Money? • Most interest groups have to work hard to raise money • But. . individual membership organizations have more trouble than most

  41. Where Do Interest Groups Get Their Money? • In addition to dues collected from members, groups receive from 3 important sources: • (1) Foundation grants • (2) Federal grants • (3) Direct solicitation

  42. Foundation Grants • Public interest groups particularly depend on foundation grants

  43. Foundation Grants • Funds established usually by prominent families or corporations for philanthropy

  44. Foundation Grants • Rockefeller Family Fund almost single-handedly supports the Environmental Defense Fund

  45. Foundation Grants • Bill & Linda Gates Foundation supports many endeavors, including childhood immunizations, public education

  46. Federal Grants • Grants that are not granted directly to organizations for lobbying purposes • But. . may be given to support a project an organization supports

  47. Federal Grants • Reagan administration reduced grants to interest grants • Partly because much of the money was going to liberal causes

  48. Direct Solicitation • Most groups rely heavily on direct mail to solicit funds

  49. Direct Solicitation • By using computers, groups can target selected individuals identified by lists developed by staff or purchased from other groups

  50. Direct Solicitation • Most groups maintain websites that encourage visitors to contribute to their causes

More Related