CH 19, Lesson 3: Interest Groups and Their Roles

The Purpose of Interest Groups

Help bridge the gap between people and the government. Allow a medium for people to communicate their wants or policy goals to government leaders like the president or state legislators. When lawmakers begin to address vital concerns of an interest group, its members swing into action. Act as watchdogs and protest government policies that harm their members. Don't exist solely to influence public policy. They have other goals including -influencing business practices -educating their members, and the public -supporting or conducting research -providing services to people in need.

Leadership and Membership

Interest group leaders strengthen the political power of the group by unifying its members. They keep members informed on their activities through email blasts, newsletters, mailings, and telephone calls. They act as speakers for their group and try to improve its images in the media. They plan the group's strategy and raise money to run the organization. They oversee all financial decisions of the group. People join interest groups to protect or promote their economic self-interest. A labor union works for higher wages and more, while business associations work to ensure favorable tax laws. People join to get their beliefs translated into policy or into direct action to help others. They may also join interest groups for social reasons; socializing promotes a group unity that is vital to achieving political goals.

Parties vs. Interest Groups - Difference: Broad vs Specific

Interest groups are usually concerned with only a few issues or specific problems. They do not try to attract members with different points of view. Have ideologies, but since they don't have to create a broad-based membership, their ideologies may be less flexible than those of political parties. Parties are broad based organizations, with contrasting ideas about government - ideologies - they must attract the support of people with varied ideas to win elections. They must also consider conflicting issues and problems that affect all Americans, not just certain groups.

Interest Group Political Power

Interest groups follow the old principle "There is strength in numbers." By representing more than one individual, an interest group has a stronger bargaining position with leaders in government. Number of members needed to influence government leaders varies with the size of the community involved. In a small community for example may listen to a 100 -member group of citizens that has organized into a Local Safety Association, but officials in a large city might not be influenced by that number of people. On state and national levels, an interest group draws from the financial resources and expertise of its many members. Organized and equipped with sufficient resources, an interest group can exert influence far beyond the power of its individual members.

The Founders on Interest Groups

Many early leaders of the US believed interest groups could make governing difficult, despite them being a feature in American political life for a long time. In Federalist 10, Madison referred to fractions as groups of people united to promote special interests that were adverse to the rights of others or aggregate the interests of the community. He believed the Constitution would be a sufficient safeguard against the potential abuses of these groups. Alexis de Tocqueville felt the opposite that they were a positive thing for democracy, saying Americans engage in causes larger themselves and provide a means of helping people influence government.

Parties vs Interest Groups - Difference: Base

Most interest groups are organized on the basis of common values, rather than on geographic location. National interest groups unite people with common concerns from every region of the country. Political parties nominate officials from geographic areas to represent the people in those areas to the larger group.

Economic Interest Groups

Nearly all Americans have economic interests about taxes, food prices, housing, inflation, and unemployment. So, many interest groups are concerned with economic issues. These interest groups seek to convince the public officials to support policies that they believe will strengthen the economy generally as well as serve their own economic interests.

Parties vs. Interest Groups - Difference: Nomination

Parties nominate candidates for office and try to win elections to gain control of government. Interest groups may support a candidate favoring their ideas, but will not nominate them. Rather they try to influence government officials to support certain policies.

Ideological Interest Groups

Promote broad politics based on their core political or religious beliefs. EX: Americans for Democratic Action and the American Conservative Union are the two largest interest groups that promote politics reflecting their liberal or conservative philosophies.

Single Issue Groups

Some of the most effective interest groups are those that are dedicated to one particular issue like advocating for the rights of elderly, preventing homlessness, immigration reform, support for injured vets, drunk driving protection, gun rights or gun control. EX: NRA & Brady Campaign - on opposing sides in regards to gun laws.

Professional Interest Groups

The American Bar Association and American Medical Association are examples of interest groups that represent specific professions. Professional associations also represent banker, teachers, college professionals, police officers, and hundreds of other professions. These associations are concerned primarily with the standards of their professions, but they also provide their members with resources like professional development and networking services. Many work to influence government policy on issues important to them.

Farming Interest Groups

The largest of these agricultural groups is the American Farm Bureau Federation which speaks for larger farmers and is closely associated with the Federal Department of Agriculture. The National Farmers' Union draw its membership from smaller farmers and favor higher price supports for crops and livestock. The group also has supported laws protecting migrant farmworkers. The oldest farm group is the Patrons of Husbandry, known as the Grange. Although this group is more of a social organization than an interest group, it has been very outspoken in advocating price supports for crops. Also important are the commodity (a product or good that is sold for profit) associations representing such groups as dairy farmers and potato growers.

Faith Based Interest Groups

There are a number of religious groups and this number has nearly 5 fold in the last 40 years. Some of htese are based in specific religious traditions like the AMerican Jewish COmmitee or Muslim American Societty. Others like Christian Organizations Bread for the World and Focus on the Family are concerned with broader issues like hunder, education, or marriage rights and advocated for policies from their members' religious perspectives. Some interest groups such as the Secular Coalition for America exist to keep religious bias out of public policy discussions.

Types of Interest Groups

There are thousands of interest groups in the US and can be categorized according to the size of their membership, methods, and relative effectiveness of those methods or goals. Most interest groups fall into one of the following categories (or more than 1).

Public Interest Group

These groups focus their work on influencing policies that they believe affect the general public, not just its own members. These groups might be concerned about issues relating to the environment, consumer protection, public health, families, education, community development, protecting civil rights of children, and the elderly or government reform. Concerns about the environment and the impact of environmental regulation have led to the founding of many environmental interest groups, both liberal and conservatives. Their goals vary widely from conserving resources, protecting wildlife, and reversing the trend toward global warming to advancing the free market as the appropriate way to protect the environment. Among these interest groups are the Sierra Club, the National Wildlife Federation, the Environmental Defense Fund, and Competitive Enterprise Institute. One well-known public interest group Common Cause was founded in 1970. This public interest group focuses on trying to reform campaign financing elections, and other aspects of government accountability. The group In the Public Interest is concerned with making the public aware of the benefits and costs of privatizing services that were once government-run such as prisons, transit systems, public hospitals, etc.

Civil Rights Groups

Throughout US History, interest groups have been formed to gain or protect the rights of various groups. Examples of civil rights groups include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Council of La Raza, the League of United LAtin American Citizens, National Organization for Women, and the Human Rights Campaign. Many of these trace their origins to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, NAACP & LULAC were founded in 1909 and 1929. NAACP's mission is to end all race-based discrimination and it works towards this mission by raising awareness and advocating for federal, state, and local antidiscrimination laws. LULAC works to improve the economic condition, political influence, and health of Hispanic Americans. Some civil rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights also work internationally.

Government Interest Groups

Workers and leaders in American government at all levels - federal, state, and local -- also act as interest groups. Examples of interest groups made up of government leaders at the National Governors Association, the US Conference of Mayors, and the National School Boards Association. Public employee unions include the American Postal Workers Union and American Federation of Government Employees Government interest groups often try to influence COngress or the president because they want to receive more federal funds. They also advocate for action on state and local problems that require national solutions, like immigration. Public Sector unions often focus on improving working conditions, negotiating for fair wages, and securing benefits like health insurance for workers.

Economic Interest Groups - business related

among the oldest and largest in the nation. The National Association of Manufacturers works to lower individual and corporate taxes and to limit government regulation of business, especially manufacturing. The US Chamber of COmmerce is a powerful interest group that represents more than 3M businesses of all sizes and types. A third group is the Business Roundtable which consists of executives from the largest and most powerful corporations. Specific industries such as oil and gas also have associations that represent their interest to policy makers.

Economic Interest Groups - Labor Unions

formed to advance the right of workers The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations is the largest and most powerful labor organization today. Among the many unions in the AFL-CIO, are the United Auto Workers, United Mine Workers, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. A separate organization called the Committee on Political Education directs the AFL_CIO's political activities and their major goals include fundraising, holding voter registration drives, and providing support for political candidates.

Interest Group

group of people who share common goals and organize to influence government. People join interest groups to increase their political efficacy; by joining like-minded individuals, they believe they can have a greater impact on government policy. Allow Americans to be represented according to their economic, social, or occupational interests. Important component of American civil society which is the network of voluntary associations that exist outside of government in any free society. These can include gardening clubs, church, American Red Cross, and interest groups like the NRA. Private citizens - not government officials - organize and run such groups.