Intermediary Organizations

GovernmentIntermediary

Organizations

Citizens/ the Public

Are interest groups good?

Interest Groups enhance democracy.

Interest Groups represent the evils of faction Madison and the Federalists were concerned with in Federalist #10.

Strategies of Influence

Contemporary interest groups seek influence over policy makers through a mix of “inside” strategies and “outside” strategies.

Inside strategies include: lobbying influencing administrative rule-

making litigation

Outside strategies include: influencing election outcomes affecting media coverage

Interest groups “lobby” legislators in efforts to shape policy as it is being made.

Interest groups also seek to cultivate access to officials in the executive branch to influence administrative rule making and the details of policy implementation.

Interest groups hire lawyers to influence the judiciary.

Sometimes groups are litigants in lawsuits.

Often groups submit amicus curiae briefs giving their perspectives on cases to which they are not a party.

Interest groups seek to influence public opinion by

developing media strategies and advertising (known as going public);

mobilizing citizens at the grass roots.

Finally, interest groups seek to influence the outcome of elections.

By mobilizing their members, groups can deliver volunteers and votes to campaigns.

Through political action committees (PACs), groups contribute money to candidates. The influence of PAC contributions has increased considerably in recent years.

Interest Group Print Ads

How does persuasion in politics work?

“The Persuaders”– Frontline– Focus on Chapters 4, 5, and 6.

Functions of Interest Groups

Representation Participation Interest Aggregation Education Agenda-Building Program Monitoring`

Why Some Groups Organize

Selective Incentives Theory– Material selective benefits– Purposive selective benefits– Solidary or social selective benefits

Why Some Groups Organize

Selective Incentives Theory

Disturbance Theory– People unite against a common harm after a threshold of negative experience is reached. I.E., unions

Entrepreneur Theory

Why Some Groups Organize

Selective Incentives Theory

Disturbance Theory

Entrepreneur Theory– People are brought together by ambitious, energetic, charismatic, entrepreneurial leadership. For instance the role of Billy Graham in the Christian Coalition.

“By a faction I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are 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.”—James Madison, Federalist 10

Madison believed: Balancing the conflicting interests

of different factions was the most reliable way to control the negative effects of factional politics.

Increasing the number and variety of factions actually aided the pursuit of the public good.

Interest Group Pluralism

Following Madison, mid-20th century pluralists argued that interest group politics was a major strength of American government and society.

Pluralism is the theory that all interests are and should be free to compete for influence in the government. The outcome of this competition is compromise and moderation.

Pluralists argued that interest groups

represent many diverse interests in society;

provide expert information and perspectives that improve policy making.

Pluralist Model of Politics

Assumptions:– System is open

– System is responsive

– Activity is restrained

INTEREST GROUPS

BAD FOR

DEMOCRACY?

Schattschneider

Scope and Bias: Who can get into the fight and who is excluded?

“The flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper class accent.”

Critics of pluralism argued that interest groups represent “special interests”

and do not reflect the broader will of the people or the public good;

over-represent the wealthy in society;

provide self-serving and biased information that warp policy making.

The best Congress money can buy?– Buying support vs. rewarding supporters

– Most IG money goes to the strongest supporters

– Buying time in committee

Iron TriangleExecutive Branch Congressional

Agency Committee

Interest Group

Good or Bad for Democracy?

Iron triangles don’t last forever Evidence suggests that the “public interest”

is on the rise

Good or Bad for Democracy?

Iron triangles don’t last forever Evidence suggests that the “public interest”

is on the rise What other organization would perform the

intermediary functions… parties?

If Madison is right– factions are inevitable– the institutional arrangement matters!