After students have read and studied this chapter, they should be able to:

·         Define interest groups and describe their functions.

·         Identify the major categories of interest groups and name some representatives in the business, agricultural, and labor sectors.

·         Describe professional interest groups, public interest pressure groups, single-interest groups, environmental groups, and how foreign governments act as interest groups.

·         Identify the direct tactics used by interest groups, including lobbying, rating systems, building alliances, and campaign assistance.

·         Identify the indirect tactics used by interest groups, including public pressure and using constituents as lobbyists.

·         Describe benefits and drawbacks of tactics such as demonstrations and boycotts.

·         Describe regulations on lobbyists in place today.

·         Distinguish between a political party, an interest group, and a faction.

·         Identify some of the functions of a political party (recruiting candidates, organizing elections, presenting a platform, running the government or acting as the loyal opposition).

·         Identify the two major-party face-offs that developed in the years before the Civil War crisis (Federalists v. Jeffersonian Republicans and Whigs v. Democrats).

·         Distinguish between the various parties or tendencies that have adopted the name Republican (revolutionary era decentralists, the party of Jefferson, and finally the party of Lincoln).

·         Explain the transformation of the Democratic Party from a party of limited government, states’ rights, and racism to a party of strong government, national authority, and support for civil rights.

·         Describe the three faces of a political party, including the party organization, the party in electorate, and the party-in-government.

·         Explain how the winner-take-all elections system militates against third parties.

·         Distinguish between ideological third parties and splinter parties, and give examples of each.

 

 

An interest group is any organization whose members share common objectives and which actively attempts to influence government policy. Unlike political parties, interest groups do not attempt to gain control of the government; rather they attempt to influence governmental policies. Often, interest groups employ lobbyists, who attempt to influence policy by communication with policymakers.

I.         A Nation of Joiners

In his famous book, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote “in no country of the world has the principle of association been more successfully used or applied to a greater multitude of objectives than in America.” If he was amazed at how associations had flourished in the United States in 1834, he would be astounded at the number of associations today.  Why have interest groups been so successful in the United States?  The American structure of government has lent itself to reinforcing the formation of interest groups.

A.      Interest Groups and Social Movements. Mass movements for social change are one source of interest groups. Movements such as the civil rights movement and the women’s movement have resulted in a variety of established organizations.

B.       Why So Many? The formation of many interest groups is encouraged by our civil liberties, and also by our federal system with its checks and balances. Many pressure points exist at which interest groups can make their opinions known.

 

II.       Types of Interest Groups

There are thousands of interest groups in the United States.  Some are active at the national level, others at the state level, some at the local level, and some at all levels of government. 

A.      Economic Interest Groups.

1.Business interest groups are those economic interest groups whose purpose is to influence policy in a direction favorable to the business community.  While there are numerous specific organizations, two examples include: 1) The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), which has a staff of more than 60 people. It is a proponent of the interests of large corporations, with a focus on labor laws, minimum wage rates, corporate taxes, and trade regulations. 2) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a national organization for local chambers of commerce. It represents the interests of over 3,500 local chambers and over 200,000 businesses.

2.       Agricultural Interest Groups. These are economic interest groups whose purpose is to influence policy in a direction favorable to farmers or agriculturally related businesses. Examples include the American Farm Bureau Federation (with a focus on large-scale agriculture) and the National Farmers’ Union (with a focus on the problems of smaller farmers).

3.       Labor interest groups are economic interest groups whose purpose is to influence policy in a direction favorable to organized labor. Millions of workers belong to various labor unions that support specific labor interest groups. American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is the largest labor organization in the United States.  It is a federation of numerous, diverse labor organizations, like the American Federation of Teachers, the Teamsters, and the United Automobile Workers. Its focus is on labor standards, benefits, wages, housing, and foreign trade. The political arm of the AFL-CIO is called COPE, or the Committee on Political Education. The number of workers represented by unions in the private sector has fallen in recent decades, which has reduced labor’s strength.

4.       Public Employee Unions. Public employee pressure groups are relatively new in the arena of interest groups. These organizations represent workers employed by governments. Many employees of fire departments, police departments, sanitation departments, and public schools are union members or represented by a union. Examples of public employee unions include AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) and the NEA, the National Education Association. These organizations attempt to influence policy locally and nationally concerning: working conditions, wages, benefits, and long-term public policy related to these areas.  

5.       Interest Groups of Professionals. Professional interest groups represent individuals with specific credentials. These interest groups attempt to influence policies that have an impact on the members of the profession. Examples are the American Bar Association  (attorneys) and the American Medical Association (physicians).

6.       The Unorganized Poor. In general, persons in poverty lack the time and money needed to join interest groups. To the extent that such persons are represented at all, they are represented by others, such as social workers’ groups, public-interest groups, churches, charities, and liberal organizations.

B.       Environmental Groups. Environmental interest groups are concerned with policy affecting the environment. Environmental groups are concerned with global issues as well as national or state issues.  The goal of most interest groups in this category is the preservation of resources, land, and wildlife. Examples include the Sierra Club and Greenpeace.

C.      Public Interest Groups. Public-interest groups are often consumer groups. The goal of such groups is to influence policy that affects consumers. In the past, consumer interest groups have lobbied to have rear shoulder harnesses installed in all new vehicles, and have succeeded in requiring automobile manufacturer to put eye-level brake lights in cars’ rear windshields.

1.Nader Organizations. The public-interest movement has been headed by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who also ran for president of the United States in 2000 and 2004. Nader was responsible for founding hundreds of such groups.

2.Other Public-Interest Groups. Other such groups include Common Cause and the League of Women Voters. Conservative public-interest groups have also sprung up to fight consumer and environmental groups in court.

D.      Other Interest Groups. Many special interest groups focus on a single issue.  These are narrowly focused groups that may avoid involvement with policies that does not directly affect the major issue of the organization. Examples include interest groups concerned with abortion or gun control. The AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired People, could be put in this class. It is one of the most powerful interest groups of all, along with the pro-gun owners’ rights National Rifle Association.

E.       Foreign Governments. These also act as interest groups to promote the goals of the businesses and people of the foreign country by influencing policy by the government of the United States.  Because this type of lobbying has received so much public attention, President Clinton has set forth guidelines for members of his administration to not act a lobbyist for an international corporation for five years after leaving office and never to lobby on behalf of a foreign nation.

III.     Interest Group Strategies

For an interest group to be successful, it must be able to influence officials who are responsible for making public policy.  There are two primary methods used to influence officials of the government: direct action to influence the official, and indirect action, an attempt to have others influence the official.

A.      Direct techniques

1.Lobbying. This can include direct discussion with policymakers concerning the views of the interest group. This is usually thought of as happening with members of the legislature, although members of the executive branch are also frequent targets of lobbyists. Effective lobbyists will use all of the following techniques to present information to policy makers which is favorable to the interest group the lobbyist is representing:

·  private meetings with public officials.

·  testifying before congressional committees.

·  testifying before executive rule-making agencies.

·  submitting proposed legislation to members of the legislature for introduction.

·  arranging social gatherings for informal discussions.

·  providing information to legislators.

2.The Ratings Game. This involves interest groups publishing the voting records of members of the legislature. Votes to include are based on the interests of the group. A higher rating means support on issues important to the group. A lower rating means opposition on issues important to the interest group.

3.Building Alliances. This is an effort to unite groups that have common goals.  The tactic is useful in projecting a positive image to the public and to the policy makers and in avoiding duplicative effort.

4.Campaign Assistance. This includes endorsements for election, unpaid volunteers who work for the election of the candidate, and publicizing the candidate to the group’s own members.

B.       Indirect Techniques

1.Generating Public Pressure. This can be done by informing the public about a specific issue, often by advertising in newspapers, radio, and television.  Such messages are often subtle, intending to slowly build support for an issue or a group. Recent examples include commercials that promote awareness of the dangers of drunk driving.

2.Using Constituents as Lobbyists. This requires the interest group to convince its members to contact a member of the legislature by mail or phone about a specific legislative proposal. The Internet has proved a valuable tool for interest groups, who can use new technologies to easily connect to thousands of members, and facilitate their contact of government officials. In the “rifle” technique (the “Utah plant manager theory”), the interest group relies on lobbying by a constituent who is of local importance.

3.Unconventional Forms of Pressure. These include marches, rallies, and demonstrations, which have often been used by organizations seeking social change. Violent demonstrations, however, can backfire by alienating the public instead of (or as well as) pressuring the government. The boycott is another technique. It involves widespread refusal to buy a good or service to place pressure on the provider. Boycotts were used to desegregate buses in Montgomery, Alabama and by Mexican American farm workers seeking to organize a union.

IV.    Regulating Lobbyists

The Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act (1946) required that individuals or organizations that receive money for the purpose of influencing national legislation must register as a lobbyist or lobbying organization, and registered lobbyists must make public quarterly reports about all lobbying activity. The Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act was challenged to the Supreme Court in United States v. Harriss (1954) (see Handbook of Selected Court Cases). The Supreme Court ruled that the law did not violate due process, freedom of speech or freedom of the press or the freedom to petition. Thus, the law was constitutional.

A.      The Results of the 1946 Act. The act was not very effective, however. Only full-time lobbyists had to register.

B.       The Reforms of 1995. In 1995, Congress overhauled the lobbying legislation. The new legislation includes the following provisions.

·  A lobbyist is a person who spends 20 percent of the time or more lobbying Congress or the executive branch.

·  Lobbyists who earn $5,000 or more must register within 45 days of making contact with a member of Congress.

·  Detailed reports must disclose the nature of the lobbying business twice a year.

·  Subsidiaries of foreign companies based in the United States, must register as lobbyists.

·  Tax-exempt organizations and religious organizations are exempt from these requirements.

 

 

 

V.      What Is a Political Party?

A political party is “a group of political activists who organize to win elections, to operate the government, and to determine public policy.” This definition makes a distinction between a political party and an interest group. Interest groups want to influence public policy, but are not interested in controlling the government. This definition also distinguishes parties from factions, which are smaller groups of individuals, often within a political party, who are acting together in pursuit of some special interest or position. For a political party to be successful, it must unite diverse groups that have different policy orientations. These are the functions of political parties in the United States:

·  Recruiting candidates to run for elective offices at all levels of government on the party label. By attracting quality candidates the party enhances its chance of winning the elective positions and controlling the government.

·  Organizing and running elections is technically a government responsibility, but the parties mobilize citizens to vote and participate.

·  Presenting alternative policies to the electorate is an essential role. By understanding the position of each party on the major issues the voter has some indication of the position of the party’s candidates.

·  Accepting the responsibility of operating government at all levels of the government is crucial to the functioning of the political process. Parties organize Congress (see Chapter 11 for details on committee organization), affect how the president selects individuals to serve in the executive branch (see Chapters 12 and 13 for details), and how the president nominates federal judges (see Chapter 14 for details on the nomination process). Parties also perform the same functions at the state and local levels of government.

·  Providing organized opposition to the party in power is an essential role for a party that does not control one or another branch of the government.

 

VI.    A History of Political Parties in the United States

Political parties did not exist when the Constitution was drafted and are not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution. Yet the debate on the ratification of the Constitution helped give rise to the first political parties.

A.      The Formative Years: Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The two-party system can be said to have originated in the debate between supporters of the Constitution (the Federalists) and those who though the states should be the locus of authority and advocated a Bill of Rights (the Anti-Federalists). Under George Washington and John Adams, the Federalist Party was the first party to control the national government. By 1796,however, another party came into the political process. This party was headed by Thomas Jefferson and was called the Republicans. (Do not confuse this party with the later party of Lincoln.) While Jefferson’s party supported the Constitution, it was clearly the heir of the pre-revolutionary republican movement and the later Anti-Federalists.

B.       The Era of Good Feelings. The Federalist Party began to erode as a viable party after 1800. (It was fatally identified with aristocratic tendencies.) By 1820 it was unable to field a presidential candidate and was essentially extinct. Only the Republicans were left to control the government. This period, sometimes called the Era of Good Feelings, is perhaps the only time in which the United States did not have a two-party system.

C.      National Two-Party Rule: Whigs and Democrats. With the fiercely contested election of 1824, the Republican Party split into the Democrats (Jackson supporters) and the National Republicans (Adams supporters). The National Republicans soon renamed themselves as the Whigs.

D.      The Civil War Crisis. The argument over slavery first split the Whigs and then the Democrats along North/South lines. Northern Whigs formed the largest element in the new anti-slavery Republican Party.

E.       The Post-Civil War Period.

The abolition of the “three-fifths” rule meant counting all former slaves in allocating House seats and electoral votes. With this addition, and after the readmission of all Confederate states, the reunited Democratic Party was now about as strong as the Republicans.

1.       “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion.” Cultural factors divided the parties. The Republican ranks contained an aggressive Evangelical Protestant element that was hostile to Catholicism and favored moralistic initiatives such as banning the sale of liquor. Democrats opposed a strong national government that could impose coercive moralistic measures in the North and protect the rights of the “freedmen” in the South.

2.       The Triumph of the Republicans. The Republicans did not gain a decisive edge until 1896, when, at the bottom of an economic depression, the Democrats endorsed a pro-debtor populist platform that frightened Eastern workers. The Republicans won just in time to benefit from the end of the depression, and so sealed their reputation as the party of prosperity.

F.       The Progressive Interlude. A temporary split in the Republican ranks allowed the Democrats to gain control of the government under President Woodrow Wilson from 1912 to 1920. This period is significant because under Wilson, the Democrats began to evolve away from their former hostility to government action in the economy.

G.      The New Deal Era. “The Great Depression shattered the working-class belief in Republican economic competence.” President Franklin Roosevelt completed the evolution of the Democrats into a party of active government. (One characterization by a sympathetic professor was, “Hamiltonian means, Jeffersonian ends.”) Roosevelt’s “big tent” was big enough to welcome African Americans, an unprecedented development.

H.      An Era of Divided Government. Northern Democratic support for the civil rights movement tended to push Southern conservatives out of the party. The unrest of the late 1960s (urban riots, anti-Vietnam War protests) alienated other cultural conservatives from the Democrats. These voters largely became Republicans, though the process was a slow one lasting decades, not an overnight revolution such as was seen in 1896 and 1932.

1.       The Parties in Balance. In any event, the result has been a nation very evenly divided between the two major parties. In the years after 1968, the pattern was often a Republican president and a Democratic Congress. Under Democratic President Clinton, the pattern was reversed.

2.       Red State, Blue State. The extraordinarily close presidential election of 2000 focused attention on the supposed differences between Democratic “blue states” and Republican “red states.” The geographic pattern of state support for the parties is the reverse of the pattern of 1896, neatly exemplifying the reversal of Democratic Party ideology and support.

VII.  Party Organization

Political parties in the United States can be said to be comprised of three components. The party in the electorate is comprised of the people who identify with the party or who regularly vote for the candidates of the party in general elections.  Without the party in the electorate it would not be possible for the party to have electoral success. The party organization is the second element. The function of the party organization is to provide a leadership and structure for the party. The last element is the party-in-government.  This includes the elected and appointed officials who gained office under the label of the party. Once in office these leaders organize to influence governmental policy toward the platform of the party.

A.      Party Organization

B.       The National Party Organization. In theory American political parties are structured like a pyramid, with the national party organization at the top and the local party organization serving as the base. This theoretical structure is not realistic. Rather, American political parties tend to operate like a confederacy, where the state parties act autonomously and have loose connections to each other and to the national committee.

1.       Convention Delegates. The national party organization receives the most publicity during the national convention. Members of the party who have been selected to attend the convention meet to nominate the presidential candidate, approve the party platform, and approve the presidential candidate’s selection of a vice-presidential candidate. This convention is held once every four years. Convention delegates typically have political views further from the center than the supporters of the party in the electorate.

2.       The National Committee. Elected by the national convention, this body serves as the party’s governing body until the next convention.

3.       Picking a National Chairperson. This person is picked or approved by the party’s presidential candidate. If the candidate loses, however, the National Committee may choose a different chairperson.

C.      The State Party Organization. Each state also has a party organization. There is a state chairperson and a state central committee. Like the national party, each state party holds a state convention, which may endorse some candidates, depending on state law. A state party platform is drafted which focuses on state-level issues.

D.      Local Party Machinery: The Grass Roots.

1.       Patronage and City Machines. In the 1800s and early 1900s, major cities typically had powerful political “machines” that supplied welfare services and jobs to an immigrant based clientele in return for votes. Such machines no longer exist. Welfare services are now provided by a nonpartisan bureaucracy and government jobs are assigned through competitive examinations.

2.       Local Party Organizations Today. Local organizations have important functions such as getting out the vote. The local party organization differs in different regions of the country. In some areas the party has little local organization. In other areas there may be a very strong local organization that controls the local governmental process. The national party has little control over local organizations.

E.       The Party-in-Government.

Which party wins an election is important for a number of reasons. The majority party can dominate committees in legislatures, decide appointments in the executive branch, and set the political agenda.

1.       Divided Government. But given the checks and balances of the American policy making system, gaining an electoral partisan majority does not mean absolute power. Indeed, in the era of ticket splitting (where many voters vote for candidates of different parties for different offices) and divided government, majority partisan advantage is almost always tempered by the opposition.

2.       The Limits of Party Unity. Legislation often does not pass on party-line votes. The reason in part is that candidates for the House and Senate are not dependent on their party, but put together personal campaign organizations.

3.       Party Polarization. Still, partisanship appears to have increased in recent years. Computers can be used to devise “safe seats” for both parties. With little risk of general-election competition, members of the House can be more partisan. Also, various elements of the media have discovered that “stridency sells,” and therefore promote polarization.

VIII.       Why Has the Two Party System Endured?

A.      The Historical Foundations of the Two-Party System. Often, on major issues confronting the country there have been two clear sides. This duality helped to initiate a two-party system and has maintained this system through the present.

B.       Political Socialization and Practical Considerations: For generations, all that has existed is a two party system. If individuals are not exposed to anything but a two-party system, they will not likely seek change to a different type of system.

C.      The Winner-Take-All Electoral System. This system elects the candidate who receives a plurality of the votes. Candidates who finish second receive nothing.  Say a party is able to gain 19 percent of the vote nationwide, but in no single district manages to attain a plurality.  The party will elect no candidates.

1.       Presidential Voting. The winner-take-all system also works in presidential voting. In all but two states, the presidential candidate with a plurality gets all the electoral votes of that state. This is the unit rule.

2.       Popular Election of the Governors and President. In most democratic countries, the chief executive is a premier or prime minister elected by the legislature. If there are three or more parties, two or more can band together to elect a premier. In America, however, governors are elected directly by the people and presidents are elected indirectly by the people. There is no opportunity for negotiations between parties.

3.       Proportional Representation. Many countries use proportional representation in elections. Such a system allows a party to receive the number of legislators equal to the percentage of the vote the party received. If a party receives 19 percent of the vote it would then receive 19 percent of the seats in the legislature. As long as the U.S. continues to use a winner-take-all electoral system, it is highly unlikely that a minor party will be successful.

D.      State and Federal Laws Favoring the Two Parties. This occurs because the two major parties are in control of the policy-making process. As long as the Democrats and Republicans are in power at the state and national levels they will continue to pass laws which favor the two-party system and will pass laws making it difficult for new parties to develop.

IX.    The Role of Minor Parties in U.S. Politics

A.      Ideological Third Parties. Many third parties are long-lived organizations with strong ideological foundations. A historical example is the Socialist Party, which existed from 1900 to 1972. Current examples include the Libertarian Party and the Green Party.

B.       Splinter Parties. Not all minor parties have been based on a different ideology from the major parties.  A few minor parties are formed when members of one of the two major parties are dissatisfied with the leader of the major party, or the members are dissatisfied with the platform of the major party.  These are usually referred to as spin-off parties. For example, the Bull-Moose Progressives were a spin-off of the Republican Party. The Progressives were those reform-minded Republicans who supported the candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt over that of William Howard Taft.

C.      The Impact of Minor Parties. No presidential candidate has been elected from a minor party. Very few members of Congress have been elected on the label of a minor party. But minor parties have had an impact in that they raise issues that the two major parties must address. These parties also provide voters with another option.

1.       Influencing the Major Parties. Minor parties can raise issues that major parties than adopt. The Populist Party was an example. Many of its policies were taken over by the Democrats in 1896 (which hurt the Democrats rather than helping them, however.) During its existence, the Socialist Party advanced many proposals that were picked up by liberals (and sometimes even by a bipartisan consensus)

                   2    Affecting the Outcome of an Election. Some claim that the candidacy of Ralph Nader on the Green Party ticket hurt Democrat Al Gore’s chances of

                        winning the presidency, particularly given how close the election was. Nader  may have taken votes from Gore, thus giving George W. Bush an edge.

X.      Features

A.      America’s Security—Interest Groups and Aviation Security.

As is true of most new legislation, the attempt to improve airport security resulted in heavy lobbying. Participants included businesses, which would lose work, makers of screening equipment, airlines, pilots, public employees unions, and groups representing immigrants (who might loose out if citizenship requirements were imposed).