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Gov Ch9-4 - Interest Groups Assignment: Use your own paper and leave a blank line between each of your paragraphs |
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Key Terms interest group, public interest groups, trade organizations, labor force
All of us have interests that we want represented in government. Farmers want higher prices for their products. Young people want good educational and job opportunities. Environmentalists want clean air and water. Homeless people want programs for food and shelter. Throughout our nation's history, organizing to promote and protect such interests has been a natural part of democracy. As the French political observer Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his often-cited book Democracy in America (1835), Americans have a tendency to form "associations" and have perfected "the art of pursuing in common the object of their common desires.
The old adage "there is strength in numbers" is true in American politics. The right to organize groups is protected by the Constitution, which guarantees people the right "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances." The Supreme Court has defended this important right over the years.
What Is an Interest Group?
Defining the term interest group seems simple enough. Interest in this sense refers to objectives and policy goals. A group is an accumulation of people with something in common. An interest group is an organization made up of people who share common objectives and who actively attempt to influence government policymakers through direct and indirect methods.
Whatever their goals-more or fewer social services, higher or lower prices-interest groups pursue them on every level and in every branch of government. On any given day in Washington, you can find national interest groups in action. If you eat breakfast in the Senate dining room, you might see congressional committee staffers reviewing testimony with representatives from women's groups. Later that morning, you might visit the Supreme Court and watch a lawyer from a civil rights group arguing on behalf of a client in a discrimination suit. Lunch in a popular Washington restaurant might find you listening in on a conversation between an agricultural lobbyist and a representative. That afternoon you might visit the Department of Labor, and watch bureaucrats working out rules and regulations with representatives from a labor interest group. Then you might stroll past the headquarters of Common Cause, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).
Interest groups are often criticized in the United States, but they do serve several purposes in American Politics:
How Do Interest Groups Differ from Political Parties?
Realize that although both interest groups and political parties are groups of people joined together for political purposes, they differ in several important ways:
Interest groups are often policy specialists, whereas political parties are policy generalists. Political parties are broad-based organizations that must attract the support of many opposing groups and consider a large number of issues. Interest groups, in contrast, focus on only a handful of key policies. An environ mental group is not as concerned about the problems of the homeless as it is about polluters. An agricultural group is more involved with promoting farm programs than it is with crime in the cities.
Interest groups are usually more tightly organized than political parties. They are often financed through contributions or dues-paying memberships. Organizers communicate through conferences, mailings, newsletters, and electronic formats, such as e-mail
A political party's main sphere of influence is the electoral system. That is, parties run candidates for political office. Interest groups try to influence the outcome of elections; but unlike parties, they do not compete for public office. Although candidates for office may be sympathetic to or even be members of certain groups, they do not run for election as candidates of that group.
Types of Interest Groups
American democracy embraces almost every conceivable type of interest group, and the number is increasing rapidly. A look at your telephone directory- or even better, the Washington, D.C., directory- will give you an idea of the number and variety of groups. No one has ever compiled a Who's Who of interest groups, but you can get an idea of the number and variety by looking through the annual Encyclopedia of Associations.
Some interest groups have large memberships, such as the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), with 33 million members. Others, such as the Tulip Growers Association, have only a few members. Some are familiar groups that have been in existence for many years, such as the National Rifle Association, while others crop up overnight. Some are highly structured and run by a professional full-time staff, while others are loosely structured and informal. Figure 9-2 shows profiles of some important interest groups.
The most common interest groups are private interest groups. These groups seek public policies that benefit the economic interests of their members and work against policies that threaten those interests. Other groups, sometimes called public interest groups, are formed with the broader goal of working for the "public good."
Business
Business has long been well organized for effective action. Hundreds of business groups now operate in Washington, D.C., in the fifty state capitals, and at the local level across the country. Two umbrella organizations that include most businesses are the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). More than 200,000 individual businesses belong to the Chamber of Commerce, which also has 4,000 local, state, and regional affiliates. It has become a major voice for the nation's thousands of small businesses. The NAM chiefly represents big business and has thirteen thousand members.
The hundreds of trade organizations are far less visible than the Chamber of Commerce and the NAM, but they are also important in seeking policy goals for their members. Trade associations cover a range of areas, from the aerospace industry to angora goat producers, through builders and pickle makers, to truckers and theater owners. Trade organizations usually support policies that benefit business in general. They may not agree on specific issues, however. For example, people in the oil industry work for policies that favor the development of oil as an energy resource. Other business groups have worked for policies that favor the development of coal, solar power, and nuclear power. Trucking companies work for policies that would result in the construction of more highways. Railroad com panies do not, of course, want more highways built, because that would hurt their business.
Labor
Interest groups representing labor have been some of the most influential groups in the country. Nationwide labor groups date back as far as 1886, when the American Federation of Labor (AFL) was formed. The largest and most powerful labor group today is the AFL-CIO (the American Federation of Labor- Congress of Industrial Organizations), an organization consisting of nearly ninety unions representing more than thirteen million workers. Several million other workers are members of non-AFL-CIO unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the United Mine Workers, the International Longshoremen's Union, and the Warehousemen's Union.
Like labor unions everywhere, American unions press for policies to improve working conditions and pay for their members, but there are also issues on which they compete with or oppose each other. For example, a bricklayers' union might try to change building codes to benefit its own members even though such changes might hurt the carpenters' union. Labor groups may also compete for new members. For example, in California, the Teamsters, the AFL-CIO, and the United Mine Workers have competed to organize farm workers. Today, these unions are competing to organize farm workers in Texas, Florida, and other states.
Note that organized labor does not represent all of America's workers. It represents only 15 percent of the labor force-the total of those over the age of sixteen who are working or who are actively looking for a job. The interests of workers who do not belong to labor unions sometimes differ from the interests of unions and their members.
Although unions had great strength and political power in the late 1800s and the early 1900s, their strength and power have waned in the last two decades. They are still a powerful lobbying force, however.
Agricultural Groups
Many groups work for general agricultural interests at all levels of government. Several broad-based agricultural groups represent over five million American farmers, from peanut farmers to dairy producers to tobacco growers. They are the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Grange, and the National Farmers' Union. The Farm Bureau, with over 4.7 million members, is the largest and generally the most effective of the three mentioned. The Grange, founded in 1867, is the oldest and has a membership of about 290,000 farm families. The National Farmers' Union consists of approximately 300,000 smaller farmers. Specialized groups, such as the Associated Milk Producers, Inc. (AMPI), also have a strong influence on farm legislation
People in many product areas of agriculture have formed their own organizations. Groups have been formed around specific farm commodities such as dairy products, soybeans, grain, fruit, corn, cotton, beef, sugar beets, and so- on. Like business and labor groups, farm organizations sometimes find themselves in competition. In some western states, for example, barley farmers, cattle ranchers, and orchard owners may compete to influence laws concerning water rights. Different groups also often disagree over the extent to which the government should regulate farmers.
Consumer Groups and Older Americans
Consumer Groups
Groups organized to promote consumers' rights were very active in the 1960s and 1970s. Some are active today. The most well known and perhaps the most effective are the public interest consumer groups organized under the leadership of consumer activist Ralph Nader. Another well known consumer group is Consumers Union, a nonprofit organization started in 1936. In addition to publishing Consumer Reports, Consumers Union has been influential in fighting for the removal of phosphates in detergents, lead in gasoline, and pesticides in food. Consumers Union strongly criticizes government agencies when they act against consumer interests. Recently, members of several leading policy groups formed the National Consumer Coalition (NCC). The NCC's goal is to promote consumer choice in several issue areas, including housing, transportation, health and safety, and telecommunications. In each city, consumer groups have been organized to deal with such problems as poor housing, discrimination against minorities and women, and business inaction on consumer complaints.
Older Americans
While the population of the nation as a whole has tripled since 1900, the number of older Americans has increased eightfold. Persons over the age of sixty-five account for 13 percent of the population. Many of these people have united to call attention to their special needs and concerns. Interest groups formed to promote the interests of older Americans have been very outspoken and persuasive. As pointed out before, the large membership of the American Association of Retired Persons has enabled it to become a potent political force. The Gray Panthers is another organization formed to promote the interests of older people.
Environmental Groups
Concern for the environment has led to growth in the membership of established environmental groups and formation of new groups. Indeed, environmental groups are some of the most powerful interest groups in Washington. The National Wildlife Federation now has 5.6 million members. Other major environmental groups include the Sierra Club, the National Audubon Society, and the Nature Conservancy.
These groups have organized to support pollution reduction and control, wilderness protection, and natural resource and wildlife conservation. They have organized to oppose strip mining, nuclear power plants, logging activities, chemical waste dumping, and many other environmental hazards.
Ralph Nader is one of the nation's most wellknown consumer activists. Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed, which was published in 1965, influenced Congress to bring automobile safety design under the control of the national government. Nader founded the Center for the Study of Responsive Law, the Center for Auto Safety, and the Public Interest Research Group. He also formed Essential Information, a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging all citizens to become active and engaged in their communities. I n 1996, he was the Green Party's candidate for president.
Professional Groups
Most professions that require advanced education or specialized training have organizations to protect and promote their interests. These groups are concerned mainly with the standards of their professions, but they also work to influence government policy.
Four major professional groups are the American Medical Association (AMA), representing physicians; the American Bar Association (ABA), representing lawyers; and the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers ( AFT), both representing teachers. Each has an impact on public policy in its own area. In addition, there are dozens of less well-known and less politically active professional groups, such as the Screen Actors Guild, the National Association of Social Workers, and the American Political Science Association.
Women's Groups
Groups concerned with women's interests swelled with the women's rights movement. The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest women's group, having about 250,000 members. It has a national board made up of salaried officers and regional representatives. NOW has established the Legal Defense and Education Fund, which focuses on education and public information concerning women's rights.
Church-Related Organizations
Many church-related organizations try to influence public policy in several important areas. The National Council of Churches, for example, has spoken out on civil rights, human rights, and other social issues.
Ethnic Organizations
A number of ethnic groups in the United States have formed organizations to influence public policy at all levels of government. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) works for improvement in the political, social, and economic status of African Americans. Hispanic Americans have a number of organizations that work for their interests. They include the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the League of United Latin American Citizens. Asian Americans have the Organization of Chinese Americans and the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium.
As America becomes more culturally diverse and economically complex, we will most likely see an even greater array of interest groups.
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