Analysing Pressure Groups

Question 1

Factors affecting pressure group success:

Organisation and leadership

Answer 1

• Groups with effective legislation and leadership and more likely to succeed than those that don’t
• e.g. Occupy Movement may have enjoyed media exposure, however lacking any formal structure or leadership meant it effectively fizzled out

Question 2

Factors affecting pressure group success:

Wealth

Answer 2

• Financial resources enable pressure groups to lobby, engage in wider campaigning and have more effective publicity material.
• Business and trade groups are oftehn the wealthiest e.g. …

Question 3

Factors affecting pressure group success:

Status of opposition

Answer 3

• Many pressure groups have an opposition arguing for the alternative viewpoint.
• In some cases the opposition is much stronger
• e.g. The NRA are much more powerful than pro-gun control groups such as…

Question 4

Factors affecting pressure group success:

Membership size

Answer 4

• some argue that the number of members can help determine pressure group success.
• for instance AARP, with almost 40 million members can claim to represent a very significant portion of the US population

Question 5

Factors affecting pressure group success:

Achievability of group goal

Answer 5

• some more ideological pressure groups may have goals which are unrealistic or unachievable
• advocacy groups, and those seeking to represent one section of society’s interests, may have goals that are easier to attain, and the groups themselves may be more pragmatic

Question 6

are pressure groups democratic? (short answer)

Answer 6

• pressure groups allow a large proportion of the population to participate in the political process between elections.
• they pressure all three branches of government - the executive, legislature and judiciary - to convince them to follow their viewpoint and take action on particular causes that are important to the group
• critics say that pressure groups aren’t always fully democratic and sometimes they may even encroach and disrupt the normal democratic process of government in the USA

Question 7

Ways pressure groups are undemocratic:

hiring lobbyists

Answer 7

• pressure groups with a medium to high level of influence and financial ability frequently hire professional lobbyists to work on their behalf, promoting recognition of the group and their ideas
• many lobbyists, however, are former Congress members with internal knowledge of the workings of the US government (revolving door)
• this gives an unfair advance over other groups who may not have such resources at their disposal

Question 8

Ways pressure groups are undemocratic:

self interest over society

Answer 8

• pressure groups are nearly always interested in the plight of their own membership feather than the society at large
• this results in special interest groups fighting for recognition and implementation of their ideas without stopping to think about its wider impact
• NAACP follow this pattern
• can also lead to particular sections of society being stereotyped for their apparently identical viewpoint on issues while in real life, viewpoints are varied

Question 9

Ways pressure groups are undemocratic:

buying of political influence

Answer 9

• professional lobbying can also lead to the “buying of political influence” in which pressure groups spend un-proportionally large amounts of money on lobbying activities, therefore “buying” influence on Congress members who may be sympathetic to their cause.
• some cases, this can lead to legislation being “helped” out by pressure group members who suggest clauses and amendments which will help their business activities

Question 10

Ways pressure groups are undemocratic:

“iron-triangle”

Answer 10

• term used to describe the relationship between a pressure group, a congressional committee and a government department
• usually these relationships are strong, and can lead to favourable policies for the pressure group membership
• just like lobbyists, iron-triangel can “buy influence” on committees and departments, and this is generally seen as a bad thing, as it does not allow smaller groups the same level of recognition and access to influential politicians

Question 11

Ways pressure groups are undemocratic:

unequal

Answer 11

• unequal in terms of size, membership and financing
• groups like the NRA have millions of members and very high levels of finance ability, which they use for their lobbying activities regarding gun laws.
• groups like NARAL or the Brady Campaign are much smaller, and only have a few hundred or thousand members, and have limited finances to pursue their agendas
• ## unequal competition is seen as “the power of the rich over the poor”

Question 12

Ways pressure groups are democratic:

impact on the government policy

Answer 12

• pressure groups have made a large impact on the government in a number of policy areas
• e.g. the NAACP won civil rights for African-Americans with its backing of the 1954 Brown v Board of Education case at the US Supreme Court
• the NAACP also helped finance many civil rights cases where the prosecutor did not possess enough financial ability to fight the case
• in the more recent case of the 2003 Grutter v Bollinger Supreme Court judgement, the NAACP helped the University of Michigan by filing an amicus curiae supporting is affirmative action programme
• the university won the case

Question 13

Ways pressure groups are democratic:

representing groups that aren’t heard

Answer 13

• groups like Sierra Club, Wilderness Society and National Wildlife Federation have campaigned for greater environmental protection
• the National organisation for Women campaigned for an equal rights amendment to the US Constitution in the 1970s and 1980s
• they’re protecting interests and ensuring a free democracy by lessening the chances of a government only listening to the view of influential people

Question 14

Ways pressure groups are democratic:

offer advice to government departments and committees

Answer 14

• offer valuable advice to committees and government departments on certain issues on which they have expertise
• e.g. NAACP advises politicians on racial and African-AMerican issues
• the NRA does the same with gun legislation and education
• this also means pressure groups can use it to their advantage by giving advice which implies compliance with their viewpoints
• p.33 amicus curiae???

Question 15

Ways pressure groups are democratic:

uphold Constitutional rights

Answer 15

• by influencing all three branches of government using the many different access points available, it can also be argued that pressure groups make sure that the government never encroach on First Amendment rights because the points of access are continually used and known about
• interest groups play a vital role in upholding Constitutional Rights and preventing the growth of arbitrary government

Question 16

The Sierra Club

Answer 16

• founded in 1892
• currently has 2.1 million members
• the group is at the forefront of efforts to pass increased environmental protection regulations
• motto: “explore, enjoy and protect the planet”
• lobbying efforts often focus on bills related to the environment
• e.g. in the 113th Congress they lobbied heavily during the passage of the Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2013
• endorses candidates who are committed to environmental protection, such as 2014 endorsement of Zephyr Teachout in the Democratic primary for New York Governor
• the Sierra Club can be seen as a group representing political views often ignored by political parties
• neither political party is associated with efforts to protect the environment, despite the Democrats showing more interests than the Republicans

Question 17

Pluralism

Answer 17

• democracy can be achieved in a large, complex society competition, bargaining and compromise among organised groups
• individuals can participate in decision making through membership in these groups and by choosing among parties and candidates in elections
• pluralists are generally optimistic that the public interest will eventually prevail in the making of public policy
• the group becomes the essential bridge between the individual and the government
• public policy is the equilibrium reached in the group struggles
• e.g. public policy on abortion represents the equilibrium between pro-choice and pro-life groups, policy on gun rights is the equilibrium between pro-2nd amendments and pro-gun control groups

Question 18

what is elite pluralism?

Answer 18

• agree that there is a “plurality” of power, but that this plurality is not “pure” as some groups and people have more power than others
• e.g. they can pay to have their opinion put across better
• while there is still a plurality in terms of power, it is wrong to assume that there will be a balanced equilibrium because some groups are more influential than others
• this inequality is because society has “elites”; people who have more power, perhaps through joey, inheritance or social tradition than others

Question 19

Elitism

Answer 19

• in a political system power is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group of individuals or institutions
• society is divided along class lines and that a wealthy and powerful elite pulls the strings of government
• e.g. Thomas R Dye in his book ‘Top Down Policymaking’ argues that US public policy does not result from the “demands of the people” but rather from elite consensus found in Washington, D.C-based non-profit foundations, think tanks, special-interest groups, and prominent lobbying and law firms
• in 2014 statistical analysis of 1779 policy issues Martin Gilens found “that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent influence”
• there is evidence that public opinion in the US does generally believe that interest groups representing “big interests” have the greatest influence on government rather than all the people

Question 20

Hyperpluralism

Answer 20

• there are too many competing groups and that these groups are so strong that government is weakened
• in the US there are too many groups which makes it impossible for the government to act decisively or consistently
• when politicians try to appease every group the result is confusing, contradictory and muddled policy
• Theodore Lowi coined the phrase “interest group liberalism” referring to the government’s excessive deference to pressure groups
• for hyper pluralists the network of iron triangles results in relations between groups and government becoming too close, with hard choices not being made as the government attempts to favour disparate groups and interests, leading to policy paralysis

Question 21

Pressure Group Strategies:

Access

Answer 21

• the key to lobbying is access
• but getting access poses a major challenge as members of Congress and other government officials are uber busy
• some types of people have an easier time getting access than others and some lobbying organisations use these types of people to help gain access
• e.g. actor Michael J. Fox set up his own interest group and has lobbied for increased funding for Parkinson’s disease reattach and apeared in front of a Congressional committee
• both Angelina Jolie and Bono have also successfully lobbies Congress for their causes

Question 22

Pressure Group Strategies:

A Profitable Profession

Answer 22

• former government officials can often earn large salaries by working as lobbyists, making it an attractive profession
• these officials are often in great demand as lobbyists because they know many people in government and can therefore get access easily
• Bob Dole who used to be a senator from Kansas and was the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 1996 is one of the most famous former officials who later worked as a lobbyist in Washington, but there are many others such as Dick Gephardt
• hiring a lobbyist like this can make a pressure group more effective, as it can utilise and exploit the contacts the lobbyists developed in politics

Question 23

Pressure Group Strategies:

Persuasion and Information

Answer 23

• lobbyists work to persuade governmental officials
• many governmental officials don’t have the time to research issues themselves, so they rely on information from trusted interest groups and lobbyists to keep them informed and up to date
• publishing their findings also allows interest groups to influence public opinion which in turn influences the policy decisions of lawmakers

Question 24

Pressure Group Strategies:

Material Incentives

Answer 24

• interest groups also provide some material incentives to government officials
• laws limit government officials from taking gifts, but they can still be wined and dined
• also lobbyists can hold informational seminars for officials, flying them to places such as the Florida Keys or a gold resort to educate them about issues
• FIND EXAMPLE