INTEREST GROUPS - eval US Its overall have a negative impact on Democracy in the USA Flashcards
1A positive impact
they broaden opportunities for participation in democracy
NARAL
their main concern is with reproductive freedom.
they believe that ‘freedom is for every body’
NARAL Mini Timmaraju - in 2016, she led efforts to mobilize female voters as a director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
she also held leadership roles with Planned Parenthood - this comes out in a guardian article discussing Texas and Mississippi abortion laws in late 2021.
1b negative impact
special interests > society’s interest
2013 - 45 senators opposed background checks for guns; did they do it because they oppose checks or because they under pressure from the NRA?
NRA’s intervention following the Sandy Hook shootings has already been noted – despite the controversy, they claimed to have attracted 100,000 new members in the 18 days following the attacks.
Wayne LaPierre controversially argued that schools lack of weapons leads to children being endangered - not guns.
2a positive impact
increase congressional and exec accountability
any failures to support key legislation or to fulfil campaign promises will be seized upon by interest groups and publicised to their supporters.
Senator Sanders was given a D - when he was campaigning for presidency in 2016 - he wore it like a badge of honour.
2020 - LCV’s Dirty Dozen = 6/12 candidates defeated (regardless of party, didn’t support pro-environment legislation)
2b negative impact
revolving door syndrome + lobbying
Retired $119,000,000 in donations (60% to GOP) in the 2021-2022 election cycle
2020 study found that between 1999 and 2018, the industry and health product industry together spent $4.7 billion lobbying the US government.
3a positive impact
useful source of information during the legislative process
- needs evi
they provide legislators and bureaucrats with useful information and act as a sounding board for legislators at the policy formulation stage in the legislative process.
senate judiciary committee hearings 2021 =
3b negative impact
power IGs can write legislative measures
some powerful pressure groups can write the legislative measures that affect their businesses or cause.
a report published in 2013 found that lobbyists acting on behalf of the banking sector were not only able to modify the legislation governing the financial industry but were involved in writing it too. ‘Citigroup’s recommendations were reflected in more than 70 lines of the House Committee’s 85-line bill’
