Lesson 13 Flashcards
Turnout in elections has declined since_____
What has risen?
1970s
Participation in interest groups
What is interest group participation based on?
1st amendment protections of the freedom to assemble
What is an interest group? What do they try to do?
- organization of people who share important policy goal(s)
- influence the policymaking process to see this goal furthered
2 examples of what interest groups do
National Rifle Association(NRA)
American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
Unlike political parties, interests groups do NOT________
They….
Nominate candidates foe elected office…. they endorse candidates
3 Theories of Democratic Policymaking
1) pluralist
2) elite
3) hyper-pluralist
All groups have a fair chance of influencing policy
Pluralist
There may be many groups, but the system is dominated by the most powerful ones (usually associated with big business)
Elite
System experiences gridlock because too many politicians are trying to please too many groups
Hyper pluralist
Theodore Lowi
- political scientist
- developed the concept of interest group liberalism to explain how hyper-pluralism works
In an effort to appease every interest….. (4)
1) government agencies proliferate
2) conflicting regulations expand
3) programs multiply
4) budget bloats
Iron Triangles
- subgovernments
- locks more programs and higher budgets into place
How do iron triangles work?
They bind 3 entities into cooperation:
1) an interest group
2) a government agency
3) a congressional committee
What do interest groups want? How do they achieve this?
- favorable policy from government agencies
- they lobby the congressional committee that oversees the government agency that would implement the interest group’s desired policy
As the 3 entities of iron triangles work together in the policymaking process….
They often find that they have a shared interest in enlarging the scope of government
3 Characteristics of the most successful interest groups
1) manageable size
2) high intensity
3) money
Manageable Size (characteristic of interest group)
- really large groups often suffer from a free rider problem
- this occurs when people who put little to no effort or resources into the group’s desires policy outcome benefit from it anyway
- a smaller interest group sees a smaller differential between the potential group and the actual group
All those affected by the groups desired policy
Potential group
Those who formally belong to the interest group and support it with effort and resources
Actual group
High Intensity
- Single issue groups with passionate members
- create lots of noise and stand a better chance of influencing policy than a more passive group
Money
- Interest groups that can spend heavily on donations to PACs and SUPERPACs
- can exert strong influence on policymakers
Most interest groups are organized around________
Economic concerns
Interest groups employ the following strategies to influence the policymaking process in their favor: (3)
1) lobbying
2) electioneering
3) litigation
What is a lobbyist?
A paid representative of an interest group who meets wit legislators in an effort to win legislation favorable to the interest group
2 kinds of lobbyists
1) those who work directly for an interest group on a full time, year round basis
2) those who work for an interest group on a for-hire basis(freelance lobbyists)
Why would a legislator ever listen to a lobbyist about anything?
Because lobbyists can actually help legislators in two main ways
2 main ways lobbyists can help legislators
1) they are specialists who can educate legislators(who are generalists) on issues
2) they can promise their groups political support (maybe an endorsement) to a legislator in exchange for his/her support of the group’s policy goals
Electioneering
This strategy involves financially supporting candidates who are favorable to the interest groups policy goals
How does electioneering occur?
Mainly through PACs and SUPERPACs
Electioneering
Interest groups tend to give more money to….___________than to__________
Incumbents
Challengers
Litigation
- an interest group will often resort to this strategy if its lobbying and electioneering efforts fail
- this strategy involves going to court
What groups have used litigation most successfully?
- environmental
- civil rights
- consumer protection
4 main types of interest groups
1) economic groups
2) environmental groups
3) equality groups
4) public interest groups
Economic groups
try to get favorable tax, trade, and other policies that affect the
paychecks of their members.
3 Examples of how economic groups work
-labor and business groups often square
off over government policy on wages, work hours, etc.
-Labor groups promote unions.
-Business promote “right-to-work” laws that stymie unions
union membership has fallen from…..
33% in the 1950s to 11% today.
About 75% of the interest groups in Washington are…..
Give 2 examples
- representing the interests of a business or group of businesses
- Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers
Environmental Groups
work for policies that will protect environmental resources
Origin of many environmental groups
trace their origins to the first Earth Day in 1970
Sierra Club and the Audubon Society
2 environmental groups that have been around for over 100 years
Equality Groups
work for policies favorable to the social and economic well-being of minority groups and groups historically the object of discrimination
2 examples of equality groups
- National Association for the Advancement of Color d People(NAACP)
- National Organization for Women (NOW).
Public interest group
work for policies that intend to benefit the collective good
Examples of policies of a public interest group
- Public Interest Research Group
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- any group representing the interests of children, animals, or other causes generally regarded as noble and worthy
Public Interest Research Group
founded by Ralph Nader, whose advocacy led to safety standards in the automobile industry
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
provides legal services to protect basic
constitutional rights from infringement
Interest groups are____________by definition
Factions
The federal government bureaucracy consists of……
it is sometimes referred to as…..
- all those executive branch agencies that assist with the application and enforcement of the laws passed by Congress
- “administrative state”
The bureaucracies consist of the following elements:(5)
- hierarchical power structure
- task specialization
- rule making authority
- promotion of employees by merit
- impersonality
The words “bureaucrat” and “bureaucracy” carry….
Negative connotations
Why do the words bureaucrat and bureaucracy carry negative connotations?
they are associated with slowness (red tape), silly rules and regulations, and government bloat
Only about_______of federal bureaucrats work in Washington D.C.
12%
Where are most federal bureaucracies headquartered?
The capitol
Bureaucrats constitute the _______
Civil service
Part of government staffed by workers hired to work within the agencies
Civil service
Who are the civil service? (3)
-accountants with the IRS
scientists with the Department of Energy,
-mailroom workers, secretaries, custodians
Like most workers in most jobs in America, workers of the civil service….
stay in their positions unless they leave
voluntarily, are laid off, or fired.
Jobs of civil service workers are NOT
tied to the presidential administration
There are probably some bureaucrats who have been in the their jobs since….
1960s
What places employ 75% of all bureaucrats?
- Department of Defense
- Postal Service
- Department of Veterans Affairs
How many bureaucrats does the federal government employ?
3 million
The Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)
created the professional civil service
The Hatch Act (1939)
prohibits civil servants from actively engaging in partisan political activity while on the job.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
in charge of hiring most civil servants
The Rule of Three
For every open position, the OPM will send three names to the relevant agency, which makes
the ultimate hiring decision
What happens when a civil servant is highered?
receive a GS Rating from 1 to 18–The higher the number, the higher the salary
It is very difficult to fire a civil servant. True or false
True
Who is at the top of the civil servant hierarchy? How many are there? What is their salary like?
- Senior Executive Service
- 9,000
- highest salaries among civil servants.
Who has direct authority over the bureaucrats?
president’s political appointees(cabinet members, etc)
Plum Book
- appointees positions are listed here
- published by Congress since most of these jobs require senate confirmation
Even though appointees (such as the Secretary of Energy) are the bosses of the bureaucrats, they often have trouble exercising significant authority. Why?
Because the bureaucrats often know more, have been there longer, and will still be there
long after the appointee has come and gone
4 types of government agencies
1) cabinet departments
2) independent regulatory agencies
3) government corporations
4) independent executive agencies
Cabinet Departments
Headed by a secretary, beneath whom are various deputies and assistants
Example of cabinet departments
- department of defense
- department of agriculture
Where is the real work of cabinet departments done?
Bureaus–divisions within the agency(just like the real work of Congress happens within its “divisions”)
Divisions
The committees and subcommittees
Independent Regulatory Agencies
-enforce the laws related to a specific sector of the economy
Independent Regulatory Agencies are known as _________ Because…
-“independent”
-they are controlled by commissioners who serve
specified terms and who cannot be fired by the president
What often happens to independent regulatory agencies?
get trapped in iron triangles….when this happens, it is sometimes referred to as “regulatory capture”
Examples of independent regulatory agencies(4)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Government Corporations
provide a service that could be handled by the private sector
Government Corporations examples (4)
Postal Service
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Amtrak
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
What do bureaucrats do?
they take legislation and implement it
Even though Congress passes detailed laws….
-there is often a lot of gray areas that bureaucrats fill in with their rulemaking authority
-In other words, Congress passes a law, and then
the relevant bureaucracy creates the fine print–also known as rules or guidelines.
Reasons agency’s effort to implement a law can fails
- bad law
- unclear law
- inadequate funding
- standard operation procedures,
- politics
- fragmentation
the law it is charged with implementing is just a hard or impossible one to put into effect
Bad law
the law is so vague and imprecise that the agency has to make too many guidelines (example: Title IV)
Unclear laws
the agency may not have enough resources to put a law into effect
Inadequate funding
the processes that must be followed within an agency…..this can make action very
sloooooooooooooooow
Standard operating procedures (SOPs)
Standard operating procedures are also known as
Red tape
a presidential administration might have little interest in making sure
certain laws get implemented and enforced (example: Trump and the EPA)
Politics
sometimes it is not always clear which agency has the responsibility to implement and enforce a law
Fragmentation
The first regulatory agency ever created and its mission
- Interstate Commerce Commission in 1887
- to regulate the railroads.
How can Congress and the president control federal agencies? (6)
1) Appoint like minded secretaries to head the agencies
2) issue executive orders to the agencies
3) adjust the budgets of the agencies
4) re-organize the agencies
5) hold hearings to ensure oversight of the agencies
6) rewrite a law to limit the discretion of the agencies in writing rules and guidelines
Olsons Law of Large Groups
Really large groups often suffer from a free rider problem
Example of gray are bureaucrats may fill in
Congress passes a law mandating that students all across America
must wear name badges. If the law doesn’t specify, it might be the Department of
Education that decides what constitutes a “badge,” what “wearing” means, etc.
