Presure Groups US Flashcards
Pressure groups US
Pressure groups are regarded as having important implications for a modern democracy. Citizens use them to pressurise all three branches of government. In the US, pressure groups take an additional importance as there is a participatory tradition and an open form of government. They benefit from a weak and fragmented party system and from election campaigns that are often issue rather than merely party based.
Pluralism and elitism US
This is the theory that political power does not simply rest with the electorate or the governing elite, bit is distributed among groups representing widely different interests. Mills argued that the US was ruled by small governing elite, wealthy and powerful individuals. He argued that ordinary Americans had little control over how they were governed. Dahl argued that US democracy was not based on elitism but pluralism. Especially in terms of political party nominations, urban redevelopment and political education. Dahl’s theory was that democracy was not so much a theory about 50% plus one as a process in which there is a high probability that an active and legitimate group in the population can make itself heard effectively at some crucial stage in the process of making decisions. Dahl said democracy was all about compromise between competing groups.
US sectional groups - business, important and agricultural groups
Business and trade groups – American Business Conference focused on fiscal and budget policy and they offer interested business leaders an opportunity to be heard in Washington. The National Association of Manufacturers, Tax cuts and job act would not have happened without leadership from the National Association of Manufacturers.
Some important sectional groups are the US chamber of commerce; they represent thousands of businesses and passed lots of legislation under capital markets, corporate governance and securities regulation. The congress of industrial organisations (AFL-CIO) is one of the most powerful unions in the country and the AFL-CIO represents more than 13 million workers nationwide. The federation acts as an umbrella group for 64 unions and they spent $4,528,200 on lobbying in 2016 elections in favour of democrat candidates.
Agricultural groups such as the American Farm Bureau federations, they helped acts such as the 2005 energy policy act was a victory for them. The national farmers union encouraged the 2018 farm bill by lobbying.
US sectional groups - individuals, professional and intergovernmental
There are groups representing individuals. For example NOW were successful in December 2015 when the department of defence announced that all combat positions would be open to women. The NAACP was another example and they helped to introduce the 1964 civil rights act.
Professional groups such as the American Medical Association launched the national patient safety foundation in 1997 to ensure all patients receive health care services safely. The national education association regularly lobby state legislators for funding and they seek to influence education policy.
There are intergovernmental groups like the National governors’ conference. This is the bipartisan organisation of the nation’s governors. Through the NGA governors share best practises and speak about national policy and develop innovative solutions that improve state government and support the principles of federalism.
US causal groups - single interest and ideological groups
Single interest groups – the NRA founded in 1871 is a single interest group and they inform members about firearm related legislation, they lobby for and against firearm legislation. It put $50.2 million into supporting republicans in 2016 elections and $30.3 million on Trump alone. MADD helped set the nationwide legal limit of alcohol concentration in blood to 0.08% and encouraged 42 states to suspend an offender’s licence after the first offense. This reduced driving accidents from 30,000 a year in 1980 to 16,000 today.
Ideological groups – they include groups like the American Conservative Union. This is the oldest conservative grassroots organisation and seeks to preserve and protect the values of life, liberty and property for every American. In 1985 they supported Reagan’s contra aid request.
US causal groups - policy groups and think tanks
Policy groups – the Sierra group in 2012 influenced the US department of the interior to protect 11 million acres of the western arctic reserve from oil and gas drilling.
Think tanks – liberal think tanks include the institute for policy studies. The Drug policy project combined scholarship with activism to transform drug control policy at home and abroad. Conservative think tanks include the American enterprise institute. They are an influential right wing think tank that advocates lower taxes and cuts to the social safety net.
Functions of US pressure groups
- Representation – US citizens have their views represented and their grievances articulated. They are an important link between the public and the politician. For many Americans, pressure groups will be the most important way in which their strongest held views are represented.
- Citizen participation – pressure groups can increase the opportunities for ordinary citizens to participate in the decision making process between elections. In the US political participation is seen as a virtue. Many Americans seek greater and more frequent participation in the democratic process and especially specific areas of policy making such as guns or abortion.
- Public education – pressure groups attempt to educate public opinion, warning people of the dangers if they are not addressed. Jeffrey Berry and Clyde Wilcox (2007) said their advocacy efforts, publications and publicity campaigns, pressure groups can make people better aware of both policy problems and proposed solutions.
- Agenda building – pressure groups attempted to influence the agendas of political parties, legislators and bureaucrats to give priority to their members’ interests. They many attempt to bring together different parts of US society.
Us pressure group methods - electioneering and endorsing
Electioneering and endorsing – since the campaign reforms of the 70s, considerable changes have taken place in the role of pressure groups and political fundraising. The reforms limited the amount that any pressure group could give to a candidate in a federal election. The reforms encouraged the setting up of PACs and Super PACs that could make the donations. A PAC is an organisation whose purpose is to raise campaign funds and give it to candidates for political office. Pressure groups actively support or oppose presidential and congressional candidates on the basis of the candidates’ position on the policy areas of concern to them. In 2016, the pro-life group the National Right to Life endorsed Trump while the Pro-choice group NARAL endorsed Clinton. Their websites offered candidate comparisons in crucial congressional races so voters could see the difference between those candidates being endorsed and opposed. For example, every two years, the League of Conservation Voters published its dirty dozen lists with the 12 candidates with the worst environmental conservation. However only 3 of the 12 were defeated, they were Republican Glenn in Colorado, Heck in Nevada and Hardy. The list was not as damming as they imagined.
US pressure group methods - lobbying
Lobbying – the most effective method of lobbying is the provision of accurate, detailed, up to date information to those who need it. Legislators and bureaucrats are busy people who have many demands made upon their limited time and resources. Legislators in particular must appear knowledgeable and take position on a variety of policy issues, pressure groups can often be the only source of information. In order to facilitate this, pressure groups maintain offices in Washington DC, state capitals and major cities. This allows them to be on hand to lobby members of the federal, state and local government. The presence of lobbyists in Washington DC is overwhelming and referred to as K Street Corridor. Some of the most notable lobbying firms in Washington are built around former presidential aides and cabinet officers whose experience helps to attract clients especially those who need to lobby the executive branch of government, for example the Podesta Group.
US pressure group methods - scorecards and voting cues
Voting cues and scorecards - pressure groups provide legislators with voting cues. Liberal Democrats look to the AFL-CIO and Americans for Democrat Actions (ADA) to provide reassurance that they are making the right stand on a particular issue. Conservative republicans find the American Conservative Union (ACU) and the chamber of US commerce helpful. Pressure groups such as ADA publish regular ratings of legislators, showing how often a particular legislator has supported policy positions in line with that group. When the AFL-CIO published its Senate scorecard for the first session of the 114th congress it ranked each Senator on how they voted on what the AFL-CIO regarded as 14 key votes during that year. 22 Senators (all democrats) had 100% ratings; they included Charles Schumer of New York and Al Franken of Minnesota. The lowest rating was 0 for republicans Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Bob Corker of Tennessee.
US pressure group methods - grassroots
Organising grass roots activities – grassroots activities by members are often thought to be the most effective of pressure group methods, especially when directly aimed at legislators and policy makers, such as the phone blitz on congress, the White House or a government department. However members of congress pay little attention to the arrival of such communications, pressure groups encourage their members to frame their own protests. There are even firms that exist to orchestrate mail, email and telephone blitzes. Marches and demonstrations are sometimes aimed at state and federal court houses, where other forms of lobbying are inappropriate. Whenever the United States Supreme Court delivers a judgement on a controversial issue, the pavement outside the Supreme Court building on Washington DC is filled with people from pressure groups representing the opposing sides of the argument.
