INTEREST GROUPS

Fortune’s “Power 25”The 10 Most Effective Interest Groups

Rank Organization Website1 National Rifle Association www.nra.org2 AARP www.aarp.org3 National Federation of Independent Business www.nfibonline.com4 American Israel Public Affairs Committee www.alpac.org5 Association of Trial Lawyers of America www.atla.org6 American Federation of Labor-Congress of

Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)www.aflcio.org

7 Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. www.uschamber.org8 National Beer Wholesalers Association www.nwba.org9 National Association of Realtors www.realtor.com

10 National Association of Manufacturers www.nam.org

Fortune, May 2005

2Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning

Other Important Interest Groups

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

• American Legion• American Library Association• Handgun Control, Inc.• Mothers Against Drunk

Driving (MADD)• National Audubon Society• National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

• National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

• National Organization for Women (NOW)

• National Urban League• Sierra Club• Veterans of Foreign Wars• World Wildlife Fund

3Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning

Figure 10.5

Interest Group Participants

4

Figure 10.1

Investing in Public Policy

5

Contemporary Interest Groups

SOURCE: Frank R. Baumgartner and Beth L. Leech, “Interest Niches and Policy Bandwagons: Patterns ofInterest Group Involvement in National Politics,” Journal of Politics 63 (November, 2001): 1191–1213.

6Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning

Figure 10.3

Friendship is a Wonderful Thing

7

Figure 10.4

The Tactics of Advocacy

8

Decline in Union Membership

9Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning