Open Secrets

• Who was your congressman/woman?• Who were their biggest contributors?• Why were those their biggest contributors?

• www.opensecrets.org

• Brainstorm a list of strategies that citizens or organizations can use to influence public policy. Discuss how such actions affect a democracy.

• Possible responses: petition, demonstration, writing/calling reps, speaking at town hall form, monetary contributions, etc.

Interest Groups, PACs, and Lobbyists

Interest Groups

• Group of people with common goals who work together to influence government and public policy

• AKA faction, pressure, group, special interest

Interest Groups vs. Political Parties

• Political Parties: broad range of issues to appeal to voters; goal is to win elections; nominate candidates for government offices

• Interest Groups: concerned with just a few issues and specific problems; goal is to influence public policy; may support or oppose, but do not nominate candidates

Interest Groups• Who? – People with shared interest and goals; join for

economic self-interest, personal beliefs, values, attitudes

• What do they do?– Influence thru “inside and outside lobbying”– Inside: work with gov’t officials– Outside: work with the public, PACs and election

contributions

Types of Interest Groups• Business and Labor

– Taxes, unemployment, ways to strengthen economy– US Chamber of Commerce, American Federation of Labor

• Agriculture– 6 million plus farmers in US– National Farmers Union, American Farm Bureau

• Other– Professional: American Bar/Med Associations, teachers, etc– Environmental: National Wildlife Foundation– Public Interest: “interest of all Americans”; Public Citizen Inc– Groups within gov’t: legislators and governors associations– Foreign: gov’t and private interest of foreign countries

Free-Rider Problem

• Collective or public goods result from the work of certain groups• Public goods benefit ALL citizens, including those who are not

members of the group• Everyone benefits from NPR, National Wildlife Foundation, Clean

Water Network• Other groups with more specific causes have the same problem

– NAACP has ~500,000 members, but all 35 million African Americans benefit from its work

– NRA has ~3 million members, but the ~40 million gun owners benefit from the groups work and members’ monetary contributions

How they Influence• Outside Lobbying– Influence public, gain support, push for public to

influence officials (petitions, letters, etc.)– PACs (Political Action Committees): raise money for

election contributions• Inside Lobbying– Lobbyists: direct dealings and work with government

officials

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkbdbRjMX2Y

Political Action Committees• Raise and spend monetary contributions for the

purpose of electing or defeating candidates• Affiliated PACs and Nonconnected PACs– Affiliated: tied to corps, unions, etc. (~70%)– Nonconnected: particular cause like free trade– Contributions from individuals limited to $5k; corps

and unions can’t directly contribute to PACs– Can give $5k to candidate; $15k to political party; $5k

to another PAC

• https://www.google.com/search?q=PACs&espv=210&es_sm=119&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=OoWCUqrnFIqokQe6roCADg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1202&bih=663#es_sm=119&espv=210&q=political+action+committee&tbm=isch

Super PACs

• Can’t “directly coordinate” with candidates and campaigns

• Unlimited amount of support independent of candidate/campaign

• No limit on donations from individuals, unions and other groups, corporations, etc.

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission– Political spending is free speech gov’t can’t keep

corps, unions, etc. from supporting/opposing candidates BUT can’t give directly to candidates

Leadership PACs

• Money raised by politicians in order to help other politicians

• Donate to members of their party gain power by eliciting more bids for leadership posts and committee chairmanships

• Regulations not strict use money for their own campaigns, for hiring staff, and even for trips and other expenses for themselves and family

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUjz2Vj8oB0

PAC spending

Lobbying/Lobbyists• 1st Amendment right “to petition the

Government for a redress of grievances”• What – direct contact with government officials

in order to influence policy• Who – people with knowledge of

politics/working of government: lawyers, public relations experts, friends of gov’t officials, former gov’t officials

Role of Lobbyists• Influence and persuade• Provide info on positions and policies of group– Reports, stats, etc.

• Meetings, fundraisers, gifts • Testify before committees considering bills• Influence votes on bills• Help write bills - ~50% of bills are at least partly

written by lobbyists/interest groups

Regulations• Regulations– 1946 Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act: lobbyists have

to register with Congress, detailing who he/she is and whom they work for

– 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act: closed loopholes of 1946 Act Register with Congress; semi-annual reports – laws and issues addressed, branches and agencies contacted, estimated money spent

• House and Senate Ethics Rules and Codes of Official Conduct– BUT written by those in Congress…

Pro/Con Theories• Pluralist Theory

– Interest groups bring representation to all citizens b/c groups compete and counterbalance each other

– Some stronger than others, but none is ‘winner’ all the time– Common good is not a singular thing that one group can bring

Groups with different interests prevail on different issues, so the the collective interest of society as a whole has been promoted

– Groups promote issues often neglected by political parties: hot button issues like abortion often avoided b/c voters disagree

• Elite Theory– Economic groups, mainly corps, are most organized and most

represented biased toward corporations– Only a few groups, mainly the wealthy, have most of the power– Gov’t run by few interests of key groups and institutions

Other Pros/Cons• Pro: info, knowledge on issues – officials need to be

educated on topics they vote on• Con: corruption – lobbyists and groups “buying” officials

and votes• “Revolving Door”– Gov’t officials become lobbyists, and vice versa– Gov’t hires private sector professionals for experience,

relationship/influence with industries, and political support from industries

– Industries hire former gov’t officials for access to current officials, inside info on current events, influence on bills important to causes

– Pros/Cons of this – similar to above

• Lobbyists would “furnish sumptuous free meals without number, and great quantities of assorted intoxicating liquors to legislators” and “debase them morally by procuring for their entertainment lascivious women who were on the payroll of the lobbyist and who were willing to run the whole gamut, so to speak, of immorality.” – Representative Eugene O’Sullivan, Congressional

Report June 1950

House Ethics Rules Activity• With your group, read and discuss sections of the “Highlights

of the House Ethics Rules”

• When watching the Abramoff interview, think about what rules were being broken, and how

• After watching the interview, with your group discuss:– How do interest groups and lobbyists effect democracy– Ways you think Congress could/should address problems associated

with lobbying

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHiicN0Kg10