Chapter 9
Comparative Politics IIInterest Groups, Political Parties,
and Elections
Interest Groups
• Any collection of people trying to influence government
• Nonpublicly accountable organizations that attempt to promote shared private interests by influencing public-policy outcomes
Interest Groups Differfrom Political Parties• Goals
• Parties acquire power through elections• Interest groups focus on specific issues rarely
represented in government• Nature of memberships
• Parties seek broad support• Interest groups have a narrower membership
• Numbers• Rarely more than 10-12 parties• No limit on number of interest groups
Who Belongs?
• Pluralist view- Multiplicity of groups- Varied interests- Optimistic view
• Elite view- Majority from middle- and upper-classes- Domination by business-related interests- No organization by lower classes
Interest Groups and Government
• Interest groups presuppose an existing government worth trying to influence.
• As government grows, so do interest groups.• Some interest groups take on government
functions (corporatism). • The bureaucracy has become one of the
biggest and most powerful interest groups of all.
Big Money
• The single most important factor in interest group success • Danger: “the best Congress money can buy.”• Corruption (public office for private gain)
• Soft Money• Contributing to parties and interest groups not
directly working for a candidate’s election campaign.
• “If you don’t give, you get no access.”• U.S. campaigns lengthy and costly
Political ActionCommittees(PACs)
• Set up specifically to contribute money to election campaigns
• Originally an idea of labor unions• Biggest spending from business • Bulk of contributions to incumbents
Interest Group Strategies• Approaching lawmakers• Approaching the administration• Approaching the judiciary• Appeals to the public• Demonstrations• Violent protest
“Violence is as American as cherry pie.”-- Black radical H. “Rap” Brown
Finding a Balance
Good of all vs.
Good of particular groups
There must be no “particular wills” to muddy and distort the “general will,” that which the
whole community wants. -- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Political Parties and Party Systems
Political Party
• Group seeking to elect office-holders under a given labelExist in almost all present-day societies, democratic or notWeak in U.S.
Functionsof Parties
• Bridge between people and government
• Aggregation of interests
• Integration into the political system• Political socialization• Mobilization of voters• Organization of government
Parties in Democracies
• Centralization• Degree of control
exercised by national headquarters
• Setting government policy• Executive must work with legislative
• Party participation in government• Financing the party
• Dependence on interest groups
Classifying Parties
• Left (liberal)• Center-left• Centrist• Center-right• Right (conservative)
Party Systems• One-party
• Totalitarian• Dominant-party
• Opposition parties free to run, but rarely win• Two-party• Multiparty• Two-plus party• Fluid (or inchoate) party
• New and unstable democracies
Parties and Electoral Systems• Single-member
election districts• Where a simple
plurality wins– Tends to produce two-party or two-party plus
systemsProportional representation– Use multimember districts and assign
parliamentary seats in proportion to the percentage of votes in that district
– Encourages parties to split
Types of Party Competition• Moderate pluralism
• Center-seeking• Parties become
moderate, aiming for large block of votes in center of political spectrum
Polarized pluralism– Center-fleeing– Parties become extremist, ignoring voters in center– Can cause political unrest and civil war
"Regarding Government:We call for the abolition
of damn near everything;
We call for drastic reductions in what's
left;And we refuse to pay for
any of it!"Platform synopsis by David Nolan, LP
Co-founder
Just because you don't take an interest in politics,doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!
Pericles - 430 BC (BCE)
Elections
Electoral Systems• Single-Member Districts
• Electoral system that elects one person per district
• “First past the post” – FPTP• Supports two-party system
• Advantages• Inhibits the growth of extremism• Gives clear parliamentary majority to one party
• Majoritarian system
• Disadvantages• Losing parties get no representation
Electoral Systems
• Proportional Representation• Electoral systems based on multimember
districts• Representatives elected by party’s percent of
vote• Advantages
• Legislature accurately reflects public opinion and party strength
• Disadvantages• Often lead to multiparty systems• Greater instability than two-party system
Voter Turnout
• Percent of those eligible who vote• U.S. peak in 1960 – 63%• Sweden, Germany, Italy –
90%U.S. turnout low historicallyLower in U.S. than in other democracies
U.S. Nonvoting: The Debate• Low electoral
participation means that many Americans are turning away from the political system.
• Or, the decline may mean that Americans are basically satisfied with the system.
How Do People Vote?
• Long-term variables• Party identification
• Tendency to associate mentally with one party over may years
• Easier to vote along party lines• Important element in electoral stability
• Short-term variables• Cause a person to vote one way for one
election, but not four years later. • “Morality factor” awakened by Watergate scandal• Economic conditions
Electoral Alignment
• Realignment• Major, long-
term shift in party ID.
Dealignment– Major, long-term decline in party ID
What Wins Elections?
• Modern elections• Rational choice manipulated by factors of
personality and the mass media• “Keep it general, keep it happy, don’t mention
parties, and smile a lot.”• Charisma• Retrospective voting• Candidate strategies
“Democracy: The substitution of election by the incompetent many for
appointment by the corrupt few.”
-- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)