SSF1053 INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE LECTURE 8 INTEREST GROUPS I. INTEREST GROUPS A.

If political party is associated with the process of leadership selection and the organization of government, an interest group, on the other hand, is concerned primarily with trying to affect what those in power do. B. The interest group is an organized group of citizens whose goals is to ensure that the state follows certain policies. C. Interest groups are not confined to democracies or open societies. All states have interest groups. Some do not permit a wide diversity of formally organized, politically active groups to exist, since this would seem threatening to their governments. owever, even in such states, organizations set up for other purposes exert political influence to help mold government policies. !. Interest groups are pro"a"ly the main vehicle in most states for representing pu"lic opinion and "ringing it to "ear in an organized way on the governmental authorities. #olitical parties cannot do this very well "ecause they are involved in trying to ac$uire governmental power for themselves. This $uest for power forces parties to incorporate many compromises in their programs to appeal to the "roadest spectrum of support. II. TYPES OF INTEREST GROUPS A. Associational interest groups %. They have a distinctive name, national head$uarters and professional employees and use effective procedures for pursuing their interests. &. They include "usiness, industrial, trade associations, la"or unions, professional associations, farmer groups, and the li'e. (. The num"er of associational groups is growing more and more in every country. ). *owadays, they are active participants in the political process and play an effective role in "ringing changes in pu"lic policies. B. *on+associational interest groups %. They do not have a name and lac' formal structures. &. owever, they are aware of their own distinctiveness from others "ecause they possess similar characteristics and interests. They have a feeling of their own identity. But they reflect largely unarticulated social, ethnic, cultural or religious interests. (. Such groups can "e found in all societies "ut they are more prevalent in the economically and politically less developed countries of the Third ,orld. C. Institutional interest groups %. They exist within the government.

&. They are well esta"lished, such as government "ureaucracies, mem"ers of armed forces, mem"ers of parliament, etc. (. They have vested interests and they lo""y from the inside, often out of pu"lic sight. !. Anomic interest groups %. They are spontaneously "orn when people strongly oppose specific policies. There is a serious pu"lic concern that demands immediate political action. &. The word anomie means a sense of separation from social norms. ,ithout any pre+planning or organization when the people want to show their disappointment a"out a particular government policy that group of people is called anomic interest group. (. -ven street riots can "e placed in this category. III. TACTICS OF INTEREST GROUPS The tactics an interest group will use are determined "y the sources of its power and "y the opportunities that the political system offers for the use of power. An interest group with many mem"ers "ut little money will concentrate on tactics that ta'e advantage of num"ers rather than money, while a group with few mem"ers "ut plenty of money will follow different tactics. .roups that have similar sources of power "ut find themselves faced with different sorts of political structures may also "e expected to follow different tactics. A. Control of information and expertise %. Sometimes the mem"ers of an interest group control specialized information that is important to the government. &. !octors, for example, are the only people with the necessary expertise to /udge the $uality of medical treatment. Scientists are the only ones sufficiently s'illed technically to /udge a variety of scientific $uestions. 0il corporations 'now more a"out the oil "usiness than anyone else. In all these cases, a government that wishes to ma'e policy relating to an interest group must depend on the mem"ers of the group for the necessary information and expertise. (. This gives the group a great deal of power "ecause the resulting interpretation of things is li'ely to "e slanted a good deal towards the group1s pre/udices. ). This tactic re$uires that relevant information and technical s'ills "e scarce. B. -lectoral activity %. -lectoral activity is especially suita"le for groups with a large num"er of mem"ers who are at least moderately committed. &. Such groups may raise money from among its mem"ers to contri"ute to candidates, provide campaign wor'ers to candidates, and deliver its own mem"ers1 votes for candidates 2 all in an effort to ensure that people favora"ly disposed to the group end up in office. (. If the mem"ers of the group are not sufficiently committed to it to choose their vote on the "asis of its recommendations, this tactic is of little use. &

). .roups that have used this tactic successfully include la"or unions, large religious organizations, and ethnic groups. C. 3se of economic power %. An interest group of economic importance to the state may influence the state "y threatening to disrupt its economic contri"ution. &. Strategically placed unions, such as those of railroad or postal wor'ers, have often "een a"le to enlist the government1s help "y threatening a stri'e that would "e catastrophically disruptive to the state. (. Businesses often threaten communities "y telling them that if they don1t give them tax advantages or other considerations, they will move their operations elsewhere. ). This tactic re$uires that a large economic sta'e "e maneuvera"le. That is the group must "e a"le to turn off a large enough part of the economy to threaten dire results. 4. This can "e accomplished either "y a single corporation or "y a large num"er of people who are willing to coordinate economic disruption. 5. Another way in which economic power can "e used is in contri"utions to political candidates. ere the group1s economic strength is not used to produce threat of disruption "ut rather to "uy access to political leaders. !. #u"lic information campaigns %. A group that does not necessarily have a large support "ase "ut does have su"stantial access to the media may try to change policy "y the most indirect of means 2 "y changing the minds of the entire population in the hope that this will influence government policy. &. Institutional interest groups fre$uently use this tactic "ecause many other tactics are "arred to them. (. This tactic is also useful for an interest group with enough money to "uy advertising time, especially of other tactics do not loo' promising. -. 6iolence and disruption %. An interest group may also try to dramatize its case "y violent or disruptive activity or it may try "y violence and disruption to convince the leaders of the state that they will pay a high price in turmoil "y not yielding to the group1s demands. &. !isruptive "ut non+violent protest may "e an effective way for an interest group to "ring attention to its cause, especially if it has few resources other than a dedicated mass following. (. owever, violence is also sometimes used. It may occur spontaneously or it may "e organized as in campaigns of assassination and 'idnapping "y terrorist organizations. ). Terrorism is usually not an effective techni$ue as it is li'ely to cost the disruptive group what pu"lic sympathy it has and to call forth strenuous effort at control "y the authorities. 4. A group with a decent chance of accomplishing its goals "y other means is not li'ely to use violence as a tactic.

7. 8itigation %. In litigation, an interest group attempts to affect policy "y wor'ing within the court system. In %94), a "lac' student with the help of an interest group, *ational Association for the Advancement of Colored #eople, sued her school "oard to force it to admit her to the white school and she won. &. Through court cases, an interest group may hope to change the interpretation of a law or, in some countries, even get it thrown out as unconstitutional. Also, court procedures can "e so slow and expensive that the mere threat of tying a governmental agency up in court may get the agency to compromise. (. owever, litigation is a strategy "ased on wea'ness. 7or a group to "e successful at litigation, it must depend on the way laws was initially written 2 something over which it has little control if litigation is its main tactic. It must depend on finding a sympathetic court which is also rather chancy. ). The great appeal of litigation is that it does not re$uire large num"ers :all one has to have is a lawyer; or enormous economic power. Therefore, it appeals particularly to small wea' groups. 4. .roups that have depended heavily on litigation in the 3S include environmentalists, the handicapped, and groups favoring a"ortion rights. These are relatively wea' groups that have usually "een on the defensive. The history of the civil rights movement in the 3S provides varied examples of how circumstances determine strategy. In the %9)<s and %94<s, the movement for civil rights for "lac's was relatively wea'. The ma/ority of "lac's were still "arred from voting in the South= "lac's were poor and did not have a great deal of money to contri"ute= and the movement did not have many white allies, either in pu"lic office or outside it. The chief civil rights organization at this time was the *AAC#, and its chief tactic was litigation. It achieved several important successes in court, among other things overturning segregated schooling in the South and outlawing the exclusion of "lac' voters from primary elections. ,ith the increase in support for civil rights in the %95<s and partly as a result of these successes, more money and resources "ecame availa"le to the movement. Blac's had "ecome "older politically= many more were willing to march in demonstrations to help draw attention to their cause, and they "egan to ac$uire significant white allies. At this time, rival organizations wishing to use different tactics appeared. The Congress on >acial -$uality :C0>-; and ?artin 8uther @ing, Ar.1s Southern Christian 8eadership Conference :SC8C; were two new organizations that emphasized, as ways of attracting sympathy and forcing segregationists to yield, the use of economic power and the provocation of segregationists into violence. ?assive demonstrations were held, re$uiring large num"ers of dedicated "lac' and white participants. 6iolence of their own was never part of these leaders1 strategy "ut the provocation of white violence was useful, and the "lac' ur"an riots of %954+5B, which occurred spontaneously, were used "y civil rights leaders as evidence for their claims that "lac's had to "e treated more fairly. At this time, electoral activity was not especially emphasized "ecause, first, during the %95<s many southern "lac's could not vote or were /ust ac$uiring the vote, and, second, demonstrations and disruption were proving to "e such )

powerful tools. By the %9C<s and %9B<s, however, demonstrations "egan to "e less effective. The pu"lic was more used to them and therefore less impressed "y them, and police and pu"lic officials had learned not to respond in the pictures$uely violent ways that demonstrators had once counted on. At the same time, the electoral importance of "lac's had grown. The "lac' percentage of the electorate in many northern cities had reached a point at which "lac's could often determine the outcome of mayoral and other elections. In the South, than's to the gains of the %95<s, most "lac's were free to vote and could determine many elections. In the %9C<s and %9B<s, accordingly, the activity of "lac' civil rights groups shifted to emphasize more their importance in elections.