Chapter 11

Interest Groups and Basics on Political Parties

1

Introduction
Group activity is particularly logical
in a democracy, where majorities
and pluralities rule.
Politics is an arena for group conflict.
Political parties in America perform
many vital functions.

Interest Groups in American Politics

Interest groups are associations of people who
hold common views and work to influence what
government does.
These groups share the objective of looking out for
their members political interests, but differ in
what those interests are.
Interest groups are so dominant in America that
many see the American system as a pluralist
democracy designed to manage the interplay of
group interests.
Interest groups are both praised for contributing to
democracy and condemned as a threat to the
public good.
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Characteristics of Interest
Groups
Size
Interest groups vary dramatically in size.
Generally, the bigger the group, the more effective and
powerful it is.

Membership
Groups may have formal or informal membership
procedures.
Generally, the stronger the bond between member and
group, the more effective the group will be.

Organization
Generally, the stronger a groups internal organization is,
the more success it will have in promoting its interests.
Groups differ in whether they are democratic or
autocratic.
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Characteristics of Interest
Groups
Ties to Politics:
Interest groups may be essentially nonpolitical
(a bowling league), solely political (a political
action committee), or have a mixture of
political and nonpolitical activities (Roman
Catholic church, National Rifle Association).

Agreement with Societal Consensus:

Reactionary groups are far to the right.
Radical groups are far to the left.
Groups that stay within the American
mainstream tend to be more effective.
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What Interest Groups Do

Influencing Opinion:
The major channel used by interest groups to create public
support is the mass media.
Recently, interest groups have begun using direct mail to get
support.

Involvement in the Electoral Process: PACs

Political action committees (PACs) channel money from interest
group members to sympathetic political candidates.
Most PACs are multi-candidate committees and formally
independent of the candidates they support.
The Federal Election Act of 1974 put limits on the amount of
money individuals and groups can contribute to campaigns,
making group contributions the more attractive option. This led
to the proliferation of PACs.

PACs have become a controversial issue in American

politics.
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The Proliferation of
PACS, 1974-2010

The number of
political action
committees has
soared since the
post-Watergate
campaign
reforms made
them the
preferred vehicle
for channeling
money from
interest group
members to
political
candidates.

Major Interest Groups

Economic Groups
Business advances its interests through groups
that represent commerce, corporations, and
various professions.
Labor is primarily represented through unions.
The AFL-CIO is an umbrella organization of unions.
Labor union influence on the Democratic party is
diminishing.
Non-union workers lack organization and
influence.
The farm lobby is no longer as influential as it
once was, but it still cant be ignored.
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Major Interest Groups

Social Groups
Gender based women comprise one of the largest
potential interest groups in the United States.
NOW is a group that presses for economic and political
equality for women
The womens movement is closely tied to politics.

Race based the most prominent biologically based

interest group in the United States is the African
American population.
African Americans have pursued their interests politically,
working predominantly through the Democratic Party.
The NAACP is the most visible official African American
interest group.
African Americans have increased their number of
registered voters and elective office holders.
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Types of Major
Interest Groups

The table
includes only a
few of the
thousands of
groups that
exist. In
addition, note
that a group
may be of more
than one type.
This occurs
when economic
groups, for
example, make
statements
about social
and ideological
questions.
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American, and
Latino National and
State Legislators
and Executives,
1975-2009

The increasing numbers of women, African Americans, and Latinos elected to public
offices such as the U.S. Senate and House and state legislatures and to state executive
offices in the last thirty years demonstrates how the political process has opened up to
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members of these groups.

Major Interest Groups

Religious Groups
Religious groups, especially the Christian Right, have become
active in political issues, especially in regard to the recent abortion
controversy.
Most religious groups do not employ registered lobbyists.

Ideological Groups
Groups that pursue a broad, explicitly political, agenda almost
exclusively.

Single-Issue Groups
Single-issue groups, such as those comprising the right-to-life
movement, have narrow agendas and limited political goals.
Single-issue groups are often controversial, and some see them as
a threat to democracy because they usually refuse to compromise.

Public Interest Groups

These groups represent broad notions of the public interest.
Examples include Ralph Nader (consumerism) and Common Cause.
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Perspectives on Interest
Groups
Interest groups as the Foundation of Democracy
Interest groups promote democracy through competition and
representation.
Cross-cutting cleavages stabilize group competition.
Cross-cutting cleavage the overlapping of interest group memberships,
protects against polarization.

Interest Group Elitism

The structures of interest groups may be undemocratic.
Big Powerful groups dominate small weak ones.

Interest Groups Versus the Public Interest

Interest groups are criticized most when seen as using politics
to achieve selfish goals.
Many people favor more regulation of interest group activities.

Interest Group Gridlock

Too many interest groups, refusing to compromise, can result
in interest group gridlock
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The Idea of a Political Party

What is a Political Party?
A political party attempts to influence
public policy by placing its own
members into government positions.
Interest groups and parties are different
in that interest groups do not run their
own candidates for office.
They are similar in that they both have
members who share common political
views or objectives, and may engage in
collective political activities. 14

What Do Parties Do?

Parties perform important political socialization
functions:
Providing a means for psychological identification with
the world of politics.
Helping to structure peoples perceptions of politics.
Educating and mobilizing people about politics.

Parties perform important electoral functions:

Bringing individuals with diverse political needs
together around a commonly supported candidate.
Simplifying the set of alternatives voters must choose
between.
They complement the legal process for choosing public
officials.
They recruit and train political leaders. 15

What Do Parties Do?

Parties perform important
governmental functions:
Giving coherence to public policy.
Helping make government more
responsive

They are also a major source of

political stability.

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Party Identification
by Income

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Basic Characteristics of the American

Party System
Its a two-party system
Plurality/majority elections encourage a two-party
system, as exemplified by the U.S.
Alternatively, proportional representationthe
awarding of legislative seats in proportion to the
percentage of votes a party receivesencourages the
growth of more than two parties. This system is more
common in other countries, like France and Italy.
Voter opinions tend to form clusters near the
ideological center. This often fosters two similar
parties, vying for the same voters.

Third parties do have a role.

They have forced major parties to address new issues
and influenced election results.
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Political
Parties Since
1789
The chart indicates the
years during which parties
either ran presidential
candidates or held national
conventions. The life span
for many political parties
can only be approximated
because parties existed at
the state or local level
before they ran candidates
in the presidential elections
and continued to exist at
local levels after they
ceased running presidential
candidates. For example, in
the year 2008, at least a
dozen parties ran a
candidate for president in
one or more states; but only
six candidates were on the
ballot in over half of the
states: John McCain
(Republican), Barack Obama
(Democrat), Bob Barr
(Libertarian), Cynthia
McKinny (Green), Chuck
Baldwin (Constitution), and
Ralph Nader, who ran as an
Independent.

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A Complex Party Structure

Parties and the Levels of
Government: National, State, and
Local
Party structures parallels the federal
system.
However, the relationship between
party levels is not strictly hierarchical.

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A Complex Party Structure

Parties and Their Components: Formal, Electoral, and
Governmental
Formal party organization: the people who work for the party.
At the national level, the party convention chooses the presidential
candidate, writes the platform, and designates the national committee.
Formerly, state and local political machines used patronage and the
spoils system to augment their power.
State and local party structure is similar to that of the national parties

A party psychologically and socially includes the people in the

electorate who support it.
Party identification is a psychological attachment to a party by a citizen
A partys coalition consists of the groups of people who support it.

The party in government consists of the people from that party

who hold public office.
Parties in the legislature organize committees and leaders.
The executive party and judicial party are informal and less visible.
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Party Identification
of the American
Electorate 1960-2010

The Democratic
Party held a
substantial edge
in the party
identification from
the 1960s into the
1970s, but
Republican
resurgence
beginning in the
1980s eroded that
edge.

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How the American Party System

Developed

Introduction
Although not mentioned in the
Constitution, parties do have explicit
legal status.
Four specific realignments throughout
history have created five different party
systems.

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How the American Party System

Developed

The First American Party System (17891824) Federalists and Antifederalists

Major issues of this period:
Should government be centralized and elite?
(Federalist) Or decentralized and open?
(Antifederalist)
Government role in the economy
Industrialization vs. agriculture.

Major parties:
Federalists, dominant until about 1800
Antifederalists (Democratic Republicans), who
ascended after 1800.
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How the American Party System

Developed
The Second American Party System (1824-1860)
Democrats and Whigs
Major issues of this period:
National bank and states rights

Major parties:
Whigs had a vision of a nation modernized by
government-backed commerce
Democrats had a vision of an agrarian democracy

By the late 1820s issues of national bank and states

rights split the Democratic Republican party, forming
the Whig party and the Democratic Party.
Slavery (and soon the civil war as well) undid WhigDemocratic party alignments, instead dividing both
parties into northern and southern branches.
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How the American Party System

Developed

The Third American Party System

(1860-1896) Democrats and the new
Republicans
Major issues of this period:
Slavery
Government as a promoter of commerce

After the Civil War, the Republican Party

established itself as the party of
business.
Competition between the parties
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characterized this party system
and

How the American Party System

Developed

The Fourth American Party System

(1896-1932) Republican Ascendancy
Major issues of this period:
Capitalist system allowed free reign

The 1893 depression sparked the free

silver movement led by William
Jennings Bryan pitting the Democratic
rural, poor, and workers against the
Republican urban, industrial, and elite.
Except for the Wilson years,
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Republicans were dominant until
1929.

How the American Party System

Developed
The Fifth American Party System (19321968) Democratic Ascendancy
Major issues of this period:
Social welfare
Government involvement in the economy

FDRs reaction to the Great Depression

issued in an era of government responsibility
both for restoring and maintaining
economic prosperity, and ensuring the
peoples basic well being.
The Democratic Party remained dominant
form 1932-1968.
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The State of the American Party System:

Decline or Resurgence?

Parties in Decline
In the 1970s and 1980s, both national
and state party organizations appeared
to lose their viability.
At the same time, fewer people
identified with a specific party and the
existing coalitions were coming apart.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, party
discipline and coordination in
government seemed to deteriorate.
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The Causes of Party Decline

More jobs fell under the heading of civil service and patronage
became more difficult, making it harder for politicians to marshal
support.
The rise of the mass media eliminated the need for parties to act
as intermediaries between candidates and the public.
PACs and public financing of campaigns weakened the parties role
as fundraisers.
Personal campaign organizations have bypassed traditional party
machinery.
Single-issue interest groups upset the parties function of coalitionbuilding.
The rise of the public welfare system reduced citizens personal
obligation to the party for help in the past (formerly, faithful party
members might receive food, money, or shelter from neighborhood
party organizations).
Declining party socialization has reduced peoples tendency to
identify with their parents political parties.
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The Consequences of Party Decline

If parties decline too much:
Citizens arent socialized into politics.
Electoral alternatives become confusing,
creating incoherent policy proposals.
Interests are not integrated, resulting in
fragmentation and paralysis.
Campaigns and elections become fragmented
and personalized.
Power is not coordinated, resulting in few
common bonds of philosophy or loyalty.
Government is not responsible, so
accountability breaks down.
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Parties in Resurgence
A number of new studies found evidence of the
parties in resurgence.
Formal Party organization
National party organizations use computerized systems for
polling, conducting direct mail campaigns, and raising
money, especially soft money.
The rejuvenation of party organization started with the
Republicans, while the Democrats are trying to catch up.

The Party in the Electorate

Party identification is slowly rising again.
A reformation of new party coalitions may be occurring.

The Party in Government

Congressional campaign committees are growing stronger.
However, party discipline has not improved.
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Parties in Resurgence
Reasons for Party Resurgence
Parties have adapted to the changing political
environment.
Parties can still supply candidates with needed
resources.

Consequences of Party Resurgence

Rejuvenated national party organizations may
strengthen state and local organizations.
Strong party organizations may help revive the
party in the electorate and the party in the
government.
In a resurgent party system, technology will
replace party workers.
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The Future of the American Party System

The Prospects for Realignment
Some argue that Republican dominance at the
presidential level may be solidifying, and expanding
their dominance to other levels.
Others argue Republican dominance of the
presidency may end as major conservative issues
fade.

The Future of Resurgence

Recent changes in the party system may mark a
broad and permanent change based on centralization,
the importance of the media, and the demand for
campaign money.
Parties have shown the ability to sufficiently adapt to
changing circumstances.
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