| Term | Definition |
|---|
| interest groups | a group of people that want change for a cause or "interest":organized citizens sharing similar goals who actively try to influence policymakers |
| lobbyists | grroups of individuals who attempt to influence legislation of governmental dicisions |
| created in reaction to... | social movements in which citizens are seeking change in the political, social, or economic sohere |
| 1st amendment | encouraged formation (assembley & petition |
| 3 | number of reasons why americans join interest groups |
| solidary incentives | feeling a sense of belonging or association with others having similar interests |
| material incentives | benefits, rewards, or opportunities |
| purposive incentives | joining a cause aligning with your beliefs |
| latent interests and the free-rider problem | why people do not join interest groups |
| 6 | types of interest groups |
| types of interest groups | economic, environmenal, public interest, single interest, common characteristics, and foreign governments |
| economic interest groups | consists of business & trade, agriculture, and labor; most represented type of interest group |
| business and trade | usually tries to restrict govt. regulation on taxation; has a variety of groups to represent various industries |
| agriculture | American Farm Bureau Federation was established in 1919; need good representation since population in ht U.S, is only 2% |
| AFBF | American Farm Bureau Federation |
| labor (blue-collar jobs) | AFL formed in 1886 and merced with the CIO in 1955 to now represent over 13 million workers; union membership has declined recently;includes public employees aand professional unions |
| AFL | Anerican Federation of Labor |
| CIO | Congress of Industrial Organizations |
| environmental interest groups | address issues concerning animals, wildlife, preservation of land, and national parks |
| public interest interest groups | represent the national good or overall interests of the public; CC is one of the largest groups founded in 1968 to help the govt. become more public focused |
| CC | Common Cause |
| single interest interest groups | focused on one issue with specific goals |
| common characteristic groups | AARP is the largest with over 35 million members |
| AARP | American Association of Retired Persons |
| foriegn governments | send lobbyists to represent their trade concern with the U.S. |
| 3 reasons | what makes interest groups powerful |
| powerful interest groups | size and resources, leadership, & cohesiveness |
| size and resources | some groups have more voters all over the country (AFL-CIO and AARP); more people+more money in dues |
| leadership | good leaders will use effective strategies |
| cohesiveness | how mush the group works together and how mtivated they are will determine its strength |
| main goal | to access govt. officials by bilding relationships with them |
| interest group strategies | direct techniques, ratings game, building alliances, compaign assistance, indirect techniques, unconventional methods |
| direct techniques | (lobbying) private meetings; testifying before Congress and rulemaking agencies about proposed legislation; inviting legislators to functions; providing information |
| ratings game | score legislators based on votes on the groups legislation (voting records) |
| building alliances | combining expencses and efforts |
| campaign assistance | groups offer help to legislators' reflection campaigns; large groups are typically sought out by politicians |
| indirect techniques | (public pressure) ads, mass amil, TV, and demontrations to get constituents to vocalize thir ideas; climate control |
| constituents | voters |
| climate control | using public relations to generate a favourable image of your group |
| unconventional methods | demonstrations, marches, rallies, boycotts, etc. |
| regulating lobbyists | (reforms of 1995) anyone spending more than 20% of their time lobbying are considered lobbyists; gifts are limited none to the Houseand no more than $100 worth of gifts to Senate per year |
| interest groups and representative democracy | usually seen as the elite of the elite; many people are uninterested in politics |
| pluralist theory | emerges as people view politics as as stuggle among various interest groups |
| point 1 | everyone has a different influence on govt. and different resources to gain support |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace