CHAPTER 9

INTEREST GROUPS
{ Organizing for Influence
Definition
An interest group can be defined
as a set of individuals who are
{ organized to promote a shared
political interest.

Also called a "faction” or “pressure group”

or “special interest”
Types of organization of interest
groups:
Economic Groups Types of
 Economic groups Economic Groups
include corporations,
labor unions, form 1. Business Groups
groups, and 2. Labor Groups
professional
associations. 3. Agricultural
 They exist primarily for Groups
economic purposes: to
make profits, provide
4. Professional
jobs, improve pay or Groups
protect an occupation.
Types of organization
of interest groups:
Citizens groups (or non-economic groups)

Los miembros de los grupos en esta categoría se unen no

por la promesa de ganancias económicas directas sino por
oportunidades de incentivos intencionales para promover
una causa en la que creen.

Whether a group’s goal is to protect the environment,

reduce the threat of nuclear war, etc.
Interest groups
 Economic interest
 Easier to work with
 Non-Economic interest
 There is just one goal in common
 Complications are present
 E. g.: El Salvador - Pacific Rim
 Ban on the national level of metal mining prevail
 Extraction of Gold from the Lempa River.
 Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES)
 Damages to environment such as the quality of the wáter and
the sick cattle.
 Creation of the National Table against the Metallic
Mining
 Community organizations, research centers, NGOs,
academic groups, religious and churches whose common
project is the rejection of metal mining in El Salvador.
 Prohibition of metallic mining and the defense of the
environment.
Groups of interest and its
organization
 Non-economic groups, are less organized tan
economic groups.
 The problem of free rider.

Mancur Olson
“It is not rational, in a purely economic sense, that
individuals contribute to citizen groups because
they can obtain the benefit without paying for it”
 E. g.: El Salvador
 Project: Improving green and recreational

areas in the neighborhood

 People in pro of the project
 People against the Project

 Financial support

 Benefits
Citizen´s Groups and the
internet
 Found space within the era of digitalization
 Before, It used to make noise by national
media

 International level
 Online Petitions
 Change.org, Avaazl.org, SumofUS, Causes,
MoveOn.org
 Objective: Integrate people within the same
cause
 Look forward economic resources
Main citizen´s groups
 Public Interest groups
 Pretends to represent the general interests of society
 The League of Women
 Single-cause groups
 They try to influence the policies in a specific area
 Green Peace USA
 Ideological groups
 They have a more narrowly focused political agenda
 Moral Christian Government Fund
 Government interest groups
 The U.S. federal government makes
policies that directly affect the
economic development, political
stability, and security of nations
throughout the world
INSIDE LOBBYING: SEEKING
INFLUENCE THROUGH
OFFICIAL CONTACTS
 Inside lobbying is designed to give a
group direct access to officials in order
to influence their decisions. It focuses
on supplying officials of all branches:
legislative, executive, and judicial,
with information and directions from
the group that persuades them to
adopt their perspective and interests.
 Lobbying Congress: one safe lobbying strategy
is the aboveboard approach: provide
information, rely on longtime allies among
members of Congress, and push steadily but not
too aggressively for legislative goals.

 Lobbying Executive Agencies: the link between

the groups and the bureaucracy is most evident
in the regulatory agencies that oversee the
business sectors of the nation. By working
closely with government agencies, groups can
influence political decisions.
 Lobbying the Courts:
Amicus curiae ("friend of the
court") is another method of
judicial lobbying and is a
written document in which a
group indicates its position
on a particular case whose
objective is to try to
influence public policy
through the courts with the
presentation of demands.
It is necessary to also consider two policy
processes:

 Iron Triangles, consists of a small and informal

but relatively stable set of bureaucrats,
legislators, and lobbyists those who seek to
develop policies that benefit a particular topic of
interest.

 Issue Networks, which is an informal grouping

of officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists that
join temporarily to share their interest in a
particular political issue or problem.
OUTSIDE LOBBYING VS INSIDE
LOBBYING
OUTSIDE LOBBYING INSIDE LOBBYING
STRATEGIES STRATEGIES

•Encouraging group members to •Developing contact with

write or phone their legislators and executives.

{
representatives in congress.
•Seeking favorable coverages by
new media.
•Encouraging members to
•Providing information and
policy proposals to key officials.

support particular candidates in •Forming coalitions with other

elections. groups.
•Targeting group resources on
key election race.
•Making PAC contributions to
candidates.
Outside lobbying and
grassroot lobbying
 Outside lobbying: A form of lobbying in
which an interest group seeks to use
public pressure as a means of influencing
officials.

 Grassroots lobbying: That is one form of

outside pressure designed to convince
government officials that a groups of
policy position has popular support.
Electoral Actions: votes and
contributions
PAC: Political action committee is the
organization through which an interest
group raises and distributes funds for
election purposes, by law they need to be
voluntary contribution.
PAC is limited, the ceiling is $10,000 per
candidate, $5,000 in the first campaign and
other $5,000 in the general campaign
The contribution of interest
groups to self-government
One of the main problems for the government is
listen and understand all the problems of the
population.

Popular consultation Interest groups

 El Salvador United States

In the United States, interest

Most interest groups in El
groups have a large number of
Salvador are characterized by
associates, and the groups that
their social spirit and the defense
have the greatest influence on
of human rights.
government decisions are the
groups that represent economic
interests.
Interest group liberalism:
The tendency to which only those organizations or
groups that possess a strong presence or activity in
the politics of the State are those who possess the
biggest possibilities of being listened.

The organization is a policy tool that is distributed

unevenly between the society because there will
always be groups that depending on your
organization will gain the most influence leaving
at a disadvantage to others.
Thank you!