Jaymie TicknorPolitical Science 1050 Sect. 00218 February 2014Lecture #5Chapter #12 : Interest Groups :What is an Interest Group : an organization that pursues the interests of its members by engaging in the political process; vary in organization, degree of funding, and issues of interests (groups increased); differences cause groups to vary in their effectivenessThe Free Rider Problem: the free-rider problem arises when people can enjoy the benefits of group activity without bearing any of the costs; tends to happen to groups who work towards attaining public or collective goodsIndividuals perceive that attainment of the group goal has little relationship to their personal contribution; problem affects larger groups to a greater degree; for smaller groups, social pressure creates an incentive to contribute; the free-rider problem becomes more serious as the goal becomes more abstractOvercoming the Free Rider Problem: Selective Benefits: (most organizations use this) benefits of belonging to an organization that are limited to contributing members of the organization; material benefits, product discounts, and professional advicePolitical Entrepreneurs: people willing to form and maintain an organization even when others may free-ride on themCoercion: social pressure or force to make people join in a collective effort; sometrades require a state license or official certification; those who wish to participate must go through formal processes and belong to particular organizationsPatronage: financial assistance by wealthy donors; wealthy individuals; sponsorship by corporations, foundations, and other interestsInterest Group Legislative Tactics: Direct Lobbying: interest group activities intended toinfluence directly the decisions that public officials make; may draft bills, testify before congressional (Congress members) committees, meet with elected officialsand present their cases, provide information; Lobbyist: someone who paid by particular groups to influence public officialsGrassroots Lobbying: influence elected officials indirectly by mobilizing their constituents or voters and applying pressure to Congress person in districtElectoral Funding: groups can donate to fundraising organizations for individual candidatesPolitical Action Committees: specialized organizations for raising and contributing campaign fundsCitizens’ United vs. FEC (2010): before ruling, groups could not create ads in favor oragainst certain candidates; Citizen’s United case: allow groups (Super PACs) to create ads to endorse candidates; Controversies: funds are unregulated; there are no limits on the amount of money that groups can spend; donor names do not have to be disclosedPersuading the Public: Media Advertisement: political action committees can place ads about issues, but not candidates; super political action committees can place ads in support of candidates; Protests; Direct Mail: computer-generated letters, faxes, and other communications to people who may support an issue or candidateLobbying the Judiciary: Litigation: involves carrying out a legal strategy to utilize court decisions to support the interests group’s goalsAmicus Curiae Briefs: briefs communicate point of law or scientific evidence relevant to the case; intended to influence litigation outcomePluralism: multiple groups are represented by government and no single interest controlsgovernmental decisions; power is spread widely throughout society; groups can influence government through several access points; politics can support individual interests without organized support; Disadvantages: smaller minority groups are excluded; no one compromisingPolitical Resources are Distributed Unequally: significant barriers to joining a group; political organization requires money, time, education, and political experience; interest group system bias in favor of upper and middle-class individualsGroups Do Not Automatically Form: Disturbance Theory (David Truman): individuals often form groups in response to disturbances by outside forces; interest groups emerge as a consequence of counter movementsInterest Groups have a Wide Variety of Tactics in Their Toolkits: Tactics: choice of tactics depends on goals; all tactics attempt to communicate information; on merits of a position and on political consequences of