POLS 1101 1st edition Lecture 26 Outline of Previous Lecture I Bureaucracy in Action II Bureaucrats as Politicians III Controlling the Bureaucracy IV Barriers to Control Outline of Current Lecture I Lobbyists and 2010 Financial Reform II James Madison s Dilemma III The Logic of Lobbying IV Pluralists Defense of Interest Groups V Why is the system biased VI Problems of Collective Action Current Lecture I II III Lobbyists and 2010 Financial Reform As congress considered financial reform to tighten restrictions on Wall Street lobbyists representing these interests swarmed Capitol Hill Second worst recession in 2010 on record since the Great Depression Blanche Lincoln chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee proposed a crackdown on trading derivatives blamed for the crash o 1500 lobbyists visited her office prior to hearings o 600 million was spent by the financial sector to weaken the bill and they were successful The bill passed with some changes o The bill barely did anything Car dealerships were able to obtain an exemption by relying on grassroots movements rather than Washington DC lobbyists Case illustrates the role of interest groups in national politics James Madison s Dilemma When Madison wrote the Federalists papers he was worried about there being lobbyists groups that would go after self interest even if it hurt other people Madison claimed that since there would be so many pursuing interests that the bad ones would be canceled out The Logic of Lobbying These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute IV V VI Logic of lobbying is transparent they go after certain specific interests Lobbying solves collective action problems for people or groups wanting to influence public policy Our government sees the positives of lobbying o Help them gain support on legislation o Provides information both political and technical When congress passes laws they need information and interest groups have that information the information is usually spun to that lobbyist view Congress still benefits from that information because it is better than no information at all Modern politics breeds professional lobbyists o The constitution does not require lobbying but it does allow it Pluralists Defense of Interest Groups Moreover the American political system was particularly conducive to pluralist politics o Decentralized o Elected officials need to form broad based coalitions Idealized conception of system Reality system is biased imperfect solution to Madison s dilemma o Money information access to authority skill bargaining power are distributed unevenly o The logic of collective action shows why some groups tend to win out over others o Money is not distributed equally o But it is better than nothing at least some peoples voices are heard Why is the system biased Groups that are better organized and more resources are more likely to win Usually those groups are the ones that are from the private sector o Representing corporations Those who tend who represent broader public interest tend to lose more o Unless the public cares a lot and they get free press among other things Problems of Collective action Incentives for collective action and the barriers to organization vary across different types of groups Must eliminate free riding Private sector groups are more able to eliminate free riding Any group doing anything must ensure that everyone contributes to the collective good o You always have the temptation to not do your part and you still benefit from it Groups that fail to keep everything organized and are the larger groups tend to loose Groups with greater interest at stake face fewer barriers o These are the groups from the private sector o Their livelihood depends on them winning Those who want to protect the environment don t work as hard because their livelihood doesn t depend on it
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