Influence of Special Interests in America

Influence of Special Interests in America

What is the best way to minimize the influence of factions in a free society? 
Since the founding of our nation, Americans have been concerned about the conflict factions can cause in our society and that a particular group or coalition of groups could try to dominate our government to promote their own interest at the expense of other smaller groups or individual liberty.

You may remember that James Madison in 
Federalist
 
#10
 
analyzed the question of how can we have a democratic society where people are the source of power and yet minimize the influence of factions on our leaders? Madison’s solution was not to destroy liberty which permitted factions to exist, but to “control” them by establishing a 
federal Republic
, a representative democracy.

The idea was that our elected representatives, unlike ourselves, would be able to listen more objectively to lobbyists and constituents alike. Interest groups would have to compete with one another for the attention of the Congressperson, President, or Mayor. Madison argued that the more factions the better. It would be less likely that a majority could find a common interest and try to promote it.

Today those factions are known as 
interest groups
 or “
special interests
.” In a later lesson, you will also learn that factions are also 
political parties
.

There are certainly more interest groups than our founding fathers could have possibly foreseen and today our representatives in government meet everyday with lobbyists representing businessmen, farmers, doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, paralegals, laborers, senior citizens, and gun owners to name just a few.

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Yet not one interest group dominates our federal government. There are days when Congress passes laws that favor business over labor and yet on other days Congress passes laws that provide greater protections for laborers.

For example, big business for all its corporate PAC contributions or highly paid lobbyists does not always win the day. I am not saying that money and a good team of lobbyists don’t help, of course they do. However, political contributions 
“buy
 
access”
 
– a lobbyist will get to meet and talk with a Congressman but it doesn’t guarantee that the representative will vote for a bill that supports the interest group’s position. There are many other influences on a member of Congress’ vote.

You may remember Enron Corporation, the energy giant, made campaign contributions to both Republican and Democratic parties/candidates during the 1990’s and turn of this century, and one of its Corporate officers made a phone call to the Commerce Department to get the government to bail the company out of bankruptcy. The Bush Administration did not help the company out of financial difficulties, but began a fraud investigation. So money doesn’t always buy influence Influence of Special Interests in America.

However, it appears that it did in the case of Rep. Randy Cunningham’s (R-CA), a member of the House Armed Services Committee. In December 2005, he was indicted for accepting bribes from defense contractors. Unfortunately, this case reinforces the idea that everyone on government “has his price and is on the take.” Questions were raised regarding how closely some Members of Congress worked with super lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Congressman Bob Ney pled guilty and was sentence to 30 days in jail and required to pay a $6,000 fine for conspiracy and making false statements and he admitted he used his Congressional office to assist Abramoff for gifts, trips, campaign contributions, etc. (Siedman, Joseph. “
Ex-Rep. Ney gets 30-months in jail, $6,000 fine
,” NBC News, January 20, 2007).  We will discuss Congress’ efforts to tighten up its gift and travel rules and strengthen lobbying disclosure requirements in our next lesson.

Here is an interview with Jack Abramoff, notorious lobbyist, on the influence of special interests.

Jack Abramoff: The lobbyist’s playbook

How can Interest Groups Benefit Americans?

Interest groups play an 
educative and representational role
 that benefits all of us. If you join an organization like the Sierra Club, an environmental group, it will notify you about legislation being considered by Congress, for example, on drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve.

While you are busy going to school, working, or raising a family or just “having a life” lobbyists will advocate on your behalf to pass or defeat bills that either benefit or harm the environment. We don’t just have our Congressman to represent us in Washington, but private organizations that promote our concerns.

Is Every Group an Interest Group? — No
.

An interest group is defined as:

“{a} collection of people who share a common interest or attitude and seek to influence government for specific ends,”
 
e.g. promote issue(s) like education and the environment (Magleby, 
Government by the People 2018 Elections
, 26 edition, 565).

Interest groups can be corporations, labor unions, trade associations, agriculture, business or professional organizations, single interest groups (gun or abortion), bankers, religious groups, public interest ( Ralph Nader – pro consumer) or ideological groups like the ACLU. Members of these organizations want their group to influence the decisions of our leaders.

They are not the Society for the Daughters of the American Revolution, Knights of Columbus, or the Better Business Bureau. These groups do not make campaign contributions, go to court, or lobby lawmakers. People in these groups do not get together to influence governmental policy.

Also, 
social movements
 are not interest groups because they seek to “
 
change attitudes and institutions”
 
like the women suffragettes and civil rights leaders tried to do in the last century (Magleby). Women and African-Americans were closed out of the political process; they could not vote or run for public office to change existing laws. As a result, they applied pressure from the 
“outside”
 
to bring change.

Today some individuals join movements because they disagree with our leaders’ decisions and are frustrated and disillusioned with the political process.

Movements generally use 
nonmilitant tactics
 
like protesting against the Iraq War by holding up signs on a street corner or by participating in “sit ins” at the local dinners like supporters of the Civil Rights Movement did in the 1960’s. These people feel strongly about an issue, enough to get off the couch and demand change!

These groups sometimes use 
militant
 
or violent activities to bring change. For example, Alice Paul, president of the National Women’s Party, advocated picketing in front of the White House and participating in hunger strikes to get President Wilson and the Democrats to support a federal amendment granting women the right to vote.

Not all groups fall neatly in each category. Some groups are “hybrids” and have characteristics of both interest groups and movements. For example, the abortion groups like Committee on Right to Life are interest groups and work within the political process to influence our leaders. However, there are some people on the fringe who use militant tactics like bombing abortion clinics.

Generally, when movements accomplish their goals, they will become interest groups. Today the National Association of Colored Persons (NAACP) and the National Organization for Women (NOW) advance the cause of African-Americans and women by working 
within
 
the political process.

“
Right to Associate”

The 
First Amendment
 
protects interest groups and movements. These groups can urge our leaders to change or repeal laws because of our 
“right to petition our government for redress of
 
grievances
 
(individuals can criticize our political leaders and their policies and not be thrown in jail).

Since individuals generally join a group to criticize or demand change from our government, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that we also have a 
“right to associate”
 
with one another 
(Magleby) Influence of Special Interests in America.