One of the major reasons that interest groups have proliferated in california is due to

Abstract

This paper utilizes a survey of 595 state lobbyists and 301 state organizations to address four questions about interest group activity in the states: (1) What techniques do groups in the states use? (2) How much do groups in the states do? (3) How do techniques differ across group types? (4) What types of groups are most active in the states? The data suggest that techniques do not differ much across group types; that, contrary to the subgovernment model, very few groups and lobbyists exhibit specialization between or within branches of state government; and that most groups take an interest in a large number of policy proposals However, it appears that groups, though they monitor a large number of policy proposals, are inactive advocates on the vast majority of bills before the state legislature Ironically, we believe that one result of all this group activity may be a tilting of the locus of power in state politics toward elected and appointed officials and away from interest groups.

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Current issues are now on the Chicago Journals website. Read the latest issue. Established in 1939 and published for the Southern Political Science Association, The Journal of Politics is a leading general-interest journal of political science and the oldest regional political science journal in the United States. The scholarship published in The Journal of Politics is theoretically innovative and methodologically diverse, and comprises a blend of the various intellectual approaches that make up the discipline. The Journal of Politics features balanced treatments of research from scholars around the world, in all subfields of political science including American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, and political methodology.

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journal article

Midwest Journal of Political Science

Vol. 13, No. 1 (Feb., 1969)

, pp. 1-32 (32 pages)

Published By: Midwest Political Science Association

https://doi.org/10.2307/2110212

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2110212

Abstract

The exchange theory of interest groups rests initially on a distinction between the entrepreneur or organizer and the customer/member. The argument asserts that group organizers invest in a set of benefits which they offer to potential members at a price--joining the group. Benefits may be material, solidary or expressive. In order for the group to survive a sufficient balance must be maintained in the exchange; members must receive benefits and leaders enough return, conceptualized as "profit," to warrant continued participation. Implications are drawn for such questions as lobbying and intra-group factionalism as well as for the origins, growth and survival of various types of interest groups.

Publisher Information

The Midwest Political Science Association, founded in 1939, is a national organization of more than 2,800 political science professors, researchers, students, and public administrators from throughout the United States and over 50 foreign countries. The association is dedicated to the advancement of scholarly communication in all areas of political science. Each year the association sponsors a three-day conference of political scientists in Chicago for the purpose of presenting and discussing the latest research in political science. More than 2,000 individuals participate in this conference, which features 300 panels and programs on politics. The MPSA is headquartered at Indiana University. For further information, contact William D. Morgan, Executive Director, email: .

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The Character of Interest GroupsThe framers of the American Constitution feared the power that could be wielded by organized interests. Yet they believed that interest groups thrived because of liberty. Interest groups are a result of the freedom that all Americans enjoy to organize and express their views. Liberty would be denied if the government were given the power to regulate or in any way forbid efforts by organized interests.

1. Why do interest groups form?
   • An interest group is a voluntary membership association organized to pursue a common interest through political participation.
   • Individuals form groups in order to increase the chance that their views will be heard and their interests will be treated favorably by the government.
   • Interest groups are organized to influence government decisions.
2. What interests are represented by these groups?
   • There are several types of interest groups, among them business and agricultural groups, labor groups, professional associations, public interest groups, ideological groups, and public-sector groups.
3. What are the organizational components of interest groups?
   • The key organizational components of an interest group include leadership, money, an agency or office, and members.
   • Many groups are initially organized by political entrepreneurs with a strong commitment to a particular set of goals.
   • The organization must build a financial structure capable of sustaining the organization and funding the group's activities.
   • All interest groups must attract and keep members, but find the problem of "free riders" difficult to overcome because, whether the people join an interest group or not, an effective group causes a "collective good" which cannot be denied to nonmembers.
   • Groups provide material, solidary, purposive, and informational benefits to attract and retain members.
   • Interest group members tend to have higher incomes, higher levels of education, and tend to be in management or professional occupations.

1. Why has the number of interest groups grown in recent years?
   • There has been a dramatic increase in the number and types of interest groups over the last forty years.
   • This explosion has had three basic origins—the expansion of the role of government, the "New Politics" movement, and grassroots conservative activism.
   • The 1960s and 1970s saw an expansion of federal authority over a broad range of public policy issues and a corresponding increase in the number of interest groups to put pressure on government officials.
2. What is the "New Politics" movement?
   • The "New Politics" movement is made up of upper-middle-class professionals and intellectuals for whom the civil rights movement and antiwar movement were formative experiences.
   • These individuals would later expand into other public issues—e.g., the environment, public safety, and good government—that form the base of our modern public interest groups.
3. What is the conservative grassroots movement?
   • Conservative groups focus on many public issues, especially the right-to-life campaign, the tax structure, and the right to bear arms.
   • Many groups redoubled their efforts in response to Bill Clinton's administration.

1. What are some of the strategies interest groups use to gain influence?
   • The quest for political influence or power takes many forms, but among the most frequently used strategies are lobbying, establishing access, using the courts, going public, using electoral tactics, and bribery.
   • Lobbying is an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of the legislature.
   • Gaining access is the actual involvement in the decision-making process, whether it is in Congress or the bureaucracy. An iron triangle is an important form of access.
   • Interest groups use the courts to influence policy through the filing of direct lawsuits, filing amicus curiae briefs, and financing suits brought by individuals.
   • Going public is a strategy that attempts to mobilize the public through institutional advertising, social movements, and grassroots mobilization.
   • Groups form political action committees (PACs) to contribute money to candidates and support the campaigns of politicians sympathetic to the group's objectives.
2. What are the negative aspects of interest groups' influence?
   • The wealthy and powerful dominate interest group politics, leaving the poor and weak out in an undemocratic way.
   • Interest groups are often devoted to selfish causes.
   • Larger, less homogeneous groups have difficulty matching the influence of the organized, narrowly focused groups that they oppose.

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