Interest Groups in Texas

GOVT 2306

In this section we continue our look at political organizations in the state.

Previously we looked at political parties. Now we look at interest

groups.

Useful External Reading: Texas Politics: Interest Groups

Texas Tribune Topics: Interest Groups

Along with political parties, interest groups are private organizations that attempt to influence public policies.

But they do so without seeking public office, so they do not have to deal with

the electoral rules that condition the nature of political parties.

Rather than only having two major political parties, there are thousands of groups in

the state that focus on the needs of discreet, isolated groups.

In addition, there are national interest groups within the state that tie the

interests of state residents with those of the nation as a whole.

Interest groups are central features of government on the national state and local

level.

The best interest groups are able to influence the actions of members of each of the branches of government. Ideally they should be able to tie

each together closely so that any conflict between the three is dissipated. If so, they can ensure that public policy will favorable to their

specific interests.

Here are three stories about interest groups in Texas to get

things going:

Why Texas businesses back reforming the state’s criminal justice system

.

This is an opinion piece written by the president of the Texas Association of Business advocating for increased use of probation for non-violent offenders. This would help reduce the cost of

criminal justice in the state. The TAB is generally argued to be the most powerful interest group

in the state. Click here for the TAB’s 2015 Legislative Priorities

.

Why Texas Banned Tesla Motors (Spoiler: Because we don’t have campaign finance reform).

The author points out how the Texas Automobile Dealers Association has lobbied against allowing Tesla Motors to

sell its electric cars directly to customers. If they can, what use is a car dealer?

Craft Brewers Celebrate New Beer Laws

.

The Texas Craft Brewers Guild cheered passage of laws that allowed brewpubs to

distribute their beer easier. The Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas did

not like the changes because they threaten to undermine their business.

Now – A definition

What is an interest group?

There are many definitions, here’s one from the Encyclopedia Britannica: An

interest group, also called special interest group or pressure group, any association

of individuals or organizations, usually formally organized, that, on the basis of

one or more shared concerns, attempts to influence public policy in its favour.

Where do they come from?

In GOVT 2305 we discussed the origins of

interest groups and focused on Federalist #10

where James Madison talks about the inevitability

of interest groups – or what he called factions.

Here is his definition of faction:

By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a

majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some

common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of

other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.

I’d suggest that the difference between what he called a faction and

what we call an interest group is simply one of organization.

A “faction” might be a group of people that have similar interests while an

interest group is a legally established organization that determines how best

to benefit those interests.

Often they are organized under rules contained in the federal Internal Revenue Code. Since these groups usually solicit contributions in

order to fund their activities they have to state what they do, which may or may not qualify

them for tax exemptions.

Here’s a little detail from the Center for Responsive Politics. More on this below when we talk about the types of interest groups and

how they are organized.

James Madison claimed that there were two principle reasons why

factions formed:

1 – We live in a free society and we have the right to form peaceful assemblies and

petition government for a redress of grievances would later be included in the

First Amendment.

2 – We live in a diverse, complex society with a variety of interests. People have a

tendency to form groups that protect those interests.

Beyond that, he argued that forming into groups that are

antagonistic to each other is part of our nature.

So strong is this propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities, that where no

substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and

fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly

passions, and excite their most violent conflicts.

Translation: We’ll fight about anything. It’s human nature.

But he does say that certain differences are more likely than

others to lead to conflict.

. . . the most common and durable source of factions has been the

various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold, and

those who are without property, have ever formed distinct interests

in society.

The wealthy and not-so-wealthy will always be in conflict.

But wealthy interests can also be in conflict with each other.

A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests, grow up of necessity in

civilized nations, and divide them into different classes, actuated by different sentiments and

views. The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern Legislation, and involves the spirit of

party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of the Government.

As we will see soon enough, there are a variety of business groups in the state (in addition to the various others), many of these are in competition with each other to influence the nature of public policy in

the state.

What benefits one does not benefit the other.

If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which

enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote. It may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the Constitution. When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on

the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good

and the rights of other citizens.

Conflict has its benefits.

But this comes at a price

The more interest groups that exist, the less dynamic government

can become.

A minority group “may clog the administration” and “convulse the

society.” Either option is better than tyranny, but it does have

consequences.

1 - It can lead to gridlock

2 – It can lead to unresponsive government

The principle problem is that connected groups may be able to establish politics

that benefit them and make it difficult for those policies to be changed.

This can make it difficult for changes to be made since those changes might

jeopardize the benefits already received by groups.

We will discuss the following set of relationships soon enough:

This helps explain why some policies never change.

Mancur Olson, in a book entitled the Rise and Decline of Nations, argued that as societies develop,

strong special interest lobbies evolve that make them less

efficient and dynamic.

“The thesis of this brilliant book is that the longer a society enjoys

political stability, the more likely it is to develop powerful special-

interest lobbies that in turn make it less efficient economically.”

Jonathan Rauch builds on this idea and calls it Demosclerosis.

He argues that the rise of interest groups has led to a type of paralysis in government.

Demosclerosis is democratic government's progressive loss of

the ability to adapt.

Once programs are established, groups that benefit from them

coalesce around the programs and do what they can to keep it in

place as is.

Any change can jeopardize their interests.

As we will see below, interest groups (the good ones) are able to

cobble relationships with the principle actors involved in a

program that benefits them, and this is the mechanism that

enhances and maintains their interests.

This involves a few things that can be pretty unpopular.

One is that they pump a lot of money into the political system. Interest groups are major

contributors to the campaigns of candidates for elective office. A second is that they get involved in lobbying and are able to establish very close

relationships with office holders, especially those in the legislative and executive branches.

People who leave public officer often wind up as well-paid

lobbyists. This helps strengthen the relationship between interest groups and governing institutions.

These relationships are given names like “issue networks,” “sub-governments” or “iron triangles.”

And there are many of these networks in government on each

level.

Texas included.

And there are indeed a large number of interest groups in Texas. You saw

stories about a handful above.

Some of these are unique to Texas, some of these are affiliated with

national groups. Some national groups are based in Texas – socially

conservatives ones for example.

Here is one man’s list of the types of groups that exist

:

Business Groups and Trade AssociationsProfessional Associations

Organized LaborAgricultural Groups

Racial and Ethnic Minority GroupsReligious Groups

Citizen, Advocacy and Cause Groups

A simpler way to approach this question is to divide groups into these

two types: public and private.

The former attempt to obtain results that benefit the general population and distribute benefits widely

(examples include groups that advocate for health, education, or environmental issues). The latter looks for results that benefit their members sometimes to the detriment of others. Business and professional

groups often do so – some of the stories I opened with give examples of this.

As we will see soon enough – groups that organize around private benefits that can

be restricted from non-group members are generally more powerful than those that

seek to promote the public good and offer benefits that affect everyone.

Click here for an early explanation of this.

While this guarantees the existence of a large number of interest groups, James

Madison argued that there was a benefit in having multiple groups involved in the

political system.

The fewer the groups, the greater the danger of tyranny of the majority. The

greater number of groups, the less likelihood a permanent majority can

control all the branches of government.

But there is a key obstacle to interest group formation, one that

not only makes it difficult for certain groups to form, but that

creates an imbalance in what types of interests are likely to be

effectively represented by a group.

The Free Rider Problem

While Madison argued that common interests would bring people together

to form groups, he didn’t discuss a central feature of human nature that

makes interest group formation difficult:

If we can get something without working for it, we will. That’s what it

means to be a free rider.

If everyone free rides, then an interest group has no strength.

Moreover, the group may not even form if there isn’t enough interest

to get one going.

Think about this: Are there any groups effectively fighting for the interests of students? Why not?

Generally an interest group begins when an individual or group of

individuals figure out some way to get people to overcome the tendency to

free ride and contribute time and money to build up the group.

They have to figure out the incentives to do so.

The solution – theoretically – is easy. If the problem of group formation is the free rider problem and that is based on the

idea that there is no need to join the group since you’ll get the benefits of the group’s effort anyway, then the answer is to figure

out how to provide things that only members of the group will receive.

These are called selective benefits.

In order for a group to be formed, there has to be a driving force

making it happen.

A political entrepreneur has to develop incentives for people to

join the group. They have to convince members to avoid the

temptation to free rider.

A key political entrepreneur in Texas is James Leininger. Here’s

some information about him from Source Watch:

Dr. James R. Leininger, "San Antonio physician and hospital-bed magnate" is a "

conservative and devoutly religious Republican businessman." Leininger is one of the biggest funders of conservative causes in

Texas. During the decade 1987-1997, Leininger "spent more than $1.4 million of his

personal fortune to affect how Texans vote and another $3.2 million to change how Texans think on political issues such as

tort reform and private school vouchers."

It then goes on to list the large number of organizations founded

and/or funded by him.

Perhaps the most notable is the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a

conservative think tank which develops legislative proposals

among other things.

The Executive Director of TPPF

is Arlene Wohlgemuth who served 10

years in the state legislature.

The Director of TPPF’s Center for

Fiscal Policy, Talmadge Heflin,

also served in the Texas

Legislature, eleven terms.

Staff members of the TPPF commonly spent time working in the offices of members of state

legislature as well as the offices of executive and judicial officials.

It part of the revolving door of Texas politics.

Some national organization exist to coordinate policy making in the

state legislatures.

Currently the most famous is the American Legislative Exchange Council

.

All of this is possible because if what Leininger was able to

accomplish by creating groups that provided selective benefits for its

members.

A connection was created between participation and the benefits

received.

A selective benefit is a reward or punishment that fosters cooperation among a group of people who might

otherwise free ride.

There are argued to be four principle selective benefits that a

group can offer potential members:

MaterialPurposiveSolidary

Informational

Material

Members are encouraged to join because they will receive material

benefits if they do so. Jobs or business opportunities for

example.

Purposive

Joining the group helps one advance a grand “purpose” such as cleaner air, greater public morality, or some other intangible reward.

Solidary

Joining the group puts one in touch with other, similarly minded

people. Social options increse

Informational

The group makes its members privy to information they cannot

get elsewhere.

Material interests tend to be the most effective for organizing people. This makes sense if you

think about it. People are more likely to be motivated by something that profits them than by other concerns. This explains why business groups are among the strongest in the state.

But other incentives can have an impact, especially if it touches onto a part of an

individual’s value system.

But some interests are difficult to organize at all.

This is what marks the difference between strong interest groups

and weak ones. Weaker groups are unable to offer incentives for

potential members that make it worthwhile for them to join up.

Here’s an example I like to use in class: Students at Alvin Community

College.

There are more students than faculty and staff. So why aren’t

students in charge?

It wouldn’t be that tough for students to run for positions on

the ACC Board of Regents and win. There are over 4,000 students each semester. So what gets in the way?

Several things:

First, students are transient. They are only at ACC for a brief period of time. Their interests shift to other things

as soon as they leave. Second, students are largely strangers to each other. This makes organization

difficult. There is no one person – a leader – that is known to all students who can help rally them, and the

facts that they are anonymous makes it easier for individuals to not participate. Third, the benefits

students get – lowered tuition for example - may not seem to be worth the effort.

Altogether, this makes students prone to the free-rider problem.

Actually the situation is worse since there is no organization to

free-ride on.

The groups that do dominate tend to be those focused on the college

since it charges property taxes.

Property owners who have to do so have a greater incentive to participate and since many are long time residents of the community, they know each other and are more willing to work

together. Conversely they are also better able to cajole other to participate.

This is an important fact to understand.

The realities of interest group politics – the fact that smaller groups are better able to organize

and work effectively – seems to negate our underlying assumption of democracy: that it is

majority rule. Majorities are tougher to organize than minorities. Smaller, cohesive groups where

participant know each other are politically stronger than others.

It’s not numbers

It’s organization

Here’s a graph that conveys this information in a different way.

For an interest group to be strong – an for an “interest” to be able to be represented effectively – it has to be composed of people who are

politically interested and organized.

To repeat the key point – not all groups in the state are effectively

represented.

What Kinds of Interest Groups Exist?

A simpler way to approach this question is to divide groups into these

two types: public and private.

The former attempt to obtain results that benefit the general population and distribute benefits widely

(examples include groups that advocate for health, education, or environmental issues). The latter looks for results that benefit their members sometimes to the detriment of others. Business and professional

groups often do so – some of the stories I opened with give examples of this.

The simple difference between the two is that public groups address issues that are common to everyone (like clean air and education) while private groups address issues that benefit their members (like

business and professional organizations and labor unions).

With that in mind: all groups like to argue that the benefits they receive will at least indirectly

benefit the public welfare.

An example of a Texas public interest group:

Environment Texas

An example of a Texas private interest group:

Texas Business Alliance

Sometimes drawing a precise distinction between public and

private groups is difficult.

Here’s another look at a list of the types of interest groups in the

state as organized by Neil Tannahill.

Business Groups and Trade AssociationsProfessional Associations

Organized LaborAgricultural Groups

Racial and Ethnic Minority GroupsReligious Groups

Citizen, Advocacy and Cause Groups

Let’s look at each in turn:

Business Groups and Trade Associations

These are the strongest groups in the state. They are well organized, well

financed, well connected and skilled in advocacy. They are also relentless and can push policy proposals for many sessions if

necessary.

They generally favor low taxes. Low regulations and expanded business

opportunities, but their interests can sometimes conflict internally.

Many groups also work to maintain certain regulations if they benefit

that group.

Examples

A business group – generally- works to further the benefits of a

narrowly defined area of business.

A trade association is an alliance of related businesses.

Examples of business groups include:

Examples of trade association include:

Click here for a story pointing out conflict between two conservative

groups, the Texas Future Business Alliance and

Empower Texans.

The TFBA thinks Tea Party / anti-government groups are

undermining the ability of the state to continue to attract

businesses.

The strength of the business sector has increased as Texas has become more a center of business and less

dominated by the agrarian sector.

In the 19th century, large businesses – banking and railroads primarily – were located out of state and were

seen as hurting the interests of the state. Business regulations were written into the state constitution of 1876. As these businesses moved to the state, lured by the growing oil sector and federal contracts guaranteed by Texans in Congress, business interests became more

powerful and public policies passed by the state and written into the constitution reflected their interests.

Sometimes these groups collectively are referred to as the “Texas establishment.” Click here for a book that describes their

growth:

“The years from 1938 to 1957 were the most primitive period of rule by the Texas Establishment, a loosely knit plutocracy of the

Anglo upper classes answering only to the vested interests in banking, oil, land development, law, the merchant houses, and

the press. Establishment rule was reflected in numerous and harsh antilabor laws, the suppression of academic freedom, a segregationist philosophy, elections marred by demagoguery and corruption, the devolution of the daily press, and a state

government that offered its citizens, especially minorities, very few services.”

Professional Associations

These groups not only represent the interests of members of certain

professions, in some cases they provide the opportunity for people to practice that

profession.

This allows them to police who can practice their profession – which not only regulates the profession, it keeps supply

low and salaries high.

Texas Bar AssociationTexas Medical Association

Texas Trial Lawyers AssociationTexas Association of Realtors

Texas Dental Association

These groups tend to be composed of people who are wealthy, well educated

and politically astute. That’s a key source of their power.

The free rider problem is effectively dealt with by the fact that generally people have to be members of these groups in order to practice their profession. They are where

someone demonstrates the skills necessary to practice law or medicine or

whatever else.

Organized Labor

Labor unions are – or at least can be – legal representatives of workers in different industries in the state. Nationally, their

strength stems from the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 which

guaranteed the right of private sector workers to organize into unions and

established the National Labor Relations Board which

enforces the law.

Organized labor in Texas was briefly powerful – mostly between the end of WW2 and the 1970s – their strength has waned for a variety of reasons,

mostly related to the rise of the business sectors and its goal of limiting

labor costs.

Minimizing the ability of labor to organize is central to this effort.

The most important of these was the passage of a right to work law in 1993. A key source of the

power of labor unions was the ability to run closed shops, meaning that you had to be a member of the union in order to work. This guaranteed strength. The union was able to

bargain successfully for wages or whatever it chose due to its control of the labor force. Right to work laws state that workers do not have to

join the union, which undermines the effectiveness of efforts to collectively bargain.

The effort to pass right to work laws across the state is ongoing.

The NCSL has a brief run down of the effort here.

In addition to this, the dynamic nature of the Texas economy, and the fact that the Texas workforce is becoming increasingly Latino, makes organizing the workforce

difficult.

Labor unions tend to do better in older established industries where

organizational efforts have already occurred. Newer places of employment –

such as Walmart – create challenges.

Unions are also hurt by the fact that some jobs are being sent

overseas and the increased use of digital technology and robotics has

allowed many jobs to be automated.

Less labor is necessary now for businesses to run.

As of 2010 only 5% of Texas workers were members of labor

unions. Union strength is centered primarily around areas where the

petro-chemical industry is dominant. Most on the Gulf Coast.

Click here for TSHA’s entry on Labor Organizations.

Agricultural Groups

Agricultural – farmers and ranchers - groups have been powerful for a long time in Texas politics. They are among the oldest of the organized groups in

the state.

Some, such as the Texas Grange, were instrumental in the drafting of the

1876 Texas Constitution.

Farmers and ranchers are argued to be politically astute, well organized, and know how to be influential in politics. This is also largely a

residue of their past strength, as Texas has become more urbanized their strength has been

challenged.

One area where this conflict rears its head is in access to water – how much should be devoted

to agriculture, how much to cities?

Current examples of agricultural groups:

Texas Farm Bureau Federation

Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups

Racial groups have a long history in Texas. Currently we think of them as being organized primarily to benefit racial minorities, but many groups in the 19th century – and beyond – were

organized to promote the interests of Anglo Texans.

Racial organization – and racial politics – have a long history in the state. Race relations have

also been established in key parts of the Texas Constitution and statutory code.

Texas racial organizations have also been key players in the civil rights movement –

notably the Houston Chapter of the NAACP.

The influence of the NAACP and other groups is sometimes felt through the national government than the state

government. Desegregation efforts were successful at the national level and were

then imposed on Texas.

Major national Latino groups were initially created in Texas.

LULACMALDEF

The free rider problem affects these groups, notably Latino

groups.

Minority groups are far less powerful in Texas than business

groups, among others.

Religious Groups

Churches have always provided opportunities for organization.

The fact that congregations form in order to create churches that then serve a social function offers the opportunity for that organization

to have an impact politically as well.

People who go to church also vote and participate in other

organizations.

The civil rights movement was fueled in part by members of African – American churches.

Many leaders of the movement were ministers of these churches.

Example: Reverend William Lawson of

Houston’s Wheeler Baptist Church.

Many organizations that are considered part of the “religious right” had their origins is Texas.

One problem with church activity:

Restrictions on political activity due to their non-profit status.

Citizen, Advocacy and Cause Groups

These are groups that promote policies that they argue support the common

good.

Often these are driven by private citizens who have a passionate attachment to a specific cause, or wish to promote the

interests of groups they believe are unable to do so on their own.

A principle advantage of these groups is that they are generated by issue at the grassroots which

makes them legitimate indicators of popular opinion. Sometimes

these are called grassroots organizations.

But not always.

Criticism: Some of these groups present themselves as being grassroots groups, but are in fact organized and funded discretely by other groups – for example business or

trade associations.

These are called Astroturf groups – because Astroturf is fake grass. Click here

for examples of Astroturf movements.

The nature of the issue they promote can be very broad.

They can include environmentalism, morality,

criminal justice policy, consumer protection, and campaign finance reform among many other issues.

Examples of groups dedicated to public causes:

Texans for Public JusticeTexas Right to Life Committee

The Texas Moratorium NetworkTexas State Rifle Association

Many of these groups explicitly advocate ideological policies.

Not surprisingly, conservative groups are easier to organize and

are more powerful in the state than liberal groups.

Tea Party organizations began this way.

Some groups are organized to advocate for policies that benefit marginalized groups, or groups

that are not in a position to advocate for themselves.

Governmental Organizations

Periodically this semester we’ve looked at interest groups that represent different

governing entities. This may sound unusual, but it makes sense in a decentralized, federal

governing system. Each level of government has certain interests that are affected by the activities of other levels of government.

For example, two of the interest groups most active during sessions of the Texas Legislature

are the Texas Municipal League and the Texas Association of Counties.

Every types of local governments – single or multipurpose – has a interest groups

that represents its interests.

Here are a handful that represent the interests of different members of the community college sector.

The Texas Association of Community Colleges.Texas Community College Teachers Association.

Community College Association of Texas Trustees.Texas Association of Community College Business Officers

.Texas Community College Instructional Administrators.

Governmental employees also have interest groups that

represent them.

Texas Public Employees Association

This is just a superficial look at the range of groups that exist in the

state of Texas

Now let’s shift to look at what these groups do

What do interest groups do?

Here are four things, drawn from this website.

Engage in election activities: Interests may attempt to influence elections in order to help get people who support

their issues elected or reelected. Electioneering techniques include

giving money to candidates, endorsing candidates or issues, and conducting grassroots activities such as get-out-

the-vote drives.

Lobby government: Organized interests hire representatives to

advocate on behalf of the group's interests. Lobbying activities include contacting members of Congress and the executive branch to disseminate

information about the positive or adverse effects of proposed

legislation.

Educate various publics: Interest groups work hard to educate the

public at large, government officials, their own members, and potential

interest group members.

Mobilize various publics: To influence policy-making, many groups rely on

the efforts of people who are motivated to act on behalf of their

issues and causes. So-called grassroots activities might include writing letters, making phone calls, contacting policy-

makers, and demonstrating.

All of these are interrelated.

And some detail on each:

Engage in election activities

Since the principle goal of an interest group is to ensure that

public policy is designed in a way that benefits that group, it makes

sense that they will establish relationships with public policy

makers, as well as anyone or any institution that has some impact

on the nature of public policy.

The best way to do so is to get involved in elections. This accomplishes – or can

accomplish - two major things:

1 – It can result in governing institutions that are favorably disposed to the group’s interests.

2 – It can help develop a personal relationship with who ever gets elected.

So the first thing an interest group needs to do is to ensure that governing

institutions are already oriented towards their preferred policies. This makes

everything else relatively easy.

Business interests – along with those of social conservatives – have an advantage

since people who represent their interests dominate the Texas legislature and

statewide office.

The benefits of being involved in elections for governor can be

considerable.

In Texas, the Governor is responsible for appointing the members of approximately 125 multimember boards and commissions. These

boards and commissions, some with broad policy mandates, make public policy on the often narrowly defined issues around which organized

interests are likely to form. Consequently, organized interests, including businesses,

associations, lobbying groups, and law firms, seek policy making appointments for their

representatives in these government agencies. – source.

What do interest groups do to influence elections?

A few things

They can help recruit candidates to public office, or at least provide opportunities for future candidates to prepare for a run for

public office.

Anyone interested in running for public office could do worse than start that effort by spending time working for an interest group. This allows for not only picking up

expertise in an area of public policy, it also allows for developing connections.

If they do not develop candidates themselves, they can review announced

candidates – which can include interviews – and endorse whichever ones they believe

most closely reflect their views.

This process often happens during the primary season since it allows for groups

to select from a variety of candidates within each party.

They can then endorse and fund those candidates when they do run

for office. Here are some endorsements from the 2014

election:

Texas Farm BureauTexas Home School Coalition

Texas Right to Life

The endorsement process is important since it can not help

someone get elected, it can start to develop a relationship between

a group and an officeholder, especially one that is newly

elected.

Even more important than the endorsement process is funding.

Interest groups often get involved in funding elections, but they have

to jump through some hoops in order to do so since Texas and the United States each have histories

of political corruption.

Open ended, unregulated campaign finance has allowed deep pocketed contributors to effectively purchase votes in the legislature in the past.

This has led to the passage of a variety of laws that condition how interest

groups can financially support candidates they prefer.

Often this involves establishing additional organization – most

notably Political Action Committees – that allow for alternative funding streams.

Texas’ rules on campaign finance are much looser than rules in most

other states, or on the national level.

In addition to funding, interest groups can support candidates by getting supporters out to

block walk – which means they hit certain neighborhoods with the idea that they will

either talk people who are unsure about who to support to support their candidates, or ensure

that supporters will in fact get out to vote.

This is one of the strengths of labor unions. They tend not to have deep pockets, but they can

mobilize voters.

This is called electioneering and in addition to block walking and get out the vote efforts it can involve

the mundane things that campaigns need done.

Making phone callLicking envelopes Sending out emails

Remember that in the state of Texas a large number of positions

are elected, including the judiciary.

This means that well organized groups are in a good position to influence all three branches and perhaps bring them altogether in

supporting their positions.

This they do by building on the relationships they developed in the

election.

Lobby government

Once an interest group has been involved in the electoral process,

and assuming they have been successful in getting their

preferred candidates elected, then its time to exploit the relationships

they have developed.

This involves a variety of activities, but most fall under the general heading of

“lobbying.”

Here’s a good definition: Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the

government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies.

Notice that the judiciary is not a part of the previous definition.

But attempts are made to make sure the judiciary makes favorable

decisions as well.

How is this done?

The first thing is to hire someone with connections.

Most of the most effective lobbyists have backgrounds in

whatever institution they attempt to influence.

Retired legislators, for example, make the best legislative lobbyists.

Past executive office holders are best as influencing executive

agencies, and ex-judges are best at knowing how to influence the

judiciary.

There are two reasons.

1 – They know the relevant process in each institution intimately. Not a textbook understanding of it, but

from the inside.

2 – They know the people involved in the process, especially if they

recently left the institution.

The second reason might be the most important.

The basic skill of a lobbyist is to open doors. That’s more likely to

happen if someone knows the person whose door they knock on.

By hiring lobbyists with connections with each governing

institution, interest groups are able influence all aspects of governing

process.

They can ensure favorable legislation, favorable rulemaking,

and favorable court decisions.

Sometimes these individuals do not label themselves as lobbyists. Instead they will

work for law firms that have “governmental relations” departments.

They may simply call themselves consultants.

All they may do is make one key phone call, but that may be all that is necessary.

Here’s an instructive story: Former legislators kicking off new careers as Texas

lobbyists.

You make lots more money as a lobbyists than you do as a Texas

legislator:

The latest crop of legislators-turned-lobbyists, identified and tracked by The Dallas Morning News, collectively earn an estimated $795,000 to $1.7 million this year

representing corporations, retired teachers, cities, financial firms, beer and restaurant associations and

other entities, state records show.

Here’s a story that features

Tom Phillips – who used to be the

Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme

Court – and now lobbies for the

Texas Oil and Gas Association

.

The next slide features a diagram of an iron triangle.

It shows how interest group influence can tie together

legislative and executive branch activity. The story is similar for the

Texas Legislature.

One of the factor that binds these institutions together is the fact that people

often go from one position to the other over the course of a career. This means

that each area of public policy is dominated in different institutions by the

same group of people.

This undermines any checks and balances that might exist.

This is called the revolving door.

Efforts have been made to minimize the ability of ex-members

of the legislature to work immediately as lobbyists, but these have been unsuccessful as of yet.

Staff Work

A more subtle way that interest groups can influence members of the legislature is by allowing their employees to work in the offices of members of the legislature.

This allows them the opportunity to both advise the member on matters of public policy and to also monitor what they are

doing.

Educate various publics

Attempting to influence members of the legislature is considered

inside work

Attempting to influence the general public is considered to be

outside work.

This involves using public relations to influence how the general public thinks about the issues and events

that impact the interest group.

These can be done in a way that coordinated – even unofficially –

with political campaigns.

Here’s some background on the public relations industry, and

here’s a bit on Edward Bernays who is argued to be the father of

public relations.

Public relations is argued to be closely related to propaganda.

It is messaging that is intended to impact the public in a particular

way.

If done properly, an interest group can successfully navigate a crisis or impact public opinion at a critical moment in order to impact the

legislative or rulemaking process.

Here are topical stories as I write this (11/23/14)

Texas Health goes on PR offensive

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas has launched a public relations offensive in

response to accusations from the country's largest nurses' union

that the hospital lacked proper protocols and equipment to sufficiently protect its

staff in treating the first U.S. Ebola patient.

Texas’ open carry movement raises passions,

threats.

This discusses public perceptions of the proponent of the right to

carry weapons in the open.

Texas cancer agency’s public relations firm

quits.

The firm decided it was in over its head after multiple problems with

the agency emerged.

In addition to educating the public about an issue, interest groups can also educate the

public about where specific members of the legislature stand on the issue.

A popular way to do so is to tally votes of legislators about issues important to the group in order to determine which members support the groups and which ones do not. These are also very popular around election time – for

both primary and general elections.

Here’s a list of voter guides from interest groups in Texas complied

by Project Vote Smart.

Public relations strategies can involve a variety of formats:

newspapers, radio, television, social media.

They all attempt to do a small handful of things.

1 – Raise awareness of an issue.

This might be an issue that is being debated in the legislature. Interest

groups often coordinate these efforts with the legislative process.

The groups attempt to persuade legislators that the public is

supportive of the issue.

2 – Define the Issue

It’s not enough for an issue to get on the public agenda, its has to be defined in a way that is beneficial

to the interest group. This can involve seemingly unimportant

choices of words.

Example: What do people think about when they consider immigration? Are

we dealing with “undocumented workers” or “illegal immigrants?”

The difference matters because it encourages people to think about a

group either positively or negatively.

3 – Provide information to people about how they can get involved.

Which leads to the next section:

Mobilize various publics

Once a group of individuals has been educated in the manner that the interest group would like, the next step is to get them to act in

an manner that is beneficial to the group.

This can take a variety of forms.

The most common is to sign petitions, write letters to and phone elected officials.

These are intended to demonstrate that there are significant numbers of people

that support the interest groups position. The stronger the groups are the ones that can mobilize their supporters quickly and

at key periods of time.

The more time intensive the activity, the more of an impact it

has.

Forwarding an email – for example – is easy to do and has little

impact. Driving to Austin to meet with elected officials is time

consuming and can have an impact

Large public marches, if they are sizable and well managed, can also

demonstrate the intensity of support a particular position has.

But all of this is balanced against whether the participants in fact

have electoral strength.

Presence at public meetings – even if silent – can also impact public

officials. Interest groups often try to pack public meeting – board

meetings for example – with supporters in order to

demonstrate sizeable support for their position.

A mobilized public can also get involved in elections.

Recall that since elections occur regularly in Texas – and the US – efforts to mobilize the electorate

are ongoing.

But – again – uneven in their impact.

That’s plenty