US Politics

Interest Groups

Overview

• Definition of Interest Group

• The Role of Interest Groups

• Why Join?– Logic of Collective Action– Benefits Delivered

• Types of Interest Groups

• Influence and Importance

Definition

• Interest Group: – An organized group of

individuals sharing common objectives who actively attempt to influence policymakers

Logic of Collective Action

• Prisoner’s Dilemma

Prisoners’ Dilemma

• Scenario:

• You and an accomplice are arrested on suspicion of committing some nasty crime

• The District Attorney and the police have been unable to produce enough evidence to convict you of that offense

Prisoners’ Dilemma

• We do have enough evidence to convict you of some lesser charge

• The only way the DA can nail you for the more serious offense is if one of you rats out the other

• Conversely, you and your partner can largely elude prosecution if you both stay silent

• You and your partner are placed in separate holding cells and are unable to communicate with each other

• DA enters and offers you the following:

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

Don’t Cooperate with each other

(rat)

Don’t Cooperate with each other

(rat)

Cooperate with each other

(hang tough)

Cooperate with each

other (hang tough)

Prisoners’ Dilemma

From your perspective, you and your accomplice are faced with the following:

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

0, 10

10, 0

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

0, 10

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

10 , 0

0 , 10

Row Player

Column Player

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

10, 0

5, 5 0, 10

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

10, 0

5, 5 0, 10

1, 1

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

10, 0

5, 5 0, 10

1, 1

What to do? Which strategy should you select?

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

10, 0

5, 5 0, 10

1, 1

DominantStrategy

DominantStrategy

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

10, 0

5, 5 0, 10

1, 1

DominantStrategy

DominantStrategy

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

10, 0

5, 5 0, 10

1, 1

Nash Equilibrium Neither player can improve his/her position,

Rat

Rat

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

Prisoners’ Dilemma

10, 0

5, 5 0, 10

1, 1

Nash Equilibrium Neither player can unilaterallyimprove his/her position

Prisoners’ Dilemma

• Generalized Form:• Rank Outcomes, from most preferred to

least preferred– 1 = first choice– 2 = second choice– 3 = third choice– 4 = fourth choice

• Choice is “cooperate” or “not cooperate”

Don’t Cooperate

Don’t Cooperate

Cooperate

Cooperate

Prisoners’ Dilemma

4 , 1

3 , 3 1 , 4

2 , 2

Prisoners’ Dilemma

• Symbolic Form:• We’re in a Prisoner’s Dilemma situation

whenever:T > R > P > S

Temptation to defect > Rewards of Cooperation

Rewards > Punishment for Not CooperatingPunishment > Sucker’s Payoff

Prisoners’ Dilemma

• Note that even if we start at the cooperative outcome, that outcome is not stable

• Each player can improve his/her position by adopting a different strategy

Don’t Cooperate

Don’t Cooperate

Cooperate

Cooperate

Prisoners’ Dilemma

4 , 1

3 , 3 1 , 4

2 , 2

Prisoners’ Dilemma

• But since both players have changed strategy we end up at the non-cooperative outcome, where both players are worse off than if they had chosen to cooperate

Don’t Cooperate

Don’t Cooperate

Cooperate

Cooperate

Prisoners’ Dilemma

4 , 1

3 , 3 1 , 4

2 , 2

Prisoners’ Dilemma

• And, as we noted, this non-cooperative outcome is also a Nash equilibrium outcome;

• Neither player has any incentive to change strategy since whoever changes will do immediately worse by making the move

Don’t Cooperate

Don’t Cooperate

Cooperate

Cooperate

Prisoners’ Dilemma

4 , 1

3 , 3 1 , 4

2 , 2

PD & Interest Groups

• If a “collective good” is involved, individuals have little incentive to work towards achieving that good.

• Makes sense for others to do the work and sit back and reap the benefits of their labor

• But if that’s the case, then no one will do the work and the collective benefit won’t be delivered

PD & Interest Groups

• Groups need to overcome the logic of collective action

• Provide benefits so that potential members recalculate the costs/benefits of contributing

Benefits Delivered

• Material Incentives– monetary or other tangible rewards offered in exchange

for membership

• Solidary Benefits– the positive gain of associating with other people

• Purposive Incentive– close identification of the group goal with personal

goals

Types of Interest Groups

• Economic Interest Groups– Business– Labor– Agriculture– Professional Associations

Types of Interest Groups

• Environmental Groups

• “Public Interest” Groups

• “Single Interest” or “Other”

Sources of Power

• Interest Group success on an issue is a measure of the power of the interest group– where “success” means ability to get political

actors to adopt and implement positions and policies favorable to the group

• The more success, the greater the power

• What sources of power can interest groups draw on?

Sources of Power

Membership Size– Total number of active members– Total number of “sympathetic” persons– Financial Resources

Sources of Power

Cohesiveness– Will membership act

as unifed force?

– Will membership participate fully in group activities like:

• Letter writing, voting, boycotting, protesting

Sources of Power

Leadership– Will leaders effectively expand membership

and recruit– Public relations– Lobbying efforts

Interest Group Strategies

• Recall definition of interest groups:– An organized group of individuals sharing

common objectives who actively attempt to influence policymakers

• So, how do we influence policymakers?

Interest Group Strategies

Insider

Involves direct contact

between IG and the political actor being influenced

Outsider

IG uses third parties from “beyond the

beltway” to influence political actors

Two main strategies:

Interest Group Strategies

• Insider– Lobbying

• providing information

• testifying before members of Congress

• presenting evidence to bureaucratic agencies

• informal social gatherings

Interest Group Strategies

• Direct– Campaign Assistance

• Volunteer to staff/help in campaign

• Contributions

Interest Group Strategies

• Outsider– Build alliances with other interest groups to

influence political figures– Mobilize/shape public opinion– Mobilize constituents– Litigate

Interest Group Impact

• Interest Groups provide an important opportunity for citizen participation in the political process

• Yet the growth of interest groups on specific issues has potential to mask “private” interest as public policy