...April 9, 2014 Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens Martin Gilens Princeton University mgilens@princeton.edu Benjamin I. Page Northwestern University b-page@northwestern.edu forthcoming Fall 2014 in Perspectives on Politics For helpful comments the authors are indebted to Larry Bartels and Jeff Isaacs, to three anonymous reviewers, and to seminar participants at Harvard and Rochester Universities. Gilens and Page Testing Theories of American Politics 2 Abstract Each of four theoretical traditions in the study of American politics – which can be characterized as theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy, Economic Elite Domination, and two types of interest group pluralism, Majoritarian Pluralism and Biased Pluralism – offers different predictions about which sets of actors have how much influence over public policy: average citizens; economic elites; and organized interest groups, mass-based or business-oriented. A great deal of empirical research speaks to the policy influence of one or another set of actors, but until recently it has not been possible to test these contrasting theoretical predictions against each other within a single statistical model. This paper reports on an effort to do so, using a unique data set that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues. Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts...
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...Are Interest Groups in the USA too powerful? "An interest group is an organized body of individuals who share some goals and who try to influence public policy." -- Jeffrey Berry - The Interest Group Society Interest Groups are groups where groups of individuals can come together where they can make their ideas, needs, and views known to elected officials. Many individuals in our modern times associate themselves with an interest group regardless of how specialised the views of the group. The main role of interest groups is to influence policy decision making. Some key interest groups in America include the ‘Association of Manufacturers’ which represents 14,000 companies in the US. Many academics would argue that business and corporation play a key central role in American politics. Major corporations carry the prestige of being key members in the US economy. As many people’s view on elected officials are made on economic performance, many fear that anti-business policies will harm their performance in later elections. It is also known that many corporations will help fund the candidates who are in their favour and support their views and therefore business can be very effective interest groups. There are also key single issue groups such as the NRA, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Interest Groups are distinct from political parties as they do not seek elected office and therefore their power is to influence decision making rather than holding the power over decisions...
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...Matthew Sandoval 1 Government 2301 Spring 2012 Interest Groups and Politics The “interest industry” or Interest Groups is often pointed out as one of the unusual features of the American political system. A structurally weak state is seen as being penetrated by wealthy and vigorous lobbying groups, raising the questions of to whom. Elected politicians are in practice accountable, and how real political power is allocated. While these interest groups are sometimes effective in achieving their own aims, the bias towards business groups suggests that, far from improving policymaking, the influence of interest groups actually worsens it. The strong presence of interest groups is certainly not in doubt. The representation of interests is the third-largest source of employment in Washington D.C., providing work for around 40,000 active lobbyists (Twyman, 1). Groups are also organized in state capitals, especially in Sacramento, CA and Austin, TX. This impressive presence, in comparison to other countries, stems at least partly from the structural weakness of other parts of the American political system. The framers of the Constitution fragmented the state into competing institutions, thus providing plenty of leverage points for interest groups; those which do not get satisfaction in the one branch of government can pursue it in another (Debbie, 4). In addition the main political parties are ill-disciplined and weak; legislators who vote against the party line...
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...Government Political parties & interests groups Political Parties * American political parties do not have clear programs, regular members, annual meetings, party leaders don’t decide who will run for election, etc. – the ideology of American parties is not very distinctive – they are electoral machines – they help people get elected to Congress and help us organize our thinking. * Political parties have existed since the first decade of the new government’s existence. Americans have always had ambivalent feelings about them. * Parties are necessary, and they perform vital functions, they are crucial institutions when it comes to organizing competition when it comes to elections, structuring the thinking of the society. If they help us distinguish various political sides, we can start identifying with them (liberal, conservative) * Ad-hoc coalitions – built in order to pass a specific bill. Party functions: * Organize the competition * Unify the electorate * Inspire and inform voters * Translate preferences into policy * Provide loyal opposition * Organize Government * Help Govern * Act as Watchdogs * Nominate Candidates * Ensure Candidate Quality * Winner takes all election system – if you have to be big to win, it makes no sense for small parties to function. * Party systems – Multiparty and Two Party System. * Minor parties: Persistence and Frustration * American parties are fairly loose coalitions...
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...INTEREST GROUPS AND THE INFLUENCE THEY HAVE ON AMERICAN POLITICS Interest Groups (IGs) over the years have had more influence on American Politics than the average American citizen who votes in an election. These groups Lobby to get funding for what they believe is true; whether it’s one program or several programs they put together a solid organization to make sure they get their point across when election time comes around. These groups influence State and Government policy collectively on all levels. It can be the average citizen who goes around asking for you to sign petitions, it can be your own State Politician or Government Official who’s trying to birth a new program into existence. Interest Groups have very strong beliefs about what they are advocating. These groups at times feel so strong in their beliefs that sometimes they start protesting and even sometimes start riots. These groups come into fruition when people get together and start pulling their resources together. An individual can be highly educated, wealthy, or have a little socio-economic background to help further along their cause. Support and money goes along way when you have it to give and make things happen. Lobbying is a really big issue to these groups, because that’s how they are able to maneuver through the “red tape “ of Politics in any social realm. The lobbying starts when IGs are fighting to protect their respective turfs; meaning each Group is trying to get some kind of program...
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...Define an Interest Group: Through my research I found that there are many definitions of an Interest Group. For example one is from out text book the definition is; An Interest Group is an organization of people or a letterhead organization sharing a common interest or goal that seeks to influence the making of public policy. (Wilson J. Q. (2008) American Government) The term 'interest group' describes the nature of association this work is concerned with. According to Truman, interest groups can be defined as groups that based on one or more shared attitudes, engage in influencing political decision-making, in order to successfully implement certain political goals or values (Truman, 33). They usually, but not always, are formally organized. The relation between interest groups and government and society is an affirmative one, although groups may at times employ destructive methods in order to accomplish their goals. The existing social order is accepted by interest groups, and governmental power and its institutions are utilized to attain advantages, protect members, and to fight political opponents. As you see they all relate to political decision making, political goals, and organization of people. In Washington DC there are nearly seven thousand organizations that are represented by politics. These interest groups are also referred to as Lobby’s or Lobbyists. The textbook we use gives the opinion that interest groups are a group of people with shared ideas...
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...WEEK 8 ASSIGNMENT Interest Groups Professor Karina Arzumanova U.S. Goverment An Interests Group is defined as an organization of people or a letterhead organization, sharing a common interest or goal that seeks to influence the making of public policy. In the American political system, there are a wide variety of interest groups that are organized for the sole purpose of exerting influence on the political and legal systems. These groups play a central role in deciding who gets what, when, where and how in legislative and budget processes. They also play a significant role in deciding which values will be promoted and enforced by the government. When individuals have common interests, it often makes sense for them to join together in pursuit of those interests. When this happens, a special interest group is formed. These groups then compete for a share of the limited resources distributed through the political process. While many groups are formed to compete for economic resources, others are formed to support their positions on issues like abortion and gun control. The limited resource these groups compete for is not money or real estate but rather the use of governmental power to enforce a particular set of values. At the group level, it makes sense for groups to form and do the things they do. However, at the individual level, there are powerful incentives to be a free rider. If a group is pursuing your interests even though you, as an individual, are...
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...Bianca Capatina “Pressure groups define the political issues that dominate US politics”.Discuss. Being the most pluralist political system in the world, it comes as expected that pressure groups would have a considerable amount of influence over the American system.However, their sectional views alone are not dictating the political agenda of the US politics, but rather influencing it at different levels(local/state/national), depending on their insider/outsider status and levels of funding. Firstly, because Congress is dominated by their representative function, pressure groups have a leading role in the US elections. This is because their power and influence is heightened by Political Action Committees , which are pressure groups that collect money from their members (up to $5,000/individual)and give it to candidates and political parties which support their interests. This was done by protecting elected officials from accountability in 2000, when 98% of the House incumbents were re-elected, undermining the political efficiency and leaning towards corruption.Their influence could be further observed in 2012, when the SUPERPAC Priorities USA spent $67 mil. on advertising for Obama’s re-election. Priorities USA’s belief is that Republicans’ agenda is to reward the wealthiest few at at the expense of the middle class, so it it came naturally that after he got elected Obama cut the income tax of the middle class families and also offered them tax reliefs. Secondly, the revolving...
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...everywhere from America to Japan, each party has, so to say, a ring of firms…If you think that I am less influential than one banker, your idea of what a politician can achieve is very far from reality. In the last 15 years, perhaps half of all above-the-average businessmen are [what they are]…either with my blessing or at least a smile from me. * Ahmed Dogan (Bulgarian Politician, former leader of the ethnic Turks’party Movement for Rights and Freedoms), 2005 Corrupted politicians, lobbying from wealthy businessmen, forceful advocacy from particular societal groups, influence peddling from local and national government representatives – all these are scenarios that Bulgarian citizen hear and read about in Bulgarian media day after day. That is why when in 2005 Dogan said those words, Bulgarian society wasn’t shock by their content; it was no news to us. Actually, the only shock from these words was from the cynicism and the sense of impunity with which a party leader would talk before television cameras. Overall, Bulgarian society is rather used to the concept of corruption. Bulgaria has been ranked for years among the top in the world in terms of corruption (Mulcahy, 2012). What is peculiar, however, is that whenever a corruption scandal blows up in Bulgaria, the coverage that it gets uses the terms corruption, lobbying, and influence peddling interchangeably, as synonyms, without paying tribute to the fact that each one of them in reality represents a rather different activity...
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...Special Interest Shavonne Holman Professor Steven Holeman, Sr. POL110 March 2, 2013 Define an interest group, with examples. An interest group is an organization whose members share common concerns and try to influence government policies affecting these concerns. Interest groups are also known as lobbies; lobbying is one of the ways interest groups shape legislation and bring the views of their constituents to the attention of decision-makers. A great example of an interest group would be The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) which has about 32 million members. Interest groups are organizations that seek to influence the decisions of government. According to Truman, interest groups can be defined as groups that, based on one or more shared attitudes, engage in influencing political decision-making, in order to successfully implement certain political goals or values (Truman, 1993). They usually, but not always, are formally organized. The relation between interest groups and government and society is an affirmative one, although groups may at times employ destructive methods in order to accomplish their goals. The existing social order is accepted by interest groups, and governmental power and its institutions are utilized to attain advantages, protect members and to fight political opponents (Truman, 1993). Two kinds of organizations: Institutional Interest and Membership Interest. Institutional Interest are individuals or organizations representing...
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...* ------------------------------------------------- Lessons * ------------------------------------------------- Course Information * ------------------------------------------------- Assessments * ------------------------------------------------- Gradebook * ------------------------------------------------- Email * ------------------------------------------------- Discussion Groups * ------------------------------------------------- ChatRoom * ------------------------------------------------- Whiteboard * ------------------------------------------------- My Folders * ------------------------------------------------- Students * ------------------------------------------------- Technical Support * ------------------------------------------------- Announcements * ------------------------------------------------- Other Courses * ------------------------------------------------- Logoff * ------------------------------------------------- Web 2.0 Tools | | | Exam: 04.20 Midterm Exam52Score: 52 of 100 pointsInstructions: You are about to enter a TIMED EXAM! You have 50 minutes to complete this exam. One point will be deducted for each minute you go over the allotted time. Once you enter the exam, you cannot stop the clock.Answer Key------------------------------------------------- Top of FormQuestion 1 (Worth 2 points)Which of the following statements about states� ratification of the Constitution is best supported by the information in...
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...Political Knowledge: Voter Information and the Democratic Citizen Many Americans proudly assert that the “American Experiment” has been a success. The optimistic and patriotic American will point to the “stability” and strength of the country's democratic institutions upheld by the United States Constitution as proof that the democratic notions and principles that were envisioned by the Founding Fathers continue to flourish to this day. A pessimistic individual on the other hand may easily point out that the current political climate exemplifies the decline of civic responsibility, and ultimately, the decline of democratic rule. In Washington, politicians are split along partisan lines, battling one another on decisive and controversial issues such as raising the debt limit, balancing the budget, and health care reform. While politicians carefully calculate the potential consequences of their decisions, the same battles are being waged ferociously on other fronts by the media and other self-interested groups. Ultimately, the results of these policy decisions depend on which party could convince the American public of what is in their best collective interest. This is precisely the nature of politics and democracy, and neither one is always fair. In a world where interest groups and lobbies have tremendous sway and influence over those in power, and when media reporting of the issues lacks fairness and accuracy, it should be the citizen's duty and responsibility to ensure that...
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... 1. Evaluate the role of interest groups in Texas. Chapter 7 discussed various forms of participation in the political process. Being an active member of an interest group is yet another form of political participation and a way to exert influence on the government. Chapter 7 also demonstrated that voter participation in Texas is relatively low. This lack of citizen involvement in elections leads to a corresponding increase in the importance and influence of interest groups in Texas politics. Indeed, it is frequently not the individual, or even the more broadly defined “public opinion,” that influences government, but rather these interest groups that have the ear of public officials. However, interest groups are not necessarily “others” but are often “us” as we act in concert with like-minded or similarly interested citizens. An interest group is an organization of individuals sharing common goals that tries to influence governmental decisions. This term is often used interchangeably with the term “lobby group,” although lobbying is a specific activity or technique (discussed later) whereby interest groups attempt to influence legislation. Sometimes the term political action committee (PAC) is also used to refer to interest groups. PACs are organizations that collect and distribute money to candidates and, as such, are a more specialized kind of interest group. Often, broad-based interest groups have PACs associated with them. Interest groups play an important role in a...
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...Dark Money and its Influence on US Politics Dark Money and its Influence on US Politics Abstract The influence of voters is overcast by lobbyists who funnel channels of dividends toward the candidate or party of their choosing. With our self-galvanized democracy, this is becoming all too common as our voices in collusion begin to fade. To placate reign, we acknowledge fault as the American public pleads with the top justices to limit lobbyist inequity through entitled equity only to be dismayed by the brittleness of our justice system as it concedes to an ambiguous constitutional amendment that endures free speech equates to filled pockets. Dark money’s malignant strike is designed to silence the many who toil for the sake of the few who take. Conservatives protest anonymity for protection from public outrage which could lead to dwindling sales and lost revenues from faithful lobbyists and big businesses. The American public demands disclosure to ensure greater confidence and voter turnout and prosperous turn in gracious candidacy. In a political climate built on attack ads, clarity is essential for due process not matter how high the stakes are for candidate. Association will either lead to adequate support or an inevitable defeat. Introduction A 5-4 vote was need for the Supreme Court to dislodge the necessary caps to plug lucrative high-profile tycoons and corporate conglomerate...
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...Before taking PLSC 112 this summer, my knowledge and views of the American government and politics were very limited. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I have always been a little ignorant when it came to knowledge about the government or political issues, but have always wished that I knew more, especially with the economic problems we are facing today. I never really did form many political opinions, one way or the other. I vote every election, but never really understand the bigger picture at hand. Such as, all the issues that a candidate stands for or the impact of proposals on the government. When people around me have conversations about American politics, I am embarrassed that I either do not understand what they are saying, or cannot add to the conversation because I don’t know what to say. I guess you could say that I have always been a little cynical when it came to politics. Part of this reason is because I have always felt that the political game played in American politics was just a bunch of people talking baloney, making empty promises, trash talking their opponents, and trying to persuade people to think their way. And whoever does this the best wins, end of story. I’ve always known that there was more to American politics that this, but never really tried to find out more. So, when I signed up for this class, I wanted to shed my ignorance and learn more about my government and how it operated. I am proud to say that my knowledge of our government has been expanded...
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