This courses examines the role of interest groups in American politics, with
special attention to their influence on public policy. It asks these
questions:
What are interest groups, and how do they form?
Are there real differences between economic and "public" interest
groups?
How do interest groups try to influence elections?
What strategies and tactics do they use in the "outside" game of public
relations and the "inside game" of lobbying?
Is there a general public interest apart from group interests? If
so, do interest groups advance or undercut it?
Classes
Classes will include lecture and discussion. Finish the readings
before class because our discussions will involve those readings.
We shall also talk about breaking news, so you must read a good news source
such as the The Politico, New York Times,
the Los Angeles Times or
ABC
"The Note."
Blog
Our class blog is at
http://gov106.blogspot.com. I
shall post videos, graphs, news stories, and other material there. We
shall use some of this material in class, and you may review the rest at your
convenience. You will all receive invitations to post to the blog.
(Please let me know if you do not get such an invitation.) I
strongly encourage you to use the blog in these ways:
To post questions or comments about the
readings before we discuss them in class;
To follow up on class discussions
with additional comments or questions.
To post relevant news items or videos.
Grades
The following will make up your course grade:
Three 4-page papers: 20% each. In lieu of the second two papers,
you may write a 10-page research paper on a topic of your choice, subject to my
approval. It will be worth 40% of your grade.
One sit-down final: 30%
Class participation (including blog): 10%
Details
The papers will develop your
skills in research, writing, and political analysis.
When grading, I do take the quality of writing into account, applying the
standards of Strunk and White. If you object to this approach,
do not take this course – or anything else that I teach.
The final examination will test your factual knowledge and comprehension
of the readings. Graduating seniors will turn in a take-home exam,
due on the last day of class.
Class participation will hone your ability to think on your feet.
This grade hinges on class discussions.
I will call on students at random, and if you often miss sessions or fail
to prepare, your grade will suffer.
As a courtesy to your
fellow students, please arrive promptly and refrain from eating in class.
Check due dates for papers, as well as the date of the
final exam. Arrange your schedule accordingly. Do not plan
on seeking extensions or make-up work.
Allan J. Cigler and Burdett
Loomis, editors, Interest Group Politics, 7th ed. (Washington: CQ
Press, 2007).
Anthony J. Nownes, Total
Lobbying: What Lobbyists Want (And How They Try to Get It) (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2006).
Jonathan Rauch, Government's
End: Why Washington Stopped Working (New York: Public Affairs Press,
1999).
Alan Rosenthal, The Third
House: Lobbyists and Lobbying in the States, 2d ed. (Washington:
CQ Press, 2001).
Mark J. Rozell, Clyde Wilcox, and
David Madland, Interest Groups in American Campaigns: The New Face
of Electioneering (Washington: CQ Press, 2006).
Schedule (subject to change, with advance notice).
In addition to the readings below, I may also supply you with various
handouts and Internet links.
Jan 23: Introduction
"From the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring
property, the possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately
results; and from the influence of these on the sentiments and views of the
respective proprietors, ensues a division of the society into different
interests and parties. The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature
of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity,
according to the different circumstances of civil society. A zeal for different
opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points, as
well of speculation as of practice; an attachment to different leaders
ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other
descriptions whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have,
in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and
rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to
co-operate for their common good." --
James Madison, Federalist 10.
Is everyone part of a special interest? What is the proper role of
organized interests in a democracy?
Jan 28, 30: "Hyperpluralism"
"The more
government takes the place of associations, the more will individuals lose the
idea of forming associations and need the government to come to their help" --
Alexis deTocqueville
How has the world of interest groups grown more complex and specialized?
Barack Obama: "Because while I
was working on those streets watching those folks see their jobs shift overseas,
you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart."
Hillary Clinton: "Bad for
America, and I was fighting against those ideas when you were practicing law and
representing your contributor, Rezko, in his slum landlord business in inner
city Chicago."