Keeping the Republic: Power and Citizenship in American Politics
SAGE Journal Articles and Readings
Click on the following links – please note these will open in a new window
SAGE Journal Articles
This article discusses the lobbying tactics utilized by interest groups. The author attempts to explain variations in interest group behavior at the policy level and finds that measures of legislative context are important components of models of direct and indirect lobbying.
Questions to Consider:
- What is the author’s primary hypothesis?
- Identify the four categories of legislative context. How do they relate to interest group strategy selection?
- Which factors contribute to the interest groups decision about how to lobby?
Learning objective: Describe how interest groups use lobbying and campaign activities to get the public policy they way; Identify specific resources that interest groups bring to bear when attempting to influence public policy
***
This article examines how state house can overcome entrenched interests to pass more restrictive legislative lobbying laws. The author presents a model that explains that under normal political conditions, legislatures face strong pressures from organized interests to resist tougher regulation. The findings show that the prospects for reform are tempered by the power of organized interests.
Questions to Consider:
- How do states regulate interests and lobbying?
- Identify the different typologies of political culture as stated by Elazar. Do interests groups use political culture to their advantage?
- How does the professionalism of the legislature allow for greater control over the policy process? How do the judiciary and executive branches differ?
Learning objective: Describe how interest groups use lobbying and campaign activities to get the public policy they way; Identify specific resources that interest groups bring to bear when attempting to influence public policy
***
This article discusses how interest groups decide policy positions through case studies of organizations shifting stances on the issue of immigration. The three case studies are: AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club, and the Christian Coalition. The author finds that In all three cases, from across the political spectrum, the groups changed their policy stances and struggled with the notions of race and organizational identity.
Questions to Consider:
- What tools are used by leader to craft new narratives about what the group stands for?
- What is the two-way relationship between groups and constituents?
Learning objective: Identify four types of interest groups and the kinds of interests that they represent; summarize the relationship among citizens, interest groups, and government; Identify specific resources that interest groups bring to bear when attempting to influence public policy
***
CQ Researcher
Learning objective: Identify four types of interest groups and the kinds of interests that they represent; summarize the relationship among citizens, interest groups, and government