Interest Groups in Politics

The first comprehensive appraisal of interest groups in Western democracies in thirty years also offers a systematic comparison of interest group activities and their impact on public policymaking in twelve post-industrial First World nations. Using a conceptual framework and varied perspectives, well-known experts provide a long-term assessment of interest group systems, identify similarities and differences, and point to current trends and future directions. This up-to-date overview and analysis examines the American model, British model with its derivations, continental European models, and systems in newer democracies. The chapters describe the factors affecting interest group make-up, their operating techniques, and their influence on public process. The concluding chapter provides further insights for understanding interest groups in a comparative context. A selected bibliography is helpful in pointing to sources for further study.

A generation ago, scholars saw interest groups as the single most important element in the American political system. Today, political scientists are more likely to see groups as a marginal influence compared to institutions such as Congress, the presidency, and the judiciary. Frank Baumgartner and Beth Leech show that scholars have veered from one extreme to another not because of changes in the political system, but because of changes in political science. They review hundreds of books and articles about interest groups from the 1940s to today; examine the methodological and conceptual problems that have beset the field; and suggest research strategies to return interest-group studies to a position of greater relevance.

The authors begin by explaining how the group approach to politics became dominant forty years ago in reaction to the constitutional-legal approach that preceded it. They show how it fell into decline in the 1970s as scholars ignored the impact of groups on government to focus on more quantifiable but narrower subjects, such as collective-action dilemmas and the dynamics of recruitment. As a result, despite intense

State and local governments emerged as important interest groups in the 1960s, as that decade witnessed a rapid expansion of federal social programs administered at the state and local levels. The 1970s and 1980s were distinguished by attempts to give states and localities more responsibility over such programs. The present day is marked by an even more purposeful return of responsibility and policymaking to state and local governments, both because of severe deficits at the federal level and an ideological shift toward federalism. This work examines the impact state and local governments have had and can have on the federal government, asserting that they can be important factors in the creation of policy. The author looks at the intergovernmental lobbying tactics--successful and unsuccessful--of five states and local lobbying groups: the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the NationalGovernor's,Association. Her study will be of interest to scholars and policy-makers at the local, state, and federal government levels.

This is the first study to apply the interest-group model of regulation to the study of antitrust law and policy. The application of this model enables the author to both identify important trends in the antitrust arena and demonstrate which groups have benefited most from antitrust legislation. Divided into three sections, the first provides an overview of antitrust law and policy, the second explores the various private interests that impinge on antitrust policy, and finally, Shugart examines the political economy of antitrust. His analysis clearly shows that the antitrust legislation of the last few decades has tended to benefit well organized private interest groups more than consumers.

Goldberg presents a detailed comparison of American and Canadian Jewish lobbying organizations over the past 15 years, offering a careful assessment of their influence on foreign policy decisions affecting the Middle East. He focuses primarily on the two most prominent Jewish foreign policy interest groups: the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Canada-Israel Committee. He examines the response of these organizations to a series of crisis issues, beginning with the Arab-Israeli war of 1973 and including the current Palestinian uprising. Using a set of analytical criteria, he correlates their response with the conduct of U.S. and Canadian foreign policy during the same period.

This volume investigates the "technical information quandary" created by post-industrial changes, which have produced demands for citizen involvement in public policy processes while complex scientific and technical issues increasingly make public involvement difficult. The authors address the degree to which interest groups serve to bridge the knowledge gap between public policy processes and the citizenry in U.S. and Canadian settings, with a focus on acid rain policy in Michigan and Ontario.

R. Allen Hays is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Graduate Program in Public Policy at the University of Northern Iowa.