As the 2020 election nears, you may have seen a rise in ads that try to convince you to vote for this candidate or the other. Most of these ads are not created by the candidates themselves, but by interest groups that want to help elect candidates who support their issues.
In January, there will be a number of new members of Congress and possibly a new president, so interest groups are in full swing working to ensure that future legislation goes their way.
The idea behind interest groups is that individually people are limited in how much influence they have over lawmakers, but collectively they can sway policy decisions with money and votes. These groups donate to election campaigns, hire people to lobby for their cause in the Capitol, or run ads on TV to influence voters.
One of the most direct benefits of interest groups is that they allow ordinary citizens to become involved in government and help shape laws that affect their lives.
Any citizen who is interested in shaping policy has a wide variety of choices when it comes to interest groups they could join. Interest groups can be broken down into the types of issues for which they advocate. There are professional groups that promote certain occupations, such as the American Bar Association for lawyers or the National Education Association for teachers. There are also charitable groups dedicated to causes that don’t benefit the members directly, like PETA and the World Wildlife Fund. Some groups lobby for governmental reform or involvement, such as the League of Women Voters, which encourages female participation in both voting and running for office, and Common Cause, which lobbies for more government accountability.
This summer, there has been a renewed focus on civil rights in America. Groups such as Black Lives Matter and the NAACP have been proposing policy changes in areas such as police funding and accountability.
BLM in particular has evolved from a movement using protest to get its message out into a more organized interest group with policy positions and lobbyists. While the NAACP lobbies for a variety of civil rights issues, BLM is more focused on a specific issue: police accountability.
Other single-issue groups include the NRA, which advocates for gun rights, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. These groups attract members who are passionate about a particular issue and those members often show up at the voting polls in high numbers, giving them much sway over politicians running for election.
When deciding on an interest group to support, many people look at membership requirements and benefits to joining. When it comes to membership requirements, one difference is open or closed membership.
Groups with open membership allow anyone to join. For example, the Sierra Club, an interest group that advances environmental policy in Congress, allows anyone who pays a membership fee to join. Other open membership groups include Greenpeace and the ACLU.
Closed interest groups allow membership only to people who meet a certain requirement. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, as the name implies, requires their members to not only be veterans but to have served in combat. Other closed groups include the AARP as well as most professional groups, such as the American Medical Association.
To encourage membership, many groups offer direct benefits to their members on top of the promotion of their issue in Congress. Many offer a gift, such as a T-shirt or bag, in exchange for dues. A monthly magazine or, as the AARP offers, discounts for travel may be offered. Providing these benefits to members is worth the cost to the group because much of its influence comes from its ability to claim to lawmakers a large number of voters in its high membership. But, even with these benefits, not everyone passionate about an issue joins an interest group.
If you’ve ever worked on a group project in school, you’ve met the person who contributed less than the others yet received the same grade. Free-riding happens with interest groups as well. Not every war veteran joins the VFW, yet they still receive the benefits that the group lobbies for in Congress. Not everyone over 50 joins the AARP. New Hampshire has seen a push in recent years to become a “right to work” state, meaning that membership in a union cannot be a requirement to get a job, thus allowing free-riding. Supporters of right-to-work laws argue that employees should not be forced to give money to unions that support candidates the employee opposes. Opponents of the laws fear that reduced union membership would weaken their power to negotiate higher wages and safer workplaces.
The vast variety of interest groups and the issues they support offer an easy access point for Americans who want to get involved in influencing policies that affect their interests. Participation in a group can range from something as low commitment as writing a check or signing a petition, to higher commitments such as attending meetings and rallies.
This November, both sides have a vision of America that will be shaped by who wins the elections. Interest group participation increases the chances that your vision of America will come out on top.
(Aaron Blais teaches Government and American History in Exeter.)