terms of interest	pluralism	staff members (staffers)
Lobbying	"iron triangle"	single issue group
lobbyist	grass roots	multiple issue group
interest group	going public

Not all Interest Groups are Equal !

Key concepts from the Text:

- Interest groups have become the most vital and effective form of political expression for citizens trying to shape government policy. -Interest group activity does not necessarily equal democracy, since those with more time, money, information and resourses are more likely to succeed through group action. -The growth of government programs and the over-all economy have spurred the growth of interest groups. - Interest groups follow many startegies aside from lobbying to shape government decisions.

"To seek redress from the government..."

Lobbying is simply asking the government for something. It's an informal process. That's why it's named after the place it often takes place, the lobby. It is often done by professional lobbyists who represent clients. These clients are corporations or interest groups. Lobbying can also be done by anyone who can get access to decision makers or their staff.

My union loves you?

You probably are "represented" by several interest groups even if you don't know it. My union, for example, represents your interests. 

The state government is trying to reduce its 20 - 30 billion dollar shortage by raising your tution to (possibly) $24 a unit.  My union ( AFT ) is fighting along side other interest groups to reduce the cost to students. Because my union loves you? No, because it's in their members (me) best interest to have more students and keep the schools open.

" The Iron Triangle "

" The Iron Triangle " may be a misnomer. It's really thousands of relationships involving thousands of people on a day to day basis. Call it "competing interest groups" if you'd rather.

The Iron Triangle is WHY bills become laws.

Don't think laterally here - think multi-dementially - There are hundreds of networks of thousads of iron triangles working all the time with information, expertise, money, ideas, support and all the rest flowing freely in all directions. Is it an equal playing field? Of course not!

Issues make the interest groups different from each other and uneqaul by the very nature of the contest. People care more a about fetuses than baby seals, or more about baby safety than some other thing...(I don't want to insult any one). You get the point.

Schoolhouse Rock and your high school civics teacher may have taught you "how a bill becomes a law" and said "a bill works its way through…" Guess what, they're wrong. In the real world, bills don't work. People do. Bills move when (and only when) people move them.

"A" bill rarely becomes "a" law.

Also, there is really no such thing as "a" bill. There are thousands of bills. All bills are connected in that they all go through the same process. And most bills are competing against others for time and attention. A few bills stay alive long enough to be smashed together (taped, glued, whatever) to form the few bills that will become laws in that congressional session.

The Iron Triangle concept simply points out that all the energy for the legislative process, all the ideas, all the focus, and all of the support for any bill (all bills) comes from outside the Congress. It comes from interest groups, corporations and government departments.

Representatives aren't leaders, they are consensus builders .

Even if a politician had a good idea, what good would it do her if she had no one else interested in it?

Iron triangles are relationships among congressional staff members, presidential (or bureaucratic) staff members and lobbyists.

Interest groups want access to decision makers and they have information and support to offer in exchange. They have information about whatever project they are interested in. And "support" doesn't mean just money, but also people; volunteer workers and they like.

The pluralist theory has a point, interest groups are at the core of the process. The elitist theory has a point, there are very few people (a few thousand, compared to 280 million) people working to make bills into laws at the federal level.

The ideas behind the iron triangle (that interest groups will seek access wherever they can and that they will use one branch to compel another to fulfill their interest) can also be seen at work in State Houses, city councils and other representative bodies.

STAFFERS

Every one in the House and the Senate has a staff . Most committees and sub committees have a few staffers. They all work "on the Hill" (Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C.). The total number of congressional staffers is about 20,000.

The president has a little less than 10,000 staff members total. About 1000 of them work "on the Hill" trying to keep the President's agenda in front of the members of the Congress.

There are about 8000 high ranking permanent bureaucrats ( GS 17 & 18's - it's a government civil service rank). These people are the permanent career folks who are the office managers of the various departments and bureaus and generally can not be fired by the President. There are about 4000 presidential staffers spread around the bureaucracy to "supervise." They are called "political appointees." We'll talk about both these groups of folks on Week 12: Why No one runs the government.

There are between 50-150,00 lobbyists . But bureau chiefs and political appointees also act like lobbyists. So do state governors, city mayors and all the rest. Lobbying is the heart of the democratic process. We all have the right to complain. It's the heart of democracy.

Interest Groups and corporations (using mostly professional lobbyists) will seek access wherever they can find it. They can use the President (and his staff or his political appointees) to press the Congress. And of course, they can use congressional staff and elected officials to pressure the President's side. In a way, this is an informal manifestation of separation of powers and checks and balances.

Most Staffers love their work filled lives.

Many congressional staffers want to have a career doing exactly what they are doing. They love their work filled lives. Most are work-aholics who routinely put in 50, 60 or 70 hours a week. They go to parties 2 or 3 times a week, but they don't get to "party." Mostly they nurse one drink as they listen to people bitch, kvetch, moan, whine, and complain. Then they tell the rest of the staff what concerns are out there.

Relationships develop over the course of a career. People develop reputations on the Hill very fast. A reputation for honesty is important among staff members. Differences can exist, but communication lines must stay open. Liars only waste peoples' time. No one can keep anything a secret on the Hill (or anywhere, really). Life is like a fish bowl. This is a public democracy. There are few real secrets in government in general, but practically none on the Hill. A reputation for getting things done is even more important. Staff members don't need party loyalty, they need professional discretion and personal loyalty. A smart staffer always gives all the credit to the boss. It's always a "team effort."

Tasked to do tasks and more tasks.

How is a successful staff member rewarded? In the old days, you could give your staff gifts, trips and other bribes you had received, but today most of that has changed. Now staff are rewarded by being given more tasks.

Remember the tactics of persuasion from Lecture Chapter 2? The more you do for people the more they'll ask and the more you will be ABLE to do and to promise and to have past favors to call in…

Good help is hard to find.

There are only about 20,000 congressional staff jobs, do you think there are more people than that who want them? Of course there are. All Congressmen and Senators have staff members who work for them for free.  They are called congressional interns . They work for free! The average pay of congressional staff is only around $45k a year. Most have degrees beyond a BA.

One of the most helpful things one Senator can do for another Senator is to get that Senator a good staff member. If I get you a better job, you owe me and your new boss owes me.  Even if your new boss is my worst opponent in the Senate, at least the lines of communication between our two staffs will always be open. Or as the old Chinese saying goes: "The back door is always open."

The ultimate rule of Washington D.C., is also the ultimate rule of Hollywood:    "Be nice to every one, because you don't know what they will be tomorrow."

Iron triangles are informal relationships that change over time. 

You may be a low level congressional aide this year and a few years from now you may work for the President.  D.C. is a very friendly town where your reputation almost always precedes you.

What matters to most people working inside the beltway - meaning in D.C., is how they appear to all their peers and contemporaries. Their reputation or credibility is essential. Of course, their loyalty and honesty and descretion are also valued. It takes a special kind of person to be a staffer or work as a lobbyist. they are always busy and always working and I find them generally to be exagusting to be around.

some things to think about Remember any of these may be on the final exam!

1. Foreign corporations and governments also lobby the U.S. federal government, as do American ethnic and religious groups with direct ties to foreign countries. Should foreign firms, and others wih ties to foreign countires or corporations, be allowed to lobby in the U.S. at all levels of government? Why or why not? 2. The tobacco lobby has always been one of the largest and most powerful in D.C. But it seems "big tobacco" is on the defensive. Why do you think the tobacco lobby lost some of its power? 3. James Madison asserted that in a free society the clash among competing interests, each pursuing selfish goals, would result in policies that serve the common good. Is free competition among competeing interets actually the best way to promote the common good? Is such a free competition typical in the U.S.? 4. How do interest groups differ from political parties? Should we prefer a poltical process dominated by parties or one in which interest groups are more important? Why or Why not?