The Effects of Interest Groups' Ideology on Their PAC and Lobbying Expenditures

2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy McKay
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Action Committees ◽  
Unanswered Question ◽  
Group Type ◽  
Congressional Campaigns ◽  
Extreme Groups

While the literature on political action committees' (PACs) contributions to congressional campaigns is substantial, one key variable has been missing: the ideology of the PAC. Such a measure is needed to evaluate a normatively important yet unanswered question: to what extent do PACs give to candidates with whom they agree ideologically, as opposed to candidates they may want to influence after the election? This study shows that many interest groups' preferences for an electoral strategy or an access strategy can be predicted by their left-right ideology and their level of ideological extremism. The analysis finds that more ideologically extreme groups and more liberal groups spend more money on PAC contributions relative to lobbying. Further, groups' underlying left-right ideology is also highly predictive of their allocation of PAC contributions between the two parties—even controlling for group type.

New Empirical Evidence of the Role of Interest Groups in Influencing the Growth of Government

2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-100
Author(s):  
Gary A. Wagner ◽  
Russell S. Sobel
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Action Committees ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Status ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
New Evidence

Abstract We provide new evidence regarding the role of interest groups in influencing the size and growth of government spending. Using data on the change in individual legislators’ total voted and sponsored spending from the status quo, we explore this relationship in a manner closer to the public choice tradition. Examining the impact diat interest groups have on individual legislators’ preferences for new spending, we find that interest groups within a legislator’s district exhibit more influence on the short-run growth of the budget than do Political Action Committees.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Emily J. Charnock
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Group Behavior ◽  
Political Action Committees ◽  
System P ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
American Party

This introduction highlights the controversial nature and limited extent of interest group electioneering in the early twentieth century compared to its pervasiveness today. When early interest groups did engage in elections, they sought to appear nonpartisan, whereas many contemporary interest groups operate in effect as allies of the major parties. While different generations of political scientists have offered theories that explain each approach to elections and partisanship, they do not explain the shift in interest group behavior apparent across the twentieth century. This introduction provides a developmental account, elaborated in later chapters, that explains the intertwined embrace of electioneering and partisanship among major interest groups in the mid-twentieth century. It recounts when and why these groups formed political action committees (PACs) to undertake these electioneering activities and argues that such PACs have been used to transform the American party system.

The Supreme Court, Ideology, and the Decision to Cite or Borrow from Amicus Curiae Briefs

2021 ◽  
pp. 1532673X2110321
Author(s):  
Kayla S. Canelo
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
The Other ◽  
Amicus Curiae ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Extreme Groups ◽  
Insight Into

Scholars have sought to understand the dual characterization of Supreme Court justices as both legal and political actors. One way to further uncover this complexity is to assess how the justices engage with the interest groups that file amicus curiae or “friend-of-the-Court” briefs. Scholars have revealed that the justices often “borrow language” from these briefs in their opinions. However, much less often, they cite the amici. These two uses are distinct in that one is revealed to the reader while the other is not. So which interest groups do the justices decide to cite and which do they borrow language from? I find the justices borrow more language from ideologically similar interests, but that ideology plays a less central role in the decision to cite. Specifically, I find that the justices are less likely to cite briefs filed by ideologically overt interests, but this only extends to the most ideologically “extreme” groups. Further, the justices are not more likely to cite briefs filed by interests that are ideologically similar to their own preferences. These findings provide insight into how the justices balance policy and legitimacy goals.

Interešu pārstāvniecība. Vēlētāji apspriež Saeimas darbu Latvijas Televīzijas raidījumā “Tautas panorāma”

Letonica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergejs Kruks
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
General Will ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
The People ◽  
Individual Strategies ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Law Making

Keywords: discourse analysis, general will, Latvian politics, political representation, Saeima Latvian citizens are characterised by a very low level of political activism. How can this be explained through an understanding of politics? Prior to the 2018 Saeima (Latvian parliament) election, voters were interviewed on Latvian television discussing the pronouncements of various members of parliament. The researcher explores the relationship between the comments of these voters and the way they feel their interests are being represented by the state’s law makers. Throughout the interviews, voters are critical of Saeima, yet they fail to clearly explain their interests. The generally agreed upon duty of MPs is to discover the general will of the people, and attempt to fulfil this will through law making. In Latvia, the concept of forming interest groups representing the desires of various groups of citizens to create public expressions of their opinions is not considered a viable resource for political action. The citizens being interviewed believe that they cannot expect to have their interests represented by Saeima and prefer individual strategies focused on non-political action.

Prophets in the Wilderness: An Ecology of Ministerial Organization Participation in Public Affairs

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Djupe ◽  
Franklyn C. Niles
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political Action ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Organizational Systems ◽  
United Methodist Church ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Design Choice ◽  
Public Versus Private ◽  
Data Result

AbstractStudies of interest groups typically sample from organizations or lobbyists registered with a government – those already engaged in political action. Because of this design choice, the questions asked of organizational systems are constrained. We take a different tack, pursuing investigation of one organizational form, ministerial organizations (MOs), in a wide variety of systems to ask about whether and how they engage in public affairs across ecologies. Specifically, we ask: What pressures affect whether MOs engage a public versus private purpose? How do MOs forage in public affairs, with what size and diversity of coalition? The data result from a hyper-network survey of MO contacts, identified by a national sample of United Methodist Church clergy. We find, contrary to assertions in previous work that religious interest groups respond to ecological pressures in a similar manner as other interest groups.

How the Workplace Affects Employee Political Contributions

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
JAN STUCKATZ
Keyword(s):  
Political Action ◽  
Political Mobilization ◽  
Political Action Committees ◽  
Political Contributions ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Money In Politics

How important is the workplace for employees’ political donations? Contrary to research on workplace political mobilization, existing work assumes that most individual donors contribute ideologically. I link donations of employees and Political Action Committees (PACs) from 12,737 U.S. public companies between 2003 and 2018 to show that 16.7% of employee donations go to employer-PAC-supported candidates. I investigate the dynamics between employee and PAC donations within firm–legislator pairs over time and find that both rank-and-file employees and executives contribute more dollars to company-supported politicians. Firm–employee donation alignment is stronger on powerful and ideologically moderate politicians with high value for the employer. Results from a difference-in-differences design further show modest changes in the partisan composition of employee donations after swift changes in the partisan donations of corporate PACs. The results suggest investment-related rather than ideological motives for alignment and highlight the importance of corporations for money in politics.

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