The Paradox of Interest Groups in Washington— More Groups, Less Clout

Salisbury, Robert H.

doi:10.1007/978-1-349-12337-7_7

Cited by 77 publications

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“…Interest groups sometimes choose not to participate in coalitions when they view the costs of participation -such as the need to compromise with coalition partners, reduced autonomy, and risks that the group will suffer from the coalition's missteps -as outweighing the potential benefits of collaboration (Browne 1990;Hojnacki 1997;Holyoke 2011;Wilson 1995). Nonetheless, coalition participation has grown in recent years because the increasingly crowded universe of interest groups makes it difficult for individual groups to attain prominence when acting alone (Leech, Baumgartner, La Pira, and Semanko 2005;Salisbury 1990). …”

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confidence: 99%

Coalition portfolios and interest group influence over the policy process

Heaney

Lorenz

2013

Int Groups Adv

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Abstract.While not all interest groups participate in coalitions, some groups join multiple coalitions to form portfolios of coalition memberships. We test hypotheses that the composition of coalition portfolios increases the influence of interest groups over public policy when: (1) the number of coalitions in a group's portfolio gets larger; (2) the average size of the coalitions in a group's portfolio gets larger; and (3) a group's portfolio improves its position within the overall network of coalitions. We evaluate these hypotheses using a study of 115 interest groups involved in the debate over the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. The results support hypothesis three; groups gain influence over the policy process when their coalition portfolios increase the extent to which they are situated between other groups in the coalition network. However, the ability of groups to proactively augment their coalitional betweenness may be muted by feedback in the policy process.

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confidence: 99%

Coalition portfolios and interest group influence over the policy process

Heaney

Lorenz

2013

Int Groups Adv

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“…A fundamental problem for interest groups in crafting their legislative strategies is that the number of groups in Washington continues to grow rapidly while the number of members of Congress remains constant (Heinz, Laumann, Nelson, & Salisbury, 1993;Salisbury, 1990). 1 With more groups vying for access, interest groups struggle to provide unique benefits to legislators (Hansen, 1991).…”

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confidence: 99%

Outside the Issue Niche

Heaney

2004

American Politics Research

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Interest groups care deeply about, and struggle to shape, their identities on Capitol Hill. A group's identity is what makes it unique and separates it from other organizations in the advocacy community. Previous research has argued that interest group identities are formed by creating exclusive niches over narrow policy issues, but this research has neglected the degree to which groups depend on representation, ideology, and advocacy techniques in establishing their uniqueness. The author argues that interest group identities are formed in multiple dimensions, with issues serving as an important, but nondominant, basis for identification. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used to analyze data from interviews with representatives of 168 national interest groups working on health care. The findings provide a basis for bridging theories of group maintenance and influence by demonstrating that identity encourages groups to consider simultaneously the ways their behaviors are perceived on Capitol Hill and by their members.

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“…The critical difference is that city politics is characterized by low barriers to entry [18,19]. Unlike Washington politics, where getting a foot in the door just to plead one's case can be a challenge [20,21], city councilors and local agency administrators are not inundated with requests for face time and allocating time to meet with neighborhood and citywide organizations is a manageable part of their job.…”

Section: Citizen Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability and Interest Group Participation in City Politics

Berry

Portney

2013

Sustainability

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Many cities across the United States have embraced programs aimed at achieving greater sustainability. This may seem surprising, particularly since adopting aggressive environmental protection programs is regarded by some as inimical to economic development. An alternative perspective is that in the modern city sustainability can be part of an economic development strategy. What is largely missing from the literature on sustainable cities' policies and programs is systematic analysis of the political dynamics that seem to affect support for, and adoption and implementation of, local sustainability policies. To explore the actual behavior of cities with respect to sustainability and economic development policies, two original databases on 50 large U.S. cities are used. One source of data is composed of survey responses from city councilors, agency administrators, and leaders of local advocacy groups in each of these cities. The second database contains information as to what these 50 cities actually do in terms of sustainable programs and policies. In testing a series of hypotheses, findings suggest that: a high number of programs aimed at achieving sustainability is linked to the inclusion of environmental advocacy groups; that this relationship is not compromised by business advocacy; and that inclusion of environmental groups in policymaking seems to be supported, rather than impeded, by high rates of economic growth by the cities.

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The Paradox of Interest Groups in Washington— More Groups, Less Clout

Cited by 77 publications

References 0 publications

Coalition portfolios and interest group influence over the policy process

Coalition portfolios and interest group influence over the policy process

Outside the Issue Niche

Sustainability and Interest Group Participation in City Politics

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