Interests, Positions, and Outcomes

For next Tuesday, read Berry ch. 2-3

Keep up with reflection emails.

Public opinion v. interests.  On many issues, does public opinion even exist?  What incentives do people have to pay attention to policy in the first place?

• The Public Affairs Act
• Panetta-Burns
• Bombing Agrabah

Interest groups pick their battles (Grossmann 164)

• Why not weigh in on more issues?
• Which battles do they pick?
• Rent-a-Friend

Groups align with parties

• Grover's Wednesday meetings
• The Democracy Alliance

Groups may be short-lived with a single-issue focus.

Agenda control: ""[I]interest groups may be powerful in part because they keep issues off the agenda, never likely to appear in public opinion polls" (Grossmann 173)

Influence Footprints and the Public Sphere

The influence effort may not aim directly at public policy.

Political domain

• Direct lobbying
• Grassroots and grasstops lobbying
• Campaign finance
• Stealthy, indirect lobbying
• Reverse lobbying

Legal domain

• Lawsuits
• Legal scholarship and argumentation
• Judicial selection

Civil society domain

• Boycotts and threats
• Protest
• Education -- citizenship

Management domain

• Goodwill activities
• Corporate public relations and public affairs
• Crisis communication

Interest groups and COVID -- or, "never let a crisis go to waste."

• The health industry
• Nursing homes