Rehabilitating the Raters: An Assessment of Interest Group Ratings of Congress (original) (raw)
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This study examines the validity of interest group ratings of Congress during the period 1959 to 1981. The ratings themselves have been controversial. Many members of Congress find them to be distorted and unrepresentative. The arguments for and against ratings are examined in a dimensional context. Most interest group ratings load very highly on a single liberal-conservative dimension. Contrary to the arguments of rating critics, both single- and general-issue groups produce ratings which are representative of the underlying dimension, suggesting that on broad questions of political philosophy, most ratings are valid measures.
In defense of the lowly scorecard: What legislator ratings can tell us about interest groups
Interest groups & Advocacy, 2014
Oh, the lowly interest group scorecard. Although it has fallen from favor with political scientists in recent decades, we contend scorecards still offer considerable potential for those engaged in interest group research. By aggregating scores across sectors of interests, we can determine under what conditions different types of groups are satisfied with Congress. In our analysis, we aggregate 105 893 ratings of US senators issued by 249 different organizations from the 106th through the 111th Congresses. By 'flipping' congressional scorecards on their heads, we find that public interest organizations show the lowest levels of satisfaction, regardless of which party controls the Senate. Business and professional trade associations tend to show higher levels of satisfaction with senators, except during the robust Democratic majority of the 111th Congress. And labor unions produce higher evaluations during Democratic majorities. The typical layperson may assume that groups with popular missions (those representing large populations) and lots of money or those who spend considerable amounts on political activities (for example, campaigning and lobbying) may be more satisfied with Congress. However, this study finds no relationship between group satisfaction and those factors.
Interest Group Influence on U.S. Policy Change: An Assessment Based on Policy History
How often and in what circumstances do interest groups influence U.S. national policy outcomes? In this article, I introduce a new method of assessing influence based on the judgments of policy historians. I aggregate information from 268 sources that review the history of domestic policymaking across 14 domestic policy issue areas from 1945-2004. Policy historians collectively credit factors related to interest groups in 385 of the 790 significant policy enactments that they identify. This reported influence Interest Group Influence on U.S. Policy Change
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This paper contributes to our understanding of the puzzle of how interest groups choose their legislative strategies. Literature on interest groups suggests that the resources available to the group limit a group's strategies (see Berry 1977). In addition, later research suggests that the context of legislation also influences the strategies in which groups engage (see Baumgartner and
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Interest organizations are hypothesized to strongly affect public policy, but the evidence that they do so is mixed. This article argues that one reason for the disparity is a gap between theory and research: theory suggests that information provided by interest organizations should strongly influence elec-ted officials, but there is no systematic research on its impact. We examine a potentially important source of information for members of the U.S. Con-gress—testimony at committee hearings—to ascertain if it affects the enact-ment of policy proposals. The data, based on content analysis of almost 1,000 testimonies on a stratified random sample of policy proposals, describe who testifies, their arguments, and the evidence they provide. Supporters of a proposal emphasize the importance of the problem being addressed, while opponents claim the proposed policy will be ineffective and try to reframe the debate. Information—particularly information regarding policy effective-ness—does a...
Redistributing Values in Congress: Interest Group Influence Under Sub-Optimal Conditions
1999
Empirical studies on the ability of interest groups to influence legislative voting behavior are mixed. Most legislative researchers, however, have avoided studying culture war issues, such as abortion, school prayer, or homosexuality These issues often exhibit extreme levels of conflict and low levels of public and/or legislative support, precisely those conditions under which interest group influence should be weak. My research fills this gap by examining the influence of lesbian and gay interest groups on legislative voting behavior from the 95th to 104th Congresses. I use an exchange theory of interest group/legislator relationships to construct empirical models of House and Senate voting on lesbian and gay issues. I hypothesize that legislative voting is driven by partisanship, ideology, religious beliefs, and constituency opinion, with interest group influence occurring at the margins. The results of multiple regression analysis suggest that interest groups may be able to influence legislative voting behavior even when conditions are sub-optimal. I suggest that interest group influence on culture war issues is conditional, but may be more visible simply because support has been relatively low.
Interest Groups and Public Opinion
Annals of the International Communication Association, 1988
ROFESSOR Edelstein's essay offers observations and insights about the relationships between interest groups and public opinion. For obvious reasons, his emphases are on the traditions and innovations of the communications perspective. In our commentary, therefore, we shall draw on the theoretical and case study literature to adumbrate, discuss, illustrate, and, of necessity, speculate about interest groups and public opinion in the United States. Starting with the nature of interest groups themselves, we then look at their relations with the public at large, the media, and government. To conclude, we raise the larger, disturbing issue that emerges from our discussion and analysis. INTEREST GROUPS Interest group is a slippery term, requiring definition. David Truman's (1951) is useful: "any group that, on the basis of one or more shared attitudes, makes certain claims upon other groups in the society for the establishment, maintenance, or enhancement of forms of behavior that are implied by the shared attitudes" (p. 33). Explicitly or implicitly excluded by this definition are government agencies, even though they often strive mightily to influence public opinion, and unorganized political participation. So defined, interest groups abound. They can be variously categorized in terms of subjects of interest (agriculture, women's rights, business, morality, environment), types of people represented (dairy farmers, Vietnam veterans,
Journal of Government Information, 2001