Chapter 9

Comparative Politics IIInterest Groups, Political Parties,

and Elections

Interest Groups

• Any collection of people trying to influence government

• Nonpublicly accountable organizations that attempt to promote shared private interests by influencing public-policy outcomes

Interest Groups Differfrom Political Parties• Goals

• Parties acquire power through elections• Interest groups focus on specific issues rarely

represented in government• Nature of memberships

• Parties seek broad support• Interest groups have a narrower membership

• Numbers• Rarely more than 10-12 parties• No limit on number of interest groups

Who Belongs?

• Pluralist view- Multiplicity of groups- Varied interests- Optimistic view

• Elite view- Majority from middle- and upper-classes- Domination by business-related interests- No organization by lower classes

Interest Groups and Government

• Interest groups presuppose an existing government worth trying to influence.

• As government grows, so do interest groups.• Some interest groups take on government

functions (corporatism). • The bureaucracy has become one of the

biggest and most powerful interest groups of all.

Big Money

• The single most important factor in interest group success • Danger: “the best Congress money can buy.”• Corruption (public office for private gain)

• Soft Money• Contributing to parties and interest groups not

directly working for a candidate’s election campaign.

• “If you don’t give, you get no access.”• U.S. campaigns lengthy and costly

Political ActionCommittees(PACs)

• Set up specifically to contribute money to election campaigns

• Originally an idea of labor unions• Biggest spending from business • Bulk of contributions to incumbents

Interest Group Strategies• Approaching lawmakers• Approaching the administration• Approaching the judiciary• Appeals to the public• Demonstrations• Violent protest

“Violence is as American as cherry pie.”-- Black radical H. “Rap” Brown

Finding a Balance

Good of all vs.

Good of particular groups

There must be no “particular wills” to muddy and distort the “general will,” that which the

whole community wants. -- Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Political Parties and Party Systems

Political Party

• Group seeking to elect office-holders under a given labelExist in almost all present-day societies, democratic or notWeak in U.S.

Functionsof Parties

• Bridge between people and government

• Aggregation of interests

• Integration into the political system• Political socialization• Mobilization of voters• Organization of government

Parties in Democracies

• Centralization• Degree of control

exercised by national headquarters

• Setting government policy• Executive must work with legislative

• Party participation in government• Financing the party

• Dependence on interest groups

Classifying Parties

• Left (liberal)• Center-left• Centrist• Center-right• Right (conservative)

Party Systems• One-party

• Totalitarian• Dominant-party

• Opposition parties free to run, but rarely win• Two-party• Multiparty• Two-plus party• Fluid (or inchoate) party

• New and unstable democracies

Parties and Electoral Systems• Single-member

election districts• Where a simple

plurality wins– Tends to produce two-party or two-party plus

systemsProportional representation– Use multimember districts and assign

parliamentary seats in proportion to the percentage of votes in that district

– Encourages parties to split

Types of Party Competition• Moderate pluralism

• Center-seeking• Parties become

moderate, aiming for large block of votes in center of political spectrum

Polarized pluralism– Center-fleeing– Parties become extremist, ignoring voters in center– Can cause political unrest and civil war

"Regarding Government:We call for the abolition

of damn near everything;

We call for drastic reductions in what's

left;And we refuse to pay for

any of it!"Platform synopsis by David Nolan, LP

Co-founder

Just because you don't take an interest in politics,doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!

Pericles - 430 BC (BCE)

Elections

Electoral Systems• Single-Member Districts

• Electoral system that elects one person per district

• “First past the post” – FPTP• Supports two-party system

• Advantages• Inhibits the growth of extremism• Gives clear parliamentary majority to one party

• Majoritarian system

• Disadvantages• Losing parties get no representation

Electoral Systems

• Proportional Representation• Electoral systems based on multimember

districts• Representatives elected by party’s percent of

vote• Advantages

• Legislature accurately reflects public opinion and party strength

• Disadvantages• Often lead to multiparty systems• Greater instability than two-party system

Voter Turnout

• Percent of those eligible who vote• U.S. peak in 1960 – 63%• Sweden, Germany, Italy –

90%U.S. turnout low historicallyLower in U.S. than in other democracies

U.S. Nonvoting: The Debate• Low electoral

participation means that many Americans are turning away from the political system.

• Or, the decline may mean that Americans are basically satisfied with the system.

How Do People Vote?

• Long-term variables• Party identification

• Tendency to associate mentally with one party over may years

• Easier to vote along party lines• Important element in electoral stability

• Short-term variables• Cause a person to vote one way for one

election, but not four years later. • “Morality factor” awakened by Watergate scandal• Economic conditions

Electoral Alignment

• Realignment• Major, long-

term shift in party ID.

Dealignment– Major, long-term decline in party ID

What Wins Elections?

• Modern elections• Rational choice manipulated by factors of

personality and the mass media• “Keep it general, keep it happy, don’t mention

parties, and smile a lot.”• Charisma• Retrospective voting• Candidate strategies

“Democracy: The substitution of election by the incompetent many for

appointment by the corrupt few.”

-- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)