INTEREST ORGANIZATIONS AND

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1 INTEREST ORGANIZATIONS AND LOBBYING IN THE U.S. A VIEW FROM THE 50 STATES Dr. Virginia Gray Distinguished Professor of Political Science University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill June 13, 2013

2 OUTLINE OF TALK TODAY Introduction and orientation to topic How many and what types of groups are represented? Who are the lobbyists? How do they lobby each branch of government? What is the impact of lobbying? 2

3 Introduction to Topic 3

4 Structure of State Governments 4

5 Structure of State Governments Parallel to the national government, each state government has 3 branches: Elected Legislature: 2 houses in all but one state. This branch is the focus of much lobbying activity. Executive: headed by elected Governor, but includes numerous administrative agencies, both are also lobbied. Judicial (cannot be directly lobbied): judges on state Supreme Courts are chosen by a variety of appointive and elected systems; can be lobbied indirectly. 5

6 Other Features of State Government and Politics Besides lobbying, groups actively use electoral strategies, giving money to campaigns so as to elect candidates who are friendly to their causes. Each state sets up its own rules and regulations governing the relations between lobbyists and legislators and between candidates and those who give money to them. 6

7 Definition Organized interests: Membership and nonmembership organizations that seek to influence public policy. 7

8 FORMS OF ORGANIZED INTERESTS MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS: organized body of individuals who share some goals & who try to influence public policy, e.g., National Rifle Association, American Association of Retired People (AARP) ASSOCIATIONS: organizations to which other organizations belong, i.e., trade association, state Chamber of Commerce INSTITUTIONS: formal, structured organizations, e.g., businesses, hospitals, universities, law firms 8

9 Figure A. The Increasing Institutionalization of Lobbying Organizations Proportio on of All Groups 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 59% 49% 39% 31% 29% 28% 23% 19% 22% Institution Membership Group Association Source: Calculated from data used in Virginia Gray and David Lowery The Institutionalization of State Communities of Organized Interests. Political Research Quarterly 54:265-83; 1999 data, unpublished data calculated by the authors. 9

10 DENSITY AND DIVERSITY OF INTEREST ORGANIZATIONS IN STATES 10

11 25000 Nationally Registered Lobbyist Clients by Year,

12 # Registered State Interest Groups Data for collected by Gray and Lowery from each state. Data from are from the National Institute on Money in State Politics. 12

13 Unpublished data collected by Gray and Lowery 13

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18 What is the Impact of Interest System Density on Business Organizations? We wanted to study the effects of interest community density on generalist interest organizations. So in 2012 we conducted web and oral surveys of state Chambers of Commerce. Hypothesis 1: state Chambers will represent a smaller % of their broader constituency in states that have many other business interests. Hypothesis 2: state Chambers in more crowded systems will track fewer bills than those in lesscrowded systems. 18

19 Data Hyp1 Measure: participation rate--# of members of state Chamber divided by total # of business establishments in a state. Explanatory Variable: total # of business lobby organizations in the state Hyp2 Measure: # of bills Chamber tracked in most recent legislative session Explanatory Variable: again the total # of business lobby organizations Also total # of business establishments, total # of bills passed, total membership of state Chamber Source: Lowery, Gray, Kirkland, Harden, Generalist Interest Organizations and Interest System Density: A Test of the Competitive Exclusion Hypothesis, Social Science Quarterly, 93 (March 2012):

20 Results Hyp1: Confirmed participation rates in state Chambers of Commerce decline as # of businesses in a state increase. Hyp2: Confirmed less strongly a crowded business lobbying environment does lead to reduced bill tracking by state Chambers. Implications: Given that Chamber of Commerce is an older and stronger group than most, we expect that equal or lesser groups such as Association of Manufacturers will be similarly affected by crowding. Most members of generalist organizations may want to join specialist organizations too and lobby individually as well. 20

21 Participat tion Rate Figure 2: Participation Rate in Chamber of Commerce by Number of Business Organizations, 43 States y = 2E-06x x R² = Business Lobby Organizations Source: Calculated by the authors. 21

22 WHO ARE THE LOBBYISTS AND WHAT DO THEY DO? LOBBYIST: SOMEONE WHO TRIES TO PERSUADE A DECISIONMAKER TO ACT IN GROUP S INTEREST 22

23 Types of Lobbyists Contract: they work for multiple clients at one time and usually make the most money. About 15% of lobbyists are in this category. In-House: they work full-time for one organization. This is the largest category of lobbyists, about 45%. Volunteer: Usually ordinary citizens who represent single issue or cause of their organization. Unpaid. About 10% fall in this category. Government: legislative liaison government employee who represents their agency before the legislature. They constitute nearly a quarter of all lobbyists. Hobbyist: Individuals who work on their own issues. Unpaid. This category contains 5% or less. Source: Hrebenar and Thomas 23

24 Contract Lobbyist Sarah Janecek In-house Lobbyist Donna Peterson Martin Sampson, Volunteer Legislative Liaison, Mario Vargas 24

25 Techniques of Lobbyists Direct contact lobbying with government officials Indirect lobbying through citizens Electoral campaigns (lobbying before the election) 25

26 DIRECT LOBBYING OF LEGISLATURE Direct Formal lobbying Testifying at legislative hearings Meeting personally with legislators and their staffs Direct Informal Lobbying Hanging out together; information is passed both ways, but in most places laws preclude lobbyists paying for meals of legislators state or federal. 71% of lobbyists had informal contacts. Attending sporting events, fishing, hunting together, also banned Travel junkets likewise banned, except for fact-finding missions in Congress; only 3% of state lobbyists said they did this. Gifts: Congress allows gifts of nominal value; 19% of legislators said they did this; many states allow none at all 26

27 What is indirect lobbying? Definition: lobbying aimed at citizens rather than at government decision-makers It includes Lobbying to change citizens attitudes and opinions Lobbying to mobilize citizens to contact legislators and other government officials 27

28 CITIZEN LOBBYING Lobbyingfor Contact Grassroots lobbying or Astroturf? Getting citizens to contact their public officials, or meet with them Kollmanshows that outside lobbying is more likely to occur when salience of issue is high and issue is popular with public Some citizens may use protests, demonstrations, petitions, e.g., Moral Mondays in NC Legislature 28

29 Source: Nownes, p. 113 in Gray, Hanson, Kousser, eds., Politics in the American States, 10 th ed.,

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32 STATE REGULATION OF LOBBYING Many state bans on lobbyist behavior were enacted following major scandals involving lobbyists. All states require registration & disclosure Many states ban gifts/meals for legislators, e.g. no cup of coffee law Contingency contracts are banned in nearly all states Revolving door is a problem: states have laws ranging from 2 year waiting periods to none (17 states). NC wait period is 6 months. A small number of states cap lobbyist contributions to campaigns Overall these laws have changed the culture of state capitals. State laws are more stringent than federal law. 32

33 LOBBYING THE GOVERNOR Meeting with the governor or her staff: personal meetings are limited due time constraints of governor Governors are typically more successful in negotiating with the legislature over budgetary proposals than over policy proposals (Kousser and Phillips, 2012). Thus smart lobbyists would target legislators when they want policy for their clients, and target the governor when they need funding for their clients. 33

34 Lobbying administrative agencies Who lobbies agencies vs. who lobbies legislatures? Studies show that trade associations and business lobby agencies far more than do citizens groups, in part because this kind of lobbying takes a lot of money. Participation in rule making process (Furlong& Kerwin): Rule making = lawmaking by agencies of govt. It is great importance because Rules vastly outnumber statutes Rules are far more specific than statutes Rules are more immediate in impact 34

35 State Rule Making Process 35

36 Rulemaking participation Who participates? Business groups participate far more heavily than Public Interest Groups What is lobbyists impact on rules? Business interests file far more comments than other interests. Business interests win far more often on their issues 36

37 INFLUENCING THE COURTS Unlike federal judges, state supreme court judges are chosen mostly by election for a limited term (there are 3 different types of these elections) and a handful of states use appointment systems (of which there are 2). Thus the first point to apply pressure is for organized interests to get friendly judges elected. Elections are increasingly competitive & costly. Groups contribute large sums of money thru PACs. 37

38 Influencing the Courts Interest groups sometimes engage in litigation. But filing amicus curiae briefs is most common type of group lobbying It is less expensive than the other forms discussed already Number of briefs filed has increased over past decades at both state & national levels. Briefs allow interest groups to influence public policy and to credit claim to their members 38

39 Source: Corbally, Bross, and Flango, Justice System Journal, 2004, p

40 Electoral Campaigns We have covered direct and indirect lobbying and also covered the targets of lobbying the 3 branches of government. Now we are ready to discuss the third kind of lobbying, what I call lobbying before the election. Electing a legislature that is friendly to the issues of your group. 40

41 CAMPAIGN MONEY Political Action Committees (PACs) were authorized by federal law in the early 1970s to counter the influence of big givers. Later states adopted them too. PACs are multicandidate campaign committees thru which small givers can pool their money and have some clout, like a mutual fund. PACS are the legal mechanism by which interest groups can contribute to candidates. Since Citizens United decision in 2010 there are several more contribution avenues at the federal level; these are seeping down to the state level. 41

42 How many interest groups use PAC money to get their voices heard? At both the national and state levels the answer is the same: relatively few. However, the majority of PAC giving results from those organizations already engaged in lobbying activities. Source: Lowery, Gray, et al, Publius,

43 The Interest Group & PAC Overlap in the States, Health Sector Number of Organizations Contributions by Organization Type 14% 24% 41% 45% 76% Only Lobby Only PAC Both Only PAC Both Source: Lowery, Gray et. al, Publius,

44 OUTCOMES: FOR POLICY PROCESS Does excessive interest group density cause legislative gridlock? Contrary to some findings at the national level, Gray & Lowery found that interest groups were a cause of gridlock in state legislatures. 44

45 IS THERE A BUSINESS ADVANTAGE? Business is best-represented sector. If there were a united business front, they might always win. But unity is often absent, even on business issues, e.g., small vs large businesses. Mark Smith: business may shape the river (thru think tanks), but unless it has public support, business does not win on specific decisions. In a conflict between business and citizens, lawmakers will choose citizens/voters. 45

46 Smith s research indicates that business financial support of conservative think tanks helped mold public opinion in a more pro- business direction. Because swimming against the current of public opinion on unifying issues is usually ineffective, redirecting the river constitutes a more productive strategy. 46

47 ORGANIZED INTERESTS AT THE STATE LEVEL We have reviewed the numbers of interest organizations and the varieties they come in. We have discussed the types of lobbyists and the variety of techniques they use in lobbying legislatures, governors, administrative agencies, and courts. And we have talked about the role of money in politics. I hope the points I have made and the research I have referenced give you insight into how lobbying is done in the states. 47

48 THANK YOU 48

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