Besides lobbying, interest groups also play the outside game by
trying to convince ordinary citizens to apply pressure on their government
representatives. Interest groups playing the outside game often rely on grassroots
activism and electoral strategies to achieve their goals.
Grassroots Activism
Grassroots activism consists of mobilizing large numbers of
people to achieve the interest group’s goal. By mobilizing thousands (or
millions) of voters, an interest group can demonstrate to government officials
that the public strongly supports its particular cause. Some grassroots efforts
are general, trying to motivate as many people as possible, whereas others are
more targeted. An interest group, for example, might target a member of Congress
by holding rallies in his or her district and encouraging his or her
constituents to write letters. A member of Congress who receives tens of
thousands of letters endorsing health care reform, for example, is likely to pay
attention to the group that sponsored the letter-writing campaign. In fact, most
grassroots activists rely on a number of tactics to achieve their goals, such as
the following:
-
Rallies and marches: Bringing together thousands of
people generates excitement and determination among supporters.
Example: In late spring 2006, a
number of groups staged a rally for Darfur (a war-torn region of the Sudan)
on the national mall in Washington, D.C. The groups demanded that the
American government take a more active role in stopping the violence in
Darfur.
-
Letter-writing campaigns: Interest groups often encourage
members to write to their senator or member of Congress, seeking to
demonstrate their influence through the number of letters sent. Interest
groups make it easy for their members by providing them with form letters
that require only a signature.
-
Petitions: A group can also write a petition advocating a
certain position on an issue and collect signatures. The effect is similar
to that of letter-writing campaigns.
-
Hill visits: Sometimes an interest group will arrange for
its members to visit Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress. Although
this is a form of lobbying, it is also a grassroots effort because it puts
members of Congress in contact with their constituents.
-
Institutional advertising: Although not strictly a form
of grassroots activity, institutional advertising, which aims at advancing
the image of an organization, can influence public opinion, thereby
affecting policy and lawmakers.
Electoral Strategies
Most elected officials want to be reelected, so they listen to people who
can help or hinder that reelection. Interest groups take advantage of this
situation by rallying voters to their cause and contributing money to reelection
campaigns.
Rallying Voters
Most interest groups cannot legally encourage their members to vote
for or against a particular candidate, but they can achieve the same effect
by informing their members of candidates’ stances on issues. For example,
for years the Christian Coalition has issued “voter guides,” which describe
the candidates’ positions on issues that are particularly important to group
members, such as abortion. Other groups (including the American Conservative
Union and the Americans for Democratic Action) play the ratings
game by publishing the positions of all members of Congress on
key issues with the hope of swaying voters.
PACs and Campaign Contributions
Politicians also listen to people and groups who can donate lots of
money. Interest groups are not allowed to donate money to campaigns
directly, but they can contribute money through their political action
committee (PAC). Theoretically independent of interest groups,
PACs can solicit donations from group members and then give that money to
candidates they support. A PAC can only give $10,000 ($5,000 in the primary
campaign, $5,000 in the general election campaign) to each candidate during
an election, but they can give money to as many candidates as they
wish.
Most money that PACs donate goes to support particular candidates, but
PACs sometimes fund opposing candidates to punish the politicians they
normally support who have not been paying attention to the PAC’s interest
group. The vast majority of incumbents win reelection, but in a close race,
a PAC’s money can be very important.
