THE INTEREST GROUP UNIVERSE| 235available lobbying strategies. Some groups have suffi cient funding
and staff to pursue a wide range of strategies, while smaller groups
with fewer resources have only a few lobbying options.
A crucial resource for most interest groups is the membership.
Group members can write to or meet with elected offi cials, travel to
Washington for demonstrations, and even off er expertise or advice
to the group’s leaders. When the “members” of a group are corpora-
tions, as is the case with trade associations, CEOs and other corpo-
rate staff can help with the group’s lobbying eff orts.
Money is another important resource. Virtually everything
interest groups do, from meeting with elected offi cials to fi ghting for
what they want in court, can be purchased as services. Money can
also go toward campaign contributions or developing and running
campaign ads. And, of course, money is necessary to fund interest
groups’ everyday operations. Well-funded interest groups have a
considerable advantage in the lobbying process. If they need an expert, a lobby-
ist, or a lawyer, they can hire one. Also, they can pay for campaign ads and make
campaign contributions, while groups with less cash cannot use these strategies.
Expertise is a third type of group resource. It takes many forms. Some interest
group leaders know a lot about their members’ preferences or about what people in
a community, congressional district, or state want,^7 and they can relay this infor-
mation to elected offi cials and bureaucrats. Other groups off er information that
ranges from reports on policy questions to concrete legislative proposals. Group
leaders can use this information to negotiate with offi cials or bureaucrats as part
of a trade to get what the group wants. Expertise can also involve knowledge of
political factors, such as what kinds of policies certain party caucuses or indi-
vidual legislators support, or information about the constitutionality of proposed
laws. Lobbying fi rms that employ former members of Congress and bureaucrats
are a good source of such information.
Staff
Interest group staff falls into two categories: experts on the group’s main policy
areas, and people with useful government connections and knowledge of procedures.
The fi rst group includes scientists, engineers, and others with advanced degrees; the
second primarily comprises people who have worked inside government as elected
offi cials, bureaucrats, or legislative staff.^8 Sometimes these former members of gov-
ernment are also policy experts, but their unique contribution is their knowledge of
how government works and their already-existing relationships with offi ceholders
and other former coworkers in government.
The practice of transitioning from government positions to working for inter-
est groups or lobbying fi rms, or transitioning from lobbyist to offi ceholder, is often
called the revolving door.^9 A 2005 study found that from 1998 to 2005, more
than 40 percent of members leaving the House or Senate joined a lobbying fi rm
after their departure.^10 A separate study in 2006 found that more than two-thirds
of the Department of Homeland Security’s original senior staff left their positions
to work for corporations or lobbying fi rms.^11 Examples such as these highlight the
dilemma of the revolving door.AAA (FORMERLY THE AUTOMOBILE
Association of America) is a
well-known provider of emergency
road service, yet few people are
aware of its role as an interest
group that lobbies for a wide range
of policy changes.revolving door The movement of
individuals from government posi-
tions to jobs with interest groups or
lobbying fi rms, and vice versa.