108 Pressure politics
Million Man March’. The official estimate of attendance was 875,000 black
men. And then, almost as appendages of the great political parties, there are
those groups whose interest is ideological rather than economic or social; the
Americans for Democratic Action on the one hand or the John Birch Society
on the other. There is thus a great spectrum of groups with differing degrees
of political involvement, with different organisational biases and using differ-
ent techniques in the search for influence upon government. But there are
four major complexes of interest groups that demand more detailed atten-
tion: the representatives of business, of labour and of agriculture, and ‘cause
groups’ claiming to represent the public interest.
Business interest groups
Business and politics are inextricably interwoven. Great decisions of national
policy on matters of foreign affairs or defence will have an immediate ef-
fect upon the business community. The decisions of the federal government
on space programmes, aircraft production and the methods of prosecuting
foreign aid programmes or military operations involve the expenditure of
billions of dollars for contracts with American firms. The war in Iraq and
the subsequent need for rebuilding that country’s infrastructure initiated
a scramble for government contracts, and considerable criticism of the way
in which they were allocated and controlled. The tax policy of federal and
state governments is of immediate interest to every business corporation in
the country as well as to a host of small businessmen. Business interests
may seek to promote or to prevent government action, to gain a competitive
advantage over other businesses, or to defend themselves against legislation
promoted by labour unions to improve wage rates or working conditions. The
United States at the end of the nineteenth century pioneered attempts to
deal with the monopolistic tendencies of modern industry, and to legislate
against restrictive pricing agreements. The Wagner and Taft–Hartley Acts
embody a comprehensive scheme of government control of collective bar-
gaining, and the federal government sets a minimum wage and maximum
working hours for all workers engaged in interstate commerce (a definition
that has been expanded by the Supreme Court to include a high percentage
of all American workers). An impressive range of federal agencies, the inde-
pendent regulatory commissions, enforce legislation regulating many areas
of business activity. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is charged with
the promotion of free and fair competition by controlling false and mislead-
ing advertising and other business practices. As early as 1887 the Interstate
Commerce Commission was established to regulate the rates and operations
of railways, and later to take over the regulation of interstate trucking com-
panies; it was abolished in 1995 as a result of moves to deregulate industry.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications
Commission, the Federal Energy Regulation Commission, the Federal Trade
Commission – all exercise extensive authority over businesses engaged in