William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

Interest group strategies 355

Interest Group Strategies

Once a group has organized and determined its goals, the next step is to decide how

to lobby. There are two types of possible tactics: inside strategies, which are actions

taken inside government (whether federal, state, or local), and outside strategies,

which are actions taken outside government (see How It Works: Lobbying the Federal

Government).^24 In general, these strategies are undertaken by a single group working

on its own, sometimes in opposition to another group or groups. However, as we discuss

later, interest groups sometimes work together toward common legislative goals.

Inside Strategies

Inside strategies involve some form of contact with elected officials or bureaucrats.

Thus, inside strategies require a group to establish an office in Washington, D.C., or to

hire a lobbying firm to act on its behalf.

Direct Lobbying When interest group staff meet with officeholders or bureaucrats,

they plead their case through direct lobbying, asking government officials to change

policy in line with the group’s goals.^25 Such contacts are very common—on any given

day, each congressional or administrative office gets phone calls, visits, or e-mails from

dozens of lobbyists.

Direct lobbying is generally aimed at officials and bureaucrats who are sympathetic

to the group’s goals.^26 Through these efforts, interest groups and their representatives do

not try to convert opponents into supporters; rather, they are a way of helping legislators

enact policies that they already prefer—and that the group prefers as well.^27 Groups

can assist in a number of ways, from sharing information about proposed changes, to

providing lists of other legislators who might be persuadable, to drafting legislative

proposals or regulations. These efforts usually do not involve a trade in which the group

expects legislative action in return for its help. In fact, legislators and their staff are

often happy to meet with a like-minded group’s representatives, as the information the

group can provide may be vital to the legislators’ efforts to enact legislation, manage

the bureaucracy, or keep the support of constituents back home in their districts.^28 For

example, corporations that stood to lose business if the government moved to direct

student loans lobbied legislators whose districts included the companies’ call centers

and headquarters. For these legislators, helping these companies might have been good

public policy, but it was also a way of preserving their constituents’ jobs.

Interest groups also contact both legislators who disagree with their goals and “fence-

sitters” who neither support nor oppose them, with the goal of converting them into

supporters. These efforts are less extensive than the lobbying of supporters, however,

because opponents are unlikely to change their minds unless a group can provide new

information that causes them to rethink their position. However, lobbying opponents

may be useful if it forces opposing interest groups to counterlobby, using their limited

resources to make sure that their allied legislators do not change their positions.^29

As these descriptions indicate, interest groups place a high priority on maintaining

access to their lobbying targets and being able to present their arguments, regardless

of whether they expect to get what they want. Of course, interest groups want to

achieve their policy goals, but access is the necessary first step that makes persuasion

possible. Therefore, many interest groups try to keep their efforts low-key, providing

information to friends and opponents alike, avoiding threats or harsh words, in the

hope that they will leave a favorable impression and be able to gain access the next

EXPLORE THE WAYS INTEREST

GROUPS TRY TO INFLUENCE

GOVERNMENT POLICIES

inside strategies

The tactics employed within

Washington, D.C., by interest groups

seeking to achieve their policy goals.

outside strategies

The tactics employed outside

Washington, D.C., by interest groups

seeking to achieve their policy goals.

direct lobbying

Attempts by interest group staff to

influence policy by speaking with

elected officials or bureaucrats.

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