364 Chapter 10Chapter 10 || Interest GroupsInterest Groupsmeasure on the ballot in one state at a time. Moreover, only some states allow initiatives
and some permit this kind of vote only on a narrow range of issues. The champion state for
initiatives is California, whose citizens often vote on dozens of initiatives in each general
election, ranging from funding for stem-cell research to limits on taxation and spending.^50
There are many examples of groups using the initiative process to change
government policy. Most notably, advocates of term limits for state legislators have
used the initiative process to establish such limits in 21 states, although the limits in
some states have since been overturned by legislative action or subsequent initiatives.^51
Also, twenty-four states have approved legal use of marijuana in some form through
statewide ballot measures.^52 There were five states with marijuana initiatives on
the ballot in 2018. Research shows that states with more active interest groups have
more initiatives on the ballot, so groups are taking advantage of this mechanism for
influencing policy.^53
One of the principal concerns about the initiative process is that it favors well-
funded groups that can advertise heavily in support of their proposals and can mobilize
their supporters to vote on Election Day.^54 But spending a lot of money often is not
enough: even groups with substantial resources have sometimes been unable to reform
policy through the initiative process.^55Choosing Strategies
Most groups give testimony, do research, contact elected officials and bureaucrats,
talk with journalists, and develop legislative and regulatory proposals.^56 A particular
group’s decisions about which strategies to use depend partly on its resources and partly
on what approach the group believes will be most effective in promoting its particular
issues. Some strategies that work well for one group’s agenda might not be appropriate
for another’s. The Humane Society of the United States is an organization that lobbies
to prevent the abuse and neglect of animals. It had a $196 million annual budget in 2016
but only a small Washington office. Its lobbying expenses for 2016 were $390,000.
Rather than lobbying members of Congress, the group’s focus is on investigations and
grassroots organizing, highlighting situations in which corporations and countries are
not behaving according to existing laws against animal cruelty.
Other interest groups advance their causes in ways that don’t look like lobbying. For
example, as NASA begins to formulate plans for sending humans to Mars in the 2030s,
the Boeing Company has released a series of films and videos about these plans. At
one level, Boeing’s efforts are all about highlighting the many important discoveries
that a voyage to Mars might generate—but they are also a way to increase the chances
that NASA’s plans will attract public support and be funded by Congress, which, if it
happens, will likely generate a series of very lucrative contracts for Boeing to build and
help operate exploration hardware.“Why
Should
I Care?”
At first glance, lobbying victories should go to the groups that can spend a lot on
contributions to candidates or on direct lobbying. But there are many other ways to
succeed in the battle to shape public policy, from organizing American citizens to
preparing new proposals or doing background research. Policy influence isn’t as much
about the size of a group’s budget as it is about factors such as the size of the group’s
membership or the perception of its expertise. Even poorly funded groups can find
ways to win. If there’s an issue that you believe in, you can find a group that supports it,
large or small, and get involved in any number of ways.Full_11_APT_64431_ch10_340-373.indd 364 16/11/18 10:26 AM