William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

WHAT DO

THE FACTS

S AY?

Source: Marie Hojnacki, Kathleen Marchetti,

Frank Baumgartner, Jeffrey M. Berry, David C.

Kimball, and Beth L. Leech, “Assessing Business

Advantage in Washington Lobbying,” Interest

Groups and Advocacy 4 (2015): 206–24.

Interest Group Power

Conventional wisdom says that business interest groups have too much power over

policy outcomes in Washington. But what do the facts say?

To address this question, a group of political scientists tracked a series of

issues through years of lobbying, congressional debate, legislative action, and

implementation by the bureaucracy. Their goal was to determine whether business

groups were successful in getting what they want from Congress, particularly when

their efforts were opposed by citizen groups or government officials. This figure shows

what they found.

Business groups v. citizen groups or unions

40% 40% 20%

Which Interest Groups Win... and When?

After four years ...

Business Groups Win Other Side Wins Both/Neither Win

Business groups unopposed

89% 11%

Business groups v. government (executive branch, members of Congress)

36% 36% 27%

• Many people believe that business groups always succeed in their lobbying
  efforts. Does this figure confirm or deny these suspicions?


• After looking at these data, do you think business groups have too much
  power? How do these data help us understand the winners and losers in the
  student loan reform debate discussed at the beginning of this chapter?

Think about it

How much power do interest groups have? 367

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