American Government and Politics Today, Brief Edition, 2014-2015

chAPTeR seven • InTeResT GRouPs AnD PolITIcAl PARTIes 149

Public Interest

The best interests of the

overall community; the

national good, rather than

the narrow interests of a

particular group.

Consequently, some scholars suggest that interest groups and lobbyists are the privilege

of upper-middle-class Americans and those who belong to unions or other special groups.

Others, however, observe that the poor do obtain benefits from government.

Without federal tax and spending programs aimed at low-income persons, as many as

25 percent of U.S. families would have incomes below the official poverty line. If you take

into account all benefits that low-income families obtain, that number drops to about 10

percent. True, the poor cannot represent themselves. But for decades, liberal groups and,

especially, religious groups have lobbied on behalf of those suffering from poverty. These

interest groups have done for the poor what the poor cannot do for themselves.

environmental Groups

Environmental interest groups are not new. The National Audubon Society was founded

in 1905 to protect the snowy egret from the commercial demand for hat decorations. The

patron of the Sierra Club, John Muir, worked for the creation of national parks more than

a century ago. But the blossoming of national environmental groups with mass member-

ships did not occur until the 1970s.

Today’s environmental Groups. Since the first Earth Day, organized in 1972, many

interest groups have sprung up to protect the environment in general or unique ecologi-

cal niches. The groups range from the National Wildlife Federation, with a membership

of more than 4 million and an emphasis on education, to the more elite Environmental

Defense Fund, with a membership of five hundred thousand and a focus on influencing

federal policy.

Global warming. The topic of global warming has become a major focus for environ-

mental groups in recent years. This issue has pitted environmentalists against other interest

groups—for example, interests representing industries that release “greenhouse” gases into

the atmosphere. Indeed, the reaction against environmentalism has been strong enough in

such coal-producing states as West Virginia to transform them politically. Once a Democratic

bastion, West Virginia now usually supports Republicans in presidential contests.

Public-Interest Groups

Public interest is a difficult term to define because, as we noted in Chapter 6, there are

many publics in our nation of more than 315 million. It is almost impossible for one par-

ticular public policy to benefit everybody, which in turn makes it practically impossible to

define the public interest. Nonetheless, over the past few decades, a variety of lobbying

organizations have been formed “in the public interest.”

The consumer movement. As an organized movement, consumerism began in 1936

with the founding of the Consumers Union, which continues to publish the popular maga-

zine Consumer Reports. Consumerism took off during the 1960s. Ralph Nader, who gained

notice by exposing allegedly unsafe automobiles, was a key figure in the new movement

and a major sponsor of new organizations. These included Public Interest Research Groups

(PIRGs)—campus organizations that emerged in the early 1970s and continue to provide

students with platforms for civic engagement. Partly in response to the PIRG organizations

and other groups, several conservative public-interest legal foundations have sprung up

that are often pitted against liberal groups in court.

other Public-Interest Groups. One of the largest public-interest groups is Common

Cause, founded in 1968. Its goal is to reorder national priorities toward “the public” and

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