Reminders!! • No class next Tuesday...please conceal your disappointment! • No tutorials next week – TA’s will hold office hours instead! • if you have questions for your TA, make sure to contact them by Friday, March 14th!!!
Political Parties Interest Aggregation Interest Representation March 6th
Political Parties vs. Interest Groups • interest groups strive to influence political outcomes • political parties strive to become the governing party • both represent political interests • political parties also aggregate interests • in doing so, political parties act to filter of interests
Type of Political Parties • basis of organization • electoral-professional parties vs. mass parties • basis of electoral competition • pragmatic parties (brokerage parties) • ideological-programmatic parties • interest parties
Ideological/Programmatic Parties • organized around social cleavages • class • religion • ethnicity • region • traditional conceptions of ideology • left vs. right
The Ideological Spectrum The Left -- Socialist The Right -- Conservative Less Gov’t More Gov’t • greater reliance on the market • fewer government regulations • no special treatment for special interest groups • lower taxes • government regulation of the economy • policies to help disadvantaged groups • policies to redistribute income
General Trends -- Political Parties • the rise of pragmatism
The Ideological Spectrum The Rise of Pragmatism The Left -- Socialist The Right -- Conservative Tony Blair (Britain) New Labour Bill Clinton (US) New Democrats George W. Bush (US) Compassionate Conservatism
General Trends -- Political Parties • single member plurality systems encourage pragmatic parties; PR promotes ideological/interest parties • the rise of pragmatism • parties increasingly competing to occupy the centre of the political spectrum • reasons? • success of pragmatic parties has been self-reinforcing • the fall of communism • affluence of western industrialized societies
Political Parties & Democracy • mass parties vs. electoral-professional parties • mass parties encourage greater participation in politics by the public • majoritarian democrats • electoral-professional parties • elite democrats
Political Parties & Democracy • ideological/interest parties vs. pragmatic parties • ideological/interest parties • gives clear electoral choices • help make elections meaningful • encourages greater mass participation • majoritarian democrats • pragmatic parties • depend on party elites (to broker deals among various interests) • elections • differences between parties are limited • electoral choice is really about best management team • elite democrats
Political Parties & Democracy • liberal democrats • crucial point is that individuals remain free to form political parties (and contest elections) free from state interference
Interest Groups Interest Representation
Interest Groups • organizations whose members act together to influence gov’t policy on specific issues, without contesting elections (different from parties!) • how do they influence -- lobbying • play an important role in representing citizen demands to gov’t
Determinants of Interest Group Influence: • size (membership) and cohesion • information, expertise • leadership, level of organization • financial resources • high-status (celebrity) membership • values, goals, tactics, issue -- compatible with broader public opinion? • ability to sway public opinion
Determinants of Influence -- Institutionalization • institutionalization -- degree to which a group has become an acknowledged actor in/part of the political process • levels of institutionalization • institutional/associational/anomic • danger for group -- co-optation • to become institutionalized, interest groups must adopt norms and behaviours inside the broader governing consensus • must be more concerned with preserving priveleged position in the long-term than winning on certain issues • danger for government – capture • government relies on group to the point that it loses it ability to act autonomously in that issue area
What Interest Groups Do -- Lobbying • tactics • quiet consultations • lobbying elected officials • lobbying bureaucratic officials • mobilizing public opinion • media campaigns • public demonstrations • the paradox of interest group influence • the most powerful interest groups are often the most quiet!
Interest Groups and Democracy • liberal democracy • pluralism • as long as individuals are free to form interest groups, interest group competition represents interests in society • groups do not have to be equal; groups have to have equal opportunity to compete
Interest Groups and Democracy • majoritarian democratic critique of interest group pluralism • interest group politics is grossly uneven • well-financed, privileged interests hold the advantage • the paradox of interest group influence • the strongest interest groups (e.g. economic interests) do not have to lobby in order to have influence • interest group influence displaces the influence of the general public • special interest groups
Interest Groups and Democracy • elite democracy • interest group competition and lobbying (even if grossly uneven) is fine so long as... • political elites retain the power to make overall decisions in the general welfare • the summation of all interest group demands does not equal the general welfare
Reminders!! • No class next Tuesday...please conceal your disappointment! • No tutorials next week – TA’s will hold office hours instead! • if you have questions for your TA, make sure to contact them by Friday, March 14th!!!
