The Role of Special Interest Groups in the Legislative Process

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Overview

In this lesson students will examine the role of special interest groups, think tanks, and public opinion on the development of public policy and the political process.

 

Grade Levels

9 – 12

 

Objectives

Students will:

• identify four influences that affect how a Member of Congress decides to vote on a bill; and
• describe ways that individuals and groups influence legislators.

Estimated Time

2 - 3 days

 

Materials Needed

• Interactive Learning Module: How a Member Decides to Vote
• Interactive Learning Module: The Importance of Civic Participation
• Internet-enabled computer with Macromedia FLASH ® installed
• Projection device
• Access to school computer lab or other arrangement for student individual work

Procedure

Day 1

1. Define the term special interest group.
• Explain that a special interest group may be a locally organized group of citizens with a common legislative goal such as getting a school bond issue passed or getting a stop sign placed on a busy intersection.
• It may be a state wide organization of individuals with a common interest unique to their state, for example an organization of snowmobile owners who are interested in the building and maintenance of snow mobile trails in Minnesota.
• It may be a national group like the Chamber of Commerce (www.uschamber.com) which advocates for laws favorable to employers or the AFL-CIO (www.aflcio.org) which is an advocate for legislation favorable to the interests of employees.
• It may be a group we commonly call a think tank which does research and analysis to support or oppose proposed legislation. They may also propose new legislation. Think tanks are not neutral organizations. They represent the values and ideas of the people or groups that provide their funding. Two examples would be the Center for American Progress (www.americanprogress.org), a liberal think tank and the American Enterprise Institute (www.aei.org), a conservative think tank. Some think tanks also represent specific areas of concern like the environment or health care for example. However, every think tank operates to promote ideas and do research consistent with their political and social values of those who provide their financial support.
• Some special interest groups represent the interests of a specific section of the population like the AARP (www.aarp.org). These groups influence legislation by lobbying legislators, buying air time for commercials which promote their positions on public policy, publish books, journals, and other print advertising as well as present their ideas on blogs and other electronic media.
• Provide background material on several specific examples of each type of interest group described above. A list of several interest groups and links to their Web sites is provided in the Interactive Learning Module: The Importance of Civic Participation under "Joining Interest Groups, Some Interest Groups A to Z."
2. Explain to students that special interest groups are useful in that they provide information and research that is not always readily available. However, public policy making bodies must evaluate the claims and reasoning of special interest groups. In doing so they use skills in evaluating the truthfulness of their claims, the credibility and point of view of their sources, the logic/validity of their arguments, the credibility of their research, the particular interest and investment of the group in the legislation for which they are providing research and/or analysis.
3. Identify with your students a current public policy issue of interest. Have students access several of the interest group or think tank Web sites listed above or in the Interactive Learning Module: The Importance of Civic Participation. Instruct students to look for two separate interest groups or think tanks that have research, analysis, or opinions about the public policy issue in question. Ask students to describe the two groups or think tanks and compare the research, analysis, or opinions they find on the issue and write a short paper focusing on the points below.
   About the Organizations
   • Names of the organizations
   • Mission or vision statements of each organization
   • Source(s) of funding, if available
   Analysis
   • In what ways are the viewpoints of the groups/think tanks, as expressed on their Web sites, different?
   • What, if any, similarities do you find between their viewpoints?
   • Which viewpoint do you find more compelling? Why?
4. Discuss the use of polls by interest groups in promoting their public policy positions. Provide students with this list of questions that can be used to evaluate the legitimacy of polls and the validity of poll results:
   • Does the poll clearly identify the characteristics of the group of people being polled?
   • Is the wording of the questions in the poll fair or do they suggest or telegraph specific desired responses?
   • Do the people conducting the poll indicate the accuracy of their conclusions clearly?
   • Do they poll an adequate number of people; are their conclusions or summaries consistent with the data they have gathered?
   • Do they identify who paid for the poll and their reasons for doing the poll?
5. Have students conduct an Internet search using the terms "public opinion polls" or "public opinion surveys." Ask students to access several of the sites listed and take notes on the types of polls they find reported on these sites. Then have students select one of the poll information Web sites and write a short report describing the types of polls the site reports on, summarizing the results of one of the polls, and stating how the polls addressed the questions listed in #1 above.
6. To get a better picture of the types of questions asked in public opinion surveys conducted by a variety of interest groups, media outlets, and other polling organizations, access Pollingreport.com, which provides a comprehensive data bank of recent poll results on a wide range of topics. Have students examine examples of polling questions and results on topics of interest to them.
7. After students have had an opportunity to research the Web sites on polls and polling, lead them in a discussion on what they learned about public opinion polls. Ask students to describe the influence they think public opinion polls might have on legislators who are considering related bills in Congress.
8. To wrap up, have students complete as a class the Interactive Learning Module: How a Member Decides to Vote.
9. Then, lead students in a discussion identifying the instances where special interest groups and polls were used in the activity and in what ways they might influence how you would vote as a Member of Congress.

Extension Activity

Using the Internet provide students with examples of polls and positions of at least two conservative and two liberal think tanks plus two other interest groups on a current public policy issue. Immigration reform, school vouchers, requiring abstinence education in health classes or providing equal time to creation science in a science curriculum are all possible topics that might be considered. Below are listed some well-known think tanks that may be useful in addition to those mentioned previously.

• The Heritage Foundation http://www.heritage.org/
• RAND Corporation http://www.rand.org/research_areas/
• The Brookings Institute http://www.brookings.edu/topiclist.aspx
• The CATO Institute http://www.cato.org/researchareas.php

Provide students with a public opinion poll on the chosen issue. Direct students to do two things: evaluate the claims of the think tanks with the criteria developed earlier in class and evaluate the poll using the criteria listed earlier. Finally, hold a class discussion on the public opinion poll. Have students also state their position and the rationale for that position on the public policy issue.

Individualizing the Curriculum

Encourage motivated students to participate in government as concerned citizens by writing to an elected official or candidate, talking to other citizens about issues, attending a town meeting or other public forum, or by some other means. Have them state how they felt about their interactions and what they learned about making their voice heard.

 

Assessment

Basic Concepts and Processes

Ask your students to respond to the following requests for information and assess their knowledge of key concepts taught in this lesson.

1. Name four influences that affect how a Member of Congress decides to vote on a bill.

2. Describe ways that individuals and groups influence legislators.

 

Lesson Plan Feedback

If you have suggestions for improving this lesson plan, or if you have ideas for others using the module, please let us know. We value your input. Thank you!

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