Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:20:41.956Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Interest group lobbying and partisan polarization in the United States: 1999–2016

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2021

Alex Garlick Open the ORCID record for Alex Garlick [Opens in a new window]
Alex Garlick*
Affiliation:
Political Science, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey, USA
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstact

The lobbying activity of interest groups has been overlooked as a contributing factor to legislative party polarization in the United States. Using bill-level data from Congress and three state legislatures, I show floor votes on bills lobbied by more non-profit interest groups are more polarized by party. The state legislative data demonstrate the robustness of the relationship between lobbying and polarization, showing it is not an artifact of party agenda control, salience, or bill content. Increased lobbying from these groups in recent years helps explain high levels of partisan polarization in Congress and an uneven pattern across the state legislatures.

Keywords

American politicslegislative politicspolitical parties and interest groupsstate and intergovernmental politics
Type
Original Article
Information
Political Science Research and Methods , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , July 2022 , pp. 488 - 506
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ansolabehere, S, Snyder, J and Tripathi, M (2002) Are PAC contributions and lobbying linked? New evidence from the 1995 Lobby Disclosure Act. Business and Politics 4(2), 131–155.10.1080/1369525022000015586CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anzia, SF and Jackman, MC (2013) Legislative organization and the second face of power: evidence from US State legislatures. The Journal of Politics 75(1), 210–224.10.1017/S0022381612000977CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, FR, Berry, JM, Hojnacki, M, Leech, BL and Kimball, DC (2009) Lobbying and Policy Change: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.10.7208/chicago/9780226039466.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bawn, K, Cohen, M, Karol, D, Masket, S, Noel, H and Zaller, J (2012) A theory of political parties: groups, policy demands and nominations in American politics. Perspectives on Politics 10(3), 571–597.10.1017/S1537592712001624CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, JM (1999) The New Liberalism. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Binder, M, Kogan, V and Kousser, T (2011) How GAVEL Changed Party Politics in Colorado's General Assembly. In Daum, C, Duffy, R and Straayer, J (eds), State of Change: Colorado Politics in the Twenty-First Century. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pp. 153–173.Google Scholar
Birnbaum, JH and Murray, AS (1988) Showdown at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers, Lobbyists, and the Unlikely Triumph of Tax Reform. New York, NY: Vintage.Google Scholar
Bonica, A (2013) Ideology and interests in the political marketplace. American Journal of Political Science 57(2), 294–311.10.1111/ajps.12014CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonica, A (2016) Avenues of influence: on the political expenditures of corporations and their directors and executives. Business and Politics 18(4), 367–394.10.1515/bap-2016-0004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Box-Steffensmeier, JM, Christenson, DP and Craig, AW (2019) Cue-taking in Congress: interest group signals from dear colleague letters. American Journal of Political Science 63(1), 163–180.10.1111/ajps.12399CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broockman, DE and Skovron, C (2018) Bias in perceptions of public opinion among political elites. American Political Science Review 112(3), 1–22.10.1017/S0003055418000011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgess, M, Giraudy, E, Katz-Samuels, J, Walsh, J, Willis, D, Haynes, L and Ghani, R (2016) The Legislative Influence Detector: Finding Text Reuse in State Legislation. Proceedings of the 22nd ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, San Francisco, CA, ACM, pp. 57–66.10.1145/2939672.2939697CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clemens, ES (1997) The People's Lobby: Organizational Innovation and the Rise of Interest Group Politics in the United States, 1890–1925. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Continetti, M (2006) The K Street Gang: The Rise and Fall of the Republican Machine. New York, NY: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Cox, GW and McCubbins, MD (2005) Setting the Agenda: Responsible Party Government in the US House of Representatives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511791123CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crosson, JM, Furnas, A and Lorenz, G (2020) Polarized pluralism organizational preferences and biases in the American pressure system. American Political Science Review 114(4), 1117–1137.10.1017/S0003055420000350CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Figueiredo, JM and Richter, BK (2014) Advancing the empirical research on lobbying. Annual Review of Political Science 17, 163–185.10.1146/annurev-polisci-100711-135308CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Figueiredo, JM and Tiller, EH (2001) The structure and conduct of corporate lobbying: how firms lobby the Federal Communications Commission. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy 10(1), 91–122.10.1162/105864001300122566CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dominguez, CBK (2011) Does the party matter? Endorsements in congressional primaries. Political Research Quarterly 64(3), 534–544.10.1177/1065912910376389CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drutman, LJ (2015) The Business of America is Lobbying: How Corporations became Politicized and Politics became more Corporate. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190215514.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fouirnaies, A and Hall, AB (2018) How do interest groups seek access to committees?. American Journal of Political Science 62(1), 132–147.10.1111/ajps.12323CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franz, MM (2008) Choices and Changes: Interest Groups in the Electoral Process. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Garlick, A (2017) National policies, agendas, and polarization in American state legislatures: 2011 to 2014. American Politics Research 45(6), 939–979.10.1177/1532673X17719719CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, KM (1999) Interest Groups, Lobbying, and Participation in America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511528019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grasse, N and Heidbreder, B (2011) The influence of lobbying activity in state legislatures: evidence from Wisconsin. Legislative Studies Quarterly 36(4), 567–589.10.1111/j.1939-9162.2011.00027.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, V, Cluverius, J, Harden, JJ, Shor, B and Lowery, D (2015) Party competition, party polarization, and the changing demand for lobbying in the American states. American Politics Research 43(2), 175–204.10.1177/1532673X14547678CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossmann, M and Dominguez, CBK (2009) Party coalitions and interest group networks. American Politics Research 37(5), 767–800.10.1177/1532673X08329464CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossmann, M and Pyle, K (2013) Lobbying and congressional bill advancement. Interest Groups & Advocacy 2(1), 91–111.10.1057/iga.2012.18CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haeder, SF and Yackee, SW (2015) Influence and the administrative process: lobbying the US President's Office of Management and Budget. American Political Science Review 109(3), 507–522.10.1017/S0003055415000246CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, RL and Deardorff, AV (2006) Lobbying as legislative subsidy. American Political Science Review 100(01), 69–84.10.1017/S0003055406062010CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heaney, MT (2010) Linking Political Parties and Interest Groups. In Maisel, S, Berry, J and Edwards, G (eds). The Oxford Handbook of American Political Parties and Interest Groups. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–19.Google Scholar
Hertel-Fernandez, A, Mildenberger, M and Stokes, LC (2019) Legislative staff and representation in Congress. American Political Science Review 113(1), 1–18.10.1017/S0003055418000606CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holyoke, TT (2019) Dynamic state interest group systems: a new look with new data. Interest Groups & Advocacy 8(4), 499–518.10.1057/s41309-019-00058-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, MV, Kidd, Q and Morris, IL (2008) Two sides of the same coin? Employing Granger causality tests in a time series cross-section framework. Political Analysis 16(3), 324–344.10.1093/pan/mpn002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koger, G, Masket, S and Noel, H (2009) Partisan webs: information exchange and party networks. British Journal of Political Science 39(03), 633–653.10.1017/S0007123409000659CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lapinski, JS (2013) The Substance of Representation: Congress, American Political Development, and Lawmaking. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Lapinski, JS, Levendusky, M, Winneg, K and Jamieson, KH (2016) What do citizens want from their member of Congress?. Political Research Quarterly 69(3), 535–545.10.1177/1065912916652240CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LaPira, TM and Thomas, HF (2017) Revolving Door Lobbying: Public Service, Private Influence, and the Unequal Representation of Interests. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Lee, FE (2016) Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.10.7208/chicago/9780226409184.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, DC (2013) Advocacy and influence: lobbying and legislative outcomes in Wisconsin. Interest Groups & Advocacy 2(2), 206–226.10.1057/iga.2013.5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindstadt, R and Vander Wielen, RJ (2011) Timely shirking: time-dependent monitoring and its effects on legislative behavior in the US Senate. Public Choice 148(1-2), 119–148.10.1007/s11127-010-9649-yCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahoney, C and Baumgartner, FR (2015) Partners in advocacy: lobbyists and government officials in Washington. The Journal of Politics 77(1), 202–215.10.1086/678389CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maraniss, D and Weisskopf, M (1996) Tell Newt to Shut Up!. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Masket, S (2009) No Middle Ground: How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarty, N (2019) Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.10.1093/wentk/9780190867782.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarty, N and Schickler, E (2018) On the theory of parties. Annual Review of Political Science 21, 175–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKay, A (2012) Negative lobbying and policy outcomes. American Politics Research 40(1), 116–146.10.1177/1532673X11413435CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mummolo, J and Peterson, E (2018) Improving the interpretation of fixed effects regression results. Political Science Research and Methods 6(4), 829–835.10.1017/psrm.2017.44CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payson, J (2020) Cities in the Statehouse: how local governments use lobbyists to secure state funding. The Journal of Politics 82(2), 403–417.10.1086/706767CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poole, KT and Rosenthal, H (2000) Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Richman, J (2015) The electoral costs of party agenda setting: why the Hastert rule leads to defeat. The Journal of Politics 77(4), 1129–1141.10.1086/682415CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogers, S (2016) National forces in state legislative elections. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 667(1), 207–225.10.1177/0002716216662454CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogers, S (2017) Electoral accountability for state legislative roll calls and ideological representation. American Political Science Review 111(3), 555–571.10.1017/S0003055417000156CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schattschneider, EE (1960) The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America. New York: Thomson Learning.Google Scholar
Schnakenberg, KE (2017) Informational lobbying and legislative voting. American Journal of Political Science 61(1), 129–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seawright, J and Gerring, J (2008) Case selection techniques in case study research a menu of qualitative and quantitative options. Political Research Quarterly 61(2), 294–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shor, B and McCarty, N (2011) The ideological mapping of American legislatures. American Political Science Review 105(3), 530–551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shor, B and McCarty, N (2015) Aggregate State Legislator Shor-McCarty Ideology Data, June 2015 update. http://dx.doi.org/10.7910/DVN/K7ELHW.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, BD (1977) Determinants of aggregate party cohesion in the US House of Representatives, 1901–1956. Legislative Studies Quarterly 2(2), 155–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, J and Groseclose, T (2000) Estimating Party Influence in Congressional Roll-Call Voting. American Journal of Political Science 44(2), 193–211.10.2307/2669305CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thieme, S (2020) Moderation or strategy? Political giving by corporations and trade groups. Journal of Politics 82(3), 1171–1175.10.1086/707619CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, JL (1983) The origins and maintenance of interest groups in America. American Political Science Review 77(2), 390–406.10.2307/1958924CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, JL (1991) Mobilizing Interest Groups in America: Patrons, Professions, and Social Movements. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waterhouse, BC (2015) Lobbying America: The Politics of Business from Nixon to NAFTA. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Wright, JR (1985) PACs, contributions, and roll calls: an organizational perspective. American Political Science Review 79(2), 400–414.10.2307/1956656CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, JR (1990) Contributions, lobbying, and committee voting in the US House of representatives. American Political Science Review 84(2), 417–438.10.2307/1963527CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

Garlick Dataset

Dataset

https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/RRC08M
Link
Supplementary material: PDF

Garlick supplementary material

Garlick supplementary material

Download Garlick supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 187.1 KB