For which of the following interest groups would the free-rider problem be most severe?

�      Why are groups so important?

�  Can individuals made change acting alone?

�   No, unless perhaps that person is extremely wealthy

�  Aggregation of resources

�   Money, members = power

�  Forming advocacy coalitions

�   Collective voice louder than single voice

�      Groups or �special interest groups� are sometimes viewed as a bad thing. Why?

Interest Groups: Background

�           Have been around since founding

�        Madison mentions them in Federalist 10

�           A relatively small number of groups until the 1960s

�        Major growth in interest groups in the 1960s

�        Why?

�      Diversity of population

�      Diffusion of power: more actors involved, so more room for lobbying

�      Increasing number of agencies/programs = more clients

�      Weakening of political parties: people turn to groups

�      Technology: Easier to form/maintain groups

�      Increasing public demands (resources and rights)

Kinds of Interest Groups

�      Institutional interest groups

�  Membership because you belong to a particular institution, such as Univ. of Kentucky

�   Share some interests with other students

�   Affordable tuition

�   Quality education

�      Membership interest groups

�  Groups you choose to join

�   NRA, Green Peace, AARP

Types of Membership Groups

�      Economic (private interest)

�   Are primarily interested in benefits for members

�   Example: Labor Unions --> The economic security of the group�s members are directly at stake

�      Public interest groups

�   Seek to create broad benefits for everyone

�   Example: environmental groups

�   ***Non-members of public interest groups are free-riders

�      Other types of groups

�   Churches, for example

Why Do People Join Groups?

�      To gain some sort of a benefit.

�  Economic well being or gain

�  The desire to do good

�  The desire to belong to or identify with a group

�  The desire to find a way to make one�s voice heard

�  To get the freebies: magazines, journals, calendars, etc.

What Do Groups Do?

�      Lobbying (providing information)

�   Lobbying individual members of Congress, Congressional Committees, members of bureaucracy

�    Lobbyists can provide information that is unavailable or unknown to elected officials

�    Has to be GOOD information, or else no one would listen to them again

�      Support candidates

�   Money to campaigns (directly or indirectly)

�   Votes (mobilization of members to vote for candidate)

When Lobbying Fails�

....Interest Groups turn to other strategies:

�      Mobilize members to take action

�  Contacting members of Congress, boycotting (Mont. Bus Boycott), March on Washington

�      Sue in court

�  NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc

�   Most prominent victory was Brown v. Board

�      Public protests and �direct action�

�  Riots, Protests (World Trade Organization)

Groups and Power

�      We all know that some groups have more power than others

�      Think of the most powerful interest groups in the United States:

������� � AARP

������� � AFL-CIO (Labor Unions)

������� � NRA

Why do some groups have more power than others?

Differences in Group Power

�      Resources

�   Money

�   Information

�      Size of membership

�   Not just membership, but ability to mobilize members

�    Voting, Contacting, Protest/Petition

�      Reasons for membership

�   Direct economic incentives

�   Material inducements

�      Congruence of goals with prevailing ideas and values

�   If public opinion supports a group�s cause

Free-rider Problem

�      Public goods are goods that can benefit everyone, and from which no one can be excluded

�   Two characteristics:

�    non-rival -- one person's enjoyment or consumption of the good does not prevent others from using it

�    non-excludable -- people cannot be prevented from using the good

�      Examples:

�   Roads, Nat�l defense, clean air, end of world hunger etc.

Free-rider Problem

�      Non-excludability leads to the free rider problem:

�      A free rider is a consumer or producer that benefits from the actions of others without paying

�  Because of the free rider problem, public goods are usually provided by the government, which levies taxes to pay for the goods

Overcoming Free-rider Problem

�      Small Groups

�   Peer pressure, solidarity incentives against free-riding

�      Coercion

�   Lobbying governmental jurisdictions to hire, approve, or certify only their members, to force free-riders to join

�      Selective benefits

�   Journals, consulting services, etc.

�   AARP: World�s largest mail-order pharmacy, low-cost insurance, discounts on goods/products/services (all for $12.50/yr.)

Which of the following groups are more likely to face the free rider problem?

Why are free riders a problem for interest groups trying to secure a collective goods?

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