Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T10:44:59.309Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Demographic Opportunities, Collective Action, Competitive Exclusion, and the Crowded Room: Lobbying Forms among Institutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Virginia Gray ,
David Lowery  and
Jennifer Wolak
Virginia Gray
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
David Lowery
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jennifer Wolak
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Two of the most notable changes in political interest communities in recent decades have been the rise of direct lobbying by institutions and the decline of collective lobbying via associations. These trends may be related to each other, since institutions can choose to lobby through either or both approaches. The shifting balance between direct and collective representation of institutional interests may signal important changes in how institutions perceive their interests, how those interests are pursued, and how diverse interests are aggregated in public policy. We present four theoretical perspectives—the demographic opportunity, collective action, competitive exclusion, and crowded room perspectives—to develop hypotheses about the relationship between these two forms of representation. We then employ both aggregate data on state lobby registrations and survey data on state lobbying by institutions to distinguish between these hypotheses. We find strongest support for the crowded room perspective, such that the relationship between direct and collective forms of interest representation tends to be one of mutualism rather than competition.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Spring 2004 , pp. 18 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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

Aldrich, Howard. 1999. Organizations Evolving. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Aldrich, Howard E., Zimmer, Catherine R., Staber, Udo H., and Beggs, John J.. 1994. “Minimalism, Mutualism, and Maturity: The Evolution of the American Trade Association Population in the 20th Century.” In Evolutionary Dynamics of Organizations, eds. Baum, Joe A. C. and Singh, Jitendra V.. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Andres, Gary J. 1985. “Business Involvement in Campaign Finance: Factors Influencing the Decision to Form a Corporate PAC.” PS:Politics and Political Science 18:156–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Leech, Beth L.. 1998. Basic Interests: The Importance of Groups in Politics and in Political Science. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Leech, Beth L.. 2001. “Interest Niches and Policy Bandwagons: Patterns of Interest Group Involvement in National Politics.” Journal of Politics 63:1191–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, Jeffrey M. 1999. The New Liberalism. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Brasher, Holly, Lowery, David, and Gray, Virginia. 1999. “State Lobby Registration Data: The Anomalous Case of Florida (and Minnesota too!).” Legislative Studies Quarterly 24:303–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browne, William P. 1988. Private Interests, Public Policy, and American Agriculture. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Browne, William P. 1990. “Organized Interests and Their Issue Niches: A Search for Pluralism in a Policy Domain.” Journal of Politics 52:477–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browne, William P. 1995. Cultivating Congress. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Browne, William P., and Ringquist, Delbert J.. 1993. “Michigan: Diversity and Professionalism in a Partisan Environment.” In Interest Group Politics in the Midwestern States, eds. Hrebenar, Ronald J. and Thomas, Clive S.. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.Google Scholar
Burns, Robert E., and Cheever, Herbert E. Jr. 1993. “South Dakota: Conflict and Cooperation among Conservatives.” In Interest Group Politics in the Midwestern States, eds. Hrebenar, Ronald J. and Thomas, Clive S.. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.Google Scholar
Carroll, Glenn R., and Hannan, Michael T.. 2000. The Demography of Corporations and Industries. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crotty, Patricia McGee. 1993. “Pennsylvania: Individualism Writ Large.” In Interest Group Politics in the Northeastern States, eds. Hrebenar, Ronald J. and Thomas, Clive S.. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Crotty, Patricia McGee. 1994. Personal Correspondence.Google Scholar
Engel, Michael. 1985. State and Local Politics: Fundamentals and Perspectives. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
English, Arthur, and Carroll, John J.. 1992. “Arkansas: The Politics of Inequality.” In Interest Group Politics in the Southern States, eds. Hrebenar, Ronald J. and Thomas, Clive S.. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.Google Scholar
Fleer, Jack D. 1992. “North Carolina: Interest Groups in a State in Transition.” In Interest Group Politics in the Southern States, eds. Hrebenar, Ronald J. and Thomas, Clive S.. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.Google Scholar
Grau, Craig H. 1993. “Minnesota: Labor and Business in an Issue-Oriented State.” In Interest Group Politics in the Midwestern States, eds. Hrebenar, Ronald J. and Thomas, Clive S.. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.Google Scholar
Gray, Virginia, and Lowery, David. 1995. “The Demography of Interest Organization Communities: Institutions, Associations, and Membership Groups.” American Politics Quarterly 23:3–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, Virginia, and Lowery, David. 1996a. “A Niche Theory of Interest Representation.” Journal of Politics 59:91–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, Virginia, and Lowery, David. 1996b. The Population Ecology of Interest Representation. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, Virginia, and Lowery, David. 1997. “Reconceptualizing PAC Formation: It's Not a Collective Action Problem, and It May Be an Arms Race.” American Politics Quarterly 25: 319–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, Virginia, and Lowery, David. 1998. “To Lobby Alone or in a Flock: Foraging Behavior among Organized Interests.” American Politics Quarterly 26: 5–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, Virginia, and Lowery, David. 2001. “The Institutionalization of State Communities of Organized Interests.” Political Research Quarterly 54: 265–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grier, Kevin B., Munger, Michael C., and Roberts, Brian E.. 1994. “The Determinants of Industry Political Activity, 1978-1986.” American Political Science Review 88:911–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagle, Timothy, and Mitchell, Glen E. II. 1992. “Goodness-of-Fit Measures for Probit and Logit.” American Journal of Political Science 36:762–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Richard D., and Wayman, Frank W.. 1990. “Buying Time: Moneyed Interests and the Mobilization of Bias in Congressional Committees.” American Political Science Review 84:797–820.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hannan, Michael T., and Carroll, Glenn R.. 1992. Dynamics of Organizational Populations. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hannan, Michael T., and Freeman, John. 1989. Organization Ecology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hansen, John Mark. 1991. Gaining Access. Chicago: University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Heinz, John P., Laumann, Edward O., Nelson, Robert L., and Salisbury, Robert. 1993. The Hollow Core. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Herndon, James F. 1982. “Access, Record, and Competition as Influences on Interest Group Contributions to Congressional Campaigns.” Journal of Politics 44:997–1019.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hojnacki, Marie. 1997. “Interest Groups' Decisions to Join Alliances or Work Alone.” American Journal of Political Science 41:61–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Humphries, Craig. 1991. “Corporations, PACs and the Strategic Link Between Contributions and Lobbying Activities.” Western Political Quarterly 44:353–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, Kennith G., Wilson, Laura Ann, and Brunk, Gregory G.. 1991. “Social Complexity and Interest-Group Lobbying in the American States.” Journal of Politics 53:488–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jankowski, Richard. 1989. “Preference Aggregation in Firms and Corporatist Organizations: The Enterprise Group as a Cellular Encompassing Organization.” American Journal of Political Science 33:973–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kollman, Ken. 1998. Outside Lobbying. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Lack, David. 1947. Darwin's Finches. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lowery, David, and Gray, Virginia. 1993. “The Density of State Interest Group Systems.” Journal of Politics 55:191–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowery, David, and Gray, Virginia. 1994. “Do Lobbying Regulations Influence Lobbying Registrations.” Social Science Quarterly 75:382–4.Google Scholar
Lowery, David, and Gray, Virginia. 1995. “The Population Ecology of Gucci Gulch, or the Natural Regulation of Interest Group Numbers in the American States.” American Journal of Political Science 39:1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowery, David, and Gray, Virginia. 1997. “How Some Rules Just Don't Matter: The Regulation of Lobbyists.” Public Choice 91:139–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowery, David, and Gray, Virginia. 1998a. “Representational Concentration and Interest Community Size: A Population Ecology Interpretation.” Political Research Quarterly 51:919–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowery, David, and Gray, Virginia. 1998b. “The Dominance of Institutions in Interest Representation: A Test of Seven Explanations.” American Journal of Political Science 42:231–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowery, David, and Gray, Virginia. 2001. “The Expression of Density Dependence in State Communities of Organized Interests.” American Politics Quarterly 29:374–91.Google Scholar
Masters, Marick F., and Keim, Gerald D.. 1985. “Determinants of PAC Participation Among Large Corporations.” Journal of Politics 47:1158–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McChesney, Fred S. 1997. Money for Nothing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
McKeown, Timothy. 1994. “The Epidemiology of Corporate PAC Formation, 1975-84.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 24:153–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, Neil F., Hansen, Wendy L., and Jepsen, Eric. 1997. “The Determinants of Domestic and Foreign Corporate Political Activity.” Journal of Politics 59:1096–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morehouse, Sarah M. 1981. State Politics, Parties, and Policy. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur Jr. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur Jr. 1982. The Rise and Decline of Nations. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Renzulli, Diane. 2002. Capitol Offenders: How Private Interests Govern Our States. Washington, DC: Public Integrity Books.Google Scholar
Salisbury, Robert. 1984. “Interest Representation: The Dominance of Institutions.” American Political Science Review 81: 64–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlozman, Kay Lehman, and Tierney, John T.. 1986. Organized Interests and American Democracy. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Smith, Mark A. 2000. American Business and Political Power. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Clive S., and Hrebenar, Ronald J.. 1999. “Interest Groups in the States.” In Politics in the American States, eds. Gray, Virginia, Hansen, Russell L., and Jacob, Herbert. 7th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Walker, Jack L. Jr. 1991. Mobilizing Interest Groups in America: Patrons, Professionals, and Social Movements. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, Darrell M., and Loomis, Burdett A.. 1999. The Sound of Money: How Political Interests Get What They Want. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Wilson, James Q. 1973. Political Organizations. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Wolak, Jennifer, Lowery, David, and Gray, Virginia. 2001. “California Dreaming: Outliers, Leverage, and Influence in Comparative State Political Analysis.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 1:255–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, John R. 1990. “Contributions, Lobbying, and Committee Voting in the U.S. House of Representatives.” American Political Science Review 84: 411–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeigler, L. Harmon. 1976. “Interest Groups in State Politics.” In Politics in the American States, eds. Jacob, Herbert and Vines, Kenneth. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.Google Scholar