8.2: Types of Interest Groups

Roughly half of the interest groups active in Washington, D.C., including all of the top ten groups by spending in 2022 (as shown in Figure 8.1 below), are economically focused. Some, such as the United States Chamber of Commerce, are made up of companies in multiple industries and advocate for policies that are good for business in general, such as lower taxes and deregulation. Others, such as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, consist of companies in the same industry — in PhRMA’s case, drug manufacturing — and push for policies beneficial to that industry. Individual corporations, such as Coca-Cola, sometimes function as interest groups to influence government policy in their favor. Professional associations representing specific occupations, such as the American Bar Association (which promotes the interests of lawyers), also fall under this economic umbrella.

Figure 8.1: Top ten interest groups by lobbying expenses, 2022 (Source: Open Secrets)

An important subset of economic interest groups is labor unions. These organizations, such as the AFL-CIO (the largest federation of labor unions in the United States), stand for worker’s rights and advocate for policies such as higher wages, safer working conditions, and generous benefits programs. Labor unions often find themselves at odds with business groups over these policies, with the former arguing that they are necessary for workers’ well-being and the latter contending that they are bad for business. The power of unions, especially private-sector unions, in the United States has declined over time from its peak in the 1950s. No unions appear among the ten top-spending groups in 2022 — in fact, if the spending of all U.S. labor organizations was combined, they would only come in at number three on the list — but they nonetheless remain an influential force in American politics.

Some interest groups are primarily concerned not with economic issues but with other aspects of politics. These groups are sometimes called “public interest” or “single-issue” groups, depending on how broad their goals are. AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) exist to promote the interests of the groups represented in their names. The American Legion, the National Rifle Association, Planned Parenthood, and the Sierra Club all concentrate their advocacy on a specific issue or issue area (veterans affairs, gun rights, abortion, and the environment, respectively).

Yet another class of interest groups is made up of governments (or coalitions of governments) trying to influence other governments. One such group, the National League of Cities, advocates on behalf of municipal governments, focusing their efforts on policies related to American federalism that impact cities. Foreign governments also send representatives to the United States to push for diplomatic, economic, and security policies to benefit their countries; Israel, Japan, and Saudi Arabia are among the biggest spenders in this category. These organizations meet the definition of interest group because, although they are governments themselves, they are attempting to influence the actions of a different government (the U.S. national government) from outside that government.

This chapter mostly focuses on interest groups that pressure America’s national government in Washington, D.C., but interest groups can and do pressure state and local governments as well. America’s federal system separates power across multiple levels of government, and outside organizations attempt to influence how that power is exercised wherever it resides.