This chapter dealt with two organizations which collectively attempt to influence government and society—interest groups and social movements. The chapter began with the historical development of interest groups as well as the Madisonian assumptions to the role played by factionalism within a large polity like the U.S. Furthermore, a framing discussion was offered as to whether or not “factions” of one type or another contribute to democracy (are deemed pluralistic) or detract from it (are seen as elitist). The chief socio-economic change brought on before and after the Civil War was the industrialization/urbanization that created an impetus for widespread group formation and activity. The Progressive/New Deal eras and the Great Society period of the 1960’s and 1970’s ushered in the modern group system that we still see today.
Interest group resources such as membership, leadership, and organization, as well as strategies employing insider (i.e. lobbying) and outsider (i.e. grassroots mobilizing), were discussed at length within the chapter. Groups were differentiated along economic/private (i.e. peak associations and labor unions) and social/public (i.e. issue and citizen advocacy groups) dimensions.
Finally, the chapter discussed social movements as an outside the mainstream alternative for citizen mobilization. Four theories explaining the nature and origins of such movements including social strain, resource mobilization, political process, and the social psychological were contrasted with each other. As a case example the various women’s movements were examined from their 19th century origins as suffrage in orientation to the equal rights and privacy issues (like abortion) that have come to dominate their concerns since the late 20th century. |
