Suchergebnisse

In recent political literature, pressure groups have frequently been condemned as a deleterious element in American government. One scholar in the field of political parties writes: "In the economy of democratic government the pressure group is definitely a parasite on the wastage of power exercised by the sovereign majority." Another scholar uses the following harsh language: "There exist socially created constraints which emanate from less sanctioned or less responsible sources, informal and opportunistic in their operation; they fluctuate incessantly in intensity and direction. These constraints may be called social pressures…. In R. E. Park's comment: 'The pressure group is not an army which seeks to win battles by frontal attacks on hostile positions; it is, rather, a body of sharp-shooters which pick off its enemies one by one.'" Another student of politics, in a denunciation of pressure groups, says: "It is a testimonial to the faith, the tenacity, or the credulity of the American people that after 150 years they still cling to the forms—without the substance—of democratic government. Since the founding of the Republic the democratic process has been perverted to a greater or less degree by cunning and powerful minorities bent on serving their own interests. The ideal of rule by the majority for the good of the many has been illusory from the start."

As elsewhere pressure groups in France operate on all levels of the political process: shaping public opinion, manipulating political parties, pressing for favorable legislation in Parliament and for desirable rulings by the executive. What distinguishes the tactics and the effects of pressure-group action from those in other countries results rather from the particu larities of the French political apparatus, from the uneven de velopment of economic growth, and from the divided loyalties of the French people. Because of the lack of disciplined par ties in a multiparty parliamentary system, interest groups can operate from within the cabinet. The question to which ex tent it has penetrated the once solidly walled sphere of the high administration is controversial. But that the rigidity and an "immobilism," characteristic of pressure groups everywhere, is transferred in France to the machinery of government, is gen erally admitted; it leads to an analogous immobilism of the political organs and hence has contributed to the crisis of the French Republic.

Lobbying is the sum of all communicated influ ences—both direct and indirect—on legislators concerning leg islation. It is indispensable to effective lawmaking which, in a democracy, is always the product of compromise. Every Member of Congress is a message center and reagent in the vast communications system through which the electorate make known their needs. The "good" representative is he who effectively accommodates opposing interests within his con stituency; who successfully relates the needs of his constituents to those of the people as a whole; and who harmonizes his re sponses to the demands made upon him with the dictates of his conscience. The touchstone of "good" lobbying and "bad" lobbying is only whether the message conveyed is intelligible and accurate, or cryptic and misleading. Legislation will be improved when more and more people learn to intervene di rectly in the conduct of our national affairs. Venal lobbying is already the subject of criminal prohibition and penalty, and indirect, or "grass-roots" lobbying is best kept within check by vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws, to assure "the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources."

During the past few decades the number of pres sure groups has rapidly multiplied, the scope of their activities has vastly expanded, and their methods and tactics have become more professionalized and subtle. Today the more highly organized groups have lobbyists in Washington and in many state capitals, well-staffed bureaus of press agents and research personnel, and active membership groups across the nation. In general, pressure groups function in a pragmatic fashion, employing any procedures or methods which will ef fectively promote their aims. Pressure groups attempt to ex ert influence on every phase of the political process. They en deavor to influence their own members and other groups; urge political parties to endorse favored policies; work for the selec tion of "friendly" officials; and attempt to secure favorable decisions from executive, legislative, and judicial officials. Pos sibly the most significant contemporary development in pres sure-group activity is the continual increase in their efforts to mold public sentiment by utilizing the media of mass communi cation. Noteworthy recent developments in this area include the widespread use of institutional advertising and the estab lishment of the foundation, committees, councils, and institutes which have as their basic purpose the influencing of public attitudes.