Interest Group Lobbying and Negative Agenda Setting

• In Event: Interest Group Preferences and Party Agendas

Abstract

One of the primary reasons that outside interest groups, including businesses and citizen-based advocacy organizations, hire lobbyists is to influence the issues that a legislature considers. It is less clear if those organizations are attempting to engage in positive agenda setting, by promoting bills, or negative agenda setting, also known as blocking. This paper uses bill-level lobbying reports from Colorado and Wisconsin to show when businesses and advocacy organizations promote or block legislation. Contrary to conventional wisdom, many businesses promote legislation, provided it is authored by a Republican in a Republican-controlled chamber. The paper also investigates the process by which bills advance to final consideration, also known as “winnowing” to demonstrate the stages of the legislative process that interest group lobbying is effective at influencing the agenda setting process.

Author

• Alex Garlick, The College of New Jersey