Interest Groups in the Colombian Congress: Group Behavior in a Centralized, Patrimonial Political System

1974 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey F. Kline
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political System ◽  
Group Behavior ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Unit Of Analysis ◽  
Italian Politics ◽  
Organized Interest ◽  
Cross National

The use of “group” as a unit of analysis has a long tradition in political science. Some proponents of this approach (Bentley, 1908; Hagan, 1966) define group in such a broad way as to simplify the study of politics little if any. An empirically more useful approach to the study of groups is that pursued by David Truman (1955), who concentrates his attention on interest groups. Although he never states that all of the politics of the United States can be understood through the study of interest groups, it is clear that Truman considers the study of such groups to be a central aspect and, in effect, hypothesizes that such would be the case in any political system. Whether this is in fact the case can be tested by cross-national studies. In one such study, Joseph La Palombara (1960) concluded that the important aspects of Italian politics are not explained satisfactorily by studying organized interest groups. This is in direct contradiction to Truman's implicit hypothesis, which would be refuted if numerous studies in other political systems concluded as La Palombara's did.

scholarly journals Comparison of the Influence of the Chinese Lobby and the Israeli Lobby in the United States

2015 ◽  
pp. 84-98
Author(s):  
D. B. Grafov
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
The Political ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
National Interests ◽  
China Lobby

The article is about how pro-Israel and pro-China interest groups try to lobby on the ground of Capitol, White House and executive branch. The study of the lobbying results is based on «General theory of action» T. Parsons. It is concluded that for lobbying interests the main point will be the representation of the interests in the political and public spaces and the creating of advocacy and lobbying infrastructure. The ability of the Israeli lobby to achieve the goal can be explained, firstly, by political inclusion in the decision-making process, and, secondly, by almost axiomatic representation Israel interests through the national interests of the United States. The Israeli lobby can be considered as the religious lobby. It can use the possibilities of Jewish religious organizations in grass root action. Also this gives the opportunity to avoid the requirements of the LDA. From the point of view of the theory of Talcott Parsons, the success of the Israeli lobby is the cause of the action of a large number of actors that may form in large groups. Another advantage of the Israeli lobby is the ability of its members to get relevant information about the current situation in different spheres of political life in the U.S. The objective of the present study was to reveal the ways in which China lobby succeeds. The influence of China lobby on decision-making process in the United States can be explained through strong economic ties between American corporations and the Chinese market. When lobbying China uses numerous Chinese Diaspora in many States, as well as trying to interest of the former high-ranking American officials, granting them special privileges for doing business in China. In comparison to the Israeli lobby, the Chinese lobby has weaknesses. Chinese interest groups are not included in the political system of the USA and this is the disadvantage of the Chinese way of lobbying. Unlike Israel lobby Chinese one is external. The interests of the chinese pressure groups do not coincide with American national interests. Their actors are not rooted in the American political system.

scholarly journals Federalism in the United States

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Troy Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Democratic Values ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Political Integrity ◽  
Good Policy

Federalism is one of America’s unique contributions to modern political systems. Generally, federalism refers to a political system that unites separate polities into an overarching political organization with protections to maintain the fundamental political integrity of each. This definition limits federalism to a specific governmental structure and emphasizes the state and sovereignty. Federalism is also understood as the institutionalization of relationships via a particular constitutional framework that facilitates autonomy, diversity, and equality among participants, in contrast to the subordinate relationships found in ordered, hierarchical, and centralized political structures and institutions. Federal structures commonly fragment authority and create overlapping jurisdictions to foster coordinative relationships. Federalism studies are interested in the causes and foundation of federal systems, what federal systems require to be self-reinforcing, how different units of government interact with each other and the public, and how federal institutions affect political outcomes, including fostering democratic values, diversity, and good policy.

Collective Actors and Corporate Targets in Tobacco Control: A Cross-National Comparison

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance A. Nathanson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Public Health Action ◽  
Collective Actors ◽  
National Comparison ◽  
Health Action ◽  
Cross National

Cross-national comparative analysis of tobacco control strategies can alert health advocates to how opportunities for public health action, types of action, and probabilities for success are shaped by political systems and cultures. This article is based on case studies of tobacco control in the United States, Canada, Britain, and France. Two questions are addressed: (a) To whom were the dangers of smoking attributed? and (b) What was the role of collective action—grassroots level organization—in combating these dangers? Activists in Canada, Britain, and France moved earlier than the United States did to target the tobacco industry and the state. Locally based advocacy centered on passive smoking has been far more important in the United States. The author concludes that U.S.-style advocacy has played a major role in this country’s smoking decline but is insufficient in and of itself to change the corporate practices of a wealthy and politically powerful industry.

Seeing Sexuality

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Engel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Movement Behavior ◽  
Developmental Approach ◽  
Unit Of Analysis ◽  
State Recognition ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Primary Unit

This chapter lays out the parameters of one developmental approach to sexuality politics in the United States. Whereas much scholarship in LGBTQ politics has focused on public opinion, interest groups, and social movement behavior, this chapter focuses on citizenship as the primary unit of analysis since citizenship, as it connotes a relationship between the individual and the state in which the latter acknowledges the former to fall within its responsibility to regulate and protect, brings the connection between state development and sexual identity to the fore. State institutions have recognized the LGBTQ citizen in distinct ways, often simultaneously, creating frictions among multiple regulatory orders and laws and creating additional opportunity and motivation for social change. The chapter details five such modalities of state recognition and regulation suggesting that the nature of sexual citizenship is contingent on the particular order of authority with which the LGBTQ individual engages.

Cross-National Comparison of School Victimization Between Canada and the United States

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian J. Cohen ◽  
Christine Ateah ◽  
Joseph Ducette ◽  
Matthew Mahon ◽  
Alexander Tabori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Comparison ◽  
School Victimization ◽  
Cross National

Bipartisanship as Possible Alternative of Russian Political System Evolution

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 256-265
Author(s):  
Konstantin V. Simonov ◽  
Stanislav P. Mitrakhovich
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
The United States ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Complex Structures ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Simultaneous Separation

The article examines the possibility of transfer to bipartisan system in Russia. The authors assess the benefits of the two-party system that include first of all the ensuring of actual political competition and authority alternativeness with simultaneous separation of minute non-system forces that may contribute to the country destabilization. The authors analyze the accompanying risks and show that the concept of the two-party system as the catalyst of elite schism is mostly exaggerated. The authors pay separate attention to the experience of bipartisan system implementation in other countries, including the United States. They offer detailed analysis of the generated concept of the bipartisanship crisis and show that this point of view doesn’t quite agree with the current political practice. The authors also examine the foreign experience of the single-party system. They show that the success of the said system is mostly insubstantial, besides many of such systems have altered into more complex structures, while commentators very often use not the actual information but the established myths about this or that country. The authors also offer practical advice regarding the potential technologies of transition to the bipartisan system in Russia.

scholarly journals Diasporic Foreign Policy Interest Groups in the United States: Democracy, Conflict, and Political Entrepreneurship

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Shubha Kamala Prasad ◽  
Filip Savatic
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Indian American ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Political Entrepreneurs ◽  
Do So ◽  
Policy Interest

Why do some immigrant diasporas in the United States (U.S.) establish foreign policy interest groups while others do not? While scholars have demonstrated that diasporic interest groups often successfully influence U.S. foreign policy, we take a step back to ask why only certain diasporas attempt to do so in the first place. We argue that two factors increase the likelihood of diaspora mobilization: a community’s experience with democratic governance and conflict in its country of origin. We posit that these conditions make it more likely that political entrepreneurs emerge to serve as catalysts for top-down mobilization. To test our hypotheses, we collect and analyze novel data on diasporic interest groups as well as the characteristics of their respective countries of origin. In turn, we conduct the first in-depth case studies of the historical and contemporary Indian-American lobbies, using original archival and interview evidence.

scholarly journals Family caregiving and place of death: Insights from cross-national analysis of the Harmonized End of Life Data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Ailshire ◽  
Margarita Osuna ◽  
Jenny Wilkens ◽  
Jinkook Lee
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Nursing Home ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Family Caregiving ◽  
The United States ◽  
Place Of Death ◽  
Life Data ◽  
Cross National ◽  
At Home

Abstract Objectives Family is largely overlooked in research on factors associated with place of death among older adults. We determine if family caregiving at the end of life is associated with place of death in the United States and Europe. Methods We use the Harmonized End of Life data sets developed by the Gateway to Global Aging Data for the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We conducted multinomial logistic regression on 7,113 decedents from 18 European countries and 3,031 decedents from the United States to determine if family caregiving, defined based on assistance with activities of daily living, was associated with death at home versus at a hospital or nursing home. Results Family caregiving was associated with reduced odds of dying in a hospital and nursing home, relative to dying at home in both the United States and Europe. Care from a spouse/partner or child/grandchild was both more common and more strongly associated with place of death than care from other relatives. Associations between family caregiving and place of death were generally consistent across European welfare regimes. Discussion This cross-national examination of family caregiving indicates that family-based support is universally important in determining where older adults die. In both the United States and in Europe, most care provided during a long-term illness or disability is provided by family caregivers, and it is clear families exert tremendous influence on place of death.

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