June 9, 2013
A social “theory” carried out by cynical academics, angst-y undergraduates, disgruntled suburban-dwellers, and middle-aged couch potatoes, is that Congress is dumb and makes poor decisions (when your side loses, anyway). I have learned and now witnessed differently, but still see that Congress needs help getting their information from time to time. Theory tells us that interest groups have a lot of power. In my POLS 322 class last semester, U.S. Congress, we looked at how interest groups exert influence over Congress by educating those policymakers who know little about the subjects they need to debate, often including their own sway into whatever information is exchanged.
Here, in Washington, D.C., I’ve come to learn that interest groups and think-tanks have even more power than we had previously given them credit for. Working at a think-tank (which in a way falls under that label of “interest group”), I have discovered that not only do interest groups have power over policymakers, but they directly influence and sway policy decisions both among the congressional body and within the White House. Lobbying with Campus Progress, a college-student-focused activism group run by the Center for American Progress, I was able to attend meetings that had been arranged through the think-tank with members of congressional offices (from Minnesota) on the Hill.
Milling around with more-senior members of the think-tank, I soon learned that they had received some insider knowledge from White House and Congressional staff about the timing of loan-interest-related amendments and the content of debate that had not yet entered the floor. The staffers were able to cater their messaging to say what senators and representatives needed to hear. They had the best facts and figures about the effects of an increased loan rate, and had it summarized into quaint handouts with state-specific information. They made it incredibly easy for members to get some background about the issue of student loan interest, understand who it affects in their respective districts, why they should care, and what best-advised options are for addressing it in a timely fashion.
I went to the Hill as to lobby my members of Congress as a student, but also as a constituent. To disprove the stereotypes Mayhew highlights in The Electoral Connection, the members of Congress who are supposed to represent me and listen to my stories did, and I did not observe that they were only interested in “beating” the opposition or gaining personal power. Particularly on this issue, there was an expressed desire to come together over an issue that affects students from every spot on the political spectrum, constituents or not. I went to talk to staff members in Minnesota congressional offices about student debt after college and the approaching deadline for loan interest rates to double (which is the soon-arriving date of July 1st). In each office, I shared my debt story and reasons why different proposed plans would benefit students like me and support the freedom to pursue education for those who can’t cover the costs straight out of pocket. Though I only met with staffers, they each identified how my congressional representatives were already or were planning to address the issues I identified. The answers they gave were not always what I wanted to hear, but as a constituent, I was able to make my case for different plans and keep them accountable to the student voice—a voice they might not often hear when they spend time in DC.
The organization I was lobbying with provided that “putative empirical primacy,” accountability, and amplified my voice and access. The theory-cracking surprise, however, was that , despite not meeting with the Senators and Representatives themselves, this issue wasn’t about reelection, at least for now, with all of them having just re-secured their seats. No, it was truly about me being a constituent, here, at a very convenient time, making the right case, with the right think-tank and the right information. It almost seems like a coincidence, the timing, the information, but coincidences don’t happen often in this town. Everyone’s too smart for that.
A social “theory” carried out by cynical academics, angst-y undergraduates, disgruntled suburban-dwellers, and middle-aged couch potatoes, is that Congress is dumb and makes poor decisions (when your side loses, anyway). I have learned and now witnessed differently, but still see that Congress needs help getting their information from time to time. Theory tells us that interest groups have a lot of power. In my POLS 322 class last semester, U.S. Congress, we looked at how interest groups exert influence over Congress by educating those policymakers who know little about the subjects they need to debate, often including their own sway into whatever information is exchanged.
Here, in Washington, D.C., I’ve come to learn that interest groups and think-tanks have even more power than we had previously given them credit for. Working at a think-tank (which in a way falls under that label of “interest group”), I have discovered that not only do interest groups have power over policymakers, but they directly influence and sway policy decisions both among the congressional body and within the White House. Lobbying with Campus Progress, a college-student-focused activism group run by the Center for American Progress, I was able to attend meetings that had been arranged through the think-tank with members of congressional offices (from Minnesota) on the Hill.
Milling around with more-senior members of the think-tank, I soon learned that they had received some insider knowledge from White House and Congressional staff about the timing of loan-interest-related amendments and the content of debate that had not yet entered the floor. The staffers were able to cater their messaging to say what senators and representatives needed to hear. They had the best facts and figures about the effects of an increased loan rate, and had it summarized into quaint handouts with state-specific information. They made it incredibly easy for members to get some background about the issue of student loan interest, understand who it affects in their respective districts, why they should care, and what best-advised options are for addressing it in a timely fashion.
I went to the Hill as to lobby my members of Congress as a student, but also as a constituent. To disprove the stereotypes Mayhew highlights in The Electoral Connection, the members of Congress who are supposed to represent me and listen to my stories did, and I did not observe that they were only interested in “beating” the opposition or gaining personal power. Particularly on this issue, there was an expressed desire to come together over an issue that affects students from every spot on the political spectrum, constituents or not. I went to talk to staff members in Minnesota congressional offices about student debt after college and the approaching deadline for loan interest rates to double (which is the soon-arriving date of July 1st). In each office, I shared my debt story and reasons why different proposed plans would benefit students like me and support the freedom to pursue education for those who can’t cover the costs straight out of pocket. Though I only met with staffers, they each identified how my congressional representatives were already or were planning to address the issues I identified. The answers they gave were not always what I wanted to hear, but as a constituent, I was able to make my case for different plans and keep them accountable to the student voice—a voice they might not often hear when they spend time in DC.
The organization I was lobbying with provided that “putative empirical primacy,” accountability, and amplified my voice and access. The theory-cracking surprise, however, was that , despite not meeting with the Senators and Representatives themselves, this issue wasn’t about reelection, at least for now, with all of them having just re-secured their seats. No, it was truly about me being a constituent, here, at a very convenient time, making the right case, with the right think-tank and the right information. It almost seems like a coincidence, the timing, the information, but coincidences don’t happen often in this town. Everyone’s too smart for that.
