A Quiet Revolution in State Lobbying: Government Growth and Interest Populations

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4 Scopus citations

Abstract

What explains contemporary numbers of interest groups in America? To answer this question and help address conflicting narratives in research, I examine the rise of interest groups in the states. Assembling an original dataset based on archival and secondary sources, I find that relatively few groups lobbied legislators prior to the 1960s or 1970s. During those decades, numbers of interest groups began to grow rapidly. I find that increases in lawmaking activities present inconsistent effects on the political mobilization of groups but increases in spending are strongly correlated with mobilization. In additional tests, I find that the effects of spending on group numbers vary by state and are not discernible in most states. In general, a historic transformation of state governments helps to account for the growth of state lobbying. Interest groups have remained active in state capitols ever since.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1181-1196
Number of pages16
JournalPolitical Research Quarterly
Volume74
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2021

Keywords

  • government growth
  • interest groups
  • lobbying
  • public choice
  • state politics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science

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