American Government, Eighth Edition
James Q. Wilson, University of California, Los Angeles
John J. DiIulio, Jr., University of Pennsylvania
What Would You Do? Interactive: Interest Groups Simulation
You are the head of a large, national environmental group with a long history of activism in favor of environmental causes. Now, you are eager to prove that your group can be influential and capable of producing policy. Your membership is spread across the country. Currently, there is a Republican in the White House, and the Democrats have a slim majority in both the House and Senate. The next presidential election is two years away. Your organization is in favor of environmental policy that would impose tighter pollution restrictions against polluting the nation’s rivers, lakes, and oceans. There is a general agreement for this policy within Congress, yet the president has announced his opposition to the policy. You must develop a strategy for your group in hopes of getting something passed into law. Do you choose to:
Advocate a sweeping environmental bill that would impose stiff penalties on polluters and that finds support among most of your group's members.
Push for a more modest bill that allows for some pollution to continue while further cleaning up the nation’s water. This bill might be attractive to the president.
