Interest groups power and politics in Decatur, Illinois

Abstract

The thesis investigates perceptions of local interest groups concerning policy-making in Decatur, Illinois. Local interest group studies focus on economic groups such as the Chamber of Commerce. Literature indicates that these groups are influential in policymaking because of their important political resources. The literature lacks studies of noneconomic group involvement in policy-making. Furthermore, the literature lacks studies of local interest group processes in medium-sized cities. The thesis looks at noneconomic interest group perceptions of policy-making in a medium-sized city. To investigate perceptions, three hypotheses are explored using nineteen semi-structured interviews with group officials and document analysis. The thesis hypothesizes that these groups will perceive having low political efficacy, having their political resources such as ideas, information, and support for votes not used by policy-makers, and having their agenda not supported by policy-makers. The research finds some support for the hypotheses. Local groups perceive political efforts are limited by factors such as racism, age of members, and lack of professional leadership. For most interest groups, political resources are underutilized by policy-makers. Plus, group representatives perceive their group's agenda as receiving little support from policy-makers. Interest groups are more proactive than predicted and involved in a governmental regime change.

Date of Award	2006
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Richard Wandling (Supervisor)