Organizational Determinants of Political Involvement in Trade and Professional Membership Associations

Marina Saitgalina,Patricia Birungi,Lisa A Dicke

doi:10.1515/npf-2019-0004

Abstract

AbstractTrade and business associations and professional membership societies like many other political interest groups in the United States advocate and lobby their interests in the policy arena. Yet, we lack the understanding of how organizational capabilities shape different forms of political engagement in trade and professional associations. Research on the political involvement of tax-exempt organizations has been focused on charitable nonprofits. Studying the elements that underlie political action strategies and tactics of trade and professional associations would expand our understanding of political engagement in the nonprofit sector. In our sample of occupational mutual benefit associations, both resource dependence and institutional factors such as board size, affiliated foundation, tax-exempt status, business classification, and membership type explained the likelihood of political strategies including advocacy, lobbying, grassroots activity, and having a political action committee (PAC). Organizational size characteristics such as budget, staff, and membership size mattered as well.

Highlights

Interest groups dominate the American political system (Berry and Wilcox 2018)
This study considers whether institutional norms such as tax-exempt status, affiliated foundations, type of membership, and business classification as well as organizational resources like board size and revenue derived from membership dues are associated with the choice of public policy strategy – lobbying, advocacy, grassroots, or operating political action committee (PAC)
Trade and occupational associations that serves the interests of industries and professions, can be quite prominent players in the policy arena where they seek to represent the interests of their stakeholders

Summary

Introduction

Interest groups dominate the American political system (Berry and Wilcox 2018). Their abilities to mobilize resources and information influence the shape and direction of public policy, its actors, and its processes. It is hard to estimate exactly how many occupational mutual-benefit nonprofits are out there Those that receive some tax exemption do so because they offer public or member benefits. These may include professional advancements such as in medicine or engineering, improved safety standards or occupational norms, and licensing and professional certifications that ensure more widespread quality in services that benefit all (Haynes and Gazley 2011). Another characteristic of these organizations is clearly defined membership, whether individual or corporate, which is distinguished through annually paid membership dues (Spillman 2012). The focus of this paper – trade and professional associations – are organizations that serve the industry, profession, or any other special interest, which includes a wide range of sectors from agriculture and construction to sports and culture (ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership 2012)

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion