Making a Difference: Human Service Interest Group Influence on Social Welfare Program Regulations

Social workers increasingly understand the importance of political action to affect legislative policy-making. This paper sheds light onto the unexplored subject of interest group influence on the executive branch, specifically on the writing of program regulations for social welfare programs. It describes groups active in the process and what they do in their quest for influence. It also presents a preliminary model of interest group influence on regulation writing. Results show that having greater access, articulating a liberal policy position, choosing a "better" strategy and devoting more resources to influence efforts are all significant predictors of a group's influence level during the Clinton Administration.