This is a comparative study of United States and Canada and groups from both countries were interviewed. Additionally, binational and international groups that operated in one of the two countries were included in the sample pool. Of the 16 groups that I interviewed, two were based in Canada, 13 were from the United States, and one was international. much higher number of groups in the United States than in Canada can be expected: the United States has a larger population and more interest groups in general than Canada. The groups ranged in age, with the oldest established in 1927 (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers) and the youngest in 2001 (Oceana); however half of the 16 groups were established during the environmental movement in the 1960s and 1970s. The resources of the groups (membership, paid staff, and budget) were also very different. Membership variance was difficult to capture in a graph as it varied from groups with no formal membership (for example, Canadian Arctic Resources Committee) to groups with individual members in the millions (Defenders of Wildlife) to groups made up entirely of groups or businesses (Alaska State Chamber of Commerce) or a combination of individuals and groups (Arctic Power). As Baumgartner and Leech (1998: 33) found, membership is a complicated concept”. “deceptively Similarly, paid staff varied from having only one paid staff member (Canadian Arctic Resources Committee) to groups with staffs into the hundreds (National Audubon Society). However, six of the 16 groups in the sample had staffs between 1 and 20 people. Finally, budgets of the groups range from the hundreds of thousands up into the millions, although seven of the 16 groups are between $1 million and $20 million. Six groupa declined to give a budget and several gave a range rather than a number. While the sample size is small, as shown above, there is a range of groups represented. There was variation of type, origin, age, membership, and budget. This is important in order to
This is a comparative study of United States and Canada and groups from both countries were interviewed. Additionally, binational and international groups that operated in one of the two countries were included in the sample pool. Of the 16 groups that I interviewed, two were based in Canada, 13 were from the United States, and one was international. much higher number of groups in the United States than in Canada can be expected: the United States has a larger population and more interest groups in general than Canada. The groups ranged in age, with the oldest established in 1927 (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers) and the youngest in 2001 (Oceana); however half of the 16 groups were established during the environmental movement in the 1960s and 1970s. The resources of the groups (membership, paid staff, and budget) were also very different. Membership variance was difficult to capture in a graph as it varied from groups with no formal membership (for example, Canadian Arctic Resources Committee) to groups with individual members in the millions (Defenders of Wildlife) to groups made up entirely of groups or businesses (Alaska State Chamber of Commerce) or a combination of individuals and groups (Arctic Power). As Baumgartner and Leech (1998: 33) found, membership is a “deceptively complicated concept”. Similarly, paid staff varied from having only one paid staff member (Canadian Arctic Resources Committee) to groups with staffs into the hundreds (National Audubon Society). However, six of the 16 groups in the sample had staffs between 1 and 20 people. Finally, budgets of the groups range from the hundreds of thousands up into the millions, although seven of the 16 groups are between $1 million and $20 million. Six groupa declined to give a budget and several gave a range rather than a number. While the sample size is small, as shown above, there is a range of groups represented. There was variation of type, origin, age, membership, and budget. This is important in order to
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