The Role of Special Education Interest Groups in National Policy ...

of data sources were used to investigate these questions and to triangulate data. Finally, I conducted 25 elite interviews with congressional staff, Department of Education staff, and interest group leaders to triangulate data gathered from other sources, and to address information not available in secondary sources, for example, the “behind-the-scenes” negotiations.

Limitations

Although this research is an important first step in understanding the political participation patterns of special education advocacy organizations over time, the study has several limitations. First, its scope is limited to national-level organizations, and particularly those that operate within the institutional context of Congress and the Supreme Court. Yet, advocacy organizations operate at different levels of society, from the local to the state to the national levels. This study cannot draw conclusions about interactions within an organization across these levels, or the dynamics that may exist between an organization’s local and state chapters and the national government relations office, particularly how grassroots advocacy may affect what goals the organization’s leadership pursues (and how). Furthermore, since this study focuses on national-level organizations, it is fair to assume that these groups are organized and fairly skilled in operating within federal institutional structures. The research does not examine advocacy organizations that operate outside the political institutions, but that may affect policy-making processes in other ways, for example, by influencing public opinion via media coverage, public awareness campaigns (e.g., symbolic ribbons, such as those worn for AIDS awareness), or protest marches.

The focus of this study is the early phases of legislative development, particularly in how issue positions are defined, and how interest groups choose institutional targets and strategies. But this presents a second limitation in that there is some selection bias in the organizations that have testified before Congress. The majority party in control of the House and Senate decides what hearings it will conduct, and allocates the slots for minority and majority witnesses. Each party selects the witnesses based