ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 analyzes Common Cause’s second phase. Incremental adjustments in the 1990s insufficiently address the constant build-up of pressure from outside and inside the organization. External pressures include an increasingly polarized political environment which limits the number of potential supporters and allies in government, even as the effect of previously enacted reforms is weakened. Budget cuts across the 1990s leave the organization with a diminished insider-outsider lobbying infrastructure. Leaders confront a crossroads of loyalty to Gardner’s interest group design or change. The selection of top leaders from outside the organization becomes a tipping point toward significant change, thus creating a critical juncture. Organizational policy punctuation occurs, destabilizing Common Cause. Structure, strategy, and representation processes are adapted to promote survival. Interestingly, significant change started in the first phase, as incremental adaptations established pathways outside the interest group design. These earlier changes softened up the resistance of leaders who supported moving away from Gardner’s interest group design while continuing a legacy of governance integrity advocacy.
