Interest groups are organizations of people with similar policy goals who intend to influence a process to achieve their policy goals. Interest groups have been their since time immemorial with some being as old as the independent United States. Interest groups normally persuade elected representatives to share their point-of-view especially in democracies. In fact, they are a necessary requirement for democracies. A more universal definition of interest groups is a group of individuals who act together to obtain goals beyond individual reach in complex societies. These goals can be political. However, they must not always be political. Members of interest groups at times find themselves lobbying despite the fact lobbying is not their core mandate (Interest Groups and Political Parties, n.d). There are different types of interest groups. Interest groups are loosely categorized by political scientists into four main policy areas i.e. those dealing with economic issues, those dealing with environmental issues, those dealing with equality issues, and those dealing with consumer interests. Economic groups...
These groups are very useful in countries like the United States where the government does not directly determine wages, prices, and profits. Government regulations, tax advantages, subsidies and contracts, and international trade policy has direct impact on wages, prices of commodities, and profits. Economic groups ensure that consumers and producers alike are not negatively impacted on by these activities of the government. Environmental interest groups in the American context have done immense work. They have great influence on Congress and state legislatures especially when two public interests clash (Edwards, Wattenberg & Lineberry, 2010). This may take the context of environmental protection against continued supply of energy. Equality interest groups represent minority groups (Edwards, Wattenberg & Lineberry, 2010). They clamor for equality at the polls, in housing, on the job, in education sector, and all aspects of lives of the Americans. One notable example in this case has…
Interest Groups Describe the different types of interest groups (single issue groups and public interest groups) and the goals that each type pursues. Single-issue interest groups are exactly that: groups concerned with one issue, and one issue only. Although the single interest might overlap with broader issues or related interests, the main goal of a single-interest group is to promote legislation related to the target area. For example, the National Rifle Association
Interest Groups in 2012 Presidential Election President Barak Obama was elected in 2008. This was an historic occasion in American history, given that Obama was the first African-American ever to assume the nation's highest office. His victory was also remarkable because of the overwhelmingly 'young' demographic composition of the voters who elected him. Voting turnout has been on the decline for many years in the United States, but has been particularly
Interest Groups and How Their Influence on Public Policy Interest Groups and their influence on public Policy Interest groups are clusters of people that come into existent to make stresses on government. The leading interest groups that are located in the United States are financial or occupational, but a range of other clusters -- philosophical, public interest, foreign policy, government itself, and ethnic, religious, and cultural -- have memberships that cut across
Interest Groups Seek Influence Public Policy Interest Groups Seek Influence Making Public Policy Define an interest group, with examples An interest group can be described as an association that is formally organized that is in pursuit of influencing public policy. The wider description, scholars using it increasingly, older contrasts with it, narrower ones, which are inclusive of private associations only that their formal organization is distinct like Italy's General Confederation of industry and
Interest Groups A FORCE TO RECKON WITH Special Interest Groups An interest group, or a special interest group, is a group of concerned individuals who share common goals (JB-HDNP, 2012). They connect the public to lawmakers and vice versa. They try to sway public opinion, election, and public policy (JB-HDNP). Special interest groups make strong demands on the government (Magleby et al., 2010). These groups may be economic or occupational, ideological, public interest,
During the last week of the Convention the delegates added a few refinements, raised some serious concerns, and discussed what they agreed to over the four months of deliberations. Mason expressed the wish that "the plan had been prefaced by a Bill of Rights." Elbridge Gerry supported Mason's unsuccessful attempt to attach a Bill of Rights. Randolph joined Mason and Gerry and declared that he too wouldn't sign the
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