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What Are Interest Groups?

What Are Interest Groups?. Interest Group (special interests) is an organization of people with similar policy goals that tries to influence the political process to try to achieve those goals. Interest groups try to influence every branch and every level of government.

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What Are Interest Groups?

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  1. What Are Interest Groups? • Interest Group (special interests) is an organization of people with similar policy goals that tries to influence the political process to try to achieve those goals. • Interest groups try to influence every branch and every level of government

  2. What is a Political Party? A political party is a group of voters, activists, candidates, and office holders who identify with a party label and seek to elect individuals to public office.

  3. The Roots and Development of American Interest Groups • Interest groups have been part of the American political landscape since the country’s founding. • James Madison in Federalist #10 argued for a proliferation of groups so that no one group could get hegemony over the other groups. • The open nature of the American government invites organized political participation. • 1st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting the right… to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

  4. What are some interest groups?

  5. The Roots and Development of American Interest Groups • National Groups Emerge (1830-80) • Progressive Era (1890-1920) • Organized Labor – the American Federation of Labor (AFL) (1886) • Business and Trade Associations – The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) (1895) • The Rise of the Interest Group State (1960s and 1970s) • Religious and Ideological Groups • Business Groups, Trade and Professional Associations • Organized Labor declines

  6. What Do Interest Groups Do? • The most common and effective interest group technique is lobbying or seeking to influence and persuade others to support your group's position. • Lobbyists are hired by your college or university, businesses, foreign countries, trade associations, and anyone else wanting their voice heard on policy matters. • A Lobbyists is someone whose task it is to influence legislation or policymaking.

  7. Who Gets Lobbied? • Congress • Executive Branch • Office of the President • Executive Agencies • Courts • The People • Grassroot campaigns for voters • Protests

  8. Direct Techniques: Lobbying Private meetings Testifying Drafting Legislation Social Occasions Providing Political Info Supplying Nomination suggestions Indirect Techniques: Generating Public Pressure Groundswell of public pressure Use Constituents as Lobbyists Building Alliances with other groups Interest Groups Techniques

  9. Interest Groups and Elections • Donations (limited in amount) • Get out the vote campaigns • Endorsements • Creating political parties • Green Party • Working on campaigns for existing political parties

  10. Political Action Committees (PACs) • “A federally registered fund-raising committee that represents an interest group in the political process through campaign donations” • Can donate more (but still limited) money to a candidate • Can conduct issue advertising on its own • Focus more on electing officials that may support their group’s interests

  11. Honest Lobbyists • A lobbyist must be honest and truthful if he or she wants to remain effective. • Access to lawmakers is critical and if a lobbyist gets a reputation of being untruthful or disingenuous legislators doors will close. • Of course, lobbyists put their group's position in a favorable light but good lobbyists will also make lawmakers aware of the downsides of a bill and the arguments on the other side as well.

  12. What Makes an Interest Group Successful? In general three factors tend to lead to interest group success: • Leaders – having a prominent leader aids in the reputation of the group and enhances a group's ability to attain its goals. • Patrons and Funding – funding is critical. Without money, it is hard to get your message out. • Members – a group must have members to be successful. Organizing members allows for strength in numbers and pooling of financial support.

  13. Pluralism and its Critics • Three criticism of pluralism are • It gives short shrift to those who are not organized. • It fails to deal with the fact that some interests have more power than others. • It seems to leave no room for consideration of transcendent national interests. • Pluralist theory argues that interest group activity brings representation to all. • Interest groups compete and counterbalance one another.

  14. Criticism of Interest Groups Interest Groups have been criticized for • Ignoring the wider interest of society • Producing confusion and deadlock in Congress • Generating so much emotion that they make reasoned discussion difficult • Having too much influence

  15. Important Points to Think About • Interest Groups • Promote interest in public affairs • Provide useful information • Serve as watchdogs • Represent the interest of Citizens

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