Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The roles of political parties and interest groups in American politics
The roles of political parties and interest groups in American politics
The roles of political parties and interest groups in American politics
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Interest Groups “Interest groups organization of people sharing common objectives who energetically attempt to influence government policymakers through direct and indirect methods”. J. M. Molins and A. Casademunt, "Pressure Groups and the Articulation of Interests", in West European Politics, No. 4, 1998 This structure is designed so that interest groups would be a device of public influence on politics to generate changes, but would not intimidate the government much. Whether this is still the case or not is a significant question that we should find out. Interest groups play numerous different roles in the American political system, such as depiction, participation, education, and program monitoring. Representation is the purpose that we see most frequently and the function we routinely think of when we think of interest groups. Involvement is another role that interest groups play in our government, which is while they facilitate and support the contribution of their members in the political process. Interest groups also educate, by trying to enlighten both public officials and the public at large concerning matters of significance to them. Interest groups also keep way of how programs are functioning in the field and endeavor to influence government to take action when troubles become obvious when they monitor programs. The conventional interest groups have been organized around several form of economic origin, be it corporate interests, associates, or unions. The number of business-oriented lobbies has developed since the 1960s and continues to grow. Public-interest groups have as well grown extremely since the 1960s. Liberal groups started the trend, but traditional groups are now just as common, though some groups...
... middle of paper ...
...e Role of Local Government and Citizens in the Democratic Process," National Civic Review, vol. 85, no. 3, Fall 1996. March, J.G. & J.P. Olsen (1998): `The Institutional Dynamics of International Political Orders,' 52:4 International Organization 943, Exploration and Contestation in the Study of World Politics, Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press, pp. 303-329) March, J.G. & J.P. Olsen (2000): `Democracy and Schooling,' in L.M. McDonnell, P.M. Timpane & R. Benjamin (eds), Rediscovering the Democratic process of Education, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, pp. 148-173 Olsen, J.P. (1997): `Institutional Design in Democratic Contexts,' 5:3 The Journal Of Political Philosophy 203 Rokkan, S. (1999) (edited by P. Flora, with S. Kuhnle & D. Urwin): State Formation, Nation-Building and Mass Politics in Europe: The Theory of Stein Rokkan, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Print Shea, Daniel M. Living Democracy. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2013. Print. Weglyn, Mich. :.
Essentially, interest groups use many different tactics to accomplish their central goals but this paper will detail 2 of them. The first being lobbying, which is the act of persuading businesses as well as government leaders to help a specific organization by changing laws or creating events in favor of that group. Interest groups use this technique by hiring someone to represent them and advocate their cause to on the behalf of the entire group. These hired representatives usually have more than enough experience within the political field and are able to persuade connections within the government for help with their concerns. This method gets a lot of criticism because although lobbyist offer their input to government officials on pending laws, they only look at what is favorable for their cause. When trying to make a difference you have to not only reflect on your argument but on the side affects of that argument as
1. Janda, Kenneth. The Challenge of Democracy. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA. 1999. (Chapter 3 & 4).
Interest groups, lobbyists, large corporations, and PACs try to influence the congressional committees' bills so they can have a say in the legislative process. When an interest group hears about a bill that is being debated on in a committee, they try to influence a members vote and they try to get a part of the bill changed. For example, a lobbyist came to me on a bill I proposed on making health care plans have no minimum requirement on benefits the company gives to its patients. He told me about how he did not get the right treatments and tests done on diseases he has and now is suffering badly from them. It was because the health plan did not have to give him anything extra. He changed my mind on the bill, and I changed the bill to setting a minimum standard on benefits given to patients.
Janda, Kenneth. Berry, Jeffrey. Goldman, Jerry (2008). The Challenge of Democracy (9th ed.). Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Janda, K., Berry, J., Golman, J., & Hula, K. (2009). The Challenge of Democracy: American
Karp, Jeffrey A., and Susan A. Banducci. " Political Efficacy and Participation in Twenty-Seven Democracies: How Electoral Systems Shape Political Behaviour." British Journal of Political Science 38 (2008): 311-334. Cambridge Journals. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.
We elect politicians on the basis on the issues by which they stand, and these issues are either held up or weakened by the numerous interest groups that exist today. Interest groups target both major and minor issues, using all of their resources to sponsor or overpower the groups’ concern. Interest groups are composed of a limited range of the body of voters who have a great stake in the issues their group support. They make evident the issues their group supports. Their resources are used in an attempt to make their issue public policy. Interest groups are persistent; they do not give up until they succeed. They lobby congress, take legal action, and attempt to influence election results in order to benefit their cause. ”The AARP monitors local and national legislation of interest to its members.”1 The AARP, an example of a non-PAC interest group, focus their efforts to electioneering and media. They influence the elections through their voter guides, election forums and the large senior voting population. Through television, radio, and periodicals the AARP is able to achieve many of their goals to aid retired persons.
These pluralistic interest groups are free to operate and lobby in the political arena, fighting against the majority and other competing factions for voice in Congress. With the influence of multiple factions operating throughout the political system, a balance of power is created (Kernell 2000, 429). This is much like the international theory of sovereign states balancing each other’s power to create a political system that focuses on stability, yet is always in a constant flux of power. With this in mind, special interest groups are constantly contending for power by raising money, campaigning, and lobbying in Congress. When a special interest group is threatened by a competing policy, the group will organize efforts to balance, or transcend the power of the competing group.
Wadsworth Cengage Learning. (2010). Gateways To Democracy The Essentials. In J. G. Geer, W. J. Schiller, J. A. Segal, & D. K. Glencross, An Introduction To American Government (pp. 43-49). Boston: Suzanne Jeans.
South University Online. (2013). POL2076: American Government: Week 4: People and Politics—Interest Groups. Retrieved from http://myeclassonline.com
The “advocacy explosion” in the United States in the 20th century has been caused by the extreme increase in the number of interest groups in the United States. The general public views the increase and the groups themselves as a cancer that has come to the body of American politics and is spreading. The explosion in the number of interest groups and interest group members and finances has had an effect on the decline of the American political party and partisanship, the effect on democracy and the public interest, and the bias that has come with interest group competition.
Do they play an important role in our democracy since they claim that they represent many people? There has been a continuing debate over the proper role of interest groups in the United States democracy. Interest groups are organized group of individuals who share the same ideas and their main goal is to influence media, lawmakers, and people with their ideas. On one hand, interest groups members and their leaders assert that they offer crucial information and services to the lawmakers and that lawmakers aren’t experts regarding every bill proposed
Thomassen, J. & Schmitt, H. 2004. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union. Tidsskrift for Samfunnsforskning, 45 (2), pp. 377-410.
Interest groups are defined as an association of individuals or smaller organization that engage and promote in activities with a political purpose. Interest groups vary in their goals and some groups seek to advance the concerns of their immediate members only making them a private interest group or a group that seeks to benefit society as a whole making them public interest groups(Niemi 2013). The purpose of any interest group is to attempt to the influence public policy in their favor. Interest groups can play an important factor in political and legal systems, in influencing certain legislations by seemingly appearing as if their beliefs are the wants of the majority people. Because of this attempt to influence public policy has made it