Interest Groups

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Recommended: Interest groups in politics

Interest groups are an important factor in a political system. By providing organizations and/or associations to join, they help individuals discover, organize and act upon their beliefs. In addition, interest groups provide an avenue for citizens’ to show their concerns to administrators and policy makers (Liberal Arts ITS, 2012). There are thousands of different interest groups to join including the National Education Association, NEA, and Greenpeace. The NEA aims to prepare students for success in public schools. They are the voice of education professionals and push for students to thrive in a diverse and interdependent world (NEA, 2012). Greenpeace, founded in 1971, is an environmental organization that through action and communication exposes global environmental issues. They aspire to create a cleaner and safer planet for the overall good of mankind (Greenpeace, 2012). Both of these interest groups have key focus areas, use specific methods to achieve their goals and have influenced legislation or public policy.

The National Education Association has six guiding principles which include, equal opportunity, just society, democracy, professionalism, partnership and collective action. These key focus areas advocate NEA’s work and define their mission as an association. Equal opportunity focuses on public education as the gateway to opportunity and the fact that all students, no matter race, gender, or age, have the civil right to a quality education. This is the principle that I agree most with due to my strong beliefs about the rights of citizens’. I feel that each citizen should be given equal rights and therefore an equal opportunity when it comes to education. As a student, I have seen lots of unfair situations occur in ...

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...ly have a positive influence on the world. Due to their goals, methods and past legislative actions, I would be proud to become a member of the National Education Foundation and Greenpeace. Remember, if the 313,000,000 people of America start making small positive changes by taking part in society, the effects can become world wide (U.S. Census Bureau).

Works Cited

National Education Association (2012, January 24). Great Public Schools for Every Student. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/

Greenpeace (2012, January 23). What We Do. Retrieved from http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/

Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services (2012, January 23). Interest Groups. Retrieved from http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/5_printable.html

U.S. Census Bureau (2012, January 27). U.S. & World Population Clocks. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html

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