Interest/Pressure Groups

1
Interest/Pressure Groups

• In the American Political System

2
Interest Group - A Definition

• An interest group is a private organization of
  like-minded people whose goal is to influence and
  shape public policy.
• Interest groups are extra-constitutional.

3
Early Development

• Date back to the time of the Founding Fathers
• Seen as power-hungry
• Believed to promote instability, injustice, and
  confusion

4
Types of Interest Groups

• Economic
• Ideological or single-issue
• Public interest
• Foreign policy
• Governmental

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Economic Groups

• Business
• Trade Associations
• Labor
• Professional Associations

6
Ideological Groups

• Motivated for or against a particular issue, such
  as gun ownership and abortion rights

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Public Interest Groups

• Motivated by such issues as the environment, safe
  energy, consumer protection, and good government.

8
Foreign Policy Interest Groups

• Concerned with the relationship between the
  United States and foreign nations. Examples
  include the Council on Foreign Relations, and
  AIPACthe American-Israel Political Action
  Committee.

9
Government Interest Groups

• Represent the interests of government employees,
  as well as elected officials from state and local
  governments.

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Characteristics and Power of Interest Groups

• Size and resources
• Cohesiveness
• Leadership
• Techniques
• Intensity

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Interest Group Techniques

• Appeals to the public and mass media
• Mass mailings
• Influence of rule making
• Litigation
• Election Activities/electioneering
• Forming a political party
• Lobbying

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Growth of Interest Groups
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Interest Groups vs. Political Parties

• Interest groups
• support candidates, but cannot nominate them
• take a narrow focus on most issues
• compete for influence over elected officials

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Interest Groups vs.Political Parties (cont.)

• Political parties
• can nominate candidates
• focus on a broad range of issues to appeal to a
  broad range of people
• compete for control of the branches of govt. to
  control policy making

15
Proposals for Reform

• Increasing the number of groups
• Full disclosure
• Increased federal and state regulations

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Examples

• Check out this web site for links to examples of
  the most influential interest groups in the U.S.!

http//www.smpcollege.com/SMP_GOVT/policy. html
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Interest/Pressure Groups

• A necessary evil
• what do you think?