Chapter 9

Fernando Banchon Danny Baeza Nermin Sener Nicole Gonzalez Tala Harazallah Desi Diaz Dayneris Toledo P.2 11/03/10

Sec.1

Role of Interest Group Interest group: Private organizations that try to persuade public officials to respond to shared attitude of members. Some things that are discussed are: gun control, abortion, prayers in public schools, and increase of minimum wage.

Political Party and Interest Group Political parties nominate their candidates while interest groups don’t Interest groups focus more on trying to control or influence the policies that the government creates.

Interest Groups: Good or Bad? Interest groups have always viewed closely for suspicion because some people don’t know if they will benefit or harm the political system. An example of an interest group was in 1817, when Madison warned the people of what was known as “factions”. Although he didn’t agree with factions, he was able to understand that factions were able to balance power.

Valuable Functions of Interest Groups They encourage public affairs, issues and events that may concern the people. They represent their member based on their views opposed to their locations. They provide useful information to the government. They are able to compete with one another

Criticism There have been some negative critics based on their interest groups and what they do. Such as: how they are able to influence people, how they are represented, how some groups do not represent the causes for which they speak, and the effects due to their unfair tactics.

Sec. 2

Types of Interest Groups America is known as “ A nation of Joiners” There are thousands of little or well known groups. The economic interest groups represent business, labor, agriculture, and certain professions. Two well known groups are: National Association of Manufactures and Chamber of Commerce

Types of Interest Groups cont. Trade Associations is for business only. Ex’s. are the American Trucking Associations and American Bankers Associations. Labor Groups or unions is an organization of workers who share the same type of job or who works in the same industry.

Agricultural Groups Most of the people in this type of group lived or still live in the country and lived on farms. Today less than 2% of the American Population live on farms.

Professional Groups Professionals are generally the occupation that require extensive and specialized training like medicine, law and teachings. They maintain organizations to influence more people to follow these type of careers.

Influencing Public Opinion Public opinion is one of the most important pieces you should have on your side.

Support from People=Power Step 1: to supply the public with information an organization thinks the people should have. Step 2: Build positive images to better influence the people. Step 3: goal of interest, promote particularly public safety.

Lobbyists at Work When lobbyists are at work, they like to better referred as legislative counsel or public representatives. A lobbyists effectiveness mainly depends on his or her knowledge of the political system. A lobbyists main duty is to persuade people to look into their political point of views.