Influences on Congress Objective 3. 8-3 Influences on Congress Objective 3.8-3.9 How do Individuals and interest groups Influence Congress?

Because Congress serves the people Congress can be influenced by the people

How can an individual citizen influence members of Congress??

INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS THAT INFLUENCE CONGRESS 1. EXPRESS YOUR OPINION -WRITE, E-MAIL, CALL, USE SOCIAL MEDIA, ATTEND TOWN HALL MEETING 2. VOTE TO ELECT PEOPLE THAT REPRESENT YOUR OPINIONS 3. RUN FOR OFFICE -BECOME the person in charge of making laws!!

JOIN A GROUP Individuals can influence policy more by joining with other individuals that share their beliefs

Why do groups of people have a larger influence on Congress than individuals??

Benefits of joining a goup More voices More resources (ex-$) More voters More attention

Join an Interest Groups Organizations of people with common interests Goals: inform the public influence government leaders to pass laws they support

Because of the large number of members and resources, interest groups can…

Identifying, publicizing important issues Interest groups make law makers aware of issues and pressure them to pass supportive laws Interest groups can use television or other media to spread the word about their cause

Lobbying policy makers to pass new laws Lobbyists, working for interest groups, pressure law makers to pass certain policies Lobbyist= Representative of an interest group sent to influence Congress

Lobbyists Talk with government leaders directly try to influence lawmakers to pass certain policies their group supports

Voting Interest groups will tell members who to vote for in an election Large numbers of voters can influence who gets elected

Giving $$ contributions $ $ $ $ Interest groups can give $$ to help policy makers that support their cause get elected (NRA has 4.3 million members) $ $ $ $

Interest groups can influence policy by… Identifying, publicizing important issues Lobbying policy makers to pass new laws Voting in large numbers for only certain candidates (AARP has 40 million members) Giving $$ contributions to leaders that support their cause

Interest group fact find Use the packet with the names of various interest groups to identify groups that serve different causes. Visit the website of these groups and identify their mission/goal statement. Explore other links on each site to learn more about the interest groups’ cause