U2, C9: Interest Groups

Role of Interest Groups Interest group: private organization that tries to persuade public officials to respond to shared attitudes of its members “pressure groups” “special interests” “organized interests” Seeks to influence the making and content of public policy – all of the goals that a government pursues in the many areas of human affairs in which it is involved Function at every level of government

Difference Between Interest Groups and Political Parties 1. Making of nominations Interest groups try to affect the outcomes of primaries and other nominating contests, but do not themselves pick a candidate Primary focus Political parties: winning elections and controlling government Interest groups: controlling or influencing the policies of government Scope of their interests Political parties: concerned with whole range of public affairs Interest groups: concentrate only on those issues that most directly affect the interests of their members

Functions and Criticisms of Interest Groups Stimulate interest in public affairs: issues and events that concern the people at large Interest groups represent their members on the basis of shared attitudes Provide useful, specialized, and detailed information to government Vehicles for political participation Add another element to the checks-and-balances feature of the political process Regularly compete with each other in the public arena Some interest groups have an influence far out of proportion to their size or their importance or contribution to the public good Hard to tell just who or how many people a group really represents Many groups do not in fact represent the views of all the people for whom they claim to speak Some groups use tactics that, if they were to become widespread, would undermine whole political system

Groups Based on economic interests Business Groups Government to protect and promote interests Trade associations: segments of business company have own interest groups Labor Unions Organization of workers who share the same type of job or who work in the same industry Agricultural Groups Professional Groups Professions: those occupations that require extensive and specialized training

Other interest groups Groups that promote causes Exist to promote cause or idea Oppose certain causes Organizations that promote the welfare of certain groups of people Religious organization Public-interest groups Seek public policies of special benefit to their members Work for “public good” Institute certain public policies of benefit to all or most people in this country, whether or not they belong or support that organization

Interest Groups at Work Influencing public opinion Supply public with information an organization thinks people should have Build a positive image for a group Promote particular public policy Propaganda: technique of persuasion aimed at influencing individual or group behaviors Influencing parties and elections Lobbying: those activities by which group pressures are brought to bear on legislators and the legislative process Grassroots: of or from the people, the average voters Regulation

Group Work Purpose: Design a brochure for an interest group Activity: Each pair will develop a list of goals and a statement of the policies for an interest group. In addition, you will need to design a symbol that expresses the interest group’s goals and values. Brochure should also include examples (pictures and description) of your interest group at work (see reading for ideas). You can find a list of interest groups for a particular policy at: http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/inde x.php