7 th Grade Civics Miss Smith *pgs

 Interest groups- organizations of people with a common interest that try to influence government policies and decisions  Not the same as a political party, but seeks to influence the gov.  More concerned with public policies

 Business associations  Labor unions  Farm organizations  Teacher’s associations  Consumer groups  Some groups are economically focused, some are issue-oriented, some promote the issues of the public

 Lobbyists present their arguments to Congress. After listening to all sides of an issue, Congress makes its decision

 They argue for bills they support and against bills they oppose  Ask members of Congress to sponsor bills  May help write bills  Gov. officials often pick the brains of lobbyists to find out what issues are affecting certain interest groups

 Place advertisements to support their positions  Promise to help gov. officials in their election campaigns  Urge citizens to send letters/ s to gov. officials  All in hopes that public support will influence lawmakers’ decisions

 Lobbyists must register:  Indicate whom they work for and how much money they spend on their lobbying efforts  Some people think that only the interest groups with a lot of money or power are listened to  This means groups representing the disadvantaged are often ignored