U2, C9: INTEREST

GROUPS

ROLE OF INTEREST GROUPSInterest 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 nominationsInterest groups try to affect the outcomes of primaries and other nominating contests, but do not themselves pick a candidate

2. Primary focusPolitical parties: winning elections and controlling governmentInterest groups: controlling or influencing the policies of government

3. Scope of their interestsPolitical parties: concerned with whole range of public affairsInterest groups: concentrate only on those issues that most directly affect the interests of their members

FUNCTIONS AND CRITICISMS OF INTEREST GROUPS

Functions Criticisms

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 UnionsOrganization 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 WORKPurpose: Design a brochure for an interest

groupActivity: 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/index.php