Political Interest Groups

Interest Groups are individuals that share common beliefs/interest who actively attempted to influence policymakers. These groups are important because they generally support the political party that represents their own goals and beliefs. Most of the information they spread to the public is biased, but it does help the voters decide in what they believe in and what they stand for. As mentioned in the textbook American Government and Politics Today ‘’Today interest groups range from the small groups such a local environment organizations to natural groups such as American Civil Liberties.’’ There are many techniques that Interest groups use to get people to see and join their views, direct technique by definition from American Government and

“Interest groups tend to be single-issue organizations (Levin –Waldman, 2012)”. “Interest groups also tends to pursue their goals by making policy-related appeals to government (Levin- Waldman, 2012)”. Interest groups also supports diversity of different people. “The activity of the interest groups is induced by their ability and desire to affect the final policy outcome in the legislature. ”(Epstein, Mealem, & Nitzan, 2013)

While choosing electing official with common values and philosophies is a great way to get representation on social issues, interest groups are also helpful in keeping an open line of communication with elected officials on what is most important to the affected group. Interest groups use tactics to protect policies by focusing on the unknown consequences and keeping close relationships with government officials whose values are similar (Baumgartner, Jeffery, & Hojnacki (2009). One interest group who has knowledgeable lobbyists to affect public policy is the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA is a single issue group who advocates their position by using both the direct and indirect approach to rally support on issues in Congress.

The interest group that I'm going to do is ALF-CIO. That is American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. This group is 60 national and international labor unions that represents 13 million working men and women. The whole purpose of this group is to fairness and dignity to the workplace and secure social and economic equality. It's based in Washington DC.

4. They are source of ideas and innovations. Lobbyists can’t introduce bills, but they can introduce an idea to and politician who will be eager to attach the lobbyists name

Interest groups in Texas are relatively powerful actors in the political process. Organized interest groups and their representatives, also known as “the lobby” participates in the policymaking and political processes in Texas. Interest groups provide critical channels for Texans to communicate their political preferences and attempt to influence government actors and their fellow

Interest groups encompass different citizen groups in a society. These interest groups include representation of the grassroots level such as labor union and farmer groups, representation of business corporations, and representation of the common citizen concerned with government reform (Janda et al,

One example of an interest group is AARP. AARP is a United States interest group with membership. It was founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus, Ph.D. And Leonard Davis. AARP has vast membership so it is able to generate its own income without being dependent on government grants or private donors. I read on Tuesday night on Facebook how disappointed they were in the Senate 's vote to proceed on the new healthcare bill and how they would inform 38 million members how their Senators voted so they could hold them accountable.

Because interest groups are protected by the First Amendment, they cannot be outlawed. However, their activities--particularly lobbying and making financial contributions--can be regulated. The 1973 Lobby Regulation Act, amended in 1983, is much more effective than two earlier attempts at regulating interest groups, one in 1907 and the other in 1957. In spite of its more stringent provisions, the total number of persons lobbying is much higher than the fifteen hundred groups and persons who annually register. The rise of bureaucracy requires interest groups to influence key points in government.

In today’s government, there are two groups that can influence the way people vote for candidates in political races. They are known as a Super Pac and 501c4. Super Pacs are committees that became significant in 2010 after the court decision in the SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission (Super Pacs). A 501c4 is referred as “social welfare” groups. Their primary focus is to promote social welfare causes (Sullivan).

Today, we still find significant concerns for how vast and powerful interest groups and their associated PACs have become over the past few decades, and their far reaching ability they have to affect even the highest court in the

Personally, I believe that if more of the higher class and wealthy were involved in the interest groups, the groups could obtain more followers/group members and get more policies passed - policies that Americans want. Celebrities, such as Chris Rock, and even our current president, Barack Obama, have faced racial profiling throughout their lifetime; even during their moments of fame. These very well-known people could easily be involved in the Iron Triangle process of eliminating racial profiling due to their previous experiences. It’s safe to say that fame doesn’t stop people from seeing you as your color, and I wouldn’t be surprised if celebrities and presidents alike would fight for the freedom from racial suppression and

(Mayhew p. 129). The individual politician is incentivized through this method to focus only on issues that will benefit themselves, and ultimately their

This essay will discuss the impact of lobbyist on legislation in Washington, DC and the amount of dollars spent to influence federal policies. Throughout a normal day in Washington DC, the hustle and bustle of lobbyist is taking place in the Capital building, White House and along K Street, which is the home of many of the lobbying firms. There are special interest groups, corporations and industries that hire in-house lobbyist or lobbyist firms to influence legislation to benefit their cause. For example, some of these causes may include, but are not limited to tax breaks, subsidies and changes to current regulations or laws.

They all have each other back when they want a new law to be put in place they have each other’s back. Departments would do what the other committees want to get the law pass and the other committees would do it for the departments in return. Interests groups has a great influence on the public eye. With campaigning, surveys, and commercial they give the people what they want them to see. Sometimes this is good but sometimes they’re bad as well and the people eye can go along with a new police but not knowing there’s a twist to it.