Overview: What is an Interest Group?  An interest group is defined as an organization whose goal is to influence government

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Overview: What is an Interest Group? 

• An interest group is defined as an organization whose goal is to influence government. Clients such as corporations pay interest groups millions of dollars so these groups can lobby the government on their behalf so that lawmakers adopt policies beneficial to those corporations or individuals.
• A special interest is a pejorative term used to describe an interest group which one does not support.
• 200,000 interest groups are active in American politics.
• What is a lobbyist? A lobbyist is a paid professional who contacts government officials on behalf of a particular cause or issue.

 

Private Interest Groups: 3 Functions

1. Inform members about political developments. Your eyes and ears in Washington.
2. Communicate members views to gov't officials.
3. Mobilize groups of people (the public) to act politically.

American Farm Bureau Federation is a private interest group. Why?

Public Interest Groups

• Public interest groups work for all Americans. Not just a specific subset like farmers.
• Public Interest lobbyist is a Rep of organization that seeks to benefit the population at large
• No specific client

Three ways Public Interest Groups facilitate Support

1. Material Benefits: items distributed by groups to get you to sign up or remain a member.
2. Expressive Benefits: group represents values this its members share, such as social justice.
3. Solidary Benefits: The feeling of shared commitment and purpose.

The NRA is a public interest group. Why?

 

Interest Groups Affect On Democracy: 3 Views

1. Pluralists: gov't policies will roughly correspond to public desires as long as system is open to a multitude of interests.
2. Hyperpluralists: because there are so many interest groups the entire system is being bogged down in a stalemate.
3. Power Elite Theory: the richest and most powerful interests have a dominating influence on policy.

• 125 billion dollar bank bailout.
• 1 million people lost their homes
• Business lobby = 53% of groups and 72% of money spent.
• Groups representing poor employ 2% of lobbyists

 

 

Discussion Instructions:

1. Now that you've learned what interest groups are and what they do you will discuss whether you think they are good or bad for democracy. Look at the three standard views below and discuss which view you take.