The Benefits Of Interest Groups

Interest groups have been and are still an essential part of American politics. Without them we wouldn’t have had many of the improvements that Americans have seen in quality of life, work, and pay. Although these groups are sometimes difficult to understand, in whom they benefit or what their interests really represent. An interest group, also known as a pressure group, “is a collection of people who share certain views on public matters and work to shape public policy to their benefit” (McClenaghan 242).
These groups put pressure on public officials to influence public policy, and come with many different titles such as: leagues, associations, clubs, federations, unions, and committees to name a few. In general interest groups are good, for instance labor unions and issue-oriented groups. One of the largest labor unions in the United States is the AFL-CIO (the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) with 10 million members today, as it was formed in 1886. The AFL-CIO is now comprised of more than 50 different unions for example the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, also the International Union of Automotive, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers.
Some of the larger
Public-interest groups, rather than focusing on the narrow interests of its members, work for the broader purpose of the overall community called the “common good” (McClenaghan 252). While business groups operate to protect the interests of corporations, not to say they’re all bad, but they’re the ones with all the money so what they say goes. Groups with the most money can out-fund other things such as public health and safety causing them to be stopped and that is one downfall of interest groups. For instance, we all know that tobacco contains an addictive drug that causes cancer and diseases but “big tobacco” can lobby with congress so it can still be sold and taxed