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Chapter 11. Interest Groups
Interest group activities inundate American politics – you can find them lobbying at the local, state, and federal level, and you can find them working feverously within each of the branches of government.
All this lobbying activity poses an interesting paradox – although turnout in elections has declined since 1960, participation in interest groups has mushroomed.
This chapter focuses on three major themes – factors leading to the growth in interest groups, how interest groups enter to policymaking process, and what they get out of it.
The Role of Interest Groups
All Americans have some interest they want represented. Therefore, organizing to promote these interests is an essential part of democracy.
In fact, through the 1st Amendment, the Constitution guarantees an individuals right to “peaceable assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievance”
Interest Groups: an organization of people with similar policy goals who enter the political process to try to achieve those goals. Whatever their goal, interest groups pursue their interests at every level of government, and within each branch of government.
Parties and interest groups differ in two ways: interest groups are policy specialists, while political parties are policy generalists; interest groups do not run political candidates, while political parties use the electoral process to push their policy platforms.
Theories of Interest Groups
Pluralist Theory: politics is mainly a competition among groups; each one pressing for its own policy preferences. All interests are represented;
Elite Theory: society is divided along class lines; the group with power is the upper class elite.
Hyperpluralist Theory: too many groups are getting too much of what they want; government policies become contradictory and lacking direction. In this case, groups are so strong that government is weak; pluralism gone bad.
How do these theories of
Interest group activities inundate American politics – you can find them lobbying at the local, state, and federal level, and you can find them working feverously within each of the branches of government.
All this lobbying activity poses an interesting paradox – although turnout in elections has declined since 1960, participation in interest groups has mushroomed.
This chapter focuses on three major themes – factors leading to the growth in interest groups, how interest groups enter to policymaking process, and what they get out of it.
The Role of Interest Groups
All Americans have some interest they want represented. Therefore, organizing to promote these interests is an essential part of democracy.
In fact, through the 1st Amendment, the Constitution guarantees an individuals right to “peaceable assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievance”
Interest Groups: an organization of people with similar policy goals who enter the political process to try to achieve those goals. Whatever their goal, interest groups pursue their interests at every level of government, and within each branch of government.
Parties and interest groups differ in two ways: interest groups are policy specialists, while political parties are policy generalists; interest groups do not run political candidates, while political parties use the electoral process to push their policy platforms.
Theories of Interest Groups
Pluralist Theory: politics is mainly a competition among groups; each one pressing for its own policy preferences. All interests are represented;
Elite Theory: society is divided along class lines; the group with power is the upper class elite.
Hyperpluralist Theory: too many groups are getting too much of what they want; government policies become contradictory and lacking direction. In this case, groups are so strong that government is weak; pluralism gone bad.
How do these theories of